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 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 ...

. 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. Sl ...

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

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

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 and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, Toei Animation Inc. based in

was founded in 2004. In 2005, the Toei Animation licenses that were distributed by

Cloverway Inc. Cloverway Inc. (abbreviated as CWi, also branded as Cloverway) was a media licensing agency based in Long Beach, California which specialized in Japanese animation and Manga licensing, and they were best known for being the representative office ...

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 specializ ...

(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 , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a " ...

'' 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 S ...

and Saban Brands. 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 f ...

in the U.S.) * '' Dr. Slump'' (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 Magazi ...

'' (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 In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells a ...

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

Ashita no Nadja is a romance anime produced by Toei Animation and aired between February 2, 2003 and January 25, 2004 on ANN. In 2009, William Winckler Productions produced two all-new English-dubbed movie versions edited from the original series. Producer W ...

'' (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 chapte ...

'' ( 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 ...

'' 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 I ...

'' (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 Saban Brands (later

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

) 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 ...

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

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine '' Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The s ...

'' 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'' (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 ...

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

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