Actas

Actas is a Japanese animation studio founded in Tokyo in 1998 by Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba, animation professionals who had previously worked at Tatsunoko Production and Ashi Productions. The company operates primarily as a studio for planning, producing, and coordinating animated works rather than as a conventional consumer-facing product brand. Its output has included television anime, original video animation, web-oriented projects, animated films, and production collaborations with other studios. The studio’s early work covered a broad range of genres and formats. Its television credits have included children’s and franchise animation such as Gozonji! Gekko Kamen-kun, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, Pluster World, and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. Actas has also worked on projects such as Tactical Roar, Kotetsushin Jeeg, Moetan, Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars, Long Riders!, Princess Principal, Classroom for Heroes, and Wistoria: Wand and Sword. In some cases, Actas was the primary animation studio; in others, it shared production responsibilities with companies including Brain's Base, SynergySP, Studio A-Cat, Bee Media, 3Hz, or Bandai Namco Pictures. Actas is particularly associated with Girls und Panzer, an anime franchise built around fictional competitive tank sports. The property began as a television series in 2012 and expanded into original video releases and theatrical productions, including Girls und Panzer der Film and the ongoing Girls und Panzer das Finale series. The franchise became the studio’s most recognizable creative association and an important example of Actas’s ability to sustain a long-running, multi-format anime production. The company’s corporate history includes a change in leadership after founder Hiroshi Katō died in 2009, when Shunpei Maruyama became president. Actas also operated the subsidiary animation studio Karaku; the two entities were merged in July 2017. In September 2017, Bandai Visual announced that it had acquired Actas. Following corporate changes within the Bandai Namco group, Actas became a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks, itself part of Bandai Namco Holdings. The studio has continued to operate under the Actas name while participating in projects connected to the wider group and to external production partners. Actas’s business model reflects the committee-based structure of Japanese commercial animation. A studio may receive principal animation-production credit without being the sole owner of a title, its characters, or its distribution rights. Projects can involve publishers, broadcasters, music companies, toy and game businesses, distributors, and other animation studios. Accordingly, Actas’s catalog should be understood as a record of production and collaboration roles rather than a list of wholly owned consumer products. The studio remains active, although detailed current information about its management, revenue, staffing, and ownership percentages is not established in the supplied sources.

Actas was founded on July 6, 1998, in Japan by Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba. Both founders had previously worked for established Japanese animation companies, including Tatsunoko Production and Ashi Productions. Actas entered the market as an animation planning and production company, a role that can involve principal animation production, project planning, production management, and cooperation with other studios or production committees. Its early television work demonstrated a broad commercial range. The studio participated in children’s and franchise properties such as Gozonji! Gekko Kamen-kun, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, Pluster World, and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. It later worked on productions including Tactical Roar, Night Head Genesis, Kotetsushin Jeeg, Moetan, and other television and direct-to-video projects. Some titles were made jointly with other studios, while certain productions were animated by Actas-associated entities. After Hiroshi Katō’s death in 2009, Shunpei Maruyama became company president. Maruyama was also known as an animation producer and remained an important figure in the studio’s subsequent history. Actas continued expanding its catalog across television anime, OVA releases, and theatrical productions. Its credits included éX-Driver, Tales of Phantasia: The Animation, The Idolmaster Live For You!, Switch, Yutori-chan, Mazinkaizer SKL, and other projects. The studio’s most important creative association emerged with Girls und Panzer. The television series, broadcast from 2012 to 2013, presented fictional tank competitions as a school sport and developed a substantial franchise around that premise. Actas produced related OVA material and later served as the principal studio for Girls und Panzer der Film, released in 2015, and the continuing theatrical series Girls und Panzer das Finale, which began in 2017. The property became Actas’s signature franchise and one of the clearest examples of its involvement in a continuing anime universe across television, home-video, and theatrical formats. Actas also participated in original and collaborative television anime, including Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars, Long Riders!, and Princess Principal. Princess Principal was produced with 3Hz and later expanded through the Crown Handler film series. The studio’s subsequent listed television work included Classroom for Heroes in 2023 and Wistoria: Wand and Sword from 2024, produced in collaboration with Bandai Namco Pictures. Actas had a subsidiary animation studio called Karaku. In July 2017, Karaku was merged into Actas, consolidating the related production operations. In September of the same year, Bandai Visual announced that it had acquired Actas. Bandai Visual later became part of the corporate lineage leading to Bandai Namco Filmworks, which is itself a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. Actas therefore operates within the broader Bandai Namco group while retaining its own studio identity and production credits. The studio’s history should be interpreted within the Japanese animation production system. Animation companies frequently work through production committees and shared-credit arrangements, and a studio’s involvement does not necessarily mean that it owns all intellectual-property, publishing, licensing, or distribution rights for a title. Actas has consequently functioned both as a lead animation studio and as a collaborator. The supplied reference material confirms that the studio remains active, but does not provide sufficiently detailed current information about its executive roster, financial performance, staffing, or exact ownership structure beyond its position as a Bandai Namco Filmworks subsidiary.

• 2024

  Wistoria: Wand and Sword project begins

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Actas is credited with Bandai Namco Pictures on the television anime Wistoria: Wand and Sword.

• 2023

  Shunpei Maruyama’s death is announced

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  The death of former president and animation producer Shunpei Maruyama is announced in August.

• 2017

  Karaku is merged into Actas

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Actas consolidates its subsidiary animation studio Karaku through a merger with the main company.

• 2017

  Bandai Visual announces acquisition

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Bandai Visual announces that it has acquired Actas, beginning the studio’s integration into the wider Bandai Namco corporate group.

• 2017

  Girls und Panzer das Finale begins

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  The continuing theatrical Girls und Panzer das Finale project starts production and release as a multi-part extension of the franchise.

• 2015

  Girls und Panzer der Film is released

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Actas produces the theatrical Girls und Panzer film, extending the franchise beyond television and OVA releases.

• 2012

  Girls und Panzer television series begins

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Actas produces the television anime Girls und Panzer, the studio’s best-known franchise association.

• 2009

  Leadership passes to Shunpei Maruyama

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Following the death of co-founder Hiroshi Katō, Shunpei Maruyama becomes company president.

• 1998

  Actas is founded

  [1]Actasen.wikipedia.org

  Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba establish Actas in Japan as an animation planning and production company.

A Japanese animation-production studio focused on television series, theatrical anime, OVA projects, and collaborative franchise production.

• Television and theatrical anime franchise · 2012

  Girls und Panzer

  Actas’s signature franchise centers on fictional school teams competing in tank sports. The property began as a 2012–2013 television series and expanded through original video animation, the feature film Girls und Panzer der Film, and the multi-part theatrical project Girls und Panzer das Finale. Actas has served as the principal animation studio across the core franchise, making it the company’s most recognizable production association.

• Television and theatrical anime · 2017

  Princess Principal

  A television anime about espionage, political intrigue, and young women operating in a fictional divided kingdom. Actas produced the television series in collaboration with 3Hz and later participated in the Princess Principal: Crown Handler theatrical continuation. The project represents Actas’s work on original, character-driven anime outside the Girls und Panzer franchise.

• Animated feature film · 2015

  Girls und Panzer der Film

  A 2015 theatrical continuation of Girls und Panzer. The film expands the tank-sport competition premise into a feature-length story and is one of Actas’s most prominent theatrical animation credits.

• Multi-part animated film series · 2017

  Girls und Panzer das Finale

  A continuing theatrical film series that extends the Girls und Panzer narrative after the original television series and feature film. Actas is the principal animation studio, with releases structured as multiple parts rather than as one standalone feature.

• Television anime · 2023

  Classroom for Heroes

  A 2023 television anime production credited to Actas. It illustrates the studio’s continuing involvement in contemporary television projects beyond its established Girls und Panzer work.

• Television anime · 2024

  Wistoria: Wand and Sword

  A television anime project credited to Actas in collaboration with Bandai Namco Pictures. The project began in 2024 and reflects Actas’s participation in productions connected to the wider Bandai Namco animation network.

• Animated film series · 2021

  Princess Principal: Crown Handler

  A theatrical continuation of Princess Principal. Actas is associated with the project following its participation in the original television series, while the films continue the espionage setting and principal characters.

• 2017

  Bandai Visual acquisition of ActasM&A

  Background

  Actas had developed a substantial production history in television, OVA, and theatrical anime, including the Girls und Panzer franchise. Bandai Visual announced an acquisition as part of the studio’s transition into the broader Bandai Namco corporate structure.

  Action taken

  Bandai Visual acquired Actas. The studio continued operating under the Actas name and was subsequently positioned as a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks.

  Aftermath

  Actas remained an identifiable animation-production studio while gaining a corporate relationship with the Bandai Namco group. The supplied sources do not state the transaction price or detailed ownership percentage.

  Source

• 2017

  Merger of Karaku with ActasStrategy

  Background

  Actas operated Karaku as a subsidiary animation studio and later consolidated the related production organization.

  Action taken

  Karaku was merged into Actas in July 2017.

  Aftermath

  The merger reduced the separation between the two related studio operations. No further operational or financial details are provided in the reference material.

  Source

1. 1Actasen.wikipedia.org