Toei Animation Inc. (abbreviated as TAI, or sometimes just Toei Animation USA or Toei LATAM depending on the territory) is an American licensing and distributor based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. It is

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 ...

's American sister company. It holds partnerships with TV channels, DVD distributors, and streaming websites.

History

Due to

's decision to start distributing the series directly since 2003 with the establishment of Toei Animation Europe based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, Toei Animation Inc. based in

was founded in 2004. In 2005, the Toei Animation licenses that were distributed by Cloverway Inc. were transferred to Toei Animation Inc. for requirement, leaving Cloverway alone with the licenses of the other Japanese producers with which it intermediated. As a consequence of this, there has been a chain of irregularities, such as the loss of master tapes of many series, with the Latin American versions being the most affected for this change in distribution.

Anime

Distributor

* ''

Air Gear is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Oh! great, serialized in Kodansha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from November 2002 to May 2012, with its chapters collected in thirty-seven ''tankōbon'' volu ...

'' (sub-distributed by

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 ...

(later Crunchyroll) for U.S.) * '' Dragon Ball'' franchise (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005 and sub-distributed by Funimation (later Crunchyroll) for U.S.) * '' Digimon'' franchise (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005 and distributed directly for U.S. since 2017 originally distributed by

Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...

BVS Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...

and

Saban Brands Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commu ...

. The first season of the franchise is currently sub-distributed by

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...

in the U.S.) * ''

Dr. Slump is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Shueisha's anthology magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1980 to 1984, with the chapters collected into 18 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series fol ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * '' GeGeGe no Kitaro'' franchise :* 1996's series (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) :* 2018's series * '' Magical Doremi'' franchise (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * ''

Mazinger Z is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later was reissued in Kodansha ''TV Magazin ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2012) * ''

Ghost Sweeper Mikami is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takashi Shiina. It was published in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from May 1991 to September 1999, with its chapters collected in thirty-nine '' tankobon'' volumes. The series e ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * '' Hell Teacher Nūbē'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * '' Ashita no Nadja'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual cha ...

'' ( 4Kids version, distributed directly for Latin America and sub-distributed by Funimation (later Crunchyroll) for U.S.) * ''

Pretty Cure , also known as and ''PC'', is a Japanese magical girl anime franchise created by Izumi Todo and Bandai and produced by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, Asatsu-DK, Toei Animation and Bandai. Each series revolves around a group of magical girls kn ...

'' franchise :* ''

Futari wa Pretty Cure , known as simply ''Pretty Cure'' outside Japan, is a Japanese magical girl anime series produced by Toei Animation and broadcast across Japan on ANN for 97 episodes. It is the first series in the ''Pretty Cure'' metaseries created by Izu ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2008) :* '' Glitter Force'' (distributed directly for Latin America and U.S. since 2017) :* '' Glitter Force Doki Doki'' (sub-distributed by

(later Entertainment One) for U.S. and Latin America) * ''

Saint Seiya , also known as ''Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac'' or simply ''Knights of the Zodiac'' (translated from the French title ''Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque''), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It w ...

'' franchise (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * '' Sailor Moon'' franchise (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005 and sub-distributed by

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 ...

for U.S. since 2014) :* ''

Sailor Moon Crystal ''Sailor Moon Crystal'', known in Japan as , is a 2014 original net animation adaptation of the ''shōjo'' manga series '' Sailor Moon'' written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi, produced in commemoration of the original series' 20th ann ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2017 and sub-distributed by Viz Media for U.S.) * ''

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2005) * ''

Toriko is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. It follows the adventures of Toriko, a Gourmet Hunter, as he searches for rare, diverse foods to complete a full-course meal. On his journey, he is accompanied b ...

'' (distributed directly for Latin America since 2012 and sub-distributed by Funimation (later Crunchyroll) for U.S.) * ''

World Trigger , also known in short form as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Ashihara. It was initially serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from February 2013 to November 2018, and transferred to ''Jump Square'' in December ...

Original productions

* '' Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya'' (2019)

References

External links

*
Official Toei Animation Inc. YouTube channel

Old Toei Animation Inc. official website (archive)
* * {{anime News Network, company, 11558 2004 establishments in California American companies established in 2004 American subsidiaries of foreign companies Anime companies Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 2004