Kadogawa Corporation cooperates with Taurus Global Studio to expand the comic and light novel market, set up a human resource training base in Vietnam.

06.03.2019

Taurus Global Studio – A member company of N&V Bridge Group shall be in charge of design project.

From 6th to 8th of March 2019, N&V Bridge, as a consulting firm in cooperation with Kadogawa Corporation, organized a visit and research tour for the Leaders of the Corporation to Vietnam with the purposes of expanding the comic and light novel market, and at the same time setting up a training base for manpower to draw manga / anime. The itinerary was as follows:

1. Visiting N&V Bridge office – Hanoi branch

2. Visiting and meeting at the Hanoi Department of Culture – Sports and Tourism (Deputy Director: Mrs. Bui Thi Thu Hien)

3. Visit and exchange meeting with the Representatives of University of Industrial Fine Arts in Hanoi city.

4. Visiting and meeting with Kim Dong Publishing House (Director: Mr. Pham Quang Vinh)

During the meeting with representatives of N&V Bridge Group – General Director Mr. Nguyen Vo Huyen Duong, Representative from Kadogawa Group – Vice President / Manager of Comics Division – Mr. Masayuki Aoyagi expressed his desire to cooperate with N&V Bridge Co., Ltd., implementing a comic drawing project in Vietnam, for Vietnamese and other Asian readers. Mr. Duong affirmed that he is ready for extensive – strategic cooperation; and N&V Bridge Group is capable of providing professional human resources in drawing background and characters, and at the same time establishing a research center to support related personals.

One of the highlights of the visit to Hanoi was the brief meeting of the delegation with the Representative / Deputy Director of the Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hanoi City—Ms. Bui Thi Thu Hien who stated her view: “Hanoi is the capital of a thousand years of civilization, and a rich tradition of reading, especially the large number of teenagers for comic books. The Bureau currently also manages the system of bookstores and libraries throughout the city, and shall assist Kadogawa to promote its publications”.

In order to prepare manpower for this long-term project, Kadogawa also had an exchange meeting with Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts. Mr. Yoshiyuki Matsumoto (Chief Advisor) as the mediator, introduced the two sides to discuss about opening a course to recruit story drawing artists. After viewing graduation project gallery of final year students, Mr. Aoyagi also said that MTCN students possess great ability and potential for further development. The cooperation will make a contribution in improving their skill level and support them in actual working environment.

Towards the extensive coverage of Kadogawa Group’s works, the delegation also met Mr. Pham Quang Vinh – Director of Kim Dong Publishing House – and the copyright and foreign affairs personals. From the Publishing House, Mr. Vinh said: “Kadogawa’s works are always among the best-selling books in Vietnam. The possible cooperation in the future will create the foundation for both sides to develop and expand the market to readers of different age ranges .
Another potential area of collaboration is e-books publishing, which is expected to dominate 50% of the market in the coming years. With the aim of developing Light novels through the online reading system, both parties need to establish security terms, construct apps, … to optimize the rights for the users.

Mr. Aoyagi said: “Kim Dong Publishing House is the leading publisher in Vietnam with good reputation and always puts the copyrights issue / rights of the author, readers care service on the top.”