is the retailing arm of MOVIC and is the largest retailer of

anime is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s and

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

in Japan. The first and flagship store of Animate was opened in 1983 in

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second larges ...

, a district in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

Retail stores

Currently there are 117 Animate stores in Japan, four in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...

(

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

and

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...

), two in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

(

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

and

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Ta ...

), two in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

(

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

and

Rangsit Rangsit ( th, รังสิต, ) is a city and neighbourhood in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. Rangsit is a metropolitan city that supports the expansion of Bangkok in the north. Rangsit has become a departure point for travel to provinces i ...

), and one in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Online stores

Animate currently has two online stores: the animate Online Shop, which has been active since 2005, and animate International.

Former stores

* Sakaihigashi Station, Osaka *

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California (closed in 2003) *

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

(closed in 2020)

Subsidiaries

*Animate Film (アニメイトフィルム): An animation studio. *

Libre Publishing , formerly known as from 2006 to 2016, is a Japanese publishing company owned by Animate. Libre primarily publishes ''yaoi'' and teens' love manga and light novels, which are run in their magazines '' Magazine Be × Boy'' and ''Be × Boy Gold'' ...

(リブレ出版株式会社): Originally part of Biblos Co., Ltd. (株式会社ビブロス) Following the bankruptcy of

Biblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between ...

on 5 April 2006 caused by the chain bankruptcy started by its parent company Hekitensha (碧天舎), animate, MOVIC, Frontier Works Inc. funded the company allowing Biblos Co., Ltd., to continue operation. On 1 May 2006, the company was renamed

and became a subsidiary of animate Ltd. However, the company was still registered as established on 28 December 2000. *Animate Oversea Co., Ltd. (安利美特股份有限公司): A joint venture of animate Ltd., Kadokawa Taiwan Corporation, and Nongxueshe (later United Distribution Co.). The company acts as an operator of Animate branches in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 2000, the first overseas store was established in

Ximending Ximending (sometimes Hsimenting, ; Tâi-lô: Se-mn̂g-ting; Japanese Romaji: ) is a neighborhood and shopping district in the Wanhua District of Taipei, Taiwan, along with its main rival, the Eastern District of Taipei. Overview Ximending has ...

, Taipei. *animate Shanghai Co.,LTD. (魅特（上海）商贸有限公司): Established in May 2011. :*animate Chinese online shopping platform (animate中国線上購物平台): A

Tmall Tmall (), formerly Taobao Mall, is a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail, spun off from Taobao, operated in China by Alibaba Group. It is a platform for local Chinese and international businesses to sell brand- ...

online store operated by animate Shanghai Co.,LTD., established in 2012-01-06. *Animate North AMERICA, Ltd.: A North American subsidiary. *acos co.,ltd. (株式会社アコス): A subsidiary specialized in costumes. :*ACOS animate costume kan (ACOS アニメイトコスチューム館): A chain of costume shops by acos co.,ltd. :*ACOS Online Shop (ACOSオンラインショップ): An online shop for acos co.,ltd. *Japan Manga Alliance CO., LTD. (株式会社ジャパンマンガアラインス): It is a joint venture of animate Ltd.,

Kadokawa Corporation , formerly is a Japanese media conglomerate that was created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014. History The holding company known today as Kadokawa Corporation was origin ...

, Kodansha,

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of Japanese dictionaries, dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are to ...

, established in 2015-09-01. The company was incorporated in Bangkok, Thailand in autumn 2015. The company acts as an operator of Animate branches in Bangkok. :*animate JMA Co.,Ltd: Established in 2015-09-28 as a 100% subsidiary of Japan Manga Alliance. The first animate shop under the company was opened in 2016-02-06 at MBK (Mahboonkrong) Center in Bangkok as animate Bangkok store (アニメイトバンコク店). *Animate-GyaO Corporation (株式会社アニメイトギャオ)/animate Bookstore (アニメイトブックストア): An electronic book store. *USA Animate Online Shop: An online store for the United States market for Animate North AMERICA, Ltd., established in Jan 2013. The online store was closed on 2016-02-29, and re-opened on 2018-07-14.

Group companies

* Movic Co. Ltd. (株式会社ムービック) *

Movic Promote Service is a Japanese company which specializes in the publication of trading cards, figures, CDs, and other general media related to the anime industry. Movic is a part of the Animate group. Anime involved in *'' Ah! My Goddess: The Movie'': Producti ...

(株式会社ムービックプロモートサービス) * Marine ENTERTAINMENT Inc. (株式会社マリン・エンタテインメント) *

coade Coade is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Caroline Coade, American violist *Eleanor Coade (1733–1821), British businesswoman * Peter Coade (born 1942), Canadian broadcast weather presenter *Thorold Coade (1896–1963), British ...

(株式会社コアデ): The company name was derived from its own slogan 'Code Anime Design'. *

Frontier Works Inc. A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that front ...

(株式会社フロンティアワークス) * ANIBRO Ltd. (株式会社アニブロ): On January 23, 2008, Animate's rival company,

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is clas ...

, announced that they collaborated with Animate and made a new company "AniBro", with Animate holds 70% of the company, while Broccoli holds 30%. The president of the company will be the CEO of Animate, although he will continue to manage Animate along with AniBro. AniBro plans to expand using the AniBro brand to many places in Japan. * SHOSEN (株式会社書泉): Became part of animate Ltd. on 2011-06-29.

Former subsidiaries

*Wanwan plus (ワンワンプラス): Established in 2004, and was later closed. *Chikyuu ya (ちきゅーや): Operated by animate since 2008, and was later closed in 2014-12-22. *coade (株式会社コアデ)

Rakuten () is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing financial technology, as well as digital content and communicat ...

branch: Established in 2010-12-01, and was later closed in 2013.

Marketing

is Animate's mascot character, affectionately known as the . He is depicted as a wild anime character with spiky hair and rippling muscles, clad with the Animate uniform, going to extreme measures to promote Animate's goods. An

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

based on the character was produced by Gainax and released in 2002. Another OVA was released in 2010. An animation project which crosses over Anime Tencho with the ''

Touhou Project The , also known simply as , is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series created by one-man independent Japanese ''doujin'' soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. Since 1995, the team's member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently develope ...

'' was produced by

ufotable is a Japanese animation studio founded in October 2000 by former staff of the TMS Entertainment subsidiary Telecom Animation Film and located in Suginami, Tokyo. A unique hallmark seen in many of their works ('' Ninja Nonsense'', '' Futakoi Alt ...

and aired on November 20, 2010 at the Animate Ichioshi Bishojo Anime Matsuri to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Animate's mascot character. Meito has also made various appearances in other media, such as the '' Lucky Star'' anime series and video games such as '' Disgaea 4'' and '' Touch My Katamari''. Meito is voiced by

Tomokazu Seki is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He has previously worked with Haikyō. He is honorary president of and affiliated with Atomic Monkey and the chairman of theater company HeroHero Q. He is a special lecturer at Japan Newart College. Caree ...

in his anime appearances, and is voiced by

Lex Lang Lex Lang (born November 12, 1965) is an American voice actor and voice director, who has provided voices and served as a director for a number of animations and video games. He is best known for voicing Doctor Neo Cortex in the '' Crash Bandico ...

in the English dub of ''Lucky Star''. Saturday, 4 September 2021

References

External links

Animate Group Homepage

Animate Official Homepage

Animate USA Official Webpage

Animate Thai Official WebpageTianmao Official WebpageUSA Animate Online ShopAnimate International Online ShopACOS Online ShopJapan Manga Alliance CO., LTD. homepage

Animate-GyaO Corporation homepage
{{Authority control Anime companies Retail companies based in Tokyo Video game retailers Mass media in Tokyo Retail companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Japan