, stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz - By Ian Rowley, with Hiroko Tashiro, Chester Dawson, and Moon Ihlwan, BusinessWeek, June 27, 2005.
Animax is part of AK Entertainment, owned by Nojima, and is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The channel was originally co-founded by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, with its shareholders including studios Sunrise,Sunrise official website - corporate outline - Sunrise, official corporate outline, About Us section. Toei Animation,Toei Animation official website - history section , Toei Animation official website. Toei Animation official website - English section - History Toei Animation official website. TMS Entertainment (previously known as Kyokuichi), and production company Nihon Ad Systems.Animax's official website - Official Partners - Animax official website, Official Partners section, links page. Sony Pictures Entertainment to Launch Animax Asia , Press Release, SPE, 29 October 2003, Anime News Network.
Animax previously operated separate TV channels for Asia (four separate feeds for South East Asia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan), South Asia and South Korea; in addition to either owning, or licensing its brand to, several television networks, programming blocks, and VOD platforms around the world. As of 2020, most of these services have either been sold off to third-parties or closed altogether.
History Under Sony
Established on May 20, 1998, by Sony, launched in Japan on July 1, the same year, across the SKY PerfecTV! satellite television platform. Headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and presided by Masao Takiyama, Animax's shareholders and founders included Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, Sunrise, Toei Animation, Kyokuichi (later known as TMS Entertainment), and NAS. Its founders also include noted anime producer and production designer Yoshirō Kataoka. The network began broadcasting in high definition from October 2009.
Animax also exhibits affiliations with anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka's Tezuka Productions company, Pierrot, Nippon Animation, and numerous others. Other noted Japanese celebrities and personalities to have appeared on Animax with their own programs include actress Natsuki Katō, who appeared on Hungry Heart: Wild Striker and Pokémon Zoroark: Master of Illusions. The network's narrators are the voice actors Yukari Tamura and Kōsuke Okano; and from October 2007, Sayuri Yahagi.
Beyond the channel, Animax has hosted and organized several anime-based competitions across Japan, such as the Animax Taishō scriptwriting competitionAnimax Award official site , Animax official website. and the Animax Anison Grand Prix; an anime song music competition judged by a panel of noted anime figures
Several other Animax-branded events and concerts across Japan have included the annual , a live concert during which renowned Japanese bands, artists and voice actors perform, and is often held at Zepp Tokyo.Animax Summer Festival 2005 - Report , Excite.co.jp. They've also held another annual Anime song concert event called Animax Musix.
Animax previously operated a mobile television service, which was announced in February 2007, and launched through the mobile phone company MOBAHO! from April 2007.Animax Official Press
Sale to Nojima On December 18, 2023, Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan announced that will sell their stakes in both Animax and sister channel Kids Station to electronic store chain Nojima. The deal was finalized on April 1, 2024.
Sony would first establish a new company called "AK Media", which would take over all shares in Animax and Kids Station from their previous owners. Nojima's AK Entertainment subsidiary would then acquire AK Media from Sony. It's been speculated that Animax was sold in-order for Sony to focus on its US-based, global, anime entertainment and streaming companies – Funimation (which was acquired in 2017) and Crunchyroll (which was acquired in 2021) – which have since been merged into Crunchyroll LLC and operate as a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.
In May 2024, AK Media would be absorbed into AK Entertainment.ノジマグループのAKエンタテインメント、アニマックスとキッズステーションを管理するAKメディアを吸収合併 gamebiz; retrieved on 28 July 2024
Programming
Animax's programming is dedicated to anime, and it has been acknowledged as the largest 24-hour anime-only network in the world. The channel's programming has ranged from television series, to films and original video animations. It has also aired imported foreign cartoons that have been dubbed into Japanese. Its viewer reach has been quoted as spanning over 89 million homes. across 62 countries and 17 languages.
The channel has co-produced and exclusively premiered several original anime series, including Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone ComplexOfficial Ghost in the Shell information site , Production I.G official website. and Marvel Anime. Other Animax originals include Ultra Maniac, Astro Boy, Hungry Heart: Wild Striker, and Aishiteruze Baby.
International
ChannelCountry or regionFormerlyLaunch yearReplaced byShutdown yearCurrent Animax (Asian TV channel)Owned by KC Global Media EntertainmentAsiaJanuary 1, 2004 January 1, 2022 (Malaysia) January 1, 2025 (Vietnam) Animax (South Korean TV channel)Owned by JJ MediaWorksSouth KoreaApril 29, 2006FormerAnimax India IndiaJuly 5, 2004Sony YAY!Animax AsiaApril 18, 2017Animax (Latin America)Latin AmericaLocomotionJuly 31, 2005Sony SpinMay 1, 2011 Animax (Germany)GermanyMay 14, 2007discontinuedJuly 7, 2016Animax (Eastern European TV channel)HungaryA+ AnimeJuly 2, 2007C8March 31, 2014RomaniaCzech RepublicSlovakiaAnimax (African TV channel)South AfricaNovember 3, 2007Sony MAXFebruary 1, 2011Animax (block on AXN Italy)ItalyJanuary 12, 2008discontinued2008Animax (Portuguese TV channel)PortugalApril 12, 2008AXN BlackMay 9, 2011Animax (Spanish TV channel)SpaindiscontinuedDecember 31, 2013Animax (block on SF)AustraliaNovember 5, 20082010
Asia
Asian versions of Animax, featuring its programming within separate networks and feeds in their respective regions and languages, were rolled out beginning in 2004. The first one was launched in Taiwan and the Philippines on January 1, 2004, and in Hong Kong on January 12, 2004. A week later, Animax launched in Southeast Asia on January 19, 2004, featuring its programming within feeds in English audio, as well as Japanese audio, with English subtitling, and other languages in the region, becoming the company's first English-language network.Animax Asia - Corporate Profile - Animax Asia official website.
On July 5, 2004, Animax India was launched across India and neighboring countries featuring its programming in English.
On April 29, 2006, Animax started its operations in South Korea, broadcasting separately from Seoul.
Animax Asia aired their first ever simulcast, Tears to Tiara, on the same time as the Japanese broadcast. They would also premiere Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series, within the same week as Japan.
In January 2020, Sony sold the South Korean and Southeast Asian Animax channels to former Sony Pictures Television executives Andy Kaplan and George Chien, who have since formed KC Global Media.
Animax ceased transmissions in Laos, 16 March 2021. One year later, Astro shut the channel down on 1 January 2022 in Malaysia.
Latin America
Animax was launched in Latin America on July 31, 2005, replacing Locomotion after Sony's purchase from Hearst Corporation and Corus Entertainment, in January 2005."Silex-IT Client Case Studies" Animax Channel Client Profile: Sony Corporation silex-it.com Retrieved on May 18, 2012
Animax Latin America would rebrand in August 2007, coinciding with the premiere of a new adult-oriented programming block named Lollipop. Likewise, on March 18, 2008, it was announced that the mobile service Animax Mobile, available on Japan and Australia, was to be launched as well in Mexico and eventually in other Latin American countries.
Animax Latin America would eventually incorporate live-action programming and was later relaunched as Sony Spin on May 1, 2011, with anime programming retained until March 2012. Sony Spin would be discontinued on July 1, 2014, and replaced with a local version of Lifetime.
North America Animax has sponsored several anime-based events across North America, including hosting an anime festival, in association with other anime distributive enterprises such as Bandai Entertainment and Viz Media, across Sony's San Francisco-based entertainment shopping complex Metreon in October 2001, during which it aired numerous of its anime titles across the centre, including special Gundam, The Making of Metropolis, and Love Hina screenings.Sony Metreon media release , Anime News Network, 9 October 2001.
The noted international business newspaper Financial Times, reported, in September 2004, of Sony planning and being "keen" to launch Animax across the United States and North America, after Sony had signed an agreement with the largest cable company in the United States, Comcast, with whom it had co-partnered in a US$4.8 billion acquisition of legendary Hollywood studio MGM, to bring at least three of Sony's television networks across the region.Sony and Comcast plan new channels , Tim Burt, Financial Times, 22 September 2004.Animax could be available in North America soon. , Anime News Network, 23 September 2004.
On June 13, 2007, Sony Pictures Television International officially announced that Animax would be launching its mobile television service, Animax Mobile, in Canada from July 2007, on Bell Digital's mobile phone service. This was Animax Mobile's third major expansion, after initially launching the mobile television service in Japan from April 2007 and Australia from June 12, 2007.
On January 17, 2012, the streaming service Crackle, added Animax to their lineup for the North America region, marking the network's first launch in the United States. Its programming has included for the first time several of Animax's English language dubs, including that of shows that had yet been adapted into English and had only aired in Southeast Asia and South Asia prior, such as Nodame Cantabile, Yōkai Ningen Bem and several others. By the end of March 2013, the Animax branding was dropped.
Europe In April 2007, Animax launched across several countries in Europe, including Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, with Sony announcing plans to launch in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland (put on hiatus) and other major countries in the continent, with discussions at an advanced stage. The launch marked Animax's first major expansion into Europe. The network then soon launched in Germany in May 2007, Spain and Portugal in 2008.
United Kingdom In October 2007, further details emerged on Animax's launch details in the United Kingdom, with Sony Pictures Television International senior-vice president of international networks Ross Hair being quoted by Brand Republic's Media Week as stating that Sony was preparing to launch Animax in the United Kingdom initially as a video on demand service alongside other Sony television networks, with Sony also looking at launching Animax across the free digital television service Freeview subject to new frequencies and slot being available.