The history of anime in the United States began in 1961, when Magic Boy and The White Snake Enchantress, both produced by Toei Animation, became the first and second anime films to receive documented releases in the country. Anime has since found success with a growing audience in the region, with Astro Boy often being noted as the first anime to receive widespread syndication, especially in the United States. Additionally, anime's growth in popularity in the US during the 1990s, commonly referred to as the "anime boom," is credited with much of anime's enduring relevance to popular culture outside Japan.
Funimation is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service is one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It has streamed popular series, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, Fruits Basket, Assassination Classroom and Tokyo Ghoul among many others.
Saint Seiya, also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1985 to 1990, with its chapters collected in 28 tankōbon volumes. The story follows five mystical warriors called the Saints who fight wearing sacred sets of armor named "Cloths", the designs of which derive from the various constellations the characters have adopted as their destined guardian symbols. The Saints have sworn to defend the reincarnation of the Olympian goddess Athena in her battle against other gods who want to dominate Earth.
The Pretty Cure series is a Japanese magical girl anime franchise created by Izumi Todo and produced by ABC Television, Asatsu-DK and Toei Animation. Each series revolves around a group of magical girls known as Pretty Cures who battle against evil forces. Starting in February 2004 with Futari wa Pretty Cure, the franchise has seen many anime series, spanning over 850 episodes to date, as well as spawning movies, manga, toys, and video games. Its most recent iteration, Wonderful PreCure!, began airing in February 2024 as part of TV Asahi's Sunday morning children's television block. As of December 2022, three series have received English adaptations.
Gonzo K.K. is a Japanese anime studio owned by ADK that was established on February 22, 2000. Gonzo is a member of The Association of Japanese Animations. The company's predecessor Gonzo Inc. was established on February 11, 1992, by former Gainax staff members, but was later absorbed into its parent company, GDH K.K. on April 1, 2009, and it would assume the Gonzo trade name for itself.
MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Vision, AnimEigo and US Manga Corps, which do not have a UK presence, and releases them on Region 2 DVD. It is part of the MVM Group, which also has wholesale and retail arms, and specialises in anime, manga and related merchandise. It is headquartered in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, co-production and the creation of English versions of animation for worldwide distribution.
Studiopolis, Inc. is an American post-production studio located in Studio City, Los Angeles. It specializes in voiceover recording and dubbing for cartoon, anime, and video game projects. They were formerly known as Screenmusic Studios and then Studio E Productions until 2005. The studio is owned by Jamie Simone. It has another studio located in Burbank, California.
Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. was an American anime, multimedia production and distribution company that was owned by Geneon Entertainment. It was primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime from Japan to North America.
One Piece is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation that premiered on Fuji TV in October 1999. It is based on Eiichiro Oda's manga series of the same name. The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the "One Piece" in order to become the next Pirate King.
Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, and co-owns Celestial Tiger Entertainment.
Cloverway Inc. 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 of Toei Animation for the Americas, mostly distributing Toei properties for syndication and home video. They were also acting as an intermediary agent between Japanese companies and local companies both in the U.S. market and Latin American market, for film distribution or manga publishing of their contents in the continent, to various TV channels in each country, regionally and pan-regionally as well as arranging publishing deals with several manga publishers in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Smile PreCure! is a 2012 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation and the ninth installment in Izumi Todo's Pretty Cure metaseries, featuring the seventh generation of Cures. The series is written by Shōji Yonemura, best known as the head writer of Glass Fleet and Kamen Rider Kabuto. The character designs were done by Toshie Kawamura, who previously worked on character designs for Yes! PreCure 5. Like Yes! Pretty Cure 5, the team has five members with a color scheme of pink, red, yellow, green, and blue, but unlike it the team's members are classmates in their second year of middle school. There are no additional team members. The series aired on All-Nippon News Network (ANN)'s TV Asahi network between February 5, 2012, and January 27, 2013, replacing Suite PreCure♪ in its timeslot, and was succeeded by DokiDoki! PreCure. A film was released in Japanese theaters on October 26, 2012, and a novel was released in 2016, serving as an epilogue that takes place 10 years after the anime's events. An illustration book of Toshie Kawamura's works was released on February 12, 2014. The series' main topics are fairy tales and happiness.
Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series.
Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the Dragon Ball media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 Dragon Ball television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. The series aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 1989 to January 1996 and was later dubbed for broadcast in at least 81 countries worldwide.
Crunchyroll, LLC, d/b/a Crunchyroll, formerly known as Funimation, is an American entertainment company based in Coppell, Texas, focused on the distribution and licensing of anime, films, and television series. The company, then known as Funimation Productions, was founded in May 1994, by Gen Fukunaga and his wife Cindy in Silicon Valley, with funding by Daniel Cocanougher and his family, who became investors in the company, which then relocated to North Richland Hills and later Flower Mound, Texas.
