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
''Fighting Foodons'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written by Shuntarō Ashida and illustrated by and serialized in ''Comic BonBon'' in 1998. It was adapted into an anime television series which aired on NHK-BS2 satellite cha ...
''; produced with
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 ...
)
* ''
Captain Tsubasa
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yōichi Takahashi. The series mainly revolves around the sport of association football focusing on Tsubasa Oozora and his relationship with his friends, rivalries with ...
'' (under the titles ''Flash Kicker'' and ''Captain Tsubasa'')
* ''
Cosmo Warrior Zero
is a science fiction third-person shooter video game released by Taito. It was adapted into an anime television series in 2001.
Plot
The long war between the planet Earth and the machine men is finally over, resulting in a peace that is mor ...
'' (under the title ''Cosmowarrior Zero'')
* ''
Demon Lord Dante
is a manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The series tells the story of Ryo Utsugi, a student who finds himself in the body of an ancient demon known as Dante and sees himself in the middle of a conflict between God and the dev ...
''
* ''
El-Hazard
is a Japanese anime franchise written by Ryoe Tsukimura and directed by Hiroki Hayashi. The series was animated by AIC and produced by Pioneer LDC.
There is also a manga adaptation, which is published in English by Viz Media. The seri ...
: The Wanderer''
* ''Genshi-kun'' (''
Flint the Time Detective
''Flint the Time Detective'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi. It was based on a manga by Hideki Sonoda and Akira Yamauchi and was published by Bros. Comics in Japan. A second manga runnin ...
''; produced with Saban)
* ''
Gensomaden Saiyuki
is a Japanese anime television series that is based on Kazuya Minekura's manga series Saiyuki. The show is set in Shangri-La, an earthy paradise where humans and ''youkai'' (demons) live peacefully together. The world is invaded by "Minus ...
'' under the title ''Saiyuki: Paradise Raiders'')
* '' Gun Frontier''
* '' Gokudo'' (as ''Jester the Adventurer'')
* ''
His and Her Circumstances
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Tsuda. It was serialized in ''LaLa'' from 1995 to 2005 and collected in 21 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Hakusensha. It depicts the romance between "perfect" student Yukino Miyazawa a ...
'' (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 ...
Lost Universe
is a series of science fiction light novels, running from 1992 to 1999, by Japanese author Hajime Kanzaka. It was later adapted into a 26-episode anime series by E&G Films that ran from April 3rd to September 25th, 1998. The series aired o ...
''
* ''Majuu Sensen: The Apocalypse'' (as ''Beast Fighter: The Apocalypse'')
* ''
Revolutionary Girl Utena
is a Japanese anime television series created by Be-Papas, a production group formed by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and composed of himself, Chiho Saito, Shinya Hasegawa, Yōji Enokido and Yūichirō Oguro. The series was produced by ...
'' (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 ...
Flint the Time Detective
''Flint the Time Detective'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi. It was based on a manga by Hideki Sonoda and Akira Yamauchi and was published by Bros. Comics in Japan. A second manga runnin ...
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 the Pink Dragon
is an anime television series produced by ZUIYO Enterprise that aired on NTV on July 1, 1983, ending on December 23. The series was based on the ''Serendipity'' books by Stephen Cosgrove and character designs for the animation version were d ...
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
''The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin'' (Renamed ''“The Adventures of Scamper the Penguin”'' in The United States) is a 1986 animated coming-of-age adventure film, originally released as a three-part serial film. Its story focuses on a 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
Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...
anime production)
* ''
Forza! Hidemaru
is a Japanese anime television series. It was produced by NAS and aired on TV Tokyo for twenty-six episodes. Enoki Films licensed the series 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''
* ''
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 ...
''
* ''Mission Outer Space Srungle'' (as ''Gorilla Force''; previously licensed by Saban as part of "Macron 1" along with ''
GoShogun
is a Japanese super robot anime series created by Takeshi Shudo. It was produced and aired in 1981 in Japan, with a movie special released in 1982 and a film sequel, ''GoShogun: The Time Étranger'' or ''Time Stranger'', in 1985. Its title ...
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 ...