Highlights
- Anime studios have played a crucial role in shaping the industry through constant innovation and evolution, contributing to the medium's increased popularity and acceptance worldwide.
- These studios have set high standards in storytelling, animation quality, and music, with their works like Death Note, Ghost in the Shell, Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Naruto having a significant impact on the anime industry and its cultural phenomenon.
Anime as a medium of entertainment has continuously increased in popularity over time and has gained worldwide acceptance. Over the last three decades, anime has also seen a steady and significant increase in quality, with most of this credit going to anime production studios. These anime studios have played a pivotal part in shaping the anime industry as it is now through the constant and continuous evolution of visual and audio appeal, among many others.
These studios have produced iconic and culture-shifting anime and set the standards for story-telling, animation quality, and, in fact, musical additions. Constantly reinventing and innovating new ways of anime production, these studios have left unerasable marks on the anime industry and, by extension, the anime as a cultural phenomenon. In summary, here are some iconic studios responsible for the current state of the anime industry.
10 MadHouse Studios
MadHouse is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1972 by Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, and Yoshiaki Kawagiri, ex-members of another Japanese animation studio, Mushi Pro. MadHouse, having been around for quite a while, has produced quite the list of top-notch anime projects, including the iconic Death Note, Parasyte: The Maxim, and even the first season of the comedic superhero series One Punch Man, among many others.
However, atop this impressive list of projects stands the 2011 re-adaptation of fan-favorite Hunter X Hunter. Despite its famously incomplete adaptation, the series instantly became one of the shounen genre’s best.
9 Production I.G
Founded in 1987 by producer Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and character designer Takayuki Goto, the studio was named I.G Tastsunoko as a branch studio under animation giants Tatsunoko Production. The studio changed its name to the current one in 1993.
Since its creation, Production I.G has created several highly-rated anime like Guilty Crown, Psycho-Pass, the iconic Kuroko's Basketball, and Haikyuu. However, the studio's crowning jewel is the 1995 Ghost in the Shell animated film. The 1995 blockbuster would be a groundbreaking reference point in the sci-fi genre for both anime and theatrical films. It would inspire an entire movie franchise, thus sealing the legendary status of the production studio.
8 WIT Studio
Studio WIT has a relatively short history but an impressive list of anime projects in the last decade. Some have recently become the projected images of the anime industry. Studio WIT was founded by an ex-employee of Production I.G. in 2012.
Behind the fan-favorite Spy X Family and Ranking of Kings anime, Studio WIT gained notable acknowledgment after producing the first three seasons of Attack On Titan. This anime would change the seinen genre's outlook, and the studio was behind the production of the medieval historical seriesVinland Saga's first season.
7 Studio Bones
Founded in 1998 by Hiroshi Osaka, Masahiko Minami, and Toshihiro Kawamoto, Studio Bones boasts a stellar cast of anime productions that include Soul Eater, Noragami, Bungo Stray Dogs, Darker than Black, and the famous Mob Psycho 100.
Impressive as their works are, none compare to the duo that grants the studio a seat at the table of legends, The Fullmetal Alchemist and My Hero Academia, with the former primarily regarded as one of the best anime series in the last three decades and the latter, running for over a decade now with six seasons released consistently one of the best anime of the previous decade.
6 Ufotable
Ufotable has been around for over two decades, but its lifespan has had little to do with the unquestionable quality put into its projects. Founded by Hikaru Kondo in October 2000, Ufotable has produced several high-quality anime, including Garden of Sinners, Fate/Zero, and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, with the Fate series, worked on in collaboration with Type-Moon.
However, Ufotable's most recent project, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, takes animation to a new level. Based on its animation quality alone, the series has quickly established itself as one of the best new anime since 2020, with dazzling action sequences and an all-around blend of color and beauty, all of which is credited to the competence of Ufotable.
5 Kyoto Animation
Co-founded by married couple Yoko and Hideaki Hatta, Kyoko Animation, through its works, gave a new perception to anime that focused on emotionality and the surrealism of ordinary life. The studio also gained recognition due to its exemplary high production value and detailed work output. It's best works include Suzumiya, Free!, A Silent Voice and Violet Evergarden.
With Violet Evergarden and A Silent Voice gaining unprecedented traction after their various releases, both shows represent the culmination of Kyoko Animation's impact on the anime industry.
4 MAPPA
Founded by co-founder of MadHouse Studios, Masao Maruyama, in 2011, MAPPA has overseen some of the best anime projects of the last decade, each an improvement over the previous. Despite its relatively short lifespan, its portfolio of projects speaks for itself, which includes Terror in Resonance, Kakegurui, Banana Fish, and Dororo.
The studio has also collaborated on anime projects like God of High School, the final season of Attack on Titan, and Vinland Saga's second season. However, the top picks of its works are fan-favorites Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, which have exceeded viewing expectations since their release due to the stunning cinematic quality, among other factors.
3 Studio Pierrot
One of the current animation giants of Japan, Studio Pierrot, was founded in 1979 by Yuji Nunokawa, a former employee of Tatsunoko Production.
The animation studio is world-renowned for its star-studded cast of anime production over the last three decades, ones which include Yu Yu Hakusho, Tokyo Ghoul, Black Clover, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and is topped off with two out of the famous 'Big Three,' Naruto and Bleach. Its finest work would be Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. After its release, the series had a cultural impact on the world, putting the anime industry on the global radar.
2 Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli is one of Japan's most successful animation production studios. Founded by the trio of Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, and Isao Takahata in 1985, Studio Ghibli has earned worldwide recognition through its projects' quality. Built on impeccable attention to detail, intricate visuals, and a consistently recognizable characteristic design in every one of its projects, Studio Ghibli added a new layer to the appeal of aesthetics in anime.
It boasts a collection of some of the most successful anime projects in anime history, such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle. Through its unprecedented global success, the studio played a significant part in the evolution of the anime industry.
1 Toei Animation
Toei Animation has been operational since the 1960s and was founded in 1948 by Kenzo Masaoka and Zenjirō Yamamoto. Being one of the oldest animation productions in Japan, Toei Animation has a long list of stellar projects it has worked on. A list includes projects like Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, World Trigger, and even one of the 'Big Three' One Piece.
However, unlike the world-famous Dragon Ball series, none has impacted the anime industry. Regarding cultural impact and revolutionizing the perception of anime and the anime industry, the Dragon Ball series was the first to make such a profound impact and is still a massive reference point in the anime industry, even ahead of the 'Big Three.' Riding on the back of the groundbreaking impact of the Dragon Ball series, the anime industry started on its current path of global recognition, cementing the legendary status of Toei Animation in the anime industry.