One company, five continuing labels
KADOKAWA will merge ENGI, Studio KADAN, Chiptune, Bellnox Films and Raging Bull into Studio One Base in November 2026. The new company is wholly owned by KADOKAWA and is expected to employ roughly 310 people. At the same time, the parent says each studio name, creative identity and production line will continue under the combined organization. That distinction matters: the announcement describes a legal and operational consolidation, not the immediate disappearance of every label or the cancellation of the projects currently associated with them.
What is actually being centralized
The five teams are gathering at the Studio One Base hub in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro. KADOKAWA plans to combine management and back-office functions, coordinate recruitment and training, share technical knowledge and move staff more flexibly across productions. The company frames those changes as a response to labor shortages, rising costs and increasingly large anime projects. It also promises better benefits and working conditions, but those are forward-looking corporate commitments. The release supplies no new employment contracts, staffing table or independent measure showing that conditions have already improved.
The project-level effects remain unknown
KADOKAWA says the merged group has produced 48 works and 486 episodes since the relevant studios joined its group, but it does not map upcoming titles to the new structure. No layoff, cancellation, delay or reassignment is announced. Fans should therefore avoid treating the merger as proof that a particular series will gain resources or lose its staff. The first material evidence will be changes to production credits, schedules and hiring after November, followed by whether the preserved labels truly keep distinct teams or mainly function as brands inside one centralized company.