Anime Limited

• 1. Introduction

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  Anime Limited announced in 2020 that it had become the first company outside Japan to release the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise on Blu-ray. The release included the two Evangelion films, Evangelion: Death (True)² and The End of Evangelion. It was also the first time the series reached British home video since ADV Films released the television episodes and Manga Entertainment released the films. That milestone came from a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland, established in 2012 to serve British, Irish, French and other European audiences. Over the following decade the company built partnerships with streaming services and broadcasters, and even launched its own music label. Its path raises a question familiar to small distributors everywhere: what happens once a niche label starts attracting attention from much bigger companies?

• 2. Founding In Glasgow

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  On the 14th of December 2012, Andrew Partridge launched the social media pages and website for Anime Limited. At the time he was a representative for Kazé UK and the director of the Scotland Loves Anime festival. Partridge said he would launch a new distribution company in 2013, aimed at premium, collector oriented home video editions. Partridge described his aim as developing "a theatrical market for Japanese animation" in Britain. The festival he directed would go on to support the company's theatrical screenings of both older and newer titles. Anime Limited's Facebook page reached 1,000 likes within days of launching. On the 22nd of December 2012, the company announced its first title acquisition: Cowboy Bebop. A home video release was scheduled for the third quarter of 2013. Within a year, that small home video operation would sign its first partnership beyond the UK.

• 3. Building A European Footprint

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  On the 4th of October 2013, Anime Limited announced a partnership with the French streaming service Wakanim. The deal launched a UK version of the Wakanim site, carrying Anime Limited's catalogue. In March 2014, Kazé founder Cédric Littardi joined Anime Limited to establish @Anime, a French division of the company. The division released its first titles in September 2014. The French expansion would not be the company's last new venture; broadcast deals across Britain followed soon after.

• 4. Broadcast And Streaming Partnerships

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  From 2015 to 2018, Anime Limited served as Funimation's distributor in Britain and Ireland. On the 17th of July 2017, Viceland UK launched a block of late night anime in partnership with the company. On the 25th of October 2019, Channel 4's All 4 service began streaming select dubbed titles from Anime Limited under the banner "100 Hours of Anime". On the 18th of May 2020, the company announced its own streaming service, called Screen Anime. It was marketed as an "online film festival" offering select titles on a monthly basis. Screen Anime launched on the 25th of May 2020. It was retired exactly a year later, on the 25th of May 2021. An annual membership plan called Anime (Un)Limited replaced it. On the 22nd of July 2022, Anime Limited signed a further deal with ITV. The broadcaster agreed to stream the company's titles on its ITVX service in the United Kingdom. Broadcasting and streaming deals were not the company's only growth path; it was also branching out into music.

• 5. Music And Live Events

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  On the 27th of October 2017, Anime Limited used the stage at MCM London Comic Con to announce a new music label, All The Anime Music. It outlined plans to release the A Shape of Light soundtrack and the Trigun original soundtrack. The label did not launch until 2019, when A Shape of Light and the FLCL soundtracks arrived later that year as its first vinyl releases. On the 13th of May 2020, the company announced a virtual convention called Cloud Matsuri, held over the 30th and the 31st of May 2020. Guests included representatives from Science SARU, Orange, Crunchyroll, Polygon Pictures, MangaPlanet, Anime Limited and Manga Entertainment. On the 14th of April 2021, Anime Limited announced plans to expand its music label internationally. The same announcement introduced Miles Thomas, formerly Crunchyroll's Director of Community Marketing, as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer. Before long, attention would turn from what Anime Limited released to who owned the company itself.

• 6. New Owners

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  On the 18th of October 2022, the Austrian media company Plaion announced it had acquired Anime Limited for an undisclosed sum. Anime Limited was integrated under Plaion's Pictures subsidiary. On the 19th of December 2025, Plaion Pictures agreed to a further deal. Toho would acquire a full 100 percent equity share in Anime Limited, again for an undisclosed amount. The transfer completed on the 5th of January 2026, when Anime Limited became a subsidiary of Toho Europe Limited.