When you think of Sony, maybe anime isn't one of the first things that come to mind. Maybe you're more likely to thing of the PlayStation brand, not just the consoles but its family of exclusive titles. Maybe you think of their TVs and audio equipment, their smartphones or possibly the studio behind movies such as Madame Web, Emoji Movie and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. But in their most recent annual corporate strategy presentation, the Japanese conglomerate announced they're now focusing on their anime output.

Their recent acquisition of Crunchyroll and merging it with their prior anime streaming service Funimation is key to their new plans. So is Aniplex, the anime production and distribtuion series behind series like Demon Slayer, Bocchi the Rock! and Mashle: Magic and Muscles, to cite some of their recent work. At the presentation, Sony Group chairman and CEO Yoshida Kenichiro plus the president, COO and CFO Totoki Hiroki acknowledged that anime is no longer a Japanese phenomenon, and there is more global demand than ever when it comes to anime. Not only do they plan to boost their Crunchyroll and Aniplex outputs, Sony are launching an Anime Academy with the aim of developing talent within the industry. They said:

"The launch of a project to establish an academy comes with the aim of nurturing anime creators in global markets, mainly by Aniplex and Crunchyroll with collaboration from across the industry."

Sony are also working on a new animation software called AnimeCanvas, which is somehow set to use AI. Aniplex subsidiaries A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks are working with Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Sony Group's engineers on the project. Making anime with AI is already a red flag for many, but as long as it isn't meant to replace artists and take their jobs, maybe it can work. But we'll have to know what the hell it's for first.

Do you guys think Sony can make a name for themselves in the anime world? Let us know below!