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Enoki Films

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Enoki Films
IndustryFilm, Anime
Founded1975
1980 (London, England)
1986 (Enoki Films USA)
Defunct2010 (Enoki Films USA)
HeadquartersShinjuku, Tokyo
Key people
Zen & Yoshi Enoki
Websiteenoki-films.co.jp

Enoki Films Co., Ltd. (エノキフイルム株式会社, Enokifuirumu Kabushiki Kaisha) was a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo.[1][2]

Enoki Films also had a North American division, Enoki Films USA, Inc., established in 1986,[3] and headquartered in the Encino area of Los Angeles, California, United States.[4] Enoki Films USA acted as a middle-man between Japanese companies and American licensees, such as 4Kids Entertainment and Saban. In May 2007, their content was made available as video on demand through the internet startup ReelTime.com (worldwide, except Japan).[3]

As of 2002, Enoki licensed anime but sub-licensed these licenses to various distributors instead of distributing directly. According to Anime News Network, "They generally only license TV shows that they hope to also license to TV broadcasters such as Cartoon Network, ABC Family and Fox Kids".[5]

Some of the anime productions listed on Enoki's website appeared under alternate names, and characters may also have been listed under different names. In many cases, when sub-licensed to anime home video companies, the original titles and character names were restored. Enoki's translations of episode titles and scenarios sometimes differed from those in the official release.

If Enoki's series had a separate movie or direct-to-video production, Enoki usually did not license those. The film or direct-to-video production was often licensed to a separate company, as seen with the Slayers movies and OVAs, and the Utena movie.

Enoki Films' North American division ceased operations in 2010 and is now defunct.

In addition to distributing anime, Enoki Films USA also distributed puppet shows, such as Peppermint Park and Star Fleet.[6]

History

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In 1975, Zen and Yoshi Enoki established Enoki Films Co., Ltd. in Tokyo. In 1980, they opened a liaison office in London, England, for European operations. In 1986 the California office opened; soon afterwards Yoshi Enoki opened the American division.[1]

Anime licensed by Enoki Films USA

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Some of the Enoki USA titles include:

Young anime of Enoki Films

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Anime available through Enoki Films

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Enoki also list many other anime series on their website that are available for sub-licensing to other companies for release on home video. As yet, the following titles remain unlicensed by any other company and thus unavailable in English:

References

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  1. ^ a b "Company Profile". Archived January 16, 2001, at archive.today Enoki Films USA. Retrieved on January 20, 2009.
  2. ^ "Home". Enoki Films. Retrieved on March 23, 2014. "Enoki Bldg., No. 2, 1-30-10 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022 Japan"
  3. ^ a b ReelTime Is Animated About Agreement With Enoki Films USA, Inc.[dead link‍] Press Release, May 22, 2007
  4. ^ "bottom.gif". Archived May 30, 2003, at the Wayback Machine Enoki Films USA. Retrieved on June 17, 2011. "16430 Ventura Blvd. Suite 308 Encino, CA 91436, USA"
  5. ^ "Enoki Films updates Licenses". Anime News Network. August 14, 2002. Retrieved on March 26, 2014.
  6. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-LPTV/LPTV-Report/LPTV-Report-1990.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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