, formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946.
TMS is one of the oldest and most famous
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as '' Lupin the Third'', '' Lilpri'', ''
The Gutsy Frog
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasumi Yoshizawa. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from July 1970 to June 1976, with its chapters collected in twenty-seven ''tankōbo ...
D.Gray-man
''D.Gray-man'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. Set in an alternate 19th century, it tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order. They use an a ...
Rainbow Brite
''Rainbow Brite'' is a media franchise by Hallmark Cards, introduced in 1984. The animated ''Rainbow Brite'' television series first aired in 1984, the same year Hallmark licensed Rainbow Brite to Mattel for a range of dolls and other merchand ...
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers may refer to:
* ''Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' (TV series), 1989 television series
* ''Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' (film), 2022 film
* ''Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers'' (video game), 1990 game based on the TV series
...
'', ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation a ...
The company was originally established on October 22, 1946 by Yutaka Fujioka. As Asahi Gloves Manufacturing Co., Ltd., it was originally a
textile manufacturer
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.
Industry process
Cotton manufactur ...
. Later, the company name was changed to Asahi Ichi Henori Co., Ltd., Asahiichi Co., Ltd., Asahiichi Shine Industry Co., Ltd., and Kyokuichi Co., Ltd. In 2003, the company completely withdrew from the textile business.
Foray into animation
The company started operations in 1964 when it ventured into the animation industry as after the failure of Fujioka's previous studio, . The studio's first production was an animated adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's '' Big X''.
Hayao Miyazaki was associated with Tokyo Movie before founding Studio Ghibli. His most notable work at TMS was his role as the director of '' The Castle of Cagliostro'', which is notable for being his first feature-length debut.
In 1972, Madhouse was established with funding from Fujioka, and co-produced its earliest series with Tokyo Movie. In 1977, Fujioka reformatted Tokyo Movie into Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Its first production was '' Lupin the Third Part II'', which aired from 1977 to 1980. The film adaptation, '' The Mystery of Mamo,'' was the studio's first feature-length movie in history. A subsidiary,
Telecom Animation Film
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 m ...
, was founded in 1975, but didn't start production until after Tokyo Movie was restructured.
In 1980, TMS established a partnership with the French (later American) company DiC, as one of its overseas animation subcontractors, where the former would help animate many of the latter's programs, starting with the pilot of ''
Ulysses 31
(french: link=no, Ulysse 31) is an anime series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulixes" or "Ulysses" in Latin) to the 31st century. The show comprises 26 half-hour episodes as a co-production between DIC Audio ...
.'' The two would also produce the 1982 unaired pilot '' Lupin VIII''. This partnership would last until 1996, when DiC opened its own Japan-based animation facility known as K.K. DIC Asia (later Creativity & Development Asia) in 1983, for animation production on its shows in order to bypass overseas animation subcontractors.
In 1989, TMS released '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' in Japan, followed by a United States in 1992. The movie was infamous for being in development hell with figures such as George Lucas,
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...
, Hayao Miyazaki, and Gary Kurtz being involved with the movie before dropping out. The film receiving mixed to positive reviews from publications including ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', the ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Gl ...
'', and ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and became a box-office bomb. In response to this, founder Fujioka decided to retire from the animation business. TMS, having to recoup ''Little Nemo''s losses by increased production on locally based anime programs including '' Anpanman'' and the yearly ''Lupin III'' television specials which the specials ran non-stop until 2013 (with additional special produced in 2016, 2018 and 2019) while Telecom became highly involved in animation for Western-based productions due to the Japanese bubble economy busting making it difficult to find local work, including ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation a ...
Telecom Animation Film
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 m ...
Gonzo
Gonzo may refer to:
People
* Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname
* Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo
* Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose sta ...
, Studio Jungle Gym, Nakamura Production, Tokyo Kids,
DR Movie
DR Movie Co., Ltd. is a South Korean animation studio that was established in Seoul in 1990 and frequently works with Japanese companies on anime titles. Since 1991, the studio has been in an exclusive partnership with the Japanese animation stud ...
, and Orange. Since the early 2000s, TMS itself has no longer supplied animation services to western studios due to increasingly demanding costs. While it still produces feature films, these films are primarily spinoffs from existing anime properties, which include the likes of ''Anpanman'' and '' Detective Conan''.
Aside from Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, animators would leave TMS to form their own studios. One of these studios was Brain's Base. Similarly, animators at its subsidiary,
Telecom Animation Film
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 m ...
On July 1, 1991, Tokyo Movie Shinsha's holding company changed their name to Tokyo Movie Kyokuichi. In 1995, Tokyo Movie Kyokuichi merged with Tokyo Movie Shinsha. In 1996, the Los Angeles studio division was established for overseas TMS animation and in 2000, the company was re-branded as TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd.
In 2001, the Paris studio division was established. In 2003, American brokerage group Merrill Lynch became the second-largest shareholder in TMS Entertainment after acquiring a 7.54 percent stake in the studio. Merrill Lynch purchased the stake purely for investment purposes and had no intention of acquiring control of the firm's management.
On October 17, 2005, Sega Sammy Holdings announced that they had acquired a 50.2% majority stake in TMS and subsidized the studio under it.
In 2012, the head office was relocated to
Nakano, Tokyo
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City. In 2015, Sega Sammy placed TMS as a subsidiary of
Sega Holdings
is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its divis ...
. In April 2017, Sega's CG production division, Marza Animation Planet, became a subsidiary of TMS.
Subsidiaries
The company has numerous animation subsidiaries collaborating in conjunction with the company. Those include:
* , a studio established on May 19, 1975. It first started as a subcontracting company for its parent, but has since become the leading animation studio behind the more recent '' Lupin the Third'' titles. The studio has also produced series like '' Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas'', '' Orange'', and '' Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation''.
* , a CG studio formerly a part of Sega and known for producing '' Space Pirate Captain Harlock'', '' Resident Evil: Vendetta'', and the 2020 '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' film.
* , a studio most known for co-producing the '' Detective Conan'' films since the 16th movie and the 2nd season (and OVAs) of '' Kamisama Kiss''.
* , a studio most known for co-producing ''
ReLIFE
is a Japanese manga series in webtoon format written and illustrated by Yayoiso. The individual chapters were released by NHN Japan on the Comico website from October 12, 2013, to March 16, 2018, for a total of 15 compiled ''tankōbon'' v ...
'', ''
Nana Maru San Batsu
, called ''Fastest Finger First'' in English, is a Japanese manga series by Iqura Sugimoto. An anime television series adaptation by TMS Entertainment aired from July 4 to September 19, 2017.
Plot
The daily life of Shiki Koshiyama, as he joins ...
Bakuon!!
is a Japanese manga series by Mimana Orimoto. The series began serialization in Akita Shoten's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Young Champion Retsu'' from February 2011 and has been collected in fifteen ''tankōbon'' volumes as of 20 January ...
'', ''
D.Gray-man Hallow
''D.Gray-man Hallow'' (stylized as ''D.Gray-man HALLOW'') is an anime series adapted from the Katsura Hoshino's manga, ''D.Gray-man''. Produced by TMS Entertainment and 8PAN, and directed by Yoshiharu Ashino, it acts as a sequel to the previous ...
'', and ''
Dr. Stone
''Dr. Stone'' (stylized as ''Dr.STONE'') is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by the South Korean artist Boichi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from March 2017 to March 2022, with ...
''.
* , a studio known for producing ''
The Pilot's Love Song
is a Japanese light novel series by Koroku Inumura. It is set in the same fictional universe as Inumura's earlier light novel '' The Princess and the Pilot''. Five volumes were published between 2009 and 2011 by Shogakukan under their Gagaga ...
'', ''
My Monster Secret
''My Monster Secret'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiji Masuda. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from January 31, 2013 to February 16, 201 ...
Brave 10
''Brave 10'' (stylized as ''BRAVE10'') is a manga series by Kairi Shimotsuki, serialized in Media Factory's '' Comic Flapper'' from 2006 to 2010. The series was resumed on June 15, 2011 and retitled ''Brave 10 Spiral'', better known as ''Brav ...
''.
* , a studio that produced ''Lupin III: Goodbye Partner'', the 27th film special for the '' Lupin the Third'' franchise.
* Seoul Movie, a South Korean animation studio based in Seoul, established in 1990 and closed sometime in the late 2000s.
Productions
Television series
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Feature films
Television films and specials
Original video animations
Original net animations
Video games
Foreign production history
TMS Entertainment/
Telecom Animation Film
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 m ...
Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...
Spectrum Animation
Spectrum Animation was an animation studio in Japan, made up of former TMS Entertainment employees. Spectrum animated several episodes of '' Batman: The Animated Series''.
On the commentary track for " Heart of Ice" on the ''Batman: The Animated ...
, an animation studio founded by former TMS animators who helped animate several episodes of '' Batman: The Animated Series''.
* Brain's Base, an animation studio founded by former TMS animators
* Ufotable, an animation studio founded by former
Telecom Animation Film
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 m ...
Telecom Animation Film
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 m ...