Bandai Namco Filmworks facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.

One of Bandai Namco Filmworks' headquarters in Ogikubo, dubbed "White Base"
Native name	株式会社バンダイナムコフィルムワークス
Romanized name	Kabushiki gaisha Bandai Namuko Firumuwākusu
Formerly	Sunrise Studio Y.K. 有限会社サンライズスタジオ Nippon Sunrise Inc. 株式会社日本サンライズ Sunrise Inc. 株式会社サンライズ
Type	Subsidiary (Kabushiki gaisha, formerly yūgen gaisha)
Industry	Japanese animation and production enterprise
Founded	September 1972; 52 years ago (1972-09)
Headquarters	Ogikubo, Suginami, Tokyo , Japan
Key people	Makoto Asanuma (President & CEO) Satoshi Kawano (Executive Vice-President) Yoshitaka Tao (Managing Director)
Number of employees	586 (as of April 2023)
Parent	Bandai Namco Holdings
Divisions	Sunrise Bandai Visual Emotion Bandai Channel
Subsidiaries	Bandai Namco Music Live Bandai Namco Pictures Sunrise Beyond Actas Sotsu Evolving GUNDAM

Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社バンダイナムコフィルムワークス, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Bandai Namuko Firumuwākusu), also known as Sunrise Inc., is a famous Japanese animation studio. It was started in September 1972 and is located in Ogikubo, Tokyo. Before its current name, it was known as Soeisha, Sunrise Studio, and Nippon Sunrise.

The main part of the company, called Sunrise (サンライズ, Sanraizu), is super well-known for creating awesome original anime series. Some of their most popular shows include Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Love Live!, and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. They also made anime from popular books and comics like Inuyasha and Gin Tama.

Fans often say that Sunrise's shows have really smooth animation and amazing action scenes. They even call this quality "Sunrise Smooth"! Many of their original stories are created by their talented team under the group name Hajime Yatate. Sunrise has won many awards, including the Animage Anime Grand Prix multiple times for shows like Mobile Suit Gundam and Code Geass.

History of the Studio

The logo for the Sunrise brand, used since late 1996. It was also the company logo until 2022.

Sunrise Studio was founded in 1972 by people who used to work at another animation studio called Mushi Production. Instead of having one main creator, Sunrise decided to let different producers lead their projects.

At the time, other companies already made popular anime based on comics or kids' stories. So, Sunrise chose to focus on robot anime. These shows were harder to animate but were great for selling toys!

Over the years, Sunrise has made many popular and award-winning TV shows. This includes the long-running Mobile Suit Gundam series, which started in 1979. They also worked on the Magic God Hero Legend Wataru series and the Brave series, which were made with Takara Tomy.

Sunrise is especially famous for its mecha (giant robot) anime. Besides Gundam, they produced shows like Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3, Armored Trooper Votoms, The Vision of Escaflowne, and Tiger & Bunny. They even helped animate The Ultraman with Tsuburaya Productions.

In 1994, Sunrise Inc. became part of the Bandai Group. Then, on April 1, 2022, a big change happened. Bandai Namco Holdings, their parent company, changed its logo and reorganized. Sunrise joined with the visual arts part of Bandai Namco Arts and changed its name to Bandai Namco Filmworks. The "Sunrise" name is still used as a major brand for their anime.

Animation Studios at Bandai Namco Filmworks

Bandai Namco Filmworks has several different animation studios, each with its own history and famous works:

• Studio 1 was one of the first studios created in 1972. It's known for many Mobile Suit Gundam shows like G Gundam and Gundam Wing. They also worked on Inuyasha.
• Studio 2 started around 1974. Some of its members later left to form the studio Bones. This studio worked on Zeta Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, and Cowboy Bebop.
• Studio 3 was created in 1975. It made many Gundam series, including Gundam 00 and The Witch from Mercury.
• Studio 4 started in 1979. It's famous for Dirty Pair and Code Geass.
• Studio 5 also began in 1979. It worked on Crest of the Stars, the InuYasha movies, and Gin Tama.
• Studio 6 was created in 1983. It's known for The Big O, Sgt. Frog, and Tiger & Bunny. They even helped with Batman: The Animated Series!
• Studio 8 was established around 1995. It's behind popular shows like My-HiME, Accel World, and Love Live!.
• Studio 9 started in 1996. It produced Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Zegapain.
• D.I.D. is Sunrise's computer graphics (CG) studio. They create amazing CG for many of the company's shows, like Tiger & Bunny and Gundam MS Igloo.
• Sunrise Beyond Inc. is another studio that joined Sunrise after the studio Xebec closed. They worked on Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise.
• White Base is a newer studio that opened in 2021. It's named after the famous spaceship from the Gundam series!

Popular TV Animation Series

Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks) has created many TV anime series over the years. Here are some of the most well-known ones:

1970s TV Anime

1980s TV Anime

1990s TV Anime

2000s TV Anime

2010s TV Anime

2020s TV Anime

Awesome Anime Films

Bandai Namco Filmworks has also produced many exciting anime movies:

Other Cool Projects

Sunrise has also worked on other types of projects, including:

• Animation for music videos, like for the animated band Pink Crows.
• Helping with live-action movies like Shadow of China (1989) and Cold Fever (1994).
• Providing animation for video games, such as Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo (2001) and Scarlet Nexus (2021).
• They even helped with the live-action TV series Cowboy Bebop (2021) for Netflix!

Getting Anime to Fans Worldwide

Most of the anime made by Sunrise and Bandai used to be released in the United States by Bandai Entertainment and in Europe by Beez Entertainment. However, these companies closed down in 2012.

Now, other companies like Funimation, Viz Media, Sentai Filmworks, and Aniplex of America help bring Sunrise anime to North America. In Europe, companies like Anime Limited and Kazé distribute their shows. In Australia, Madman Entertainment handles the distribution.

Sunrise itself also started licensing anime directly in North America. For example, Right Stuf helps release Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and other classic Gundam series on DVD and Blu-ray. This means more fans around the world can enjoy their amazing anime!

Talented Animators Who Started New Studios

Many talented animators and creators who worked at Sunrise went on to start their own successful animation studios. This shows how much talent comes from Sunrise! Some of these studios include:

• Studio Deen (founded in 1975)
• Bones (founded in 1998), known for shows like Fullmetal Alchemist and My Hero Academia.
• A-1 Pictures (founded in 2005), known for Sword Art Online and Fairy Tail.
• Bridge (founded in 2007)

Images for kids

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  The logo for the Sunrise brand, used since late 1996. It was also the company logo until 2022.

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