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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Multimedia entertainment |
| Founded | March 2004; 21 years ago (2004-03) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
Area served | North America,South America,Oceania andSouth Africa |
Key people | Masayuki Endo (president andCEO)[1] |
| Products | Anime |
| Parent | Toei Animation |
| Website | www.toei-animation-usa.com |
Toei Animation Inc. (abbreviated asTAI, or sometimes justToei Animation USA orToei LATAM depending on the territory) is an American licensing and distribution company that operates as an international distribution arm of the Japanese animation studioToei Animation. Originally founded in 2004 and based inLos Angeles, the company is responsible for licensing the studio's library acrossNorth America,Latin America,South Africa,Australia, andNew Zealand.[2] It holds partnerships with TV channels, DVD distributors, andstreaming websites.
Due toToei Animation's decision to start distributing the series directly since 2003 with the establishment of Toei Animation Europe based inParis, Toei Animation Inc. based inLos Angeles was founded in 2004.[2]
In November 2004, Toei had signed a deal withGeneon USA to distribute three titles,Air Master,Interlude andSlam Dunk on DVD in North America.[3] However, due to low sales, the DVD's went out-of-print and the deal was terminated within a year and a half.[4]
In 2005, the Toei Animation licenses that were distributed byCloverway Inc. were transferred to Toei Animation Inc. for requirement, leaving Cloverway alone with the licenses of the other Japanese producers with which it intermediated until August 2007 (due to economic problems).[citation needed] As a consequence of this, there has been a chain of irregularities, such as the loss of master tapes of many series, with the Latin American versions being the most affected for this change in distribution.[citation needed]
