Bandai Namco to Reorganize Sunrise under new company, Bandai Namco Filmworks



Updated: 2/9/2022 at 06:03 AM CST.

Announced in press releases posted by Sunrise and its parent Bandai Namco Holdings, the pioneering Gundam and mecha anime studio will be reorganized under Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. The new company will merge Sunrise, the visual division of Bandai Namco Arts, and Bandai Namco Rights Marketing, with Sunrise as the surviving company. Bandai Namco Filmworks is stated to have the responsibility as the business management company in Bandai Namco’s IP Production Unit.

Company Directors

  • Makoto Asunuma: President and CEO
    • Current President and CEO of Sunrise
  • Satoshi Kono: Executive Vice President
    • Current President of Bandai Namco Arts
  • Yoshitaka Tao: Managing Director
    • Current President of Bandai Namco Rights Marketing
  • Shin Sasaki: Managing Director
    • Current Managing Director of Sunrise
  • Naoya Misaki: Director
    • Current Director of Sunrise
  • Kenji Hamada: Director
    • Current Director of Bandai Namco Arts
  • Kimikazu Ueyama: Director
    • Current Director of Bandai Namco Arts

A spokesperson commented on the new restructuring, “The individuality of Sunrise, which we have refined over the past 40 years, shall continue to grow as one of our key brands. However, we also want to create a new distinctive identity with a different shade.”

A new music and live performance company is also being formed named Bandai Namco Music Live Inc, integrating the music divisions of Bandai Namco Arts, Bandai Namco Live Creative, and Sunrise Music. Both companies will start operations on April 1, 2022. The Bandai Namco Group aims for this restructuring to connect with fans around the world.

From its humble beginnings as Sunrise Studio formed by former Mushi Production employees, Sunrise has become one of the most prolific and largest anime studios in the industry. The animation juggernaut is best known for its revolutionary “mecha anime” and spearheading the massive Gundam franchise. The original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime series was made in collaboration with Gundam’s director Yoshiyuki Tomino, animator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and mechanical designer Kunio Okawara. Partnered with Bandai Namco, Gundam has since become one of the most recognizable Japanese brands worldwide with its myriad of entries, rich storytelling and thematics, breathtaking animation, and model kit empire.

The studio also garnered acclaim with such works as Shinichiro Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop, City Hunter, Dirty Pair, Sgt.Frog, Gin Tama, Inuyasha, Tiger & Bunny, and the popular Love Live! idol franchise.

Source: Press Release (1),(2)

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1 Comment

  1. david fullam
    February 8, 2022
    Reply

    The Great Satan just gets worse, and worse.

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