U-NEXT Holdings announced it will acquire the anime studio GoHands through a stock transfer, with the deal taking effect on June 1. The streaming company plans to integrate GoHands' animation production capacity with its own platform to reduce costs, boost productivity, and improve content quality through digital technology.

GoHands, based in Osaka and founded in August 2008, has produced anime including K, Hand Shakers, and Momentary Lily. The studio gained attention in 2021 when the production committee canceled an adaptation of CLAMP's Tokyo Babylon manga due to alleged plagiarism concerns. The cancelation led to a legal dispute between GoHands and entertainment company King Records over non-payment.

U-NEXT Holdings operates U-NEXT (formerly known as GyaO NEXT), which describes itself as Japan's largest streaming platform. By owning GoHands outright, U-NEXT can directly develop animation for its original intellectual property rather than contracting external studios—a move that mirrors strategies used by competitors like Netflix and Crunchyroll.

The acquisition represents a vertical integration play common in the streaming industry: controlling both content creation and distribution. U-NEXT Holdings president and CEO Yasuhide Uno established the holding company in February 2009, while GoHands is led by representative director Ringo Kishimoto.

For anime fans, this acquisition could mean more U-NEXT original anime productions backed by GoHands' technical expertise. It also signals confidence in GoHands' recovery following its production and financial troubles. Whether the studio will return to adapting manga properties or focus primarily on U-NEXT originals remains to be seen.