is a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

.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, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n division, Enoki Films USA, Inc., established in 1986,ReelTime Is Animated About Agreement With Enoki Films USA, Inc.
Press Release, May 22, 2007 and headquartered in the Encino area of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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; stylized as 4K!DS ENTERTAINMENT) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production ...

and

Saban Saban or Šaban may refer to: People * Saban (name), for people with the name * Sabans, a small indigenous ethnic group of Sarawak, Malaysia Other uses *Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm investing in music and entertainment *Saban C ...

. In May 2007, their content was made available as

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

through the internet startup ReelTime.com (worldwide, except Japan). As of 2002, Enoki licensed anime but sub-licensed these licenses to various distributors instead of distributing directly. According to

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 ot ...

, "They generally only license TV shows that they hope to also license to TV broadcasters such as

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

and

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

". Some of the anime productions listed on Enoki's website appeared under alternate names, and characters may also have been listed under different names. In many cases, when sub-licensed to anime home video companies, the original titles and character names were restored. Enoki's translations of episode titles and scenarios sometimes differed from those in the official release. If Enoki's series had a separate movie or direct-to-video production, Enoki usually did not license those. The film or direct-to-video production was often licensed to a separate company, as seen with the ''Slayers'' movies and OVAs, and the ''Utena'' movie. Enoki Films' North American division ceased operations in 2010 and is now defunct. 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'' * ''Bistro Recipe'' ('' Fighting Foodons''; produced with

) * '' Captain Tsubasa'' (under the titles ''Flash Kicker'' and ''Captain Tsubasa'') * '' Cosmo Warrior Zero'' (under the title ''Cosmowarrior Zero'') * '' Demon Lord Dante'' * '' El-Hazard: The Wanderer'' * ''Genshi-kun'' ('' Flint the Time Detective''; produced with Saban) * '' Gensomaden Saiyuki'' under the title ''Saiyuki: Paradise Raiders'') * '' Gun Frontier'' * '' Gokudo'' (as ''Jester the Adventurer'') * '' His and Her Circumstances'' (as ''Tales at North Hills High''; released under original name) * '' Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (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 revol ...

'' * ''Lolo the Penguin'' ('' Scamper the Penguin'') * '' Lost Universe'' * ''Majuu Sensen: The Apocalypse'' (as ''Beast Fighter: The Apocalypse'') * '' Revolutionary Girl Utena'' (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 (Fujimi Shobo), Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into indi ...

'' (as ''The Slayers'') * ''Totsugeki! Pappara-tai'' (as ''The X-treme Team'')

Young anime of Enoki Films

*'' Pokonyan!'' *'' Mojacko'' *'' Prince Mackaroo'' *'' Hello Kitty's Paradise'' *''Petit Petit Anime'' *'' The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz'' *'' Flint the Time Detective'' *''Tomatoman'' *''Kappamaki'' *'' Mock & Sweet'' *''

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 Stories: Friends of Pure Island'' *'' Serendipity the Pink Dragon'' *'' Dotakon''

Anime available through Enoki Films

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'' * ''

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 anime production) * '' Forza! Hidemaru'' (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'' * ''

'' * ''Mission Outer Space Srungle'' (as ''Gorilla Force''; previously licensed by Saban as part of "Macron 1" along with '' GoShogun'') * '' Ruins Legend Acrobunch'' * '' Submarine Super 99'' * ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

References

External links

Official site
* {{Authority control Anime companies American companies disestablished in 2010 Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1975 Japanese companies established in 1975 Entertainment companies of Japan Film production companies of Japan Mass media in Tokyo Shinjuku