Hello! Justin here and welcome to the Otaku Mind. It’s hard to believe it’s almost been 10 years since the closure of the once popular studio, Manglobe. Considered a premier studio upon its creation. Manglobe was poised to be one of the leaders in the anime industry in the years to come. Only to crash down horribly and close its doors once and for all. What happened to this studio? How could a studio that had everything going well for them suddenly shut down? Join me, as we take a look at the rise and fall of Manglobe. I’m Justin and this is the Rewatch: Manglobe.
From Sunrise to Manglobe
The story of Manglobe begins in the most unlikely place you would expect, Sunrise. Over the years Sunrise came to establish themselves as the king of mecha anime. However, they would occasionally do non-mecha anime such as Code Geass and Cowboy Bebop. At this studio there were two prolific producers, Kobayashi Shinichiro and Kochiyama Takashi. Kobayashi and Kochiyama made a name for themselves by working on some of the more bizarre animes from Sunrise which included Betterman, Brigadoon, and s-CRY-ed. Right from the get go you could tell these two were fans of original animes. Works that weren’t based off of previous mangas or novels. There’s no doubt they were inspired by the success of Cowboy Bebop years earlier and wanted to follow in Watanabe’s footsteps of getting others a chance to bring their ideas to life without having their creativity restrained by the studio. Finally, near the end of 2001, Kobayashi and Kochiyama sent in their resignation letters to Sunrise, announcing that they were going to open up their own studio that would focus on making original animes (although they would adapt the works of already established literature. More on that later). I couldn’t find anything that talked about grudges over the two leaving, so I can assume Sunrise wished them the best of luck in their future endeavors. And so at the start of 2002, Manglobe was officially formed and open its doors.
Making a Name for Themselves
Despite opening its doors in 2002, Manglobe would not release its first anime until 2004 and it would be the anime that would define their studio. I’m talking about Samurai Champloo. Watanabe’s second anime and my personal favorite. The anime tells the story of a vagrant named Mugen and a ronin named Jin who get roped into helping a girl named Fuu find a samurai who smells like sunflowers and kill him. This anime gained popularity by overcoming a notion that fans of anime came to know: anime and rap/hip-hop don’t mix. This anime showed everyone that when put in the right hands anime and rap/hip-hop can create something great. Much like Cowboy Bebop the anime owes a lot of its popularity thanks to the West. Airing on Adult Swim the anime managed to build a fandom. It had a good story, action, likeable characters, and a soundtrack that I still consider to be one of the best in the history of anime. If you want to hear my full thoughts on this anime then click here to see my reviews.
After Samurai Champloo, the studio would make another splash with their second anime, Ergo Proxy. Released in 2006 this was the anime where the studio went crazy and showed everyone what they were all about. The anime aired on a channel that was similar to HBO, meaning they were free from the restrictions that come with producing shows for regular television. The anime’s director, Murase Shukou was given free rein to do whatever he wanted. A freedom that those in the industry dream of having. With no restrictions, Murase gave us one of the most divisive animes out there. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the remainder of humanity lives in dome cities for safety. In these cities humans and androids called AutoReivs coexist peacefully until a virus known as the Cogito virus which gives AutoReivs free will begins to spread, and a series of murders begins to take a place. Re-l along with her AutoReivs, Iggy, are called in to investigate and solve these murders. During their investigation they meet an immigrant named Vincent and uncover a shocking secret about the cities and the ones that rule them. Like I said this was a divisive anime. Some people like it while others have called it confusing, bad, pretentious, or obnoxious. Whatever your thoughts on the anime may be there’s no denying that it did make for a good table discussion with friends. Much like Samurai Champloo, it wasn’t a big hit with the Japanese audience but managed to find some level of popularity in the west.
Despite Ergo Proxy not being the big hit as they were hoping for, the studio pressed on creating original animes. With their next one being, Michiko to Hatchin. Released in 2008, the anime follows the story of an escaped convict named Michiko who saves a girl named Hana aka Hatchin from her abusive foster family. The two set out on a journey in Brazil to find Hatchin’s father and Michiko’s former lover, Hiroshi. This is a crazy anime. Imagine Black Lagoon crossed with Samurai Champloo. There’s a lot of violence, comedy, and deep moments between these two characters who are the exact opposite of each other but form an everlasting bond. Sadly, this anime didn’t really turn any heads. Even in the West it didn’t make a splash. Which is a real shame because it had a lot of talented people working on it including Watanabe himself who worked primarily on the music and the anime served as the directorial debut of Yamamoto Sayo who worked on the storyboard and directed episodes in Samurai Champloo and Ergo Proxy and would go on to direct Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Now that I think about it she might just be one of if not the first female anime director. With the failure of Machiko and Hatchin, Manglobe would move in a new direction that would see the studio abandon its original mission’s statement in order to appeal to the audience.
Cashing in on the Work of Others
In the years to come Manglobe would start to adapt the work of novels and mangas in order to appeal to their audience. While it was sad to see the studio forced to go against what they wanted to do, it could all be forgiven as long as the adaptations were good. Their first adaptation was The Sacred Blacksmith. Released in 2009 the anime follows the story of a female knight named Cecily who gets saved by a mysterious blacksmith named Luke who uses a katana. Interested in his wares, Cecily and Luke form an unlikely friendship and have adventures together with others. Now, out of all of Manglobe’s adaptations this is the one that panders to the audience the most. Every popular trend in anime at the time was in this anime. Cute girls, fanservice, and a good-looking MC who manages to get all the girls. 2009 was around the time novels were rising in popularity and being adapted into anime. K-On being a prime example as the anime quickly became one of the most popular animes during that time. After Blacksmith, Manglobe would give us House of Five Leaves. Released in 2010, this anime is based off the manga under the same name written and drawn by the very talented Natsume Ono. The series follows the story of a timid ronin named Masanosuke who encounters a bandit leader named Yaichi, leader of the Five Leaves. Yaichi hires Masanosuke as his bodyguard and despite having reservations, Masanosuke agrees to do it. From there we just follow the adventures of these two. This was a series that flew under everyone’s radar. The ratings told the story as it received the lowest ratings in the history of the animation block it was a part of. A complete bomb of an anime and another bad mark for the studio.
With two bad animes back to back and abandoning its business model, it seemed like Manglobe was done for, but luck would come their way with their next adaptation and possibly their best, The World God Only Knows. Released in 2010 this show came out at the just the right time for me. I had started reading the manga a year prior and fell in love with the story and setup. This was one of the first reviews I ever did, so that goes to show how much I liked this series. We focus on a gaming otaku named Keima who is fully immersed in the world of dating sim games. One day he unknowingly makes a deal with Hell to capture loose souls which are now inhabiting the body of girls. In order to get the loose soul out of the body, Keima has to make the girl fall in love with him. Together with the clumsy devil Elsie, Keima must now work with her and Hell to capture all the loose souls or risk getting his head chopped off. Some have seen this anime as Manglobe fully selling out while others see it as a good adaptation of the manga. Personally, I fall into the latter. I thought it was a good adaptation. Hear my thoughts here. Even the stuff they added in during the Kanon arc was good. And apparently, the author of the series thought so as well as he said working with Manglobe was a pleasant experience and became good friends with Takashi. The anime was a success and the studio would go on to adapt the series for two more seasons. One in 2011 and the other in 2013 along with a few OVAs. The World God Only Knows turned Manglobe’s fortune around and got them on the right foot but little did they and we for that matter know that it wouldn’t last for long.
A Mediocre Road to Bankruptcy
After the first season of The World God Only Knows came to an end, it seemed like Manglobe was back to producing good anime and got attention. They capitalized on this by giving us Deadman Wonderland in 2011. This horror anime focuses on a boy named Ganta who gets falsely accused of killing his classmates. Rather than be put to death or locked up in a regular jail cell, Ganta is instead sent to the deranged and twisted theme park/prison known as Deadman Wonderland where he has to fight for survival after unlocking a mysterious blood power and find the true culprit responsible for killing his classmates. While in the prison he befriends some of the prisoners including a mysterious girl named Shiro who looks out and befriends him on his journey. This anime was made for the western audience. I remember Funimation snatching up this anime and advertising it online. I wouldn’t call it a great anime but I enjoyed it just fine. Why they never made a second season is beyond me. They had so much to work with. This was another anime I reviewed so you can get my full thoughts here. After Deadman Wonderland we got the second season of The World God Only Knows which picked up where the first season left off. Manglobe would then start to fall into the valley of mediocrity in the coming years with their animes. They started with Mashiroiro Symphony. Based off the adult visual novel under the same name, Mashiroiro Symphony follows the story of Shingo who participates in school merger program with an all-girl school. Naturally, the girls from the all-girl school are opposed to this merger but through their interactions with Shingo they start to fall for him and see that the merger isn’t all bad. If Samurai Champloo is Manglobe’s best work then Mashiroiro Symphony is their worst. This anime presented nothing new to the world of visual novels and boring to watch. I only got through two episodes before I stopped watching out of sheer boredom.
The mediocrity would continue with Hayate The Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. Hayate was a series that never really took off in the West but surprisingly was a beloved comedy series in Japan. Based off a manga we focus on a boy named Hayate who has the worst parents of all time. They sell him off to the yakuza for money and skip town leaving him on his own. After escaping from the yakuza he saves a young heiress named Nagi who hires him as a butler and pays off his debt making him indebted to her. The story follows the comedic life of these two and their friends. This season is actually a sequel to the first anime which was done by a different studio. While the first season deviated greatly from the manga, this season follows the manga more closely. Overall, it was okay, but people quickly forgot about it. 2013 would be Manglobe’s busiest and most productive year. They started the year by returning to their roots and making an original anime called Unlimited Psychic Squad. A spinoff of the original Zettai Karen Children manga series written by Takashi Shiina from 2005-2021, the series would focus on the boss of the criminal organization P.A.N.D.R.A., Kyōsuke Hyōbu. I never read the manga this series was based off of so I have no idea what it’s about. From what I can gather fans have said it isn’t bad but not all that good either. They would also give us Karneval another series I’m not too familiar with and didn’t really turn any heads. They would release another season of Hayate and The World God Only Knows. The latter saw them skip over a lot of arcs in the manga to reach The Goddess search arc, the biggest story that was going on in the manga at the time. They would finally end the year with another original anime called Samurai Flamenco. In this anime we follow the story of a model named Masayoshi who loves superheroes and decides to fulfill his childhood dream and become one in real life. He goes around dressed as a hero known as Samurai Flamenco stopping crime in his city. I remember watching this series when it first came out and having mixed feelings about it. I don’t know if it’s brilliant, awful, or a combination of the two. Brilliantly awful or Awfully brilliant. I’ll probably share my thoughts about it in an Otaku Mind down the line. Finally, in 2015 Manglobe would adapt Gangsta, a story that follows two handymen who do work for the mob and police. This anime fell into the same category of Black Lagoon and actually gained quite a following with it’s more mature story and kickass opening. The anime would end on a cliffhanger with fans wanting to know what happened next but sadly it would never happen. Two days after the final episode of Gangsta, Manglobe announced that it had filed for bankruptcy and were shutting down. Apparently, the studio had accumulated a debt of 380 million yen. To this day details on how the debt came to be is unknown. Some say it was due to labor costs, but whatever the reason it led to Manglobe’s downfall.
Conclusion
And that’s the unfortunate end of Manglobe. It really is sad to see a studio start off so well only to slowly fall from grace and abandon its business model to stay afloat. I will give this studio some credit and say that it was one of the first studios I followed and paid attention to aside from Ghibli. It honestly felt like the studio had more of a west following than a Japan following. Maybe if the studio leaned more into that and started making anime that would appeal to the western audience more their fortunes may have been better. Even though the studio shut down, a majority of the staff managed to land on their feet and find work with Geno Studios who are best known for doing Golden Kamuy. Do you have any thoughts on Manglobe? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.