, previously and still famously known as Sunrise Inc., is a Japanese

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...

founded in September 1972 and is based in

Ogikubo, Tokyo is a suburban, residential area of Tokyo in Suginami ward, approximately 8 km west of Shinjuku. Ogikubo has the Ogikubo Station on the JR Chūō Line (Rapid), the JR Chūō-Sōbu Line, the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (terminus) and the To ...

. Its former names were also Soeisha, Nippon Sunrise and Sunrise Studio. Its primary division, , is renowned for critically praised and popular original anime series such as ''

Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

'', '' Cowboy Bebop'', ''

Space Runaway Ideon is a 1980 anime television series produced by Sunrise, created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, produced immediately following his most famous work, ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. It first premiered on TV Tokyo from 1980 to 1981, followed by two ...

'', ''

Armored Trooper Votoms is a Japanese military science fiction mecha anime series produced by Nippon Sunrise, created and directed by Ryosuke Takahashi and featuring mechanical designs by Kunio Okawara. Following directly in the footsteps of Takahashi' ...

'', ''

Magic God Hero Legend Wataru is a mecha multimedia franchise originally created by Sunrise and Red Entertainment. The first series aired on April 15, 1988, replacing the 17:00–17:30 timeslot used for '' Transformers: The Headmasters''. Sunrise credited "Hajime Y ...

'', '' Yoroiden Samurai Troopers'', ''

Future GPX Cyber Formula is a Japanese futuristic motorsports anime television series produced by Asatsu-DK, VAP and Sunrise. The series originally aired between March 15 and December 20, 1991 on Nippon TV and was later followed by four OVA series respectively ...

'', ''

Crush Gear Turbo ''Crush Gear'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It aired from October 2001 to January 2003, with 68 episodes. The series is about people throwing mechanical vehicles called "Gears" into a large ...

'', ''

The Vision of Escaflowne is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series created by Shōji Kawamori and Sunrise Studios and directed by Kazuki Akane. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 on TV Tokyo, and the final episode aired on September 24, 1996. Sony's a ...

'', ''

Love Live! is a Japanese multimedia project created by Hajime Yatate and Sakurako Kimino and co-produced by Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa through ASCII Media Works; Bandai Namco Music Live through music label Lantis (company), Lantis; and animation studio ...

'', ''

Witch Hunter Robin ''Witch Hunter Robin'' (stylized as ''Witch Hunter ROBIN'') is a 2002 Japanese anime series created by Sunrise and animation director Shūkō Murase. The series originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between July and December 2002. The series w ...

'', ''

My-HiME is a Japanese anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005. The series focuses on the lives of HiMEs—girls with the capa ...

'', ''

My-Otome is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of '' My-HiME'' anime series and as such ''My-Otome'' takes place in a new setting with new main characters. The series ori ...

'', '' Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'', '' Tiger & Bunny'', and '' Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon'', as well as its numerous adaptations of acclaimed

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s including ''

Crest of the Stars is a three-volume space opera science fiction novel written by Hiroyuki Morioka with cover illustrations by Toshihiro Ono. This was followed by a second, ongoing novel series, '' Banner of the Stars'' (a.k.a. ''Seikai no Senki'', currentl ...

'', ''

Dirty Pair is a series of Japanese light novels (the first one being a fix-up) written by Haruka Takachiho and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko that was later adapted into anime and manga versions. The first stories that make up the first volume ...

'', '' Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere'' and '' Accel World'', and manga such as ''

City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 ''tankōbon'' volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted into ...

'', ''

Inuyasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'', ''

Outlaw Star is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise and ''seinen'' manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Itō. The series takes place in the "Toward Stars Era" universe in which spacecraft are capable of traveling faste ...

'', ''

Yakitate!! Japan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takashi Hashiguchi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from December 2001 to January 2007, with its chapters collected in 26 ''tankōbon'' volumes. A sixty-nine ...

'', ''

Planetes ''Planētes'', "Wanderers", lead=yes is a Japanese hard science fiction manga written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Morning'' between January 1999 to January 2004, with its ...

'', '' Sgt. Frog'', ''

Gin Tama is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to September 2018, later in ''Jump Giga'' from December 2 ...

'', and ''

Kekkaishi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe. The series is about Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, heirs to rival families of ''kekkai'' (barrier magic) users, who must defend their school from the spirits d ...

''. Their productions usually feature fluid animation and action sequences and many fans refer to the quality of their work as "Sunrise Smooth". Most of their work are original titles created in-house by their creative staff under a collective pseudonym,

Hajime Yatate is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff. Name "Hajime Yatate" is considered to be named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's ''Oku no Hosomichi'': Credited series This collective entity is credited as the ...

. They also operated a defunct video-game studio, Sunrise Interactive. Sunrise launched a light-novel publisher, ''Yatate Bunko Imprint'', on September 30, 2016, to publish original titles and supplement their existing franchises with new materials. Anime created by Sunrise which have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix are ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcastin ...

'' in 1979 and the first half of 1980, ''

'' in the second half of 1980, ''

Crusher Joe is a series of science fiction novels written by Haruka Takachiho and published by Asahi Sonorama from 1977 to 2005 (an additional trilogy was published between 2013 and 2016). During the late 1970s one of the founding fathers of Studi ...

'' (a co-production with

Studio Nue Studio Nue, Inc. ( ja, スタジオぬえ) is a Japanese design studio formed in 1972 (as Crystal Art Studio) by Naoyuki Kato, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Kazutaka Miyatake, and Haruka Takachiho. Crystal Art Studio would change their name to Studio Nue ...

) in 1983, ''

'' in 1985, ''

'' in 1991, ''

Gundam SEED is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. The ninth installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise, ''Gundam SEED'' takes place in a future calendar era, in this case the Cosmic Era. In this era, mankind has devel ...

'' in 2002, ''

Gundam SEED Destiny is an anime television series, a direct sequel to ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' by Sunrise and the overall tenth installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise. It retains most of the staff from ''Gundam SEED'', including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. Se ...

'' in 2004 and 2005, '' Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'' in 2006 and 2007 and '' Code Geass R2'' in 2008, making Sunrise the studio which won the largest number of Animage Awards.

History

According to an interview with Sunrise members, the studio was founded by former members of Mushi Production in 1972 as . Rather than having anime production revolve around a single creator (like Mushi, headed by Osamu Tezuka), Sunrise decided that production should focus on the producers. The market for mainstream anime (such as manga adaptations, sports shows, and adaptations of popular children's stories) was already dominated by existing companies, so Sunrise decided to focus on robot anime, known to be more difficult to animate but which could be used to sell toys. Sunrise has been involved in many popular and acclaimed anime television series, including ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' (and its spin-offs and sequels since 1979), the ''Magic God Hero Legend Wataru'' series (1988–1997), the Brave (1990–1997) and ''Eldran'' series (1991–1993), both of which were co-produced with

Takara Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...

, and the ''

'' series (1999–2001). They produced the apocalyptic ''

'' in 1980. The company have co-produced a number of series with

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by ...

, including ''

Majokko Tickle , also known as ''Magical Girl Tickle'' or ''Tickle the Witch Girl'', is a 1970s magical girl manga and anime by Go Nagai. Unlike Nagai's earlier (and more popular) '' Cutie Honey'', ''Majokko Tickle'' is closer to the more traditional mo ...

'' (from episode 16), the '' Robot Romance Trilogy'' (''

Chōdenji Robo Combattler V ''Combattler V'', full name , is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Toei Dōga and animated by Soeisha (later renamed as Nippon Sunrise) that aired from 1976 to 1977. It is the first part of the ''Robot Romance Trilogy'' o ...

'' (1976), ''

Chōdenji Machine Voltes V , popularly known as simply ''Voltes V '' (pronounced as "Voltes Five") is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Dōga and animated by Nippon Sunrise (formerly known as Soeisha). It is the second installment of the ''Robot Ro ...

'' (1977), ''

Tōshō Daimos is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Dōga and animated by Nippon Sunrise, directed by Tadao Nagahama as his last work. It is the third and final installment of the ''Robot Romance Trilogy'', following '' Chōdenji Robo Co ...

'' (1978)), '' Daltanious'', and ''

Cyborg 009 is a Japanese science fiction manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was serialized in many different Japanese magazines, including '' Monthly Shōnen King'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', '' Shōnen Big Comic'', ''COM'', ' ...

'' (a 1979 co-production with

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

). Sunrise is well known for their

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...

anime series (including ''Gundam''), such as ''

Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3 , also known as ''The Unchallengeable Daitarn 3'', is a Japanese anime television series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate, and animated by Sunrise. It was first broadcast on Japanese TV in 1978. The series lasted for 40 episodes. T ...

'' (1978), ''

Fang of the Sun Dougram is a 75-episode anime television series, created by Ryosuke Takahashi and Sunrise, and aired in Japan from October 23, 1981 to March 25, 1983 on TV Tokyo. A 1983 full-length feature film, ''Dougram: Documentary of the Fang of the Sun'', sum ...

'' (1981), the ''Armored Trooper Votoms'' and ''

Aura Battler Dunbine is an anime television series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and produced by Sotsu and Sunrise (company), Sunrise. ''Dunbine'' is set in Byston Well, a parallel world that resembles the countryside of medieval Europe with kingdoms ruled by mo ...

'' series (1983), '' Blue Comet SPT Layzner'' (1985), ''

Patlabor , also known as ''Patlabor'' (a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor"), is a Japanese science fiction media franchise created by Headgear, a group consisting of manga artist Masami Yūki, director Mamoru Oshii, screenwriter Kazunori Itō ...

'' (1989), ''

'' (1996), ''

The Big O ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1999/2003), ''

Overman King Gainer is an anime television series, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, and featuring character designs by Yoshihiro Nakamura, Kinu Nishimura and Ken'ichi Yoshida. The series ran from September 7, 2002 to March 22, 2003 on ...

'' (2002), ''

Zegapain is a Japanese anime television series created by Sunrise. The series premiered in Japan on April 6, 2006 on TV Tokyo and also later aired on BS Japan and AT-X. On October 2, 2007, Bandai Entertainment released the first Region 1 volume of ' ...

'' (2007), ''Code Geass'' (2006/2008), '' Tiger & Bunny'' (2011), and '' Valvrave the Liberator'' (2013), and worked with

Tsuburaya Productions is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producin ...

to animate '' The Ultraman'' (1979). On April 1, 2022, Bandai Namco Holdings adopted a new logo that had been initially revealed in October 2021, and with it, a major organization shuffle occurred, resulting in Sunrise subsuming the visual arts division of Bandai Namco Arts, which was dissolved that same day. Following this, the company has adopted the same logo as its parent, and adopted the name of Bandai Namco Filmworks. Its music division, Sunrise Music, has similarly subsumed Bandai Namco Arts' music operations, including Lantis, and changed its name to Bandai Namco Music Live. The Sunrise name has been kept as one of the major brands of the company.

Studios

*Studio 1 was created when Sunrise was founded in 1972. Notable works include ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. It was also the studio responsible for various later

installments: '' G'', ''

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

'', '' X'', '' Turn A'', ''

Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

'', '' Reconguista in G'', ''

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...

'', ''

Narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...

'', and '' Hathaway''. *Studio 2 was created around 1974–75, and some key members left to form

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

in 1998. Notable works include ''

'' and some installments of Gundam: including ''

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

'', '' ZZ'', ''

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

'', ''

Char's Counterattack is a 1988 Japanese animated science fiction film set in the Universal Century timeline of the ''Gundam'' franchise. Making its theatrical debut on March 12, 1988, ''Char's Counterattack'' is the culmination of the original saga begun in ' ...

'' and '' F91''. It also worked on ''

'' and '' Cowboy Bebop'', co-producing a film adaptation of each with Bones. *Studio 3 was created in 1975. Early works included '' Blue Comet SPT Layzner'' and ''

''. It was responsible for many Gundam installments, including ''

0083 is a 13-episode anime OVA series set in the Gundam universe. The first volume containing two 30-minute episodes was released in Japan on May 23, 1991. Subsequent volumes, containing one 30-minute episode each, followed every one or two mon ...

'', '' 08th MS Team'', and TV series of the franchise: '' 00'', '' AGE'', '' Build Fighters'', '' Build Fighters Try'', and '' Iron-Blooded Orphans''. *Studio 4 was created in 1979, and notable works include '' The Ultraman'' anime. The studio became inactive in 1987. The current Studio 4 began as support for Studio 2, and was known as Studio Iogi (井荻スタジオ) (named after the pseudonym of longtime Sunrise director

Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese mecha anime creator, animator, director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art ...

). The studio's first major work was 1985's ''

'', and other notable works include ''

'', '' s-CRY-ed'' and ''

Code Geass , often referred to simply as ''Code Geass'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp. Set ...

''. *Studio 5 was also created in 1979. One of its producers was Mikihiro Iwata, a founder of

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata and it is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The studio was established by SMEJ's animation production division ...

. Notable works include ''

'', the ''

InuYasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'' movies, ''

Daily Lives of High School Boys is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasunobu Yamauchi. The manga was serialized in ''Gangan Online'' and was released in seven manga volumes between May 21, 2009, and September 27, 2012. A twelve-episode anime series produ ...

'', ''

Aikatsu! is an arcade collectible card game in Bandai's ''Data Carddass'' line of machines, which launched in October 2012. The game revolves around using collectible cards featuring various clothes to help aspiring idols pass auditions. An ani ...

'', ''

Good Luck Girl! ''Good Luck Girl!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiaki Sukeno. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Jump Square'' from June 2008 to July 2013, with its chapters c ...

'', ''

Mobile Suit SD Gundam is a series of animated shorts released in theaters and as original video animation between 1988 and 1993 by Sunrise. Part of the '' SD Gundam'' media franchise, the anime was based on the popular ''Gashapon'' capsule toys and model ki ...

'' and '' Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket''. *Studio 6 was created in 1983. Notable works include ''

'', '' Sgt. Frog'', and '' Tiger & Bunny''. they also provided animation to '' Batman: The Animated Series''. Some members left to form

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

in 2007. *Studio 7 was created in 1985. Its first work, uncredited, was on the American cartoon series '' Centurions: Power Xtreme'', and it is noted for ''

Sacred Seven , is a 2011 Japanese science fiction anime television series produced by Sunrise under the direction of Yoshimitsu Ohashi. Script supervisor is Shin Yoshida with mechanical designs by Ippei Gyōbu. The series began broadcasting in Japan start ...

'', '' s-CRY-ed'' and the ''Yūsha'' series. Some members left to form

Manglobe was a Japanese animation studio based in Suginami, Tokyo and active from 2002 to 2015. The studio was formed on February 7, 2002 by Sunrise producers Shinichirō Kobayashi and Takashi Kochiyama. Manglobe filed for bankruptcy in September 2015 af ...

in 2002. *Established around 1995, Studio 8 is notable for ''

'', ''

Buddy Complex is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise. The series aired between January 5, 2014 and March 30, 2014. The first episode was pre-aired on December 29, 2013. A manga adaptation began serialization in ASCII Media Work ...

'', '' Idolmaster: Xenoglossia'', ''

The Girl Who Leapt Through Space is a Japanese anime television series, created and produced by Sunrise. Based on the original concept by the Sunrise animation staff, the series is directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Jukki Hanada, overseeing a team of animators ...

'', '' Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere'', '' Accel World'' and ''

''. *Studio 7's sister studio, Studio 9 was established in 1996. Notable works include ''

Gasaraki is a mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Ryousuke Takahashi, who also co-created the series along with Sunrise (Hajime Yatate). Goro Taniguchi was the assistant director. The screenplay was written by Toru ...

'', ''

Infinite Ryvius is a 26 episode drama/sci-fi series produced by Sunrise. The character and mecha designs in ''RYVIUS'' were created by Hisashi Hirai, who later went on to act as the character designer for '' Gundam SEED''. The series is also noted for its ...

'', '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' and '' SEED Destiny'', ''

Argento Soma is a 25-episode anime TV series that aired on TV Tokyo from October 6, 2000, to March 22, 2001, with the final episode, , releasing direct-to-video. The anime was originally licensed by Bandai Entertainment in North America before going out of ...

'' and ''

Battle Spirits Battle Spirits is a two-player collectible card game (CCG) jointly developed by Bandai and Sunrise, Inc. and a franchise which also includes several anime series, manga serializations, and other merchandise like toys and video games. The game ...

''. *Studio 5's sister studio, Studio 10 was established around 1996. Notable works include ''

'', ''

Dinosaur King is a Japanese card-based arcade game from Sega that uses similar gameplay mechanics to '' Mushiking''. The game was revealed in JAMMA 2005. A Nintendo DS version was also later released. In the fall of 2008, Upper Deck Company release ...

'' and '' Phi Brain: Puzzle of God''. *Studio 8's sister studio, Studio 11 was established in 2009 and worked on '' Kurokami'' and the ''

SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors is a Japanese anime adaptation of the SD Gundam model kit series ''BB Senshi Sangokuden'' produced by Sunrise. Loosely based on the classic 14th century Chinese historical novel, ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', with characters being pe ...

'' series. *Sunrise's CG production studio, D.I.D. helps creating CG for many of the company's shows (notably '' Tiger & Bunny'', ''

'', ''

Cross Ange , also known as simply ''Cross Ange'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise that aired from October 2014 to March 2015. A manga adaptation began publication in August 2014. Plot Through the development of groundb ...

'', '' Valvrave the Liberator'', '' Gundam MS Igloo'' and ''

Gundam The Origin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It is a retelling of the story from the 1979 anime television series ''Mobile Suit Gundam'', of which Yasuhiko was the original character designer. An original vide ...

''). They also produce CG work for other animation studios, including

Xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...

's ''

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 ''Star Blazers 2199'', known in Japan as , is a 2012–2013 Japanese military science fiction anime television series that is a remake of the first ''Space Battleship Yamato'' television series created by Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Mats ...

''. *Formerly known as Ogikubo Studio (荻窪スタジオ) or Sunrise Emotion, Nerima Studio is best known for the '' Freedom Project'', '' Valvrave the Liberator'', the ''

King of Thorn is a Japanese fantastique manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Iwahara. It was published in by Enterbrain in the seinen magazine '' Monthly Comic Beam'' between October 2002 and October 2005 and collected in six bound volumes. It ...

'' anime film and ''

''. *Sunrise Origin Studio (サンライズオリジンスタジオ) is Sunrise's in-between animation studio that does in-between animation for other studios' anime titles such as ''

My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected i ...

'' to '' The Boy and the Beast''. *Sunrise Beyond Inc. is a subsidiary of Sunrise established after the purchase and closure of

. Some of their works include '' Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise'' and '' King's Raid: Successors of the Will''. *White Base is a new studio to open in November 2021 and is named after the famous battle ship from Gundam.

TV animation

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Films

OVAs/ONAs

Non-Japanese productions

Video game animation work

Miscellaneous work

* ''

Nagoya TV JOLX-DTV, virtual channel 6 (UHF digital channel 22), branded as is the Chūbu region flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network, owned by the , with its headquarters in Nagoya. It is broadcast in Aichi Prefectur ...

'' (1981-1987, The ""Space Boy"" mascot opening/closing credits) * ''Pink Crows'' (did the animation and designs for this animated band and their music videos) * '' Pop Team Epic'' (2020-2022, Series 1 Special Episode 1 1st half prologue skit and opening animation; Series 2 Episode 2 story part and ending animation) * '' Cowboy Bebop'' (2021, live action TV series co-produced with

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

, Midnight Radio and Tomorrow Studios)

International distribution

Most anime produced by Sunrise and Bandai and licensed by Bandai Visual in Japan was licensed and distributed in the United States by

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

and in Europe by Beez Entertainment, but both companies shut down in 2012 after Bandai Entertainment's restructuring. In North America, distributors such as

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' characte ...

and

Aniplex of America Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...

, as well as Sunrise USA, have licensed Sunrise properties. In Europe, Anime Limited and

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

(in the UK) and

Kazé Kazé is a French publishing company that specializes in anime and manga. Its head office is in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Founded in 1994, the company debuted by publishing '' Record of Lodoss War'' on VHS. It is currently run by Sony thr ...

(in France) have begun to distribute titles distributed by Beez and other unreleased Sunrise productions. In Australia, Sunrise productions are licensed and distributed by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

. At Anime Boston 2013, Sunrise confirmed that they would begin licensing anime in North America and were negotiating with Sentai, Funimation, and Viz to distribute their titles on DVD and Blu-ray.

Right Stuf Right Stuf Inc. (formerly known as The Right Stuf International Inc.) is an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specializes in Asian entertainment (anime and live action films). The company since 2022 is owned by ...

agreed to distribute and re-release ''

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is a novel by popular Japanese author Harutoshi Fukui (''Shūsen no Lorelei'', ''Bōkoku no Aegis'', '' Samurai Commando: Mission 1549''). The novel takes place in Gundam's Universal Century timeline. Character and mechanical designs ar ...

'' on DVD in North America. In 2014 the deal expanded, releasing the Gundam previously licensed by Bandai Entertainment (''

'', ''

Turn A Gundam , also stylized as ''∀ Gundam'', is a 1999 Japanese mecha anime series produced by Sunrise, and aired between 1999 and 2000 on Japan's FNN networks. It was created for the ''Gundam Big Bang'' 20th Anniversary celebration, and is the ...

'') and several works not released in North America (including ''

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ is the third installment in Sunrise's long running '' Gundam'' franchise and the last TV series in the franchise released in Japan's Shōwa period. A direct follow up to '' Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'', it is directed and written by Yoshiyuki T ...

'') in 2015.

References

External links

*
Official Website for Sunrise
**

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bandai Namco Filmworks Animation studios in Tokyo Animax Bandai Namco Holdings subsidiaries Mass media companies established in 1972 Japanese animation studios Japanese companies established in 1972