Anime Studio Mito Animation Dissolves
According to information verified through the commercial registry of Japan, animation studio Mito Animation (有限会社水戸アニメーション制作所), sometimes referred to as MAP, was dissolved on April 30, 2025.
The studio was started in the late 1990s by former Studio Pierrot animator Ichizou Kobayashi (小林一三) who headed the company as its CEO in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Initially, the company was a collective with a name and primarily served as a sub-contracting company taking on sakuga (animation) subcontracting work for other studios, mainly headed by Kobayashi himself.
In 2005, the studio was established as an official company and expanded into a larger animation department capable of handling douga (in-betweens/tracing) and shiage (coloring). In 2007, the studio produced the final two episodes of the Soukou Kijo Iris hentai OVA taking over from Anime Antenna Group. Mito Animation then focused on gross outsourcing jobs for other studios, producing episodes and segments of Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity (2008, SILVER LINK), Zan Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (SHAFT, 2009), and Yu-Gi-Oh: Zexal (2011-2014, Gallop).
Reiko Kobayashi (小林玲子), Youichi Kobayashi (小林洋一), Zhou Yingshi (周英軾), and animator Tadashi Aizawa (相澤忠) served as directors of the company.
The studio was a substantial part of the long-running Black Clover (2017-2021, Studio Pierrot) anime series and produced 21 of its 170 episodes.
Featured image: Black Clover (©Yuki Tabata / Kodansha, TV Tokyo, Black Clover Production Committee)
