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This is a list of anime industry companies involved in the production or distribution of anime.

Japan-based companies[]

Animation studios[]

Producers[]

Non-Japanese companies[]

Distributors[]

North America & other regions[]

  • ADV Films (U.S., U.K.)
  • AnimEigo (U.S.)
  • Bandai Entertainment (U.S., owned by Namco Bandai[1])
    • Bandai Visual USA (U.S., previously a subsidiary of Bandai Visual Japan and not affiliated with Bandai Entertainment, now folded into Bandai Entertainment[2])
  • Disney (U.S.)
    • Miramax Films (U.S., owned by Disney)
  • Funimation Entertainment (U.S.)
  • 4Kids Entertainment (U.S.)
  • Manga Entertainment (UK, U.S.: bought by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2005, which was itself later bought by Sony in fall 2007)
  • Media Blasters (U.S.)
  • NIS America (U.S., American subsidiary of Nippon Ichi Software software company)
  • The Right Stuf International (U.S., main distribution subdivision rebranded "Nozomi Entertainment" in 2007)
  • Tokyopop (U.S.)
  • Viz Media (U.S., owned jointly by Shogakukan and Shueisha, of Japan, but it is run independently)

Europe exclusive[]

Australia[]

Australia is not part of the normal global anime release system. Major worldwide anime distributors, such as for example ADV or FUNimation, usually hold the release rights to everywhere except for Japan itself, and Australia

  • AkaHana (Australia)
  • Madman Entertainment (Australia: Madman overwhelmingly dominates the Australian anime market, for many years through the 2000s controlling approximately 90% of all sales)
  • Siren Visual (Australia)

Defunct[]

  • Central Park Media (de facto defunct since mid-2007 when new DVD releases ceased, even though they continued to license their titles for TV and VOD, they entered a state of limbo.[3] Officially declared bankruptcy and assets liquidated in mid-2009 [4]).
  • Family Home Entertainment (U.S., renamed Artisan Entertainment) in the 1990s, then acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2003).
  • Geneon Entertainment (U.S. branch "Geneon USA" (formerly "Pioneer Entertainment") defunct September 2007. Parent Japanese company ceased in-house distribution of its own titles, many of which have been re-licensed by Funimation.[5][6] Parent company "Geneon Entertainment" then sold off its own ownership to NBC Universal subsidiary UPI, which then merged Geneon with its own "Universal Pictures Japan" division on February 1, 2009, renaming the new company "Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan").[7][8]
  • Streamline Pictures (U.S., Canada: stopped producing new anime releases in 1996, folding into Orion Pictures, which in turn folded into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer one year later, in 1997. The Streamline brand name officially went defunct in 2002).
  • U.S. Renditions (U.S., A subsidiary of Books Nippan, defunct mid-1990's)

Producers[]

  • Sav! The World Productions (Fr, producer of Oban Star-Racers with Bandai Visual and HAL Film Maker)
  • Harmony Gold USA (U.S., produced the seminal Robotech series in 1985; stopped releasing new anime in the late 1980's and virtually dormant in the 1990's, the company technically still exists and issues re-releases)

References[]

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