What OLM Digital does

OLM Digital (株式会社オー・エル・エム・デジタル) is the digital animation, CG, and VFX subsidiary of Japan's OLM Group, founded in 1997 and headquartered in Setagaya, Tokyo. It produces TV anime, theatrical films, and streaming content — most prominently as the long-running production partner for the Pokémon franchise — on commission from major Japanese broadcasters (TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon TV), international streaming platforms (Netflix), publishers (Shogakukan, Kodansha), and industry peers (Toei Animation). Alongside commissioned production work, OLM Digital runs an R&D division responsible for the ANIMINS / ANIMINS 2.0 AI-assisted production research program in collaboration with IMAGICA GROUP and eight Japanese universities, the METI-funded SAKUGADO anime drawing platform, and the OLM OpenTools suite of free, Apache-licensed plugins for After Effects, Nuke, Maya, and Photoshop.

The company operates a B2B professional services revenue model, with production fees negotiated project-by-project against production committees, broadcasters, and streaming platforms; pricing is not publicly disclosed. OLM Digital is embedded within the broader OLM Group, which also includes OLM, Inc. (the parent production entity, founded 1994), OLM Ventures (incubation arm), OLM Music, and three overseas production subsidiaries: Sprite Animation Studios in Los Angeles (est. 2002), OLM Malaysia in Cyberjaya (est. 2017), and OLM (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in Bangkok (est. October 2024). As of March 2025, OLM Digital employed 138 people and OLM, Inc. employed 204.

Revenue and financial figures are not publicly disclosed; technology and productization efforts have been recognized with VC2025 awards across four ANIMINS-related papers/posters, and Technical Advisor Ken Anjyo's appointment to the ACM SIGGRAPH Academy as only the third Japanese member, indicating sustained technical credibility in computer-graphics research.

Name

OLM Digital

Legal name

株式会社オー・エル・エム (OLM, Inc.)

Website

https://olm.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OLM Digital (株式会社オー・エル・エム・デジタル) is a Tokyo-based CG animation, VFX, and AI-R&D subsidiary of Japan's OLM Group, producing TV anime, theatrical films, and streaming content — most notably the Pokémon franchise — for Japanese broadcasters, Netflix, publishers, and production committees, while developing proprietary production tools (ANIMINS, SAKUGADO, OLM OpenTools) in partnership with academic institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Animation Production Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro primary industry

Open Multimedia OER (video, audio, podcasts, animations) (EDAGAJAF)

Keywords

• Anime production services
• CG animation studio
• VFX production
• Animation technology
• Visual effects studio

Headquarters

HQ city

Setagaya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Animation Production Services: OLM Digital generates revenue primarily through commissioned animation production work for TV series, theatrical films, and streaming platforms. Revenue comes from production fees charged to broadcasters, production committees, and international clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

OLM Digital is a B2B animation production studio producing commissioned anime, CG animation, and VFX for TV series, theatrical films, and streaming platforms. The studio works directly with major Japanese broadcasters, international streaming services, and production committees, and also develops proprietary animation production technology (OLM OpenTools plugin suite) and AI-assisted production research (ANIMINS, SAKUGADO).

Product overview

OLM Digital (株式会社オー・エル・エム・デジタル) is a digital visual effects, CG animation, and anime production studio that develops proprietary tools alongside academic research. Its consumer/product-facing offering consists primarily of OLM OpenTools, a free suite of production-proven plugins for Adobe After Effects, Autodesk Maya, Nuke, and Photoshop — released under Apache License 2.0 — covering anti-aliasing (OLM Smoother v2), color keying (OLM Color Key, OLM Keylight), blur effects (OLM Blur, OLM Directional Blur), and other cel-animation-specific visual effects (OLM KiraKira, OLM Toon Dilate, Distance Gradation). In parallel, its R&D division conducts the ANIMINS and ANIMINS 2.0 research project for AI-supported animation production (including automated coloring, in-betweening, and scene generation), and is developing the SAKUGADO anime drawing platform under government support. The portfolio spans from free production tools to advanced AI research initiatives aimed at automating and streamlining anime production workflows.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OLM: Core animation production company producing TV series and films including Pokémon
• OLM Digital
• OLM Ventures
• OLM Music
• Sprite Animation Studios

Products and services

• OLM OpenTools A suite of free production-proven plugins for Autodesk Maya, Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, and Nuke, developed by OLM Digital R&D. Released under Apache License 2.0, the suite addresses specific animation production challenges including anti-aliasing (OLM Smoother v2), color keying (OLM Color Key, OLM Keylight), blur effects (OLM Blur, OLM Directional Blur), and cel-animation-specific visual effects (OLM KiraKira, OLM Toon Dilate, Distance Gradation). Targeted at professional animation studios and individual artists working on anime and 2D/3D hybrid productions.
• Anime Production Services Commissioned B2B production of TV anime series, theatrical films, and streaming anime content for Japanese broadcasters (TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon TV), international streaming platforms (Netflix), and anime production committees. Notable titles include Pokémon (long-term partnership), Himitsu no AiPri (series and theatrical film), Ao no Orchestra, Ace of Diamond, and others.
• CG Animation and VFX Production Services Commissioned CG animation and visual effects production work for theatrical films, TV series, and streaming content, including CG production support for partner studios such as Toei Animation's Dragon Ball DAIMA. Capabilities span hybrid 2D+3D animation, motion capture, and VFX compositing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5-10x faster line art segmentation compared to baseline methods with OLM's leak-resistant segmentation technology
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• IMAGICA GROUPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMAGICA GROUP is the parent company of OLM Group. OLM Digital operates as a subsidiary and collaborates closely with IMAGICA GROUP's Advanced Research Group (ARG) on joint research projects including the ANIMINS project and shared publication efforts.
• DONGWOO A&EmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-production partnership for anime series including Himitsu no AiPri and the film Himitsu no AiPri THE MOVIE - Full bloom! Buzzrium Live!. DONGWOO A&E provides additional production capacity for OLM's animation projects.
• Waseda UniversitymajorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic research partner in ANIMINS project, contributing researchers including Tsukasa Fukusato for sprite registration research and Shigeo Morishima's lab for machine learning-based animation research.
• Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST)majorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic partner in ANIMINS project with multiple joint research publications. Researchers including Sosui Koga, Seitaro Shinagawa, Takuya Funatomi, and Yasuhiro Mukaigawa contribute to animation research.
• Chiba UniversitymajorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic partner in ANIMINS project with active collaboration on automatic coloring research. Researchers including Hiroyuki Kubo, Ryosuke Takamura, and Daiki Watanabe contribute to line art processing research.
• Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)majorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic partner contributing multiple researchers to ANIMINS project including Bofei Huang, Tianyu Zhang, Haoran Xie for scene generation and fluid simulation research.
• Tokyo Institute of TechnologymajorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic partner contributing researchers including Mamoru Akiyoshi, Ayumu Sato, and Go Saito to ANIMINS project for background projection research.
• Kyoto UniversitymajorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic partner in ANIMINS project with contributions from Takuya Funatomi on image processing and research collaboration.
• Tokyo UniversitymajorTechnology or IntegrationAcademic partner contributing researchers including I-Chao Shen and Takeo Igarashi to ANIMINS project and related animation research initiatives.
• National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOLM Digital R&D Head Akinobu Maejima serves as principal collaborator on JST CRONOS project 'animāre' led by AIST's Atsushi Kato, focused on highly integrable tool infrastructure for anime co-creation environment.
• Japan Anime Creators Association (JAniCA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOLM Digital participates in JAniCA's Animation Creative Technology Forum (ACTF), presenting research on SAKUGADO, SHIAGEDO, and ANIMINS project outcomes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MAPPA: A major Japanese animation studio producing high-profile TV anime and theatrical films for similar broadcast and streaming customers. Targets the same commissioning pool of broadcasters, production committees, and global streamers as OLM Digital.
• Production I.G: Long-established Japanese anime studio known for hybrid 2D/3D production, similar in technology stack and customer base (broadcasters, streaming platforms, publishers) to OLM Digital's hybrid animation work.
• Wit Studio: Mid-sized Japanese animation studio (Attack on Titan, Spy x Family). Competes in the same Tokyo-based TV anime commissioning market as OLM Digital, with similar hybrid 2D/3D capabilities.
• Studio Bones: Japanese animation studio producing high-profile TV anime and theatricals (e.g., My Hero Academia). Competes for similar commissions, has comparable headcount, and uses hybrid 2D/3D pipelines like OLM Digital.
• Polygon Pictures: Japanese CG animation and VFX studio with theatrical, TV, and streaming deliverables. Closely comparable to OLM Digital on the CG/VFX-led side of the business and on global production partnerships.
• Toei Animation: One of Japan's largest and longest-established anime studios. OLM Digital is explicitly listed as a CG production partner on Toei's Dragon Ball DAIMA, making it a direct, active collaborator/competitor in Japanese TV anime production.
• Trigger: Independent Japanese anime studio producing high-profile TV and theatricals. Comparable in size to OLM Digital and competing in similar commissions, particularly for stylized action titles.
• Sunrise / Bandai Namco Filmworks: Major Japanese anime studio behind Gundam and other long-running franchises. Comparable in scale and remit (TV series, theatricals, streamed anime) to OLM Digital, with similar relationships to broadcasters and production committees.
• TMS Entertainment: Long-standing Japanese anime studio producing both family-oriented and long-running serialized anime (similar to OLM Group's Pokémon business). A relevant peer for family-franchise TV anime production.

Regional players

• Studio Mir: Korean animation studio producing high-end anime-style content for US/global streamers (e.g., Avatar- and Castlevania-adjacent work). Competes for the same cross-border anime commissions OLM Digital targets via its Thailand/Malaysia/LA subsidiaries.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OLMGROUP
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/olm-digital-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OLM Digital