Studio Hibari

Studio Hibari, Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社スタジオ雲雀, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Sutajio Hibari) is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1979, in Ōizumi, Gunma Prefecture.

Studio Hibari, Inc.

Kouon Building in Nerima, where Studio Hibari's head office is located
Native name	株式会社スタジオ雲雀
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha Sutajio Hibari
Company type	Kabushiki gaisha
Industry	Japanese animation
Founded	July 1979; 45 years ago (1979-07)
Founder	Sachiko Mitsunobu Hiroyoshi Mitsunobu
Headquarters	Nerima, Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Seiji Mitsunobu (CEO) Sachiko Mitsunobu (director)[1] Hiroyoshi Mitsunobu (director)[1]
Total equity	¥ 10,000,000
Number of employees	100[2]
Divisions	Photography Department (撮影部) Vietnam Studio (2009–2022) Osaka Studio Sao Sang Studio Shanghai Studio
Subsidiaries	Larx Entertainment Hibari Vietnam AZ Creative
Website	www.st-hibari.co.jp/en/

Lerche

Native name	ラルケ
Romanized name	Raruke
Industry	Japanese animation
Founded	2011; 13 years ago (2011)
Parent	Studio Hibari (brand owner)
Website	www.lerche.jp

Hibari Vietnam Co., Ltd

Industry	Japanese animation
Founded	2009; 15 years ago (2009) (division) December 2022; 1 year ago (2022-12) (incorporated)
Headquarters	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Key people	Seiji Mitsunobu (CEO)
Total equity	₫ 1,000,000,000
Number of employees	90[2]
Parent	Studio Hibari

AZ Creative Inc.

Native name	株式会社AZクリエイティブ
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha AZ Kurieitibu
Company type	Kabushiki-gaisha
Industry	Japanese animation
Founded	June 2012; 12 years ago (2012-06)
Headquarters	Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Seiji Mitsunobu Yoshiki Sakamoto
Number of employees	10[2]
Parent	Studio Hibari
Divisions	AZ Creative Agent Office
Website	www.az-creative.com

History

Studio Hibari was founded in July 1979 in Ōizumi by former Tsuchida Production cel-colorist Sachiko Mitsunobu and her husband, anime director Hiroyoshi Mitsunobu [ja].^[1] In 1985, the couple's son, Seiji, was appointed managing director of the company. In 1998, the head office moved from Ōizumi to Nerima Ward in Tokyo.^[3] The next year, the studio debuted its first television animation production, Sensual Phrase.^[3] In 2002, the company moved offices to accommodate for the expansion of departments in order to integrate them into the company's production system, and Seiji became president of the company; and a year later set up its own 3DCG department.^[3] Due to an increase in employees, the digital sections (namely coloring, compositing, and 3D) were moved to another building separate from the head office.^[3] The 3D department was incorporated into a separate studio in 2006, which became Larx Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary.^[4] The next year all of the departments were reallocated into a single building, which has served as the studio's headquarters since.^[3] In 2009, the studio opened up an office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and in 2011, Lerche was established as an animation brand by which most of Studio Hibari's production succeeding its creation would be produced under. The company again expanded in 2020 by taking in studio IngresA (a subsidiary of Ingres) in Osaka and reorganizing the company as a branch studio named Studio Hibari Osaka Studio.^[5][3] Music and sound production company AZ Creative is also a part of the Studio Hibari group.^[2] In 2022, Hibari's Vietnam branch was incorporated as its own subsidiarty entity.^[2]

The studio also maintains a relatively strong relationship with Sao Sang Design in Vietnam and Qixie Studio (formerly Shanghai M.C.C) in China. Producer Li Jiawen (李佳雯), the founder of Qixie Studio and Shanghai M.C.C, moved to Japan from China after college due to interest in Japanese animation, and in the late 2000s he joined Studio Hibari.^[6] At the time, Hibari had been looking to open its eventual Hibari Vietnam office; and they had begun accepting foreigners for production jobs.^[6] At some point, Li questioned whether he should move up in the company to a production desk (he was working as a production assistant) or if he should go back to China; and eventually, Studio Hibari's president (Seiji Mitsunobu) heard about Li's idea and stated that he would support Li in cultivating talent. After that, Li left the studio and went to establish Shanghai M.C.C.^[7] Since 2023, members of Li's studio have been credited under both "Laplace Animation" and "Hibari Shanghai" (雲雀上海). A "Studio Hibari Sao Sang Studio" (スタジオ雲雀 サオサンスタジオ) has also appeared. The relation between the studios is generally unknown.

Works

Television series

Year	Title	Director(s)	Brand	Source	Eps	Ref(s)
1999−2000	Sensual Phrase	Hiroko Tokita	Hibari	Manga	44
2000−2001	Taro the Space Alien	Yorifusa Yamaguchi	Hibari	Manga	24
2001−2002	Tantei Shounen Kageman	Yorifusa Yamaguchi	Hibari	Manga	39
2002	Happy Lesson	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Manga	13
2002−2005	Mirmo!	Kenichi Kasai	Hibari	Manga	172
2003	Lime-iro Senkitan	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Video game	13
	Happy Lesson Advance	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Manga	13
2004−2005	Grandpa Danger	Yorifusa Yamaguchi	Hibari	Manga	51
2004–2006	Duel Masters Charge	Waruo Suzuki	Hibari	Video game	52
2004−2007	Major	Toshinori Fukushima	Hibari	Manga	78
2005	Happy Seven (with Trinet Entertainment)	Tsutomu Yabuki	Hibari	Light novel	13
2005–2006	Duel Masters: Sacred Lands	Mickey Corcoran	Hibari	Video game	39
2006	Gargoyle of Yoshinaga House (with Trinet Entertainment)	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Light novel	13
	Tsuyokiss (with Trinet Entertainment)	Shinichiro Kimura	Hibari	Visual novel	12
	Nerima Daikon Brothers	Shinichi Watanabe	Hibari	Manga	12
	Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl	Nobuaki Nakanishi	Hibari	Manga	12
2006–2007	Sumomomo Momomo	Nobuaki Nakanishi	Hibari	Manga	22
2007	Venus Versus Virus	Shinichiro Kimura	Hibari	Manga	12
	Moonlight Mile	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Manga	26
2008−2009	Net Ghost PiPoPa	Shinichiro Kimura	Hibari	Original work	51
2009	Charger Girl Ju-den Chan	Shinichiro Kimura	Hibari	Manga	12
	Yumeiro Patissiere (produced by Pierrot)	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Manga	50
	Weiß Survive	Iku Suzuuki	Hibari	Multi-media project	16
2009–2010	Weiß Survive R	Kenji Seto	Hibari	Multi-media project	12
2010	Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional (produced by Pierrot)	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Manga	13
2011	Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!	Keitaro Motonaga	Lerche	Visual novel	12	[8]
2013	Danganronpa: The Animation	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Visual novel	13	[9]
	Unbreakable Machine-Doll	Kinji Yoshimoto	Lerche	Light novel	12	[10][11]
2014	Re:_Hamatora	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Original work	12	[12][13]
2015	Assassination Classroom	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Manga	22	[14][15]
	Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Original work	11	[16]
	Monster Musume	Tatsuya Yoshihara	Lerche	Manga	12	[17][18]
	School-Live!	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Manga	12	[19]
2016	Assassination Classroom: Second Season	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Manga	25	[20]
	Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Light novel	12	[21][22]
	Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School	Seiji Kishi (chief) Daiki Fukuoka	Lerche	Visual novel	24	[23][24][25]
	Magical Girl Raising Project	Hiroyuki Hashimoto	Lerche	Light novel	12	[26][27]
2017	Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun	Kazuya Ichikawa	Hibari	Manga	12
	Scum's Wish	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Manga	12	[28][29]
	Classroom of the Elite	Seiji Kishi Hiroyuki Hashimoto	Lerche	Light novel	12	[30]
	Konohana Kitan	Hideki Okamoto	Lerche	Manga	12	[31][32]
	Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series	Tomohisa Taguchi	Lerche	Light novel	12	[33][34]
2018	Hakumei and Mikochi	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Manga	12	[35][36][37]
	Seven Senses of the Reunion	Yoshihito Nishōji	Lerche	Light novel	12	[38]
	Asobi Asobase	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Manga	12	[39][40]
2018−2020	Radiant	Seiji Kishi Daiki Fukuoka	Lerche	French comic	42	[41]
2019	Astra Lost in Space	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Manga	12	[42][43]
	Given	Hikaru Yamaguchi	Lerche	Manga	11	[44]
2020	Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Manga	12	[45]
2021	Idoly Pride	Yū Kinome	Lerche	Multi-media project	12	[46]
	Rumble Garanndoll	Masaomi Andō	Lerche	Original work	12	[47][48]
2022	Classroom of the Elite 2nd Season	Seiji Kishi (chief) Hiroyuki Hashimoto (chief) Yoshihito Nishōji	Lerche	Light novel	13	[49]
2023	World Dai Star	Yū Kinome	Lerche	Multi-media project	12	[50]
	After-School Hanako-kun	Masaki Kitamura	Lerche	Manga	4	[51]
2023–present	High Card	Junichi Wada	Hibari	Multi-media project	TBA
2024	Classroom of the Elite 3rd Season	Seiji Kishi (chief) Hiroyuki Hashimoto (chief) Yoshihito Nishōji	Lerche	Light novel	13	[52]

OVA/ONAs

Year	Title	Director(s)	Brand	Source	Eps	Ref(s)
1991	Izumo (with Grouper Production)	Eiichi Yamamoto	Hibari	Manga	1 (#2)
2004	Raimuiro Senkitan: The South Island Dream Romantic Adventure	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Video game	2
	Netrun-mon	Poyoyon Rock	Hibari	Original work	1
2006	Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl	Nobuaki Nakanishi	Hibari	Manga	1
2007	Sumomomo Momomo	Nobuaki Nakanishi	Hibari	Manga	1
	Keitai Shoujo	Tsutomu Yabuki	Hibari	Visual novel	5
2008	Hoshi no Umi no Amuri	Yoshitomo Yonetai	Hibari	Original work	3
2009	Isshoni Training: Training with Hinako	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Original work	1
2010	Isshoni Sleeping: Sleeping with Hinako	Shinichirou Kimura	Hibari	Original work	1	[53]
	Isshoni Training 026: Bathtime with Hinako & Hiyoko	Shinichirou Kimura	Hibari	Original work	1
	Yumeiro Patissiere: Mune Kyun Tropical Island!	Iku Suzuki	Hibari	Manga	1
2011	Carnival Phantasm	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Manga	16	[54][55]
	Fate/Prototype	Seiji Kishi	Hibari	Original work	1
2013	Land of the Lustrous PV	Akiyo Oohashi	Hibari	Manga	1
2013−2014	Unbreakable Machine-Doll	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Light novel	6	[56]
2015−2016	Monster Strike	Kazuya Ichikawa	Hibari	Mobile game	51
2016	Monster Strike: Mermaid Rhapsody	Toshiya Niidome	Hibari	Mobile game	1
	Monster Strike: An Encore of Continuance- Pandora's Box	Kazuya Ichikawa	Hibari	Mobile game	1
2016−2017	Monster Musume	Tatsuya Yoshihara	Lerche	Manga	2
	Koro Sensei Quest	Yoshito Nishouji	Lerche	Manga	12
2020−2021	Ninjala (with Domerica)		Hibari	Video game	5
2022	Tekken: Bloodline (with Larx Entertainment)	Yoshikazu Miyao	Hibari	Video game	6

Films

Year	Title	Director(s)	Brand	Source	Ref(s)
2005	Duel Masters: Curse of the Deathphoenix	Warurou Suzuki	Hibari	Video game
2010	Junod	Shinichirou Kimura	Hibari	Original work
2015	Fw:Hamatora	Masaomi Andou	Lerche	Original work
2016	Assassination Classroom the Movie: 365 Days	Seiji Kishi	Lerche	Manga
2020	Given	Hikaru Yamaguchi	Lerche	Manga
	The Stranger by the Shore	Akiyo Oohashi	Hibari	Manga	[57]

Video games

• Dragon Master Silk (1997)
• Gotcha Force (2003)
• Persona 4 (2008) Contributed Cutscenes with A-1 Pictures Inc.
• Shining Force Feather (2009)
• Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness (2013)

Notes

References

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2. "ABOUT". Studio Hibari (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
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4. ラークスエンタテインメント (in Japanese). Works Corporations. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
5. Yoshimoto, Takuji (August 2, 2020). お知らせ [Notice]. IngesA (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
6. mjn (April 11, 2016). 中国人制作的留日和归来——专访上海MCC创始人李佳雯（一） [Studying in Japan and Returning Chinese Producer - Exclusive Interview with Li Jiawen, Founder of Shanghai MCC (1)]. Zhihu. AnimeTamashii. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
7. mjn (May 8, 2016). 中国人制作的留日和归来——专访上海MCC创始人李佳雯（五） [Studying in Japan and Returning Chinese Producer - Exclusive Interview with Li Jiawen, Founder of Shanghai MCC (5)]. Zhihu. AnimeTamashii. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
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26. "Mahō Shōjo Ikusei Keikaku Magical Girl Survival Novels Get Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
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28. "Kuzu no Honkai/Scum's Wish Manga Gets TV Anime in January 2017 on Noitamina". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2017-11-25. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
29. "School-Live!'s Masaomi Ando Directs Scum's Wish Anime at Lerche". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
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External links

• Studio Hibari official website (in English)
• Larx Entertainment official website (in Japanese)
• Lerche official website (in Japanese)
• Studio Hibari at Anime News Network's encyclopedia