Tezuka Productions

Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd. (株式会社手塚プロダクション, Kabushiki-gaisha Tezuka Purodakushon) is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as Marvelous Melmo, the 1980 and 2003 Astro Boy series, and Black Jack. It is also the holder of the intellectual property of Tezuka's works; his son, Makoto Tezuka, currently aims to use the company to extend Tezuka's manga series with new issues and publish posthumous works such as Legend of the Forest.

Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.
Native name
株式会社手塚プロダクション
Kabushiki-gaisha Tezuka Purodakushon
Company typeKabushiki gaisha
IndustryJapanese animation
FoundedJanuary 23, 1968 (January 23, 1968)[1]
FounderOsamu Tezuka
HeadquartersShinjuku, Tokyo, Japan[2]
Number of locations
Niiza, Saitama, Japan[2]
Key people
Takayuki Matsutani (Chairman)
Makoto Tezuka (Director)
Rumiko Tezuka (Director)
Yoshihiro Shimizu (Director)
Websitehttps://tezuka.co.jp/

Their logo is a blue silhouette of Astro Boy's head as a mascot.

History

In 1961, Osamu Tezuka established Osamu Tezuka Mushi Production as a video and animation production unit. It was officially incorporated as Mushi Productions Co., Ltd., the following year.[3] Tezuka served as acting director of the company until 1968, when he left to start another animation studio, Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd., as a spun-off division of Mushi Productions dedicated to manga production and copyright management.[3]

In 1970, Tezuka moved the headquarters of Tezuka Productions to the second and third floors of a cafe business across from Fujimidai Station in Nerima.[4] The second floor was reserved for employee offices and production assistants, while the third floor was Tezuka's own workspace and office.[4] For the first few years, the studio took sub-contracted animation work from Mushi Production, which included a variety of animated shorts and a full television series, Fushigi na Merumo (Marvelous Melmo), which was broadcast by TBS for 26 episodes from October 1971 to March 1972.[5][6] After Mushi Production filed for bankruptcy in 1973, Tezuka Productions took on animation production full-time along with its manga and copyright businesses and began growing rapidly as an animation studio.[5] In 1976, Tezuka Productions relocated again to the Takadanobaba Seven Building (高田馬場のセブンビル, Takadanobaba no Sebun Biru) in Takadanobaba, Shinjuku.[4]

From 1980 to 1981, Tezuka Productions produced a remake for Astro Boy that ran for 52 episodes on Nippon TV. Tezuka had been dissatisfied with the first Astro Boy series produced at Mushi Production, and had wanted to create a remake for the series since 1974.[7]

In 2007, Tezuka Productions began a multi-year project to digitize and color all of Tezuka's published manga series, comprising over 150,000 pages.[8] Tezuka's former personal assistants reproduced the color charts that they originally used for all-color pieces while Tezuka was still producing series, in order to ensure that the new coloring process remained faithful to the colors used in Tezuka's time.[8]

In 2008, Tezuka's son, Makoto, announced that he would complete Legend of the Forest, his father's final unfinished work, at Tezuka Productions.[9] The film was completed in 2014, premiering at the 2014 Hiroshima International Animation Festival in August, and in North America at the Japan Society in New York City on February 21, 2015.[10][11]

Works

Osamu Tezuka Works
  • Marvelous Melmo (October 3, 1971 – March 26, 1972)
  • Astro Boy (October 1, 1980 - December 23, 1981)
  • Don Dracula (April 5, 1982 – April 26, 1982)
  • Blue Blink (April 7, 1989 – March 16, 1990)
  • The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion (October 12, 1989 – October 11, 1990)
  • The Three-Eyed One (October 18, 1990 – September 26, 1991)
  • In the Beginning: The Bible Stories (April 1, 1997 – May 9, 1997)
  • Astro Boy (April 6, 2003 - March 28, 2004)
  • Phoenix (March 21, 2004 – May 4, 2004)
  • Black Jack (October 11, 2004 - March 6, 2006)
  • Black Jack 21 (April 10, 2006 - September 4, 2006)
  • Little Astro Boy (March 22, 2014 – April 26, 2014)
  • Young Black Jack (October 1, 2015 – December 17, 2015)
  • Dororo (January 7, 2019 – June 24, 2019) - co-produced with MAPPA[12]
  • Go Astro Boy Go! (October 3, 2019 – October 1, 2020)
  • Astro Boy Reboot (TBA)[13]

Non-Osamu Tezuka Works
  • Dear Brother (July 14, 1991 - May 31, 1992)
  • Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick (April 2, 1997 – May 12, 1999, from episodes 19–26)
  • Mokke (October 3, 2007 – March 25, 2008)
  • Genji Monogatari Sennenki (January 15, 2009 – March 26, 2009)
  • Kids on the Slope (April 12, 2012 – June 28, 2012) - co-produced with MAPPA
  • Samurai Warriors (January 11, 2015 – March 29, 2015) - co-produced with TYO Animations[14]
  • Dagashi Kashi 2 (January 12, 2018 – March 30, 2018)[15]
  • The Quintessential Quintuplets (January 9, 2019 – March 28, 2019)[16]
  • Adachi and Shimamura (October 9, 2020 – December 25, 2020)[17]
  • How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω (April 9, 2021 – June 11, 2021) - co-produced with Okuruto Noboru;[18] Tezuka Productions animated episodes 1, 3–6, and 8–10.
  • Girlfriend, Girlfriend (July 3, 2021 – September 18, 2021)[19]
  • Muteking the Dancing Hero (October 3, 2021 – December 19, 2021) - co-produced with Tatsunoko Production[20]
  • The Dawn of the Witch (April 8, 2022 – July 1, 2022)[21]
  • Mamekichi Mameko NEET no Nichijō (October 3, 2022)[22] - aired as a segment of Fuji TV's "POP UP!" TV Program.
  • Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte (January 7, 2023 – March 25, 2023)[23]
  • My Home Hero (April 2, 2023 – June 18, 2023)[24]
  • The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses (April 8, 2023 – present)[25]
  • Under Ninja (October 6, 2023 – December 22, 2023)[26]
  • The Fable (April 7, 2024)[27]
  • My Wife Has No Emotion (July 2, 2024)[28]

Osamu Tezuka Works

Osamu Tezuka Works

Non-Osamu Tezuka Works
  • Thumbelina (March 18, 1978) - co-produced with Toei Animation
  • The Life of Budori Gusuko (July 7, 2012)[29][30]
  • My Tyrano: Together, Forever (December 10, 2021)
  • My Tyrano II: Easter, Garden (April 25, 2025)

Osamu Tezuka Works

Non-Osamu Tezuka Works

Original net animations
  • Black Jack (2001)
  • Pluto (2023) - co-produced with Genco

Video games

See also

References
  1. 会社概要・組織図 [About Us - Organizational Chart] (in Japanese). Tezuka Productions. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. "Facilities". TezukaOsamu. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  3. 手塚治虫と手塚プロダクションの変遷 [Evolution of Osamu Tezuka and Tezuka Productions] (in Japanese). Tezuka Productions. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  4. 虫ん坊 2010年02月号 (in Japanese). Tezuka Productions. February 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  5. Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia. Stone Bridge Press. p. 433. ISBN 978-1933330105.
  6. "Marvelous Melmo (Merumo) - ふしぎなメルモ". Viki. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  7. Osamu Tezuka (1979). ぼくはマンガ家 手塚治虫自伝・1. Daiwa Shobo. p. 193. ASIN B000J8ID1G.
  8. "Tezuka's Company to Digitize, Colorize All His Manga". Anime News Network. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  9. "Tezuka's Final Unfinished Anime To Be Completed by Son". Anime News Network. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  10. "Special Screening: Legend of the Forest, Parts 1 & 2". Japan Society. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  11. "Japan Society in NY to Hold N. American Premiere of Tezuka's Completed Legend of the Forest Film". Anime News Network. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  12. "Dororo TV Anime's 1st Promo Video, Cast, Staff, Visual Revealed". Anime News Network. September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  13. "ASTROBOY Reboot". astroboy-reboot.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  14. "Samurai Warriors TV Anime's Cast, Staff, Story Revealed". Anime News Network. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  15. "Dagashi Kashi 2 Anime Reveals Teaser Video, Visuals, Staff". Anime News Network. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  16. "The Quintessential Quintuplets Anime Reveals Visual, Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  17. "Adachi to Shimamura TV Anime's Promo Video Reveals Staff, More Cast". Anime News Network. December 26, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  18. "How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Anime Gets 2nd Season in 2021". Anime News Network. April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  19. "Kanojo mo Kanojo Anime Unveils Main Staff, Teaser Visual". Anime News Network. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  20. "Muteking the Dancing Hero Anime Reveals Staff, Cast, Visual, Teaser Video, Fall Debut". Anime News Network. March 27, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  21. "The Dawn of the Witch TV Anime Unveils Cast, Staff, Visual". Anime News Network. October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  22. "Mamekichi Mameko NEET no Nichijō Manga Gets TV Anime on October 3". Anime News Network. September 12, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  23. "'Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte' Anime's 1st Video Unveils Cast, Staff, January TV Debut". Anime News Network. July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  24. "My Home Hero Anime's 1st Teaser Reveals Cast, Staff, April 2023 Premiere". Anime News Network. September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  25. "The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses Anime's Teaser Reveals Cast, Staff, April 2023 Debut". Anime News Network. November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  26. "Under Ninja TV Anime Celebrates Ninja Day with New Visual, Staff Announcements". Crunchyroll. February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  27. "The Fable TV Anime Reveals April 6 Debut, More Cast, Disney+ Streaming Worldwide (Updated)". Anime News Network. February 25, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  28. "My Wife Has No Emotion Anime Reveals More Cast, Staff, July 2 Debut". Anime News Network. May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  29. "Guskou Budori Anime Remake's Teaser Trailer, Poster Unveiled". Anime News Network. March 13, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  30. "The Life of Guskou Budori". Warner Bros. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
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