SHAFT Announces 50th Anniversary Exhibition
Animation studio SHAFT (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Monogatari series, Nisekoi) and Mixalive TOKYO in Ikebukuro announced the SHAFT 50th Anniversary Exhibition in commemoration of the studio's 50th anniversary. The event will also serve as the final exhibition hosted by Mixalive, before it closes in January 2026.
The event is scheduled for winter 2025, and further details will be announced at a later date.
The company was founded on September 1, 1975, by Hiroshi Wakao as a cel-painting studio. In the 1980s, the studio opened an animation department, and the studio took on main production work by the end of the decade, releasing its first original production Yume Kara, Samenai in 1987. In 1995, the studio produced its first television series, Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Rangers.
In 2004, the studio opened a digital department for photography and visual effects work. That year, Wakao also retired as president of the company, and Mitsutoshi Kubota took over. Kubota invited director Akiyuki Shinbo to the studio and pushed for the development of its in-house directing department and animation brand with Shinbo as the central figure. From 2020-2022, the company developed a 3DCG-specific department, a background art department, and opened a branch studio in Shizuoka Prefecture.
SHAFT is currently producing an adaptation of HundredBurger's manga A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof and is debuting an original film series, Virgin Punk, with Yasuomi Umetsu on June 27, 2025. The studio also has the fourth film in the Madoka Magica franchise, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht - Rising, scheduled for release this year.
A website and X (formerly Twitter) account have been opened for the event.
Featured image: ©SHAFT 50th Anniversary Event Production Committee
