Muse Communication Co., Ltd. (also known simply as Muse) is a Taiwanese distributor and licensor that specializes in the

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

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 ...

. Based in

Xinzhuang District Xinzhuang District () is a district in the western part of New Taipei in northern Taiwan. It has an area of and a population of 413,443 people (2016). History A former name of the area is ''Pulauan'' (). On 15 January 1980, Xinzhuang was u ...

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

, the company also distributes Asian and European films in Taiwan. It has licenses for several popular anime series and

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is someti ...

such as '' Attack on Titan'', ''

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the then-near future and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virt ...

'', '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'', ''

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...

'', ''

Martian Successor Nadesico , sometimes referred to as simply , is a Japanese anime television series produced by TV Tokyo, Yomiko Advertising and Xebec and directed by Tatsuo Satō, with manga artist Kia Asamiya providing original character designs, Keiji Gotoh servi ...

'', '' One-Punch Man'', '' Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World'', ''

Spy × Family ''Spy × Family'' (stylized as ''SPY×FAMILY'' and pronounced "Spy Family") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. The story follows a spy who has to "build a family" to execute a mission, not realizing that t ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Ultra Series ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...

'', ''

Kamen Rider Series The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until Decade), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Kamen Rider'' media gene ...

'', ''

Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi (" Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The ...

'' and many more.

History

Originally founded in 1987, the company was formerly known as Muse Cultural Enterprise Co., Ltd before becoming Muse Communication Co., Ltd. in 1992. Fukang Enterprise is in charge of physical distribution, while Eagle International Communication handles distribution for live-action films from Asia and Europe. Muse Communication (Hong Kong) was founded in November 1997. Muse Animation (Shanghai) was founded in January 2013. Muse Communication Singapore was founded in March 2019. In June 2019, it launched '
Muse Asia
'' YouTube channel, which provides anime with English and Chinese subtitles for audiences in parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

. The company has since launched localized YouTube channels for audiences in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and India. Company has also launched new localised dub channels for audiences in Thailand and Indonesia. Hakken! is a retail brand operated by Muse Communication Singapore which specializes in anime merchandising. On 16 January 2021, it has launched its first retail store in Plaza Singapura,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. The second store is located inside the VivoCity shopping mall, which is also in Singapore; it opened on 17 July 2021. Hakken! later expanded to Malaysia through

Shopee Shopee Pte. Ltd. (Shopee) is a Singaporean multinational technology company that specialises in e-commerce. The company was launched in Singapore in 2015, before it expanded abroad. , Shopee is considered the largest e-commerce platform in S ...

on 21 October 2021 as an online shop.

Distribution

Physical distribution

Muse does not directly release its titles on home video outside of Taiwan but instead sub-licenses to other companies such as

Dream Express (DEX) Dream Express (DEX) Co., Ltd. ( th, บริษัท ดรีม เอกซ์เพรส (เดกซ์) จำกัด) or DEX is a Thai anime licensing company based in Bangkok. It was founded on 9 July 1999 then start anime licens ...

, and previously Rose Media and Entertainment for the Thai market.

Digital and television distribution

Muse sub-licenses select titles to OTT platforms and TV stations in other served regions. Notable platforms include

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

Animax Asia Animax is the pay television channel in Asia owned by KC Global Media Asia which broadcasts Japanese language anime and Simulcast anime, anime programming through English-language feeds in Southeast Asia (formerly including Brunei), South Asia (e ...

Aniplus Asia ANIPLUS is an Asian multinational television channel and anime distributor based in Singapore and South Korea. Launched on 7 December 2009, the channel is currently available on SK Broadband, LG Uplus IPTV service, and KT SkyLife. The company ...

(formerly), iQIYI, CATCHPLAY+,

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized bilibili), nicknamed B Site, is a video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view and add overlaid commentary on videos. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its orig ...

, Viu, Tencent Video/WeTV, Sushiroll,

Vidio Vidio is an Indonesia-based over-the-top video streaming service established on 15 October 2014. Originally owned by Kreatif Media Karya, it is now owned by Surya Citra Media, both of which is a subsidiary of Elang Mahkota Teknologi (Emtek). T ...

and many more. In 2016, Taiwanese anime streaming service Bahamut Anime Crazy began streaming select anime titles from Muse, marking the first time the company released its catalog of series and films for free on streaming. On 7 August 2018, Muse began distributing full episodes of series on YouTube to combat piracy, starting in Taiwan.

Notable titles

Anime series

*'' 86'' *''

A Certain Magical Index is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura, which has been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint since April 2004 in a total of three sep ...

'' * Accel World *'' Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day'' * ''

Argonavis from BanG Dream! ''From Argonavis'' (stylized as ''from ARGONAVIS'', originally titled ''Argonavis from BanG Dream!'' in 2018–2021) is a Japanese multimedia project by Bushiroad. An anime television series by Sanzigen aired from April 10 to July 3, 2020 o ...

'' *''

Ascendance of a Bookworm is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Miya Kazuki and illustrated by You Shiina. It was serialized online from September 2013 to March 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later ...

'' *''

Assassination Classroom is a Japanese science fiction comedy manga series written and illustrated by Yusei Matsui. The series follows the daily life of an extremely powerful octopus-like being working as a junior high homeroom teacher, and his students dedica ...

'' *'' Attack on Titan'' *''

BanG Dream! ''BanG Dream!'', also known as , is a Japanese music media franchise owned by Bushiroad. Created by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani in January 2015 with original story by Kō Nakamura, the project began as a manga before exp ...

'' *''

Battle Game in 5 Seconds also known as'' Battle in 5 Seconds After Meeting'' is a Japanese manga series, written by Saizō Harawata and illustrated by Kashiwa Miyako. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''MangaONE'' app and ''Ura Sunday'' website since August 201 ...

'' * Beast Tamer *

Beelzebub Beelzebub ( ; he, ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ'') or Beelzebul is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon. The name ''Beelzebub'' is associated with the Ca ...

*'' Black Bullet'' *'' Bofuri'' *'' Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious'' *''

Cells at Work! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu. It features the anthropomorphized cells of a human body, with the two main protagonists being a red blood cell and a white blood cell she frequently encounter ...

'' *''

Classroom of the Elite is a Japanese light novel series, written by Shōgo Kinugasa and illustrated by Shunsaku Tomose published from May 2015 to September 2019 under Media Factory's MF Bunko J imprint. A sequel light novel series called "Classroom of the Elite: ...

'' *'' Combatants Will Be Dispatched!'' *'' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'' *'' Fairy Tail Season 9'' *'' Goblin Slayer'' *

Golden Kamuy is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satoru Noda. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from August 2014 to April 2022, with its chapters collected in thirty-one ''tankōbon'' volumes. The s ...

*''

Girlfriend, Girlfriend is a Japanese romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki. It began serialization in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' in March 2020, and has been compiled into thirteen ''tankōbon'' volumes as of November 2022. An ...

'' *''

Gurren Lagann ''Gurren Lagann'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyuki ...

'' *'' Hunter x Hunter'' *'' Higehiro'' *'' Hyouka'' *''

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? , also known as for short, and with English subtitle ''Familia Myth'', is a Japanese light novel series written by Fujino Ōmori and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda. SB Creative has published eighteen volumes since January 2013 under ...

'' *''

Is the Order a Rabbit? , often abbreviated as , is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Koi. The series has been serialized in Hōbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara Max'' magazine since March 2011 and the chapters collected into ten ''tankōbon ...

'' *'' Isekai Quartet'' *''

'' * Junji Ito Collection *'' Kaguya-sama: Love Is War'' *'' Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear'' *''

Love Live! is a Japanese multimedia project created by Hajime Yatate and Sakurako Kimino and co-produced by Kadokawa through ASCII Media Works; Bandai Namco Music Live through music label Lantis; and animation studio Bandai Namco Filmworks (formerly k ...

'' * Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer *

Made in Abyss is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihito Tsukushi. It has been serialized online in Takeshobo's digital publication ''Web Comic Gamma'' since October 2012, and has been collected into eleven ''tankōbon'' volumes. T ...

* Mob Psycho *'' Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation'' *'' My Dress-Up Darling'' *'' My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!'' * My Roommate Is a Cat *'' My Senpai Is Annoying'' *'' One-Punch Man'' *

Parallel World Pharmacy is a Japanese light novel series written by Liz Takayama and illustrated by keepout. It began serialization online in July 2015 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Media Factory, who ...

*'' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' *'' Rage of Bahamut'' *'' Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai'' *''

Rent-A-Girlfriend is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Reiji Miyajima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' since July 2017, and has been compiled into twenty-nine volumes as of December 2022. The series is license ...

'' *'' Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World'' * Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie *''

'' *''

'' *'' Talentless Nana'' *'' Tawawa on Monday'' *'' The Detective Is Already Dead'' *'' Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 3'' *'' The God of High School'' *'' The Seven Deadly Sins'' *'' That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime'' *'' The Familiar of Zero'' *''

Tokyo Revengers is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Wakui. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from March 2017 to November 2022, with its chapters collected in 30 ''tankōbon'' volumes as of November 2022. ...

'' *'' Ushio and Tora'' *'' Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina'' *'' Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun'' *'' WorldEnd''

Tokusatsu series

*''

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with '' Ultra Q'' and then '' Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is ...

'' *''

Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until Decade), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Kamen Rider'' media gener ...

'' *''

References

External links

* * {{ann, company, 7266 1992 establishments in Taiwan Entertainment companies of Taiwan Home video distributors Mass media companies established in 1992 Mass media companies of Taiwan Taiwanese companies established in 1992 Xinzhuang District