Blue Lock Creator Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Producer Makoto Kimura Establish Media Company
Manga creator Muneyuki Kaneshiro and anime producer Makoto Kimura announced on Tuesday that they have established a new media production company named Chimera Club. The company aims to bring together talented creators to produce works that break down the barriers between different forms of media, with manga as a "starting point."Kimura's own Blue Rights anime planning company, as well as the Gold Gusk and Sevenrich Group companies, jointly invested in the foundation of Chimera Club.Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura launched the Blue Lock soccer manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018. Kodansha published the manga's 33rd compiled book volume on March 17.The BLUELOCK television anime premiered in Japan in October 2022. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired, and streamed an English dub. The anime film of Kōta Sannomiya's BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi- spinoff manga premiered in Japan in April 2024. The film sold 337,000 tickets to earn 463 million yen (about US$2.99 million) in its first three days, and ranked at #2 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. The film premiered in North America in June 2024. BLUE LOCK vs. U-20 JAPAN, the second television anime, premiered in October 2024.Kimura joined MAPPA in 2018. Beside directing and producing, he also served as a rights management director, in which he was responsible for financing and licensing anime. He was fundamental in the funding for the Chainsaw Man anime. He also produced exhibitions for MAPPA, Chainsaw Man, and Jujutsu Kaisen. Prior to MAPPA, Kimura worked at anime planning and production company Twin Engine, and he also produced anime for Fuji TV's Noitanima late-night anime programming block starting in 2007. Kimura left MAPPA in March 2024, and established his anime planning company Blue Rights in April 2024.Sources: PR Times, Comic Natalie
