Tatsunoko Production
Japanese animation studio
 Tatsunoko's current English logo | |
Native name | 株式会社タツノコプロ (formerly spelled as 竜の子プロダクション) |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki-gaisha Tatsunoko Puro |
| Formerly | Tatsunoko Productions Co, Ltd. (1962–2013) |
| Company type | Kabushiki gaisha |
| Founded | October 19, 1962; 61 years ago (1962-10-19)[1] |
| Founder | Tatsuo Yoshida Kenji Yoshida Ippei Kuri |
| Headquarters | Musashino, Tokyo, Japan |
Key people | Kyou Itou (President and CEO) |
| Products | Anime |
| Owner | Nippon TV (54.3%) Tomy (20.0%) Horipro (13.5%) Production I.G (11.2%) |
Number of employees | 70[2] (2022) |
| Divisions | I.G Tatsunoko (1987–1993) |
| Website | tatsunoko.co.jp |
Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. (株式会社タツノコプロ, Kabushiki gaisha Tatsunoko Puro)[a] and often shortened to Tatsunoko Pro (タツノコプロ, Tatsunoko Puro), is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and "sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo.[3][4] Tatsunoko's headquarters are in Musashino, Tokyo.[1]
History
The studio was founded in October 1962 by mangaka and anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida and his brothers Kenji and Toyoharu (better known by his pen name "Ippei Kuri") at Tatsuo's own house. [3] It began as a collective of mangakas which soon expanded into an animation studio. [5] [6]
The studio's first production was the 1965 TV series Space Ace.[citation needed] Since then many figures in the anime industry have worked with Tatsunoko, including Mizuho Nishikubo, Hiroshi Sasagawa, Koichi Mashimo, Katsuhisa Yamada, Hideaki Anno (Tatsunoko provided animation work on the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series), and Kazuo Yamazaki.[citation needed] Sasagawa is notable for bringing his fondness for comedy animation to the forefront in Tatsunoko series such as the Time Bokan (1975) franchise.[7] The company later licensed Super Dimension Fortress Macross to Harmony Gold, who then produced Robotech.[citation needed]
Takara acquired Tatsunoko on June 3, 2005 after purchasing an 88 percent stake and made the company a subsidiary.[8] Production I.G was established in 1987 as I.G. Tatsunoko, a branch for the production of Zillion led by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa.[9][10][11]
In 2009, Tatsunoko announced that it would collaborate with Marvel Comics on a joint television project and other ventures.[12] IG Port announced on June 2, 2010 that its subsidiary, Production I.G, had purchased an 11.2 percent stake in Tatsunoko. Production I.G president Mitsuhisa Ishikawa became a part-time director of the studio.[13]
Talent agency Horipro announced on February 23, 2013 that it had acquired a 13.5 percent stake in Tatsunoko.[14] At Anime Expo 2013, Sentai Filmworks announced a deal to license and release some of Tatsunoko's titles, including Gatchaman and Casshan.[15] Nippon TV announced on January 29, 2014 that it had purchased a 54.3 percent stake in Tatsunoko and adopted the company as its subsidiary.[16][17][18]
In 2017, two short films titled Pandora to Akubi were released. These were the first works produced under Tatsunoko's "Bakken Record" label, which was officially established in April 2019.[19]
Representative directors
- Tatsuo Yoshida (1962–1977)
- Kenji Yoshida (1977–1987)
- Ippei Kuri (1987–2005)
- Kouki Narushima (2005–2010)
- Keita Satou (2010–2012)
- Shuuichirou Tanaka (2012–2014)[20]
- Yuuzou Kuwahara (2014–2019)
- Daisuke Kadoya (2019–2022)[21][22]
- Kyou Itou (2022–present)[23]
