Madhouse (company)

MADHOUSE Inc. ( Kabushiki-gaisha Maddohausu?) is a Japanese

animation studio, founded in 1972 by exMushi Pro animators, including Masao Maruyama,
Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Madhouse has created and helped to produce many well-known shows, starting with TV
anime series Ace o Nerae! (produced by Tokyo Movie) in 1973, and including Ninja Scroll,
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Trigun, Di Gi Charat, Death Note, and most recently, OnePunch Man. Unlike other studios founded at this time such as AIC and J.C.Staff, their
strength was and is primarily in TV shows and theatrical features. Expanding from the initial
Mushi Pro staff, Madhouse recruited such important directors as Morio Asaka, Masayuki
Kojima, and Satoshi Kon during the 1990s. Their staff roster expanded in the 2000s to
include Mamoru Hosoda, Takeshi Koike, and Mitsuo Iso, as well as many younger television
directors. The studio was also responsible for the first Beyblade anime series as well as the
Dragon Drive anime, and the 2011 anime adaptation of Hunter Hunter.
The studio often collaborates with known manga artists, including Naoki Urasawa and
Clamp. Madhouse produced adaptations of Urasawa's YAWARA!, Master Keaton and
Monster, with Masayuki Kojima helming the later two. The company has animated a number
of CLAMP's titles, including Tokyo Babylon, two versions of X (a theatrical movie and a TV
series), Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and CLAMP in Wonderland.
In February 2004, Madhouse became a subsidiary of Index Corporation.[1]
On February 8, 2011, Nippon Television became Madhouse's primary stockholder (replacing
Index Corporation), via a third-party allocation of new shares.[2] NTV bought 128,667 new
shares (each 7,772) issued by Madhouse for 999,999,924 total (about $12.4 million),
raising its stake in the company from 10.4% to 84.5%. Index Corporation's stake in
Madhouse fell from 60.91% to 10.54%.[3][4]
In January 2012, Madhouse announced their acquisition of the animation rights to the
Peanuts comic strip.[5]

In March 2014, NTV bought all the shares belonging to Index Corporation, increasing its
stake in Madhouse to 95%.[1]