Ask John: What Are Japan’s Best Anime Studios?

Question:
I would like to know which do you think were and are the best anime studios. And is it me or Toei animation lost ground (a long time ago) to other competitors such as Sunrise, Gainax and Bones? Why is that?

Answer:
I want to preface my answer with the statement that I approach this question cautiously. It’s reasonable and natural for anime fans to have opinions about various anime production studios. However, at the same time, outside observers that don’t know the internal circumstances of various studios should be conscious of that ignorance when making critical assertions. I also think that it’s a bit ungracious to speak too harshly of the studios and artists that provide the entertainment we eagerly consume.

I don’t have a singular favorite anime production studio, or singular studio that I respect most. Instead, I prefer to concentrate on anime productions themselves more than the studios that create them. But it’s nearly impossible to be an obsessive anime fan without being aware of anime studios and having some impressions of their work. Since there are over a hundred working anime studios in Tokyo alone, I can’t critique all of them. I’ll just provide a personal perspective on some of the studios best know to American fans.

Madhouse, established in 1972, has always turned out excellent work, but in recent years the studio has seen a noticeable upswing in creativity and technical excellence. Vintage Madhouse productions like Ace wo Nerae & Unico are now classics. 80’s and 90’s productions including Jubei Ninpucho, Yoju Toshi, and Yawara are outstanding. But especially in this decade, with productions including Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue, Nasu, and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, the studio’s output of exceptional work has significantly increased. More specifically, just within the past few years, Madhouse has crafted exceptional anime series including Death Note, Denno Coil, Kaiba, Oh! Edo Rocket, Shigurui, and Kurozuka that demonstrate a technical brilliance and assertive concentration on creative expression that are practically unparalleled in contemporary anime.

When discussing esoteric and creative anime, it’s impossible not to mention Studio 4C. And the studio does deserve the acclaim it gets for works including Genius Party, Mind Game, and the Sweat Punch shorts. However, the studios’ mainstream productions like Spriggan, Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu, Detroit Metal City, segments of Batman: Gotham Knight, and Street Fighter IV: Aratanaru Kizuna honestly don’t rival the studio’s experimental works, nor the best mainstream commercial productions of many other prolific studios.

In recent years Kyoto Animation has become one of the anime fandom’s favorite studios, largely because of Suzumiya Haruhi and Lucky Star. The studio does have a remarkable ability to consistently produce popular, very attractive looking, and frequently well animated productions. However, to play devil’s advocate, I’ll point out that Kyoto Animation’s catalog consists entirely of bishoujo anime (Suzumiya Haruhi, Lucky Star, Air, Clannad, Kanon, K-on) and two action franchises (Full Metal Panic series 2 & 3, Munto). So I’d personally like to see the studio venture into greater diversity and attempt new artistic challenges.

Production I.G has justifiably earned a worldwide reputation for its outstanding work on Kill Bill volume 1, Ghost in the Shell, and Sky Crawlers. While Production I.G has produced a number of brilliant anime including the Ghost in the Shell TV series, Seirei no Moribito, RD Sennou Chousashitsu, the highlights tend to overshadow many of the studio’s other more conventional or less impressive productions like World Destruction, Reideen, Idaten Jump, Kai Doh Maru, and Shinrei Gari ~ Ghost Hound.

Similarly, Gainax has cemented its place in anime history with numerous memorable productions including Honneamise, Evangelion, Gunbuster, Nadia, and FLCL. But for each of these exceptional works, Gainax is also responsible for average quality productions including Mahoromatic, Puchi Puri Yushi, Shikabane Hime Aka, Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai, Kore ga Watashi no Goshujinsama, and the best left forgotten 1990 OVA Circuit no Okami 2: Modena no Tsurugi.

Sunrise has a bit of an unfair advantage because it’s financially backed by the tremendous wealth of Bandai. During the 80s, Sunrise dominated the industry’s production of robot anime while also producing Dirty Pair and City Hunter. However, since then the studio has settled into a routine of concentrating primarily on fewer works of higher quality. American fans are very familiar with titles including Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Escaflowne, The Big O, Witch Hunter Robin, Gintama, Inuyasha, and Code Geass. Ironically, despite rarely producing any anime of less than respectable quality, Sunrise productions don’t seem to debut frequently enough or create enough lasting attraction to make the studio an immediately obvious contender as Japan’s best anime studio.

On the other hand, BONES gets a great deal of respect from America for works including Wolf’s Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist, Eureka Seven, Kurau ~Phantom Memory~, Ouran High School Host Club, and Soul Eater. It’s frustrating to me that one of the studio’s most brilliant works, however, Nijuu Menso no Musume is very little known in America. But underneath BONES’ high profile titles are weaker productions like Hiwou Senki, Kenran Butosai ~ The Mars Daybreak, Skull Man, Ayakashi Ayashi, and Jyu Oh Sei.

Finally, allow me to defend Toei. It’s easy to wrap up impressions of Toei’s sometimes inexplicable and frustrating business decisions with Toei’s anime output. In recent years Americans have become more conscious of, and more aggravated by, Toei’s baffling international anime marketing. But objectively one could say that Toei’s anime output during the present decade is actually as good, or even better, than any previous point in the studio’s history. Just within the 2000s Toei has released exceptional anime titles including One Piece (technically the TV anime started in fall 1999, but that’s close enough), Pretty Cure, Air Master, Ayakashi and its spin-off series Mononoke, Binbou Shimai Monogatari, Love Com, and Hakaba Kitaro. During that same period, Toei’s only particularly bad productions have been Giniro no Olynssis, Ring ni Kakero, and Xenosaga: The Animation.

I haven’t addressed studios including Shaft, J.C. Staff, Tatsunoko, Pierrot, AIC, Satelight, Bee Train, Gonzo, Studio Deen, and Studio Comet, not because I don’t think they deserve mention, but rather because, as I already mentioned, there are just too many major production studios for me to succinctly cover all of them. And more importantly, by answering this question I’d like to encourage readers to solidify their own impressions rather than rely upon mine.