Michiyuki Honma, the president of Pierrot, behind many major works like Naruto, Bleach, Black Clover and Urusei Yatsura, revealed that the impact of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake in Japan almost forced the studio to shut down completely.
Comic Natalie interviewed Honma and asked about Pierrot's biggest turning points outside their titles. He named the March 2011 earthquake in Japan, saying, "When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit, I felt a great sense of crisis. At the time, we were producing more than four productions a week, including Naruto Shippuden and Bleach, but the production line was indeed in disarray, some stations stopped broadcasting, and our income became unstable. This continued for two months, and we almost couldn't pay our employees' salaries. We were in a situation where we had no choice but to dissolve the company. But we were supported by our friends in the industry, the bank that provided us with a loan, and secondary income earned outside of production."
Naruto's Pierrot Saw Record Profits During the Pandemic, Including From Overseas Streaming
Honma says the period was a lesson learned, becoming Pierrot president a year after the earthquake. He states that he modified the company's income structure to protect against similar risks, seeing record profits during the pandemic. With 30% of Pierrot's income derived from overseas, he singled out Naruto as a "particularly impressive" income generator. Overseas streaming rights can be incredibly lucrative for studios, with Toho's CEO recently describing "increasingly exceptional" bids for My Hero Academia's rights. Regarding the ridiculous money Crunchyroll and others offered them, he said, "We began to wonder if we were being deceived." An important ex-producer at MAPPA recently spoke about his work transforming the studio's rights department, further highlighting overseas income's growing importance.
If Pierrot couldn't secure finances, even in the event of survival, it may have lost the rights to several anime adaptations. The studio's managing director, Keirou Itsumi, revealed in a recent interview that the company took large loans from banks to gain a higher percentage of returns on its anime series, admitting that the studio put up the copyright of some of its titles as collateral.
Overseas fans can stream Naruto and Naruto Shippuden on Crunchyroll, which describes the former: "Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He's done well so far, but with the looming danger posed by the mysterious Akatsuki organization, Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense exercises that will push him to his limits."
Source: Comic Natalie
