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Bandai Namco, ADK, Aniplex Establish Anime Consortium Japan Streaming Service

Bandai Namco Holding inc., Asatsu-DK inc., and Aniplex inc. announced on Thursday that they will establish a joint company called Anime Consortium Japan, Inc. (ACJ). The company's goal is to develop a new internet streaming platform for overseas markets along with an e-commerce business for official anime content.

The platform will deliver simulcast new anime titles and older series in various languages. The company will launch on November 7 and expects to be in full operation by April 2015. Daisuki, Inc will merge with Anime Consortium Japan with funding by the Japanese government's Cool Japan initiative. The initiative will invest one billion yen (about US$9.1 million) in the project.

Additional shareholders include Toei Animation, Sunrise, TMS Entertainment, Nihon Ad Systems, and Dentsu Inc. Bandai Namco Games' executive vice president Shin Unozawa will serve as ACJ's representative.

Anime studios and production companies Aniplex, Sunrise, Toei Animation, TMS Entertainment, Nihon Ad Systems (NAS), Dentsu, and Asatsu-DK (ADK) launched the Daisuki streaming and retail website last year with plans to aggregate streaming content onto one website. They streamed Monogatari Series Second Season, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, Gundam ZZ, Gundam UC, Cowboy Bebop, Buddy Complex, Nisekoi, World Conquest Zvezda Plot, Mushi-Shi, Nanana's Buried Treasure, M3 the dark metal, Black Butler: Book of Circus, Sword Art Online II, and Aikatsu!.

Bandai Namco Games is a leading global Japanese publisher and developer of interactive media, including major video game consoles. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the top video game franchises. The company also produced its share of anime such as Space Dandy, the Blue Exorcist film, Accel World, Eureka Seven, and Sword Art Online.

Asatsu-DK (ADK) is a Japanese advertising agency and production company. The company produced several anime series such as Wolf's Rain, several Crayon Shin-chan movies, One Piece, and Tiger & Bunny.

Aniplex Inc. is a Sony Music Entertainment owned anime and Japanese music production, distribution company, and toy, food, and game merchandiser. Its produced anime such as Birdy the Mighty: Decode, Blue Exorcist, Durarara!!, Gintama, and No. 6.