Toonz Media Group has signed a deal to provide animation services to Japanese anime and music studio 1st PLACE. The two companies are hoping that their collaboration will get new content to market quicker and develop an anime talent base outside of Japan. 

Toonz will handle 2D and CG animation work on 1st PLACE anime productions, including live music performances featuring anime performers. For example, the studio recently produced a VVV Music Live 2024 concert (pictured) that aired in November and will rerun at the end of March. 1st PLACE also produces anime series (Listeners) and theme songs (Angel Beats!), as well as managing virtual anime music artists. 

Anime is experiencing a global market boom at the moment, driven in part by significantly bigger European audiences, according to June 2024 data from Ampere. At the same time, however, Japan’s anime industry is facing a talent shortage, which is making it increasingly difficult for studios to supply this greater demand with high-quality productions, says 1st PLACE CEO Kumiko Murayama. 

“This strategic partnership with Toonz will help us bridge that gap by expanding our production capacity and ensuring that we can create more anime TV series and movies without compromising on quality,” says Murayama. “By joining forces with Toonz’s world-class infrastructure, we can scale up our output, while maintaining the artistic integrity that anime is known for.”

Teaming up with 1st PLACE could also give Toonz (Wolverine and the X-Men)—and India, more broadly—an important foothold in the anime market, setting the studio up to be a partner for other companies producing content in this genre.