TMS Entertainment

On October 22, 1946, a company that would eventually become TMS Entertainment started life as Asahi Gloves Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Nagoya, making textiles. It took decades of reinvention before this firm entered animation. In 1995, Sega merged the company with Tokyo Movie Shinsha, one of Japan's five major early animation studios. Tokyo Movie Shinsha had produced foundational 1960s and 1970s works like Obake no Q-Tarō, Star of the Giants, Moomin, and Lupin the 3rd Part I. The newly formed Kyokuichi Tokyo Movie division (TMS-K) absorbed that legacy. By 2000, the company renamed itself TMS Entertainment and shed all non-animation businesses by 2003.

TMS is the studio behind some of anime's longest-running franchises. It produces Lupin the Third, Detective Conan (released internationally as Case Closed), and Anpanman, along with D.Gray-man. The company also handles program sales and character licensing worldwide. Its U.S. subsidiary in Encino, California, and European arm in Paris help distribute these titles globally. TMS's first own animation production was Big X in 1964, but its roots trace back even further through Tokyo Movie Shinsha's pioneering work.

Tadashi Takezaki serves as president and CEO, with Haruki Satomi as chairman. Sega Corporation acquired a majority stake in 2005 through Sega Sammy Holdings and bought all remaining shares in 2010, making TMS a wholly-owned subsidiary. The studio's headquarters are at 3-31-1 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo. Despite its textile origins, TMS has become one of the most enduring names in Japanese animation, with a catalog that spans generations and crosses borders. [edit]