Fuji TV Retains Bandai as Sponsor for Some Anime

Anime News Network’s Japan-based staff confirmed two of the seven anime series on Fuji TV — Rurouni Kenshin and Sazae-san — aired without corporate sponsors between February 10 to 16. The Chinese animated series Ringing Fate also aired without corporate sponsors.

Grams, the producers of the Ragnadoll mobile game, sponsored Honey Lemon Soda, while the tutoring company Kobetsu Shidō Canpass sponsored Chibi Maruko-chan. Bandai and Bandai Namco Entertainment sponsored the first half of Dragon Ball Daima, Tōsōchū: The Great Mission, and One Piece. Chibi Maruko-chan ended its two-week drought of sponsors with the Kobetsu Shidō Canpass sponsorship.

Instead of ads from external corporate sponsors, Fuji TV aired ads for several in-house live-action series, game shows, and feature films produced by Fuji TV, as well as non-profit public service announcements from AC Japan, the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association, and Japan Advertising Review Organization. The most common ads were for the live-action shows 119 Emergency and Mondai Bukken, and the feature films Under Ninja and My Beloved Stranger.

Several other ads for events and other properties aired between programs. While many were for Fuji TV productions, ads for the new anime film for The Rose of Versailles, Tomokazu Matsuyama’s new art exhibition, and the Stream of Banksy Effect – Street Art (R)evolution Exhibition also aired. As these ads were not sponsoring any anime aired on Fuji TV, they were likely part of the broadcaster’s general sponsorship pool .

Fuji TV‘s decline in sponsorships came after the Weekly Bunshun magazine reported that former SMAP member Masahiro Nakai engaged in nonconsensual sexual activities with a woman in June 2023, resulting in a 90 million yen (about US$580,000) out-of-court settlement. Weekly Bunshun also reported that Fuji TV staff was involved with the incident, although the magazine later said that the woman was not initially invited to the gathering by a Fuji TV official as it had reported in December. In the aftermath, Fuji TV president Koichi Minato and Fuji Media Holdings Inc. chairman Shuji Kano resigned their positions.

The drop in sponsorship has affected all of Fuji TV, not just its anime content. According to a February 2 Shukan Gendai article, the broadcast corporation has lost 80 corporate sponsors with expected losses of 23.3 billion yen (just over US$150,000,000) over a three-month period.

A February 15 follow-up article by Shukan Gendai magazine reported Fuji TV issued a companywide survey for its staff. According to Shukan Gendai, 18% of respondents in Fuji TV‘s news department said they had experienced unwanted physical contact. Within the same department, 28% said they had experienced conversations of a sexual nature, 32% had inappropriate contact or invitations to meals, 16% had superiors use their position to pressure them into a sexual relationship or relationship, and 51% said sighing and sulky attitudes made them feel uncomfortable.

These numbers at Fuji TV‘s news departmentt were all higher than the ones in the overall company. Shukan Gendai reported 8% of Fuji TVs overall staff experienced unwanted physical contact, 19% had experienced conversations of a sexual nature, 12% had inappropriate contact or invitations to meals, 7% had superiors use their position to pressure them into a sexual relationship or relationship, and 32% said sighing and sulky attitudes made them feel uncomfortable

The Shukan Gendai article also noted Fuji TV‘s news production department (which handles variety shows such as Mezamashi TV) had been cautioned about behaviors leading to sexual harassment. The examples cited in the article are:

As of press time, no announcements have been made regarding future sponsorships for anime programming on Fuji TV.

Sources: Shukan Gendai’s website

Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.