The Japanese anime industry is supported by a large handful of popular and well-established animation studios. These studios work hard to entertain anime fans around the globe, and the very best anime studios can proudly list some of the world's favorite anime as their very own productions.
For some anime fans, the studio is just one more name in the credits, but other anime fans are keen to watch every series that their favorite series puts out. After all, some anime studios tend to make a lot of series of the same genre, or certain studios have a visual and animation style that their fans simply can't get enough of.
Updated on September 16th, 2023 by Louis Kemner: This list of the best anime studios has been updated with five more excellent studios and their best works, and all entries now feature exciting trailers and other samples of what these iconic anime series are like.
15 Bandai Namco Filmworks
Cowboy Bebop
Bandai Namco Filmworks, once known as Sunrise Studios, has been making Japanese anime since the 1970s and has produced a staggering list of fan-favorite titles, ranging from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion to Gin Tama and Love Live!. The studio's most iconic work, meanwhile, is the short but famous series Cowboy Bebop.
That title alone makes Bandai Namco Filmworks one of the best anime studios. Cowboy Bebop is a classic 1990s sci-fi anime starring protagonist Spike Spiegel and his lovable gang of space misfits aboard the Bebop, elegantly blending action, humor, drama, and soulful jazz music into one unforgettable package.
14 A-1 Pictures
Kaguya-Sama: Love is War
A-1 Studios easily ranks among the very best anime studios because of a handful of smash-hit series they produced, including Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Wotakoi, and most of all, Kaguya-Sama: Love is War. It's an iconic seinen romantic comedy set in an elite high school and has three seasons to its name.
Kaguya-Sama shows what happens when two brilliant, stubborn, lovestruck teenagers fight with their minds to see who will cave and confess their true feelings first. It's not all fun and games, though -- these characters have serious depth with their insecurities and personal baggage, and there's plenty of drama to keep things grounded.
13 Production I.G.
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex
Production I.G. is an excellent anime studio that has produced hits like Haikyuu!!, a popular sports anime, and Moriarty the Patriot. Among all of Production I.G.'s works, though, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex is the most iconic, even if it wasn't quite the landmark the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie was.
GitS: Standalone Complex is a two-season series that delivers some of the finest cyberpunk storytelling anime fans could ask for, and not just because of the fancy tech and action sequences. The series keeps viewers engaged with the tense, high-stakes hunt for the mysterious Laughing Man, an elusive hacker and cyber-criminal. This anime also has deep, thought-provoking themes about what it really means to be human.
12 P.A. Works
Angel Beats
P.A. Works may not have a long list of legendary anime to its name, as opposed to Studio Pierrot or Toei Animation, but P.A. Works still has a handful of lovable anime to its name. This includes recent hits like Skip and Loafer and Buddy Daddies, though this anime studio's single most iconic work is clearly Angel Beats.
Angel Beats is a deceptively complex anime that is bound to make viewers cry sooner or later, since it's far more than just another high school anime. It also has elements of isekai and mystery to it, and the main characters will strive not to get good grades or fall in love, but to resolve their deepest personal issues and "graduate" in an entirely new way.
11 J.C. Staff
Toradora!
J.C. Staff is a busy anime studio that has produced an astonishing variety of anime titles since 1989, especially starting in the 2000s, when their production ramped up. Some of their greatest hits include Food Wars!, A Certain Magical Index, and Bakuman. This anime studio's single most iconic work overall is Toradora!, still praised as one of anime's best romances of all.
Toradora! is the tale of the petite tsundere Taiga Aisaka and her classmate Ryuji Takasu, who start the story in love with each other's best friend. Soon, though, Taiga and Ryuji will realize they only have eyes for each other, and getting intimate like that will also mean exploring Taiga's well-hidden insecurities.
10 MAPPA
Jujutsu Kaisen
MAPPA has produced a variety of top-rated anime series, making it one of the most popular and well-regarded anime studios in the modern era. The studio's single biggest success is Jujutsu Kaisen, a mega-popular dark fantasy series that's become an iconic shonen title.
Jujutsu Kaisen stars the lovable hero Yuji Itadori, the high school boy who ate Ryomen Sukuna's finger. Now Yuji is a cursed sorcerer tasked with eliminating villainous curses on the streets – all while the sorcerer elders want him dead for the crime of being the king of curses' living vessel.
9 Studio Bones
My Hero Academia
Studio Bones has produced a variety of anime series since the year 2000, ranging from both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist to the fantasy series Soul Eater to Mob Psycho. Right now, Studio Bones' most famous work is definitely My Hero Academia, though FMA comes in a close second.
My Hero Academia is a long-running superhero anime set in the far future, where supernatural Quirks have redefined society for both good and ill. Protagonist Izuku Midoriya aims to become a great hero in this wild future, all with the power of One For All, the most special Quirk of all.
8 Studio Ghibli
Spirited Away
Studio Ghibli is a household name around the world thanks to the famously imaginative works of its many animated movies, from My Neighbor Totoro to Princess Mononoke. Overall, anime fans know this studio best for its 2001 smash-hit anime movie Spirited Away.
Anime fans have analyzed this famous movie from many angles, such as its isekai elements, its veiled critique of Japanese corporate culture, and far more. It's a smarter movie than its cartoony visuals might suggest, but it never fails to feel like an accessible, delightful masterpiece of escapism.
7 Toei Animation
Dragon Ball Z
Toei Animation has been making Japanese anime since the 1960s, and its roster of completed anime works is truly impressive. Multiple generations of anime fans owe a lot to Toei Animation, most of all 1990s anime fans who watched Dragon Ball Z.
Even if Dragon Ball Z wasn't the first entry in the franchise, it is arguably the most iconic and best-loved. In DBZ, the goofy Son Goku is now a grown warrior, ready to face legendary cosmic threats like the artificial being Cell, the brutal Frieza, and Majin Buu, among others.
6 Wit Studio
Spy X Family
Studio Wit has a short but highly impressive list of anime works to its name, including the first few seasons of Attack on Titan, Ranking of Kings, and the medieval historical series Vinland Saga. Right now, the studio's hottest title is almost certainly Spy x Family.
Spy x Family is a tense but hilarious shonen story of the world's weirdest found family: a slick Westalis spy, Ostania's deadliest assassin, and the cutest, funniest telepath girl of all time. The story is part spy thriller, part family comedy, part "school life," part action, and all heart.
5 Studio Pierrot
Naruto
Studio Pierrot has made a wide variety of anime series since the 1990s, and its roster of completed works includes heavy hitters like Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, Black Clover, and Hikaru no Go. Most of all, though, anime fans love Studio Pierrot for making Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.
Naruto is a semi-modern shonen classic and a "big three" title alongside One Piece and Bleach. This anime tells the tale of Naruto Uzumaki, the knuckleleaded ninja who believed in himself and strove for greatness and recognition in a world of bloody ninja violence and a horrific cycle of hatred.
4 Ufotable
Demon Slayer
Ufotable has only been making anime for a short time compared to Studio Pierrot and Toei Animation, but it does boast some of the modern era's most beloved titles, such as Fate/Zero and a variety of Fate movies. Most of all, though, Ufotable is famous for animating Demon Slayer.
Demon Slayer shows the true potential of Japanese animation, with top-tier color palettes, smooth and exciting action sequences, and dazzing special effects to round out the experience. Arguably, it's because of Ufotable's work that the Demon Slayer franchise blew up the way it did.
3 Studio Trigger
Little Witch Academia
Studio Trigger is known for its distinctly cartoony art style, and dedicated fans can't get enough of it. For example, fans adored the violent but slick series Kill La Kill, along with the 2018 sci-fi anime SSSS.GRIDMAN, among others.
Little Witch Academia, meanwhile, stands out as the studio's best and most accessible work. It's a lighthearted seinen fantasy anime about a brave girl named Atsuko who aims to become a great witch even if she cannot perform magic, and then Atsuko goes to witch school, where she'll either make real magic – or just flunk out.
2 Kyoto Animation
Violet Evergarden
Kyoto Animation is a well-regarded anime studio that has made excellent animation since 2003, including fan-favorite titles such as K-On! the musical anime, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, and most of all, Violet Evergarden.
Violet Evergarden is a dramatic, heartbreaking, and inspiring tale about the namesake heroine and her quest to bring people's hearts together with letters. It's her job to type people's personal letters, and the things she writes may bring her to tears – and viewers, too.
1 Madhouse
Hunter X Hunter
Fans enjoyed the original 1999 Hunter x Hunter anime, but in 2011, the studio known simply as Madhouse created the more modern and more mainstream anime of the original Hunter x Hunter manga. Even if this anime adaptation is famously incomplete, fans still love it as one of shonen's best.
Hunter x Hunter stars the energetic protagonist Gon Freecss, who aims to follow in his missing father's footsteps and become a successful, licensed Hunter. Gon will learn many new things and make some friends along the way, but longtime fans know that Hunter x Hunter is actually much darker than it seems.