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Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. (but generally referred to as Tatsunoko Pro.note ) is one of the notable and oldest Japanese animation studios back during the Golden Age of Anime. Founded in October 19, 1962 by one of the animation pioneers Tatsuo Yoshida along with his brothers Kenji and Toyoharu (aka Ippei Kuri), the studio began to produce anime occupying various genres. The name Tatsunoko even has a double meaning, with tatsu no ko meaning Tatsu's Child (as in Tatsuo's child) and tatsunoko meaning sea-dragon (which is generally referred to a seahorse), hence the logo.

Over the years, Tatsunoko Pro. has produced many anime, their most historically famous and influential works were generally produced between 1965 and 1985, and slowed down during the late 80's and into the 90's, in which they focused more on remakes and co-worked with other studios and animated shows for other companies. The studio had a very close relationship with Fuji TV for years, with that channel/network airing many of their anime hits, notably Speed Racer and Time Bokan. Around 2005, Takara bought 40% of the company and became a full subsidiary when Takara merged with TOMY. They have also worked on a few western cartoons, and even earned a Shout-Out in Mad Men, with the studio being contracted to make an anime version of the In-Universe comic strip "Scout's Honor."

Tatsunoko Pro. is notable for starting the career of Yoshitaka Amano, who did the character design of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Tekkaman the Space Knight, Neo Human Casshern (original version), Hurricane Polymar, and nearly all of the Time Bokan series. Other notables such as Mamoru Oshii and Kunihiko Yuyama (director of Pokémon) cut their teeth working on Tatsunoko shows, as did prolific screenwriter Shigeru Yanagawa, who worked in Tatsunoko's planning department during the '70s and would go on to contribute scripts to Sailor Moon and Ranma ½ to name just a few. Many of their employees have gone on to found other Japanese animation studios.

    List of studios founded by ex-Tatsunoko employees 

They are also known for making many of the dubbed anime which were thought as standard western kids' cartoons back then in the US - Speed Racer, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Samurai Pizza Cats, Gatchaman, The Littl' Bits, Superbook (the original hand-drawn series, not the CGI remake), and probably even more.

In 2010, they animated the Hutch the Honeybee movie named Konchuu Monogatari Mitsubachi Hutch: Yuuki no Melody. In 2009, they released a Live-Action Adaptation of Yatterman helmed by cult director Takashi Miike. They have also faced renewed appreciation in the west due to the appearance of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on the Wii, first only to Japan, and then, with the Updated Re-release appearing everywhere. They also worked with Takara in the year 2000 to bring the game Tatsunoko Fight to PlayStation, which premiered the game-exclusive property Denka Senkou Volter.

In 2013, they signed a deal with Sentai Filmworks to have eleven of their shows released in the USA.

The Canipa Effect has produced an Anime Studio Spotlight about Tatsunoko Production. Watch it here

Go visit their Japanese or English sites for full listing of their works. A near complete list of their credits can be seen on Anime News Network.


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