There's That One Cool Studio... ◉4

        With many popular titles under their belt since its foundation in 1972, such as HUNTER x HUNTER, Cardcaptor Sakura, Death Note and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (English title, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), Madhouse stands out amidst other studios from this time thanks to the fact that it specialised, from the start, in television series.

           Madhouse has reached out to far corners of the world, in the way that it has been associated with various international productions, such as the adaptation for television of Disney’s Stitch. Even within Japanese borders, this studio has had its hand in a number of Studio Ghibli’s productions — Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away.

         It was this studio that set Mamoru Hosoda, who happens to be my favourite Japanese animation director, on his career. While a member of Madhouse, Hosoda directed the earlier mentioned Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, in 2006, one of my favourite movies still. More recently, Hosoda left to establish his own studio, Chizu, and directed another great piece, Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (English title, Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, 2012), although Madhouse still took its part in this production.

            Below is a trailer for Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo for your convenience.

         In 2011, Madhouse picked up the popular manga series HUNTER x HUNTER for a reboot, the original run of which aired back in 1999 under Nippon Animation.

          The progress Japanese animation studios, Madhouse included, have made in recent years shows clearly in the more recent and darker arcs of this series, more so in episodes where the staff invests even more due to its stronger emotion and/or action. Such is the case with a recent episode, namely the scenes depicted in the videos below, in two parts. After a slow build up of heart wrenching events, many fans (admittedly, me included) who have accompanied this show from the start have shown strong reactions when this episode, the 116^th in the run, culminated in the following scenes.

         Also worth a note is Madhouse’s participation in Anime Mirai 2013. Anime Mirai is a project launched in 2010 with the intent of training young animators. Each year since then (apart from 2011) a group of animation studios in Japan put forth playlist of animations, one short film submitted by each of them.

           In 2013, Madhouse presented Death Billiards, an absolutely stunning short film created, written and directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa. This piece, rich in both gorgeous animation and background art, had the audience wracking their brains with the mysterious ending (much to Tachikawa’s satisfaction, considering this was, in fact, his plan all along). The full short is available on Youtube, and here’s a quick preview of the atmosphere:

         With young animators like that, it’s no wonder Madhouse has grown to be one of the top studios in Japan.