RisingJoy Signs International Distribution Pact With NTT DOCOMO

Singapore-based RisingJoy has signed a distribution pact with Japanese outfit NTT DOCOMO Studio.

The deal, which was announced this afternoon, covers the international distribution of the Japanese company’s vertical content, including its anime slate. RisingJoy said NTT DOCOMO’s titles “may be licensed on a non-exclusive, title-by-title basis, with terms agreed separately for each release.”

This afternoon, RisingJoy also committed to producing 30 vertical anime titles by the end of the first quarter of 2027. The company said the first six titles have already been completed and delivered.

The six titles completed under the RJOY Originals banner are Addicted to the Dark Boss, Hide My Secret in the Moonlight, In the Devil’s Hand, Last Order from the Revenge Club, Locked Away I Became Unbreakable, and Modern Cinderella Behind the Lies. The company said AI production tools were used on the titles “to reach a scale and cadence that conventional animation cannot support at short-form budgets.” Four more titles are expected by the end of 2026.

“Most successful vertical series today are live action, and vertical anime is still an underdeveloped category,” Cassandra Yang, Co-founder and CEO of RisingJoy, said in a statement.

“We read that as an opportunity rather than a limitation. Our own data shows the anime audience is narrower for now, but those viewers are more loyal, more engaged and more attached to the characters, and that is what franchises are built on. This is a strategic category for us, not an experiment.”