was a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in
Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.Company Profile . Enoki Films USA. Retrieved on January 20, 2009.
Enoki Films also had a
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n division, established in 1986,ReelTime Is Animated About Agreement With Enoki Films USA, Inc. Press Release, May 22, 2007 headquartered in the Encino area of
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
called Enoki Films USA, Inc. Enoki Films USA acted as a middle-man between Japanese companies and American licensees such as
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
and Saban. In May 2007 their content was provided as
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
by Internet startup ReelTime.com (worldwide except Japan).
As of 2002 Enoki licensed anime but sub-licenses its licenses to various distributors instead of distributing them directly.
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
wrote that "They generally only license TV shows that they hope to also license to TV broadcasters such as
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
,
ABC Family
The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
and
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
".
Some of the anime productions that were listed on Enoki's website are under alternate names and may list characters under different names as well. In many cases, when sub-licensed to anime home video companies, the original titles and character names have been restored. Enoki's translations of episode titles and scenarios may differ from those in the official release.
If Enoki's series had a separate movie or direct-to-video production, it is usually not licensed by Enoki, and the film or direct-to-video production may be licensed to a separate company than the series (as is the case with the ''Slayers'' movies and OVAs and the ''Utena'' movie).
Enoki Films' North American division is now defunct, since it brought its operations to an end in 2010.
In addition to distributing anime, Enoki Films USA also distributed puppet shows such as '' Peppermint Park'' and '' Star Fleet''.https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-LPTV/LPTV-Report/LPTV-Report-1990.pdf
History
In 1975, Zen and Yoshi Enoki established Enoki Films Co., Ltd. in Tokyo. In 1980, they opened a liaison office in London, England, for European operations. In 1986 the California office opened; soon afterwards Yoshi Enoki opened the American division.
Anime licensed by Enoki Films USA
Some of the Enoki USA titles include:
* ''
8 Man After
or or is a manga and superhero anime created in 1963 by science fiction writer Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Jiro Kuwata. 8 Man is considered Japan's earliest cyborg superhero, pre-dating '' Kamen Rider.''
The manga was publi ...
''
* ''Bistro Recipe'' (''
Fighting Foodons
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by and serialized in '' Comic BonBon'' in 1998. It was adapted into an anime television series which aired on NHK-BS2 satellite channel from December 11, 2001 to June 25, 2002. It also recei ...
''; produced with
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
)
* '' Captain Tsubasa'' (under the titles ''Flash Kicker'' and ''Captain Tsubasa'')
* ''
Cosmo Warrior Zero
is a science fiction third-person shooter video game released by Taito. It was adapted into an anime television series in 2001.
Plot
The long war between the planet Earth and the machine men is finally over, resulting in a peace that is more ...
'' (under the title ''Cosmowarrior Zero'')
* ''
Demon Lord Dante
is a manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The series tells the story of Ryo Utsugi, a student who finds himself in the body of an ancient demon known as Dante and sees himself in the middle of a conflict between God and the dev ...
Saiyuki may refer to:
*''Saiyūki'', the Japanese language title of the Chinese classic ''Journey to the West''
*''Saiyūki'', a 1960 anime film based on Osamu Tezuka's manga adaptation of ''Journey to the West'' titled ''Boku no Son Goku'', released in En ...
''
* ''
Gun Frontier
is a 1972 manga by Leiji Matsumoto.In Matsumoto's works, there have been planets with towns modelled somewhat after the Wild West. In ''Galaxy Express 999'', one of them is called Gun Frontier. Another such planet appears in ''Cosmo Warrio ...
''
* '' Gokudo'' (as ''Jester the Adventurer'')
* ''
His and Her Circumstances
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Tsuda. It was serialized in ''LaLa'' from 1996 to 2005 and collected in 21 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Hakusensha. It depicts the romance between "perfect" student Yukino Miyazawa an ...
'' (as ''Tales at North Hills High''; released under original name)
* ''
Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken
is a shōjo manga by Hideko Mizuno first published in 1968 and made into a 29-episode anime television series in 1981 by Kokusai Eiga-sha (Movie International Company, Ltd.). The anime was released in the English language in the United States ...
'' (as simply ''Honey Honey'')
* ''
Ikki Tousen
, also known as ''Battle Vixens'' in North America, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūji Shiozaki. Loosely based on the classic 14th century Chinese novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', the series revo ...
''
* ''Lolo the Penguin'' ('' Scamper the Penguin'')
* '' Lost Universe''
* ''Majuu Sensen: The Apocalypse'' (as ''Beast Fighter: The Apocalypse'')
* ''
Revolutionary Girl Utena
is a series created by Be-Papas, an artist collective founded by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The primary entries in the series include a 1996 manga written by Chiho Saito, a 1997 anime television series directed by Ikuhara, and ''Adolescence of ...
'' (as ''Ursula's Kiss''; released under original name)
* ''
Slayers
is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in ''Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into individual volumes. They follow t ...
Mojacko
is a shōnen manga series created by Fujiko Fujio and later Fujiko F. Fujio. It was first serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Bokura Magazine'' in 1969 to 1970, for 35 chapters, eventually compiled into 2 ''tankōbon'' volumes. It was then ...
Hello Kitty's Paradise
There are several different Hello Kitty animated series, featuring the character Hello Kitty, from the Japanese company Sanrio.
''Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater'' (1987)
''Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater'' is an American animated series ...
''
*''Petit Petit Anime''
*''
The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz
''Space Oz no Bōken'' ( Japanese: スペースオズの冒険, Hepburn: ''Supēsu Ozu no Bōken'', ''Adventures of Space Oz'') is an anime TV series based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum. Produced by Enoki ...
Hikarian
, also called ''Hikarian: Great Railroad Protector'', is a Japanese anime and toy franchise by Tomy.
The first television series, , is about a series of bullet trains that are turned into robots. The robots, along with two humans named Tets ...
Serendipity the Pink Dragon
is an anime television series produced by ZUIYO Enterprise that aired on NTV on 1 July 1983, ending on 23 December. The series was based on the ''Serendipity'' books by Stephen Cosgrove and character designs for the animation version were don ...
Enoki also list many other anime series on their website that are available for sub-licensing to other companies for release on home video. As yet, the following titles remain unlicensed by any other company and thus unavailable in English:
* ''
The Adventures of Scamper the Penguin
''The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin'' is an animated film from 1986, originally released as a three-part serial film. Its original title and literal translation is ''The Adventures of Small Penguin Lolo''. The film was a co-production between J ...
''
* ''
Firestorm
A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...
'' (
Gerry Anderson
Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...
anime production)
* ''
Forza! Hidemaru
is a Japanese anime television series. It was produced by NAS (company), NAS and aired on TV Tokyo for twenty-six episodes. Enoki Films licensed the series as ''Forza! Mario'',Galaxy Gale Baxingar'' (J-9 series two, as ''Cosmo Ranger'')
* '' Galaxy Hurricane Sasuraiger'' (J-9 series three, as ''Wonder Six'')
* '' Galaxy Whirlwind Braiger'' (J-9 series one, as ''Cosmo Runner'')
* ''
Giant Killing
''Giant Killing'' (stylized as ''GIANT KILLING'') is Japanese manga series written by Masaya Tsunamoto and illustrated by Tsujitomo. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Morning'' since January 2007. A 26-episod ...
''
* ''
Hikarian
, also called ''Hikarian: Great Railroad Protector'', is a Japanese anime and toy franchise by Tomy.
The first television series, , is about a series of bullet trains that are turned into robots. The robots, along with two humans named Tets ...
''
* ''Mission Outer Space Srungle'' (as ''Gorilla Force''; previously licensed by Saban as part of "Macron 1" along with ''
GoShogun
is a super robot anime series created by Takeshi Shudo. It was produced and aired in 1981 in Japan, with a movie special released in 1982 and a film sequel, ''GoShogun: The Time Étranger'' or ''Time Stranger'', in 1985. Its title has been ...
Thumbelina
Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in t ...