Shaft (company)


Shaft is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1975 by Hiroshi Wakao. Since 2004, the studio's productions have been largely defined by executive director Akiyuki Shinbo, whose signature visual style and avant-garde cinematography are notably featured in series such as Pani Poni Dash!, Hidamari Sketch, Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, Bakemonogatari, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

History

Shaft was founded in September 1975 by Hiroshi Wakao, a former employee of Mushi Production. The studio's early credits primarily consisted of finishing and clean-up work for larger studios, such as Sunrise and Tatsunoko Production. In 1987, the studio released its first independent production, an original video animation entitled Yume kara, Samenai. From 2000 to 2005, Shaft collaborated with Gainax in the production of several TV anime.
In 2004, Hiroshi Wakao retired from the company, being succeeded in his position as president by production manager Mitsutoshi Kubota. Later that year, Kubota hired Akiyuki Shinbō to direct the television anime series , impressed by his work directing anime such as The SoulTaker and Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. Following Moon Phase, Shinbō has collaborated extensively with Shaft staff on virtually all subsequent productions. Under Shinbō's direction, the studio has developed an identifiable visual style characterized by striking color palettes, closeup and angular shots, abstract background designs, rapid cuts, changes in art style, the incorporation of real photographs, and a signature tilted head pose. Kubota has attributed the development of this style to the studio's strategy of maintaining a consistent team across a diverse variety of productions.
A portion of the studio's works are co-written by Fuyashi Tō, which is a pseudonym used by the staff of Shaft similar to Hajime Yatate and Izumi Todo.

Productions

Anime television series

Anime films

Original video animations

Original net animations

Other productions