this post was submitted on 16 May 2026

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[News] KADOKAWA blames Narou, Isekai for profit decrease (lemmy.zip)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by 1Fuji2Taka3Nasubi@lemmy.zip to c/anime@ani.social

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

“Over-reliance on ‘Narou’ and ‘Isekai’ Genres”—KADOKAWA Reports Sharp Drop in Publishing Profits, Accelerates Structural Reforms (in Japanese)

Partial Translation by DeepL:

“Over-reliance on ‘Narou’ and ‘Isekai’ Genres” — In its full-year financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2026 announced on May 14, KADOKAWA reported that consolidated operating profit fell from 8.9 billion yen to 4.0 billion yen, nearly halving from the previous year. In particular, its flagship publishing business fell into an operating loss of 1.0 billion yen, down from a profit of 3.2 billion yen the previous year. The company attributes this to an over-reliance on specific genres.

Regarding the factors behind the decline in profitability, the company explicitly stated in its financial results materials that it was due to “excessive reliance on existing winning formulas.” It analyzed that the overreliance on specific genres with a proven track record, such as “Narou and isekai,” led to market saturation, and the homogenization of projects resulted in a decrease in innovative initiatives. Although the company increased the number of titles published by actively hiring editors, the rise in works lacking quality or novelty failed to generate hits, leading to a decline in circulation per title.

Additionally, the company cited four factors that put pressure on profits: a decentralized approach that allocated promotional and sales resources across individual titles, and the inability to fully absorb rising manufacturing and logistics costs through pricing. ……

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[–] dance_ninja@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

My Life as an Anime Executive in a New World That is Sick of Isekai and Now We Need Creative Ideas I Have No Cheat Skill Please Help

[–] Endmaker@ani.social 11 points 3 days ago (3 children)

What is narou?

[–] 1Fuji2Taka3Nasubi@lemmy.zip 14 points 3 days ago

Narou is a Japanese self-publishing website where many, many famous web novels (a lot of them Isekai) are hosted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dsetsuka_ni_Nar%C5%8D

[–] e0qdk@reddthat.com 11 points 3 days ago

I think they mean that they're blaming Mary Sue-ish/wish fulfillment isekai specifically. i.e. like stories that are stereotypical of self-published content on Shosetsuka ni Narou (lit. "Let's Become a Novelist") -- not two separate genres.

("Narou" itself just means "let's become", but it's slang for the website if I understand correctly.)

[–] kvasir476@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

A Japanese website where people publish their web novels.

[–] Unboxious@ani.social 6 points 3 days ago

I'm honestly thrilled by this news. If it means we're getting less LN slop and more experimental stuff I'm all for it.

[–] ReluctantlyZen@ani.social 3 points 3 days ago

Kinda surprised they even realised this tbh

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

I think they're spot on with over saturation. I like a good Isekai, but there's just too many junk titles out there.