Madhouse, Inc. is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro staff, including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Madhouse has created and helped produce many well-known shows, OVAs and films, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! (produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha) in 1973, and including Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, Perfect Blue, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Trigun, Di Gi Charat, Black Lagoon, Death Note, Chi's Sweet Home, Paprika, Parasyte: The Maxim, the first season of One-Punch Man, the second adaptation of Hunter × Hunter, Overlord, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. Unlike other studios founded at this time such as AIC and J.C.Staff, their strength was and is primarily in TV shows and theatrical features. Expanding from the initial Mushi Pro staff, Madhouse recruited important directors such as Morio Asaka, Masayuki Kojima, and Satoshi Kon during the 1990s. Their staff roster expanded in the 2000s to include Mamoru Hosoda, Takeshi Koike, and Mitsuo Iso, as well as many younger television directors.
The studio often collaborates with known manga artists, including Naoki Urasawa and Clamp. Madhouse produced adaptations of Urasawa's Yawara!, Master Keaton, and Monster, with Masayuki Kojima helming the latter two. The company has animated a number of CLAMP's titles, including Tokyo Babylon, two versions of X (a theatrical movie and a TV series), Cardcaptor Sakura and its sequel Clear Card, and Chobits. In the 2000s and 2010s, Madhouse and its subsidiaries, Madbox Co., Ltd and South Korea–based DR Movie, animated for various companies, including Imagi Animation Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, Marvel Animation, Studio Ghibli, TMS Entertainment, Production I.G, Sunrise, Pierrot, DNA Productions, Hanna-Barbera, Film Roman, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Capcom, and HBO, among others.
Contents
History
Madhouse was established in 1972 by ex–Mushi Production animators, including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with funding from Yutaka Fujioka, the founder of Tokyo Movie, and co-produced its earliest series with Tokyo Movie. In February 2004, Madhouse became a subsidiary of Index Corporation. On February 8, 2011, Nippon TV became Madhouse's primary stockholder (replacing Index Corporation), via a third-party allocation of new shares. NTV bought 128,667 new shares (each ¥7,772) issued by Madhouse for ¥999,999,924 total (about $12.4 million), raising its stake in the company from 10.4% to 84.5%. Index Corporation's stake in Madhouse fell from 60.91% to 10.54%. In January 2012, Madhouse announced their acquisition of the animation rights to the Peanuts comic strip. In March 2014, NTV bought all the shares belonging to Index Corporation, increasing its stake in Madhouse to 95%.
Representative staff
Sanae Tashiro (Seventh president and CEO, 2021–)
Yuuzou Kuwahara (Board member, 2024–)
Toshiya Gotou (Board member, 2024–)
Hidetoshi Tomonari (Auditor, 2024–)
Yasuo Oda (First president and CEO, 1972–1980)
Masao Maruyama (Second president and CEO, 1980–2000; COO, 2000–2011)
Jungoo Murata (Third president and CEO, 2000–2009)
Masami Ochiai (Fourth president and CEO, 2010–2011)
Hiroyuki Okada (Fifth president and CEO, 2011–2015)
Masahiro Takahashi (Sixth president and CEO, 2015–2020; also chairman of the board)
Akira Shinohara (Managing director, ?–2024)
Tsuneo Takayama (Board member)
Kako Kuwahara (Board member, ?–2024)
Hitoshi Nishioka (Board member, ?–2024)
Business
The studio employs approximately 70 employees, with employment levels varying depending on the number of productions currently underway. Additionally, the company has invested in the animation studio DR Movie. Madhouse has a subsidiary, Madbox Co., Ltd., that mainly focuses on computer graphics.
Works
Television specials
Natsufuku no Shōjo-tachi (August 7, 1988)
Hiroshima ni Ichiban Densha ga Hashitta (August 6, 1993)
Yawara! Special - Zutto Kimi no Koto ga (July 19, 1996)
Di Gi Charat - Summer Special 2000 (August 22, 2000 – August 23, 2000)
Di Gi Charat - Christmas Special (December 16, 2000)
Di Gi Charat - Ohanami Special (April 6, 2001)
Di Gi Charat - Natsuyasumi Special (August 2, 2001 – August 3, 2001)
Di Gi Charat - Tsuyu Special (August 25, 2001)
Hajime no Ippo - Champion Road (June 25, 2003)
A Spirit of the Sun (September 17 – 18, 2006)
Ani*Kuri 15 (May 7 – December 10, 2007, animated two of the fifteen segments, "Sancha (The Aromatic Tea) Blues" and "Good Morning", respectively)
Death Note: Relight - Visions of a God (August 31, 2007)
Death Note: Relight 2 - L's Successors (August 22, 2008)
Megumi to Taiyō: Kajū Gummi Tweet Love Story (May 11, 2011)
Megumi to Taiyō II: Kajū Gummi Tweet Mystery (February 24, 2012, co-animated with MAPPA)
Megumi to Taiyō III: Kajū Gummi Tweet Fantasy (June 12, 2012, co-animated with MAPPA)
Film
Madhouse's early theatrical work included assistance on the Barefoot Gen films, and Lensman, an anime movie based on the space opera series by pulp science fiction author E.E. "Doc" Smith.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, director Yoshiaki Kawajiri produced a string of action films including Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku, and Ninja Scroll.
In the late 1990s, the studio aimed at a younger female audience with Morio Asaka's two Cardcaptor Sakura films, based on the popular television series.
In the early 2000s, an ambitious collaboration with Tezuka Productions resulted in Metropolis, directed by Rintaro and adapted from the manga by Osamu Tezuka. Earlier collaborations with Tezuka productions included two feature-length films made for Sanrio starring Tezuka's unicorn character Unico.
Director Satoshi Kon produced all four of his films with the studio: Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika, as well as his TV series Paranoia Agent. Kon was also making his fifth film the Dreaming Machine with Madhouse, although it was left incomplete at his death in 2010.
In 2003, Madhouse produced Nasu: Summer in Andalusia, which was adapted from the seinen manga Nasu by Iou Kuroda and directed by Studio Ghibli veteran Kitarō Kōsaka. Nasu was the first Japanese animated film ever selected for screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Kōsaka followed up his film with an OVA sequel in 2007.
In 2006, director Mamoru Hosoda began his career with the studio by directing The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
Recent productions included Masayuki Kojima's theatrical debut Forest of Piano (2007), Hosoda's acclaimed Summer Wars (2009), Sunao Katabuchi's Mai Mai Miracle (2009), the company's first CG animated film, Yona Yona Penguin (2009), Takeshi Koike's feature film debut Redline (2009), a theatrical version of the Trigun series, Trigun: Badlands Rumble (2010), and The Tibetan Dog, a co-production with China (2011).
OVAs
(These also include some outsourced productions)
Wounded Man (1986–1988)
Phoenix: Yamato Chapter (1987)
Phoenix: Space Chapter (1987)
Bride of Deimos (1988)
Demon City Shinjuku (1988)
Kaze wo Nuke! (1988)
Fairy King (1988)
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988–1989, part 1 only)
Goku Midnight Eye (1989)
Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoka Narudesho! (1990)
Nineteen 19 (1990)
Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990–1991)
Record of Lodoss War (1990–1991)
Devil Hunter Yohko (1990–1995)
Doomed Megalopolis (1991–1992)
Urusei Yatsura (1991, OVAs 10 and 11)
Tokyo Babylon (1992–1994)
Zetsuai 1989 (1992–1994)
Download (1992)
Battle Angel (1993)
Mermaid's Scar (1993)
The Cockpit (Slipstream segment, 1993)
Black Jack (1993–2011)
Video games
Sol-Feace (1991)
Earnest Evans (1991)
Anett Futatabi (1993)
Wild Arms (1996)
Elemental Gearbolt (1997)
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (2010)
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (intro sequence) (2012)
Persona 4 Golden (intro sequence) (2012)
Persona 4 Arena (intro sequence) (2012)
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl (2013)
Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight (2014)
Echoes of Mana (trailer) (2022)
Collaborations
Madhouse designed the characters for Hudson Soft's game Virus (the first installment of the Virus Buster Serge franchise). Madhouse worked with Square Enix on the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy VII as well as Capcom for Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, and Street Fighter: The Animated Series.
They collaborated with Studio Ghibli by contributing key animation assistance to Hayao Miyazaki's films including My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and The Secret World of Arrietty (2010), as well as Tomomi Mochizuki's films I Can Hear the Sea (1993) and Goro Miyazaki's Tales from Earthsea (2006).
Madhouse also collaborated with Disney for the anime Stitch! for its first and second arcs (equal to 56 episodes total), between 2008 and 2010. They also animated the intro cutscene to PlayStation video game Wild Arms and the opening movie to PlayStation Vita video game Persona 4 Golden (Persona 4: The Golden in Japan), along with opening to the PSP remake of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
Madhouse collaborated with professional rapper Snoop Dogg in the 2006 horror-comedy anthology movie Hood of Horror, in which they assisted in the animated sections of the movie. They also worked with the Wachowskis and other famed Japanese animators and studios to create The Animatrix, an animated anthology adaptation of the Matrix franchise; Madhouse particularly worked on its short films "Program" and "World Record."
In 2010 to 2014, Madhouse collaborated with Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures to create adaptations of Blade, Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men, Black Widow, and Punisher, and then in 2017, collaborated again with Marvel Entertainment, Disney+, and Walt Disney Japan to create an adaptation of the Avengers. Conversely, they worked with Marvel's rival company, DC Entertainment, Warner Premiere, and Warner Brothers to create an anthology adaptation of Batman. Madhouse had also worked with Warner Brothers and Sony on separate occasions to create series adaptations of Ultraviolet and Supernatural. Furthermore, Madhouse worked with Imagi Animation Studios and Davis-Panzer Productions to create an adaptation of Highlander as an animated film. Additionally, they were commissioned by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, to provide an anime adaptation of Aphrodite IX. However, the project was suddenly canceled without any explanation.
Foreign production history
In addition to Madhouse creating anime of Western media, they were also responsible for making a few notable American cartoons, particularly through collaborations with Western companies such as Hanna-Barbera, Film Roman, and HBO. Typically, though, many cartoons that has involved creative input from Madhouse in any way are done through its South Korean subsidiary DR Movie.
The Jetsons (ジェットソンズ) (September 16, 1985 – November 12, 1987) (co-animated with Hanna-Barbera with Toei Animation; Season 3 only; uncredited)
The Transformers: The Movie (トランスフォーマー：ザ・ムービー) (August 8, 1986) (co-animated with Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, and Toei Animation; uncredited, provides key and in-between animation)
Popples (ポップル) (September 13, 1986 – July 18, 1987) (co-production with KK C&D Asia, Korumi, Junio and Shaft)
The Pirates of Dark Water (ダークウォーターの海賊) (February 25, 1991 – May 23, 1993) (co-animated with Hanna-Barbera with Fil-Cartoons, Wang Film Productions, Tama Production, Big Star, Kennedy Cartoons, and Mr. Big Cartoons)
The Adventures of T-Rex (T-レックス) (September 14 – November 24, 1992) (co-animated with C&D (Créativité et Développement), Gunther-Wahl Productions, and Kitty Films)
The Tick (ダニ) (September 10, 1994 – November 24, 1996) (co-production with Sunbow Productions, Graz Entertainment, AKOM, and Fox Children's Productions)
Street Fighter (ストリートファイター) (October 21, 1995 – May 14, 1997) (co-production with InVision Entertainment, Graz Entertainment, USA Studios and Sunrise)
Wing Commander Academy (ウイング・コマンダー・アカデミー) (September 21 – December 21, 1996) (co-animated with Universal Animation Studios)