is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It was originally founded on January 23, 1948, as Nihon Dōga by Kenzō Masaoka and Sanae Yamamoto.
The studio is known for producing numerous series, including the Sally the Witch series, the GeGeGe no Kitarō series, Mazinger Z, Galaxy Express 999, the Cutie Honey series, the Dr. Slump series, the Dragon Ball series, the Saint Seiya series, the Sailor Moon series, Slam Dunk, the Digimon series, the One Piece series, Magical Doremi, Toriko, World Trigger and the Pretty Cure series, among others. Aside from animation production, the company handles character licensing and overseas distribution and sales of its titles through its wholly-owned international subsidiaries.
Toei Animation is headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo with its studios in Higashiōizumi, Nerima, Tokyo which also houses the . Toei also has an overseas studio in the Philippines known as
Pero, the protagonist of the studio's 1969 film adaptation of Puss in Boots, serves as its mascot.
History
Early history The studio was founded by animators Kenzō Masaoka and Sanae Yamamoto in 1948 as often shortened to . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was renamed . In 1998, the Japanese name was renamed to match with the English name. It has created a number of TV series and movies and adapted Japanese comics as animated series, many popular worldwide. Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yasuji Mori, Leiji Matsumoto and Yōichi Kotabe have worked with the company. Toei was a shareholder in the Japanese anime satellite television network Animax with other anime studios and production companies, such as Sunrise, TMS Entertainment and Nihon Ad Systems Inc.
Although the Toei Company usually contracts Toei Animation to handle its animation internally for some of its works, it occasionally hire other companies to provide animation; although the Toei Company produced the Robot Romance Trilogy, Sunrise (then known as Nippon Sunrise) provided the animation. Toei Company would also enlist the help of other studios such as hiring Academy Productions to produce the animation for Space Emperor God Sigma, rather than use its own studio. Since 1962, Toei Animation uses its own production offices rather than using Toei's television division.
Toei Animation's anime which have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award are Galaxy Express 999 in 1981, Saint Seiya in 1987 and Sailor Moon in 1992. In addition to producing anime for release in Japan, Toei Animation began providing animation for American films and television series during the 1960s and particularly during the 1980s.
Later history and ransomware attack In October 2021, Toei Animation announced that it had signed a strategic partnership with the South Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM.
On March 6, 2022, an incident occurred in which an unauthorized third party attempted to hack Toei Animation's network, which resulted in the company's online store and internal systems becoming temporarily suspended. The company investigated the incident and stated that the hack would affect the broadcast schedules of several anime series, including One Piece. In addition, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was also rescheduled to June 11, 2022, due to the hack. On April 6, 2022, Toei Animation announced that it would resume broadcasting the anime series, including One Piece. The following day, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the hack was caused by a targeted ransomware attack.
On June 5, 2025, the company announced a new animation production label known as Eterna Animation which would focus on original works with the label's first work, Foxing announced at the same time with the short being released during 2026.
On August 26 of that year, the company announced the establishment of another studio in Osaka. The "Osaka Studio" would act as its second domestic animation studio further expanding Toei Animation's production work as well as recruiting artists from the Kansai region and build ties with the local community. According to Toei Animation board member and head of production Kiichiro Yamada, he states that the labor shortage in the Japanese animation industry is a serious issue and that the studio feels that it has an urgency to recruit creators and open studios across other regions in Japan rather than having to deal with the Tokyo studio.
On September 8, 2026, it was reported that the company would enter into a strategic partnership with Lionsgate to release its films in the US, beginning with Monkey Quest in 2027. Lionsgate will also get first-look for new co-productions under the deal.
Currently in production + Title Year(s) / Release Notes Episodes 1One Piece1999–presentTV anime1,1762PreCure2004–presentTV anime (23rd series)1,0673Butt Detective2018–presentTV anime 1354Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendō2020–presentTV anime1485Elemon 2023–presentWeb series306Surviving Science! 2024–presentTV anime407Digimon Beatbreak 2025–presentTV anime45
TV animation
NOTE: A few of these productions have no involvement by Toei Animation, but rather Toei Company financing other animation studios instead to produce them.
1960–69 No. Title Series director Broadcast network(s) Eps Year(s) Notes1 Ookami Shonen Ken Sadao Tsukioka Isao Takahata NET 86 – Toei's grand debut in TV animation2 Fujimaru of the Wind Daisaku Shirakawa Kimio Yabuki65 – Inspired by the manga Kaze no Ishimaru by Sanpei Shirato; animated by Yasuji Mori and Hayao Miyazaki; the anime was renamed Kaze no Fujimaru in order to associate it with its sponsor, Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals (now Astellas Pharma)3 Jun the Space Patrol Hopper Hiromi Yamamoto Taiji Yabushita 44 – 4 Hustle Punch Hiroshi Ikeda Isao Takahata26 – 5 Rainbow Sentai Robin Shinichi Suzuki Takeshi Tamiya48 – Adapted from the manga of the same name by Shotaro Ishinomori, which was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine throughout 1963; co-produced by Studio Zero6 The Prince of Pirates 31 – 7The King Kong ShowHiroshi Ikeda American Broadcasting CompanyNET25 – Co-production with Rankin/Bass Productions; It is the first anime-based series produced in Japan for an American company (not counting Rankin/Bass' previous Animagic stop motion productions, which were also animated in Japan).8 Sally the Witch Toshio Katsuta Hiroshi Ikeda NET109 – Adapted from the manga, which was originally titled Sunny the Witch upon first serialization, but by the time this program aired, it was changed to Sally the Witch by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, which was serialized in Shueisha's Ribon magazine for girls; episodes 1 through 17 episodes of this TV anime were filmed in black-and-white, and the remainder of the series (episodes 18 through 109) was filmed in color, making it one of the earliest color anime, alongside Mushi Production's Kimba the White Lion in 1965 and Tatsunoko Production's Speed Racer in 1967.9 Pyunpyunmaru 26 – 10 GeGeGe no Kitarō Fuji TV65 – Adapted from the manga Hakaba no Kitaro and GeGeGe no Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki which were serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1960 to 196911 Cyborg 009 NET 26 – Adapted from the manga Cyborg 009 by Shotaro Ishinomori, which was serialized in Shonen Gahosha's Monthly Shonen King, Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, Akita Shoten's Monthly Boken-Oh, and Mushi Production's COM magazines from 1964 to 1969; it is also a continuation of the 1966–1967 anime film serial, although it is in monochrome, unlike the films, which were in color12 Akane-chan Fuji TV 26 – 13 Sabu to Ichi Torimono HikaeNET52 – co-production with Mushi Productions and Zero Studio14 Himitsu no Akko-chan94 – Adapted from the manga by comedy-king Fujio Akatsuka, which was serialized from 1962 to 1965 in Shueisha's Ribon magazine, as the first magical girl manga series; while Sally the Witch was the first magical girl anime to hit the airwaves.15 Mōretsu Atarō90 – 16 The Smokey Bear Show Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass American Broadcasting Company17 – Co-production with Rankin/Bass Productions17 Tiger MaskYTV (Later Nippon TV)105 –
1970–79 No. Title Series director Broadcast network(s) Eps Year(s) Notes18 Kick no OniTBS26 – 19 Mahou no Mako-chanNET48 – 20 Sarutobi Ecchan26 – 21 Apacchi Yakyuugun – 22 GeGeGe no KitarōFuji TV45 – second series23 Genshi Shonen RyuMasayuki AkehiTBS22 – 24 Mahou Tsukai Chappy NET39 – 25 DevilmanTomoharu Katsumata – 26AstrogangerYoshikata NittaNippon TV26 – 27 Mazinger ZFuji TV92 – 28 Babel Ni-SeiNET39 – 29 Microid S26 – 30 Miracle Shoujo Limit-chan25 – 31 Dororon Enma-kunKimio YabukiFuji TV – 32 Cutie HoneyTomoharu KatsumataNET – 33 Majokko Megu-chan72 – original series34 Getter RoboFuji TV51 – Original series35Great Mazinger56 – 36Calimero Takeshi Tamiya Yuugo SerikawaNET45 – 37 Shounen Tokugawa Ieyasu Kimio Yabuki Takeshi Tamiya20 – 38 Getter Robo GOsamu KasaiFuji TV39 – 39 Steel JeegMasayuki AkehiNET74 – Original series40 UFO Robot GrendizerTomoharu KatsumataFuji TV – 41Ikkyū-sanKimio Yabuki Yoshikata NittaNET (later TV Asahi)296 – 42GaikingTomoharu KatsumataFuji TV44 – Original series43 Dash Machine HayabusaNET (later TV Asahi)21 – 44Chou Denji Robo Combattler VTadao Nagahama54 – Original series45 Magne Robo GakeenTomoharu Katsumata39 – 46 Candy CandyTetsuo Imazawa115 – 47 Jetter MarsRintaroFuji TV27 – Co-produced with Tezuka Productions and Madhouse; pseudo-sequel to Tetsuwan Atom48 Wakusei Robo Danguard AceTomoharu Katsumata56 – Original series49 Hyouga Senshi GuysluggerNoboru IshiguroTV Asahi20 – Co-produced with Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Oka Studios; semi-sequel to Cyborg 00950 Chou Denji Machine Voltes VTadao Nagahama40 – Original series51 Chojin Sentai BalatackNobutaka Nishizawa31 – 52 Arrow Emblem Hawk of the Grand PrixRintaroFuji TV44 – Released in the US and elsewhere as a compilation called Super Grand Prix53 Fly High! Machine HiryūSeitaro HamaTokyo 12 Broadcasting21 – Co-produced with Tatsunoko Production; a parody of both Tatsunoko's Mach GoGoGo and Toei's Dash Machine Hayabusa54 Gekisō! Ruben KaiserYuji NunokawaTV Asahi17 – Co-produced with Wako Productions and Green Box55Majokko TickleTakashi Hisaoka45 – Original series56 Space Pirate Captain HarlockRintaro42 – 57Tosho DaimosTadao Nagahama44 – Original series58 SF Saiyuki StarzingerFuji TV73 – Sci-Fi Journey to the West: Starzinger; Spaceketeers on Force Five59 Uchū Majin DaikengoTV Asahi26 – Co-production with Studio Nue and Green Box60 Galaxy Express 999Fuji TV113 – 61 Eiko no Tenshitachi: Pink Lady Monogatari (Glorious Angels: The Story of Pink Lady)Tokyo 12 Broadcasting33 – 62 Captain FutureTomoharu KatsumataNHK General TV52 – adaptation of the pulp-fiction sci-fi stories by Mort Weisinger63 Hana no Ko LunlunTV Asahi50 – 64 Cyborg 009Ryousuke Takahashi – color remake (Sunrise co-production)65 Mirai Robo Daltanias Tadao Nagahama Katsutoshi SasakiTokyo 12 Broadcasting47 – co-produced with Nippon Sunrise66 Entaku no Kishi Monogatari: Moero ArthurTomoharu KatsumataFuji TV30 –
1980–89 +NoTitleSeries director(s)Broadcast network(s)EpsYear(s)Notes67Maeterlinck no Aoi Tori: Tyltyl Mytyl no Bouken RyokouHiroshi SasagawaFuji TV26 – Co-production with Academy Productions68Mahou Shoujo LalabelHiroshi ShidaraTV Asahi49 – 69Space Emperor God Sigma Takeyuki Kanda (eps 1–10)