Liden Films

• 1. Introduction

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  Liden Films was founded on the 22nd of February, 2012, in Suginami, Tokyo. In the years since, this single studio has grown into a network of five branches spanning Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. It has produced titles ranging from a four-episode intimate story based on a Makoto Shinkai original video animation to a fifty-episode anime grounded in the Rebirth for you trading card franchise. What kind of studio builds that range? And how does a company founded just over a decade ago become one that adapts Rurouni Kenshin and co-produces with studios as distinct as Sanzigen, Trigger, and Ordet? The answers lie in the choices Liden Films made almost immediately after its doors opened, and in the structure it quietly assembled across its first decade.

• 2. The Ultra Super Pictures Alliance

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  Shortly after opening in 2012, Liden Films joined the joint-holding company Ultra Super Pictures. The other members of that alliance were Sanzigen, Trigger, and Ordet. Trigger would go on to become one of the most recognized names in anime internationally. Ordet was an early creative partner with Liden Films itself. The studio's representative, Tetsurou Satomi of Barnum Studio, has steered the company through its expansion. That early decision to operate inside a shared holding structure gave Liden Films access to co-production relationships from the start. Some of its first television series, including Senyu and Senyu 2, were co-animated directly with Ordet. Miss Monochrome: The Animation, based on a character created and voiced by singer and voice actress Yui Horie, was co-animated with Sanzigen.

• 3. Building the Branch Network

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  The Kyoto Studio arrived in 2013, and the branch now called the Suginami branch was established in 2015. Two Tokyo Studios and an Osaka Studio followed, with the Osaka branch opening in 2018. Each branch eventually developed enough capacity to carry a project on its own. In 2016, the Kyoto Studio produced its own standalone series. In 2020, the Osaka Studio did the same, with its fifty-episode Rebirth series grounded in the Bushiroad trading card franchise. The Kyoto Studio also handled the twelve-episode Lost Song co-production with Dwango, the one-episode Monster Strike: A Rhapsody Called Lucy, the film Happy-Go-Lucky Days, and later the thirteen-episode May I Ask for One Final Thing, adapting a light novel by Nana Otori. The geographical spread meant that Liden Films could run multiple productions in parallel without all of them competing for the same physical space.

• 4. Co-Productions and Collaborators

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  Across its television slate, Liden Films has returned repeatedly to the co-production model it established in its founding year. Terra Formars: Revenge was made alongside TYO Animations. Schwarzesmarken, a prequel to Muv-Luv Alternative, was produced with ixtl. The Berserk series, adapting the manga by Kentaro Miura, listed Liden Films as providing production cooperation for Millepensee and GEMBA. Goblin Slayer II was made in cooperation with White Fox. Seven Knights Revolution: Hero Successor, based on a Netmarble smartphone RPG, was co-animated with Domerica. Otherside PicnicI, adapting a yuri novel series by Iori Miyazawa, was produced with Felix Film. Kaginado, a crossover drawing on multiple Key franchises and animated by the Kyoto Studio, ran for twenty-four episodes. The studio also handled the New Initial D the Movie trilogy, co-animating all three films with Sanzigen, the first of which opened on the 23rd of August, 2014.

• 5. Franchise Depth and Series Returns

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  Tokyo Revengers, adapting the manga by Ken Wakui, became one of the studio's longest-running franchise commitments. The original twenty-four-episode series was followed by Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown at thirteen episodes, then Tokyo Revengers: Tenjiku Arc at thirteen more, and a fourth entry, Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans Arc, extended the run further. Rurouni Kenshin, adapting Nobuhiro Watsuki's manga, ran for twenty-four episodes directed by Hideyo Yamamoto, and its sequel, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Disturbance, directed by Yuki Komada, followed with twenty-three episodes. The Terra Formars franchise traced a similar arc: a thirteen-episode original directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, a two-episode OVA titled Terra Formars: Bugs 2 in 2014, a thirteen-episode sequel Terra Formars: Revenge, and later a further two-episode OVA, Terra Formars: Earth Arc, co-animated with Yumeta Company and released in 2018. Call of the Night, adapting the manga by Kotoyama, returned for a second season directed by Tomoyuki Itamura.

• 6. Scope of Adaptation Sources

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  Liden Films has drawn its source material from an unusually wide range of formats. Manga adaptations make up the largest share, but the studio has also worked from light novels, standard novels, video games, smartphone RPGs, trading card franchises, and original works. The Heroic Legend of Arslan adapted a novel series by Yoshiki Tanaka across twenty-five episodes plus a sequel arc and two OVAs. Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout adapted a video game by Koei Tecmo. Hortensia Saga drew from a smartphone RPG by Sega. Layton Mystery Tanteisha: Katori no Nazotoki File, running fifty episodes, was based on Level-5's 2017 video game Layton's Mystery Journey. Among the original works, Sekkō Boys, directed by Seiki Takuno, stands alongside Salaryman's Club and the twenty-four-episode Eternal Boys. The studio also adapted Bye Bye, Earth from a novel series by Tow Ubukata across twenty episodes, and Woodpecker Detective's Office from a mystery novel by Kei Ii.

• 7. Directors and Recurring Talent

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  Seiki Takuno directed six television series for Liden Films across different years and genres: Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Sekkō Boys, Love and Lies, Boarding School Juliet, Poco's Udon World, and Farewell, My Dear Cramer. Hideyo Yamamoto directed Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, Cells at Work! Code Black, My Master Has No Tail, and Rurouni Kenshin, as well as an upcoming title, Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life. Yasuto Nishikata directed Killing Bites, Hortensia Saga, and Bye Bye, Earth. Koichi Hatsumi carried the full Tokyo Revengers franchise across its multiple seasons. Naoyuki Tatsuwa directed Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation, Reiwa no Di Gi Charat, and The Classroom of a Black Cat and a Witch. Yuki Komada moved from directing both cours of Build Divide to directing Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Disturbance. Aimi Yamauchi directed both Salaryman's Club and Tonari no Yōkai-san. That pattern of directors returning for multiple projects across years reflects a consistent working relationship between the studio and the people it brings back.

• 8. Films and OVA Output

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  Alongside its television productions, Liden Films has released nine theatrical films, including Cardfight Vanguard: The Movie on the 13th of September, 2014, Monster Strike The Movie on the 12th of December, 2016, Child of Kamiari Month on the 8th of October, 2021, and Gekijōban SutoPuri Hajimari no Monogatari: Strawberry School Festival on the 19th of July, 2024. The OVA and ONA output has been equally sustained. The twenty-four-episode Blade of the Immortal -Immortal- ran from October 2019 to March 2020. Bastard!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy- produced thirty-nine episodes from June 2022 through July 2023. Kotaro Lives Alone ran for ten episodes in 2022. Cat's Eye, one of the most recent entries, released twelve episodes from September 2025 through January 2026. That release, coming more than a decade after the studio's first film work, marks how far the Liden Films catalog has extended since the Senyu episodes that began it all.