Joen

What Joen does

JOEN Inc. (株式会社JOEN) is a Japanese animation production and planning company founded in May 2022 and headquartered at 4-5 Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The company was established as a joint venture between two established anime production studios (CloverWorks and WIT STUDIO), the major manga publisher Shueisha (集英社), and the anime label Aniplex (a Sony Music Entertainment Japan subsidiary), with paid-in capital of JPY 100,000,000 (approximately USD 700,000 at 2022 rates). It is led by Representative Directors Yuichi Fukushima (福島祐一) and Tetsuya Nakatake (中武哲也).

JOEN's core offering is end-to-end animation production across TV series, feature films, and short clips, sourced through a "studio-led planning" model rather than reactive commissions. The company initiates and develops projects at the planning stage, then matches each project to the optimal production line and creators, drawing on the founding studios' networks and opening collaboration to additional outside studios, producers, and creators. A stated differentiator is a profit-redistribution model that returns a larger share of project success to staff, creators, and production studios — addressing a known structural friction in the Japanese animation industry where successful works often fail to compensate production-side participants adequately.

Commercially, JOEN operates as a B2B production-services company: revenue derives from animation production and project planning fees paid by licensees, broadcasters, and streaming/film distributors, with no direct-to-consumer channel and no publicly disclosed pricing. Its only operating geography disclosed is Japan, and no customer logos, revenue figures, headcount, or funding rounds beyond founding capital are reported in the available source material, making it a newly formed, vertically-aligned production venture whose commercial scale has not yet been externally validated.

Name

Joen

Legal name

株式会社JOEN

Website

https://jo-en.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Short description

JOEN is a Tokyo-based animation production and planning company founded in 2022 by CloverWorks, WIT STUDIO, Shueisha, and Aniplex, producing TV series, feature films, and short clips through a studio-led planning model that returns more profit to creators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

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 and Planning: JOEN generates revenue through animation production and project planning. The company acts as a producer, coordinating animation projects from conception through completion, with a focus on ensuring creators and production studios receive appropriate profit distribution when projects succeed.

Core offering

JOEN is an animation production and planning studio that produces TV series, feature films, and short-form animation works. The company was created to enable its studio and publisher shareholders to jointly plan and produce anime projects, with a studio-led approach where studios initiate planning rather than waiting for external commissions. A portion of profits is distributed back to the creators and studios involved.

Product overview

Joen is an animation studio and creative company that offers a unified animation production service spanning planning, development, and production. The company was founded by a coalition of CloverWorks, WIT STUDIO, Shueisha, and Aniplex in May 2022. Its primary offering is animation production services, including TV series, feature films, and short clips, delivered through partnerships with member studios. Joen positions itself as a studio-driven production company that prioritizes creator returns and aims to build new business models for the animation industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TV Series Animation Production Production of anime television series, from planning through delivery, for studios, publishers, and broadcasters.
• Feature Film Animation Production Production of animated feature films, leveraging the combined studio and distribution capabilities of its shareholders.
• Short-form Animation Clips Production of short-form animation clips for promotional or distribution purposes.
• Animation Planning Services Studio-led planning of animation projects, where studios initiate project concepts rather than waiting for external commissions.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CloverWorkscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022CloverWorks is one of two founding studios that formed JOEN. As a founding partner, CloverWorks contributes production capabilities and industry expertise to the collaboration. The company specializes in anime production and brings established production infrastructure to the partnership.
• WIT STUDIOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022WIT STUDIO is one of two founding studios that formed JOEN. As a founding partner, WIT STUDIO contributes production capabilities and industry expertise to the collaboration. The company is known for high-quality anime production and brings established production infrastructure to the partnership.
• Shueisha (集英社)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022Shueisha (集英社) is the founding publisher partner in JOEN. As a major Japanese publishing company known for manga titles including One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball, Shueisha provides publishing expertise and content IP access to the partnership.
• AniplexcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022Aniplex is the founding manufacturer/distribution partner in JOEN. As a leading anime label under Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Aniplex provides anime production, marketing, and distribution expertise to the partnership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• MAPPA: Leading Japanese animation studio producing high-profile TV anime and films (Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan final seasons). Directly comparable to JOEN as a producer of TV series and feature animation for the same Japanese/international anime market.
• Ufotable: Top-tier Japanese animation studio behind Demon Slayer and Fate series. Comparable to JOEN as a vertically integrated anime production house producing both TV anime and theatrical features with strong creator-driven production capabilities.
• Trigger: Japanese animation studio known for distinctive creator-driven works (Promare, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Kill la Kill). Highly comparable to JOEN's studio-led, creator-empowering philosophy and production of TV anime and films.
• WIT STUDIO: One of JOEN's two founding studio partners (Attack on Titan, Ranking of Kings, Spy x Family co-productions). Closely comparable as a Japanese animation studio producing TV series and films with the same target market.
• Madhouse: Long-established Japanese animation studio (One Punch Man, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End). Directly comparable to JOEN in producing high-profile TV anime and feature films for the Japanese and international markets.
• CloverWorks: One of JOEN's two founding studio partners (Spy x Family, Bocchi the Rock!, Wonder Egg Priority). Directly comparable as a Japanese animation studio producing TV anime and films in the same ecosystem.
• Production I.G: Veteran Japanese animation studio (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass, Haikyu!!). Comparable to JOEN as a large-scale anime production company producing TV series and films in the same Japanese industry.
• Bones Inc. Established Japanese animation studio producing major TV anime series and films (My Hero Academia, Mob Psycho 100). Comparable to JOEN as a producer of full-scale anime productions in the same Japanese market.

Broad incumbents

• A-1 Pictures: Large anime production studio and Aniplex subsidiary (Sword Art Online, Kaguya-sama). Comparable to JOEN as an anime producer connected to the same Aniplex/Sony ecosystem, though operating as a much larger incumbent.
• Bandai Namco Filmworks (Sunrise): Major anime production group behind Gundam and many other long-running franchises. Comparable to JOEN as a large-scale Japanese animation production house, but with much broader portfolio and IP ownership.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Joen