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Kazé

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Kazé
TypeSociété par actions simplifiée
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedSeptember 21, 1994; 31 years ago (1994-09-21) (original)
April 2026; 4 months ago (2026-04) (relaunch)
FounderCédric Littardi
DefunctOctober 1, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-10-01) (original)
FateFolded into Crunchyroll (original)
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Area served
Europe
Key people
Kazuyoshi Takeuchi
Products
  • Anime
  • manga
  • films
ParentOtter Media (2019–2021)
Crunchyroll EMEA (2021–2022)
HarperCollins (2025–present)
Websitewww.kaze.fr Edit this at Wikidata
Head office of Kazé/Crunchyroll France

Kazé is a French publishing company that specializes in anime and manga. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in the 9th arrondissement of Paris,[1] Kazé specializes in the distribution of Japanese anime and manga for the European market.

Kazé was first acquired by Viz Media Europe in 2009, then by WarnerMedia (today known as Warner Bros. Discovery) via Otter Media, which was then followed by Sony via Crunchyroll EMEA, and currently though HarperCollins after it acquired Crunchyroll's French and German manga publishing operations, which included Kazé in September 2025. HarperCollins would later relaunch the company into its current form in April 2026.

History

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Kazé was first founded in 1994 and debuted by publishing Record of Lodoss War on VHS.

In 2005, Kazé launched its music label, Wasabi Records, specializing in J-Pop. In the last few years, the company has diversified its activities by publishing Japanese animated feature films, such as Appleseed, Origin: Spirits of the Past and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. In 2007, Kazé released Shinobi, its first live-action film, to theaters in France, and in July 2009, Kazé launched its own television channel, KZTV (Kazé TV), devoted to anime. Around the same time, Kazé experimented with online streaming with the launch of its anime streaming service, KZPlay in October 2009,[2] which would later merge with another streaming service, Genzai, to form a new anime streaming service known as Anime Digital Network (today known as Animation Digital Network) in 2013.

On August 28, 2009, Kazé announced its acquisition by Viz Media Europe, a subsidiary of Shogakukan and Shueisha.[3]

Kaze changed its name to Kazé in 2010, in hopes that the addition of an accent would allow for a better pronunciation of its name. It published numerous series of Japanese animations in French and became one of the largest independent publishers of video and manga in Europe.

Before the purchase, the company's manga was published under the Asuka imprint. Since January 2010, only yaoi titles have been released under the Asuka imprint; the majority of titles were moved to the company's new Kazé imprint, including later volumes of non-yaoi series started under the Asuka imprint. Asuka's current licenses include a broad spectrum of manga: popular shōnen and shōjo series such as After School Nightmare, more mature seinen and josei titles such as Bokurano, and classic manga such as Black Jack and works by Osamu Tezuka. They also publish several yaoi and yuri titles, including a French edition of Be x Boy magazine.

The company also published in Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Russia & Poland.

In May 2012, Cédric Littardi, the founder and long-time head of the company, announced his departure.

Kazé and Média-Participations (via its Dargaud and Citel, and Kana subsidiaries) launched Anime Digital Network in October 2013, a French anime streaming service which formed from a merger between two previous anime streaming platforms Genzai and KZPlay.[4] During the Sony ownership in July 2022, Kazé relinquished its ownership of ADN, leaving Média-Participations as the full owner.[5] Anime Digital Network changed its name to Animation Digital Network following Kazé's departure from ADN.[6]

On June 1, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that Kazé and its labels will be rebranded as Crunchyroll.[7] The rebranding became effective on October 1, 2022.

On July 16, 2025, HarperCollins announced that it has acquired the French and German Crunchyroll manga publishing business (including Kazé), with the acquisition being closed on September 30, 2025.[8][9]

On December 10, 2025, HarperCollins announced that the Kazé label would be brought back for new licenses from April 2026.[10]

Italian dubs

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In 2012, the French company has received criticism from Italy regarding the publication of Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (series OVA), Mardock Scramble: the First Compression, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. Instead of giving the job to an Italian dubbing studio, as with previous releases, Kazé opted for a French dubbing studio named Wantake, which used amateur voice actors of Italian-French nationality. The resulting performance was regarded as poor. Criticism was also directed towards the menu systems on the DVDs, which featured inaccurate translations. On Amazon.com, titles have received numerous negative reviews owing to these perceived failings, and the company was flooded with negative comments via Twitter and Facebook.[11]

Anime published

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Anime published in France

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Anime published in UK

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Anime published in Germany

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Anime published in Spain

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Anime published in Italy

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Manga

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Kazé Anime Nights

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Logo of Kazé Anime Nights

Kazé Anime Nights is a cinema event, where Kazé screens anime films and sometimes Asian films across Germany and Austria for one day or multiple days.[13]

Films of Kazé Anime Nights and Asia Nights 2018

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Title[14][15] Release date
Tokyo Ghoul February 2, 2018
Tokyo Ghoul February 27, 2018
The Virgin Psychics March 2, 2018
Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter March 27, 2018
100 Yen Love April 6, 2018
Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess April 24, 2018
Death Note: Light Up the New World May 4, 2018
Detective Conan Episode One May 29, 2018
Persona Non Grata June 1, 2018
Attack on Titan Movie Part 3 June 26, 2018
A Day July 6, 2018
Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry July 31, 2018
Corpse Party August 3, 2018
Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic August 28, 2018
Lu over the Wall September 25, 2018
The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl October 30, 2018

Films of Kazé Anime Nights 2019

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Title[13] Release date[13]
Dragon Ball Super: Broly January 29, 2019
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on Me February 26, 2019
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes March 26, 2019
The adventures of young Sinbad April 30, 2019
Mirai May 28, 2019
Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer June 25, 2019
Dragon Ball Super: Broly July 30, 2019
Okko's Inn August 27, 2019
Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie August 27, 2019
One Piece: Stampede September 24, 2019
Penguin Highway October 29, 2019

References

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  1. ↑ "Mentions Légales Archived June 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine." Kazé. Retrieved on June 6, 2017. "le siège social est situé : 14 Bd Haussmann 75009 Paris France. "
  2. ↑ "Animeland - SCOOP ! Kaze lance du simulcast". www.animeland.com (in French). Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  3. ↑ Rice, Brad. "Viz does Eurotrip: Parent companies acquire Kaze and Anime Virtual". Japanator. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Anime Digital Network en approche !, 09 Septembre 2013". manga-news.com (in French). Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Crunchyroll se sépare d'ADN et devient le premier diffuseur d'anime en France" (in French). Crunchyroll. July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  6. ↑ Animation Digital Network [@ADNanime] (July 27, 2022). "📣 📣 La nouvelle aventure Animation Digital Network commence ! 📣📣 On vous explique tout ! Si vous avez d'autres interrogations sur la suite des évènements, tout est dispo sur notre FAQ !". Twitter. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  7. ↑ "ANNONCE : Kazé devient Crunchyroll". Crunchyroll (in French). Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Stewart, Sophia (July 16, 2025). "HarperCollins Acquires Crunchyroll's Publishing Operations in France, Germany". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Annonces commerciales detail — bodacc.fr". www.bodacc.fr (in French). Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  10. ↑ "CRUNCHYROLL MANGA BECOMES KAZÉ AND UNVEILS ITS 2026 LINE-UP". HarperCollins Publishers. December 10, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Nuovi doppiaggi Kazé: l'ira dei fan" (in Italian). AnimeClick.it. July 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Black Rose Alice". manga-news.com (in French). Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 "KAZÉ | KAZÉ Anime Nights". September 23, 2019. Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  14. ↑ "KAZÉ Anime Nights 2018". www.kaze-online.de. Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  15. ↑ "KAZÉ Movie lädt zu asiatischen Kinonächten ein". www.kaze-online.de. Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
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