Japanese film production and distribution company Toho announced on May 23 that it will acquire animation production company Science SARU as a subsidiary. In June, Toho will acquire all shares of Science SARU held by its representative, Eunyoung Choi.Masaaki Yuasa and Eunyoung Choi originally founded the studio in 2013. The studio has produced numerous animated feature films directed by Yuasa, including The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (2017), Lu Over the Wall (2017) and INU-OH (2022), as well as animated series such as Ping Pong the Animation (2014), Devilman Crybaby (2018) and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020), and others. Yuasa stepped down as president and representative director of the studio in 2020, with Choi becoming CEO shortly after.Naoko Yamada also directed the anime series The Heike Story (2021) at the studio, as well as the upcoming feature film The Colors Within. Other directors who have worked at the studio include Abel Góngora, Tomohisa Shimoyama and Shingo Natsume. Science SARU is also helming the anime adaptation of Yukinobu Tatsu’s DAN DA DAN, scheduled to premiere in October 2024.Toho’s press release explains the purpose of making Science SARU a subsidiary: “By welcoming the company into the group, we expect to strengthen our ability to produce high-quality animation and accelerate the speed of growth of our group’s animation business.”The official website for Science SARU also wrote: “Our mutual prospects for future business development are highly aligned. By joining the Toho Group, we aim to further grow our animation production business.”
Sources: Toho press release, Science SARU official website
