GDH/Gonzo continues to trim down, in response to being on notice for a year by the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Having recently been purchased by Iwakaze Capital KK, the company's restructuring is now well underway.

On Friday, November 28, GDH announced that it was asking 50 employees of the GDH and Gonzo divisions -- about 25% of the GDH workforce -- to retire voluntarily, effective January 31, 2009. Those who choose to go along with this request, and agree to it between December 1 and 12 of this year, will be given a one-time bonus, equivalent to one month's salary. While this staff reduction applies to the Gonzo anime studio as well as to its parent company, GDH, it is not going to affect the Gonzo Rosso online gaming division.

In another announcement on Friday, GDH revealed plans to sell another subsidiary, GDH Capital. This financing arm of the company was established only three years ago. But since it was worth about US $3 million in 2005, and is now worth US $2.2 million, GDH seems to have decided that it's a good time to get out of the financing business, considering the current world economic situation.

The first clear indication that GDH was in trouble came earlier this year, when the Tokyo Stock Exchange gave the company a year to improve, with delisting from the Exchange looming as a possible consequence at the end of that 12-month period. When Iwakaze Capital purchased the company a few months later, that move provided promise that things were going to change.

Early changes involved the reduction of executive and managerial staff, reducing the number of people on the board of directors, and the trimming of some high level salaries. GDH had also announced, earlier in November, that Gonzo's yearly number of anime projects would be reduced from eight to four.

So the changes continue, as GDH gets its financial house in order. It remains to be seen how satisfied the Tokyo Stock Exchange will be when everything is finished. But clearly, GDH is going to be considerably leaner and more streamlined by the end of the year of grace.