.svg){kind=logo} | |
 Headquarters inSuginami, Tokyo | |
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 Firumuwkusu |
| Formerly | Sunrise Studio, Limited (1972–1976) Nippon Sunrise Inc. (1976–1987) Sunrise Inc. (1987–2022) |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Anime Film distribution Home entertainment |
| Founded | September 1972; 53 years ago (1972-09) (as Sunrise) April 1, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-04-01) (as Bandai Namco Filmworks) |
| Headquarters | Ogikubo,, Japan |
Key people | Makoto Asanuma (president andCEO) Satoshi Kawano (executive vice-president) Yoshitaka Tao (managing director) |
Number of employees | 700 (as of April 1, 2025)[1] |
| Parent | Bandai (1994–2005) Bandai Namco Holdings (2005–present) |
| Divisions | Sunrise (IP Production Group) Bandai Visual Emotion Bandai Channel |
| Subsidiaries | Bandai Namco Pictures Actas Sotsu Evolving GUNDAM Eight Bit |
| Website | bnfw.co.jp |
| Footnotes / references [2][3] | |
Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.[a] is a Japanese entertainment company owned byBandai Namco Holdings with its business focused on the planning, production, distribution, and management ofanime films and television series. It was founded in September 1972 by formerMushi Production staff asSunrise Studio, Limited,[b] the animation studio branch ofShoeisha Co., Ltd.[c]. In 1977, it gained independence from Shoeisha andTohokushinsha and rebranded itself toNippon Sunrise Inc.[d] In 1987, the studio rebranded toSunrise Inc.,[e] a name which would remain in use for over 35 years. In 1994, the company was acquired by toy and entertainment companyBandai and was integrated into Namco Bandai Holdings in 2005.
In 2022, as part of a major group restructuring of the Bandai Namco Group, the company would merge with the home video division of Bandai Namco Arts and Bandai Namco Rights Marketing to form Bandai Namco Filmworks. As part of this restructuring, Sunrise would continue to operate as a division within the company (officially known as a "brand") with the changes taking effect on April 1, 2022.[4]
Its current divisions includeSunrise (animation production),Bandai Visual (including Emotion, home video distribution) andBandai Channel (streaming services) and currently owns other studios such asBandai Namco Pictures,Actas,Eight Bit and the advertising agencySotsu.
From its establishment in 1972 to 2022, the company served as the legal operating entity for the Sunrise studio, serving as a full production company, specializing in animation production and character licensing.
On April 1, 2022, Bandai Namco Holdings adopted a new logo that had been initially revealed in October 2021. As a result, a major restructuring occurred, resulting in Sunrise subsuming the home video division of Bandai Namco Arts, which was dissolved that same day and rebranded toBandai Namco Music Live with its music division, Sunrise Music being subsumed into Bandai Namco Arts' music operations, includingLantis in the process.[5] Following this, the company has adopted the same logo as its parent, and adopted the name Bandai Namco Filmworks name.[4] The Sunrise name has been kept as one of the major brands of the company as of August 2023 as an animation production division.[6]
On March 1, 2024, Bandai Namco Filmworks announced the acquisition of anime studioEight Bit, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.[7][8]
On May 14, 2024, the company established a business partnership with animation studioTsumugi Akita Animation Lab to jointly create further works and IP.[9]
On June 3, 2024, the company entered into a business partnership withLandQ Studios [ja] to strengthen further 3DCG animation production capabilities.[10]
On February 4, 2025, Bandai Namco Holdings USA announced the establishment of Bandai Namco Filmworks America to handle the company's licensing and brand management activities internationally, which will take effect on April 1. The announcement coincided with the start of the co-financing and co-production of theGundam film withLegendary Pictures.[11][12]
On October 7, 2025, it was announced that the company would streamline its planning, production and copyright management businesses as well as management of theGundam series, that are currently overlapped within BNFW and its subsidiary, Sotsu. As part of this, Sotsu would transfer itsGundam series-related businesses and its IP planning and production businesses to BNFW with the transfer being scheduled to be completed April 1, 2026.[13]
Sunrise,[f] thetrade name of the company'sIP Production Group division, is ananimation studio founded in September 1972 and is based inOgikubo, Tokyo.[14] Its former names were alsoSoeisha,Sunrise Studio andNippon Sunrise.[15]
The studio is renowned for critically praised and popular original anime series such as theGundam series,Cowboy Bebop,Space Runaway Ideon,Armored Trooper Votoms,The Big O, theMashin Hero Wataru series,Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, theFuture GPX Cyber Formula series,Crush Gear Turbo,The Vision of Escaflowne, theLove Live! series,Witch Hunter Robin,My-HiME,My-Otome, theCode Geass series, andCross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon, as well as its numerous adaptations of acclaimedlight novels includingCrest of the Stars,Dirty Pair,Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere andAccel World, andmanga such as theCity Hunter series,Inuyasha,Yashahime,Outlaw Star,Angel Links,Yakitate!! Japan,Planetes, andKekkaishi. Their productions usually feature fluid animation and action sequences and many fans refer to the quality of their work as "Sunrise Smooth".
Most of their work are original titles created in-house by their creative staff under a collective pseudonym,Hajime Yatate. They also operated a defunct video-game studio,Sunrise Interactive. Sunrise launched a light-novel publisher,Yatate Bunko Imprint, on September 30, 2016, to publish original titles and supplement their existing franchises with new materials.[16] Anime created by Sunrise which have won theAnimage Anime Grand Prix areMobile Suit Gundam in 1979 and the first half of 1980,Space Runaway Ideon in the second half of 1980,Crusher Joe (a co-production withStudio Nue) in 1983,Dirty Pair in 1985,Future GPX Cyber Formula in 1991,Gundam SEED in 2002,Gundam SEED Destiny in 2004 and 2005,Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion in 2006 and 2007 andCode Geass R2 in 2008, making Sunrise the studio which won the largest number of Animage Awards.
Bandai Visual[g] alongside itsEmotion[h] brand is the home video division of Bandai Namco Filmworks. The label focuses on releasing video content for most of its works from the Sunrise brand alongside works from other companies. Prior to 2015, Bandai Visual operated as a separate company within BNHD with the company absorbingLantis that year and changing its name toBandai Namco Arts. This changed when Bandai Namco's 2022 restructuring moved the video division of Bandai Namco Arts to Bandai Namco Filmworks and Bandai Namco Arts rebranding itself to Bandai Namco Music Live.
Bandai Channel[i] serves as the video distribution service of the group that hosts mainly anime works through the internet via its titular streaming service which is available only in Japan. The service hosts content from the BNFW libraries as well as other studios and distributors.
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