Mushi Production logo
Mushi Production
Founded in 1977
Native Name
虫プロダクション
Founded
November 26, 1977
WorksHeadlines
  1. Action
  2. Combat Sports
  3. Drama
  4. Slice of Life
  5. Sports
  1. Mushi Production
Apr 1, 1970 at 5:00am EST

Ashita no Joe tells the tale of a wandering orphan named Joe Yabuki. He falls into one of Tokyo's slums and gets into a fight with a local gang and his street fighting skills gets him the attention of a washed up alcoholic boxing trainer. Until he sticks up for Joe when the gang comes back to finish Joe, Joe decides to live with the trainer. Despite the trainer's generosity, Joe is still committing money making scams and lands him in prison. While serving time, he meets another boxer named Rikiishi Tooru who gets Joe interested in boxing. Upon release, Joe then pursues a boxing career.

[Source: Anime News Network]

  1. Action
  2. Adventure
  3. Supernatural
  1. Mushi Production
Apr 6, 1969 at 5:30am EST

Hyakkimaru is a young man who lacks 48 body parts because they were taken from him by demons before birth, as payment by his father, Kagemitsu Daigo, to obtain his wish to take over the country. When the baby boy was born he was missing 48 parts of his body, and thus was abandoned—thrown into a river. Hyakkimaru has grown up and now has obtained fake body parts so he can eliminate the 48 demons that were made from his body, and to retrieve his missing parts. Along for the adventure is the boy thief, Dororo, with whom he becomes friends.

[Source: Anime News Network]

  1. Avant-garde
  2. Drama
  3. Historical
  1. Mushi Production
June 29, 1973 EDT

The story unfolds as a series of spectacular still watercolor paintings that bleed and twist together. An innocent young woman, Jeanne is violently raped by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil who transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire.

[Source: VUDU]

  1. Action
  2. Adventure
  3. Drama
  4. Mecha
  5. Sci-Fi
  1. Mushi Production
Jan 1, 1963 at 4:15am EST

In the year 2000 A.D., the brilliant scientist Dr. Boynton is grief-stricken when his son, Astor Boynton III, dies. He decides to create a super-robot in Astor’s image. He calls the robot Astro Boy.

Astro Boy can swim oceans, leap over mountains, even fly into space on his own power!

[Source: Funimation]

  1. Adventure
Jungle Taitei
  1. Mushi Production
October 5, 1965 EDT

Leo the white lion was born on an ocean liner that crashed on the shores of a bustling city, where he spent his childhood learning the language and customs of humans. But something was missing. In search of his family, home, and a place to truly belong, Leo traveled back to Africa and began his journey to become the King of the Jungle.

Leo's adventure centers around finding peace between the animals and humans who live in his African home, often competing for space and resources. As he grows, Leo must survive both the area's harsh environment, dangers from other animals, and humans who hunt lions like him for sport. Only communication and mutual understanding can end the fighting, and Leo's knowledge of human culture may be just what the jungle needed.

Jungle Taitei is the epic story of a young lion's struggles to survive in a dangerous land.

  1. Autobiographical
  2. Drama
  3. Historical
  1. Mushi Production
March 8, 1991 EST

Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. She's a bit of a crybaby, which is no secret to those around her. She loves playing with friends and singing cute schoolyard chants, and occasionally having fun with her three older brothers. Her mother is pregnant, and so she looks forward to being a big sister, only partially understanding the responsibility that might bring. Meanwhile, the war effort is growing, and it's only the natural thing to do to be patriotic and support the country...

Kayoko goes so far as to contribute her favorite dolly, whose materials could help build explosives. Time passes, and as she grows older, Kayoko sees how the war has affected her life and those around her. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, however, and the bleak times that are soon to come. Based on original creator Kayoko Ebina's real life experience during World War 2 on Showa era.

[Source: Anime News Network]

  1. Adventure
  2. Comedy
  3. Fantasy
  4. Slice of Life
  1. Mushi Production
Oct 5, 1969 at 6:30am EDT

Very loosely based upon the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Jansson, however, never really approved of the series due to dramatic changes in plot, atmosphere, character personality, appearance and names etc. The series was directed to adults rather than children.

[Source: Wikipedia]

  1. Drama
  2. Fantasy
  3. Pets
  4. Psychological
  5. Romance
  1. Mushi Production
February 10, 1984 EST

After two-month-old kitten Chibi-neko is abandoned by her former owners, she is found by 18-year-old Tokio. Although his mother is allergic to cats and has a great fear of them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten because she fears he is becoming too withdrawn after failing his university entrance exams. Chibi-neko soon falls in love with Tokio.

In her own mind, Chibi-neko is a small human who speaks in human words, although people only ever seem to hear her meow, and she believes that all humans were once kittens like her. A stray cat tells Chibi-neko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true.

[Source: Wikipedia]

  1. Adventure
Jungle Taitei: Susume Leo!
  1. Mushi Production
October 4, 1966 EDT

Jungle Emperor was such a hit in Japan, that Dr. Tezuka went ahead and produced a sequel in 1966, known in Japan as "The New Jungle Emperor" or "Onward, Leo!" The trouble (for us in the rest of the world) was that he made the series without having a deal with NBC, and he made it more like his original manga story, which means that there were a lot of characters that died and some of the episodes could be depressing. NBC thought that there was no way they could sell that kind of show, and they were quite happy with the 52 episodes they had, so the New Jungle Emperor series wasn't seen in this country until 1984, when it was given the title Leo The Lion.

This series was supposed to take place a few years after the original Kimba series. Kimba was an adult, with Kitty as his mate, and they had two cubs. Most of all this series was the story of Rune, the male cub, as he grew and learned to be as strong as his father.

For legal reasons, the producers of the English-dubbed version could not use the name Kimba, so they used the original Japanese names for all the characters.

[Source: Official Website]

  1. Action
  2. Crossdressing
  3. Fantasy
  4. Mystery
  5. Romance
Ribbon no Kishi
  1. Mushi Production
April 1, 1967 EST

Princess Sapphire is a girl raised as a Prince. Through the mischief of an angel, the princess is born with both a girl's body and boy's mind. Since there is no boy successor in her kingdom, Sapphire is raised as a boy, but evil ministers try to reveal her secret. Unable to put up with the kind of vicious conduct prevailing in the kingdom, Sapphire disguises herself as "Princess Knight" and wields her sword of justice.

This is an animated version of the girls' manga featuring Sapphire's romance and adventure, which marked the first made-for-TV animated program geared towards girls in Japan.

[Source: Official site]

  1. Adventure
Jungle Taitei Movie
  1. Mushi Production
July 30, 1966 EDT

The first 2 minutes of this film are taken from the Jungle Emperor Leo (1965) TV series, while the rest is all original. Tezuka was very pleased that this film conveyed his story accurately, something he wasn't able to do with the TV series.

[Source: Anime News Network]

  1. Drama
  2. Historical
  1. Mushi Production
August 21, 2015 EDT

The film centers around Jirō Hirayama, a boy who lost his mother in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and who runs a soba stall with his father. He decides to join the crew of the famous ocean liner Hikawa Maru, and finds work cooking in the ship's galley. Through his eyes, the film explores the ship's 85-year history.

The story is set in four different time periods of the ship's service.

The first part will take place in the ship's pre-war life, when it ran the Pacific route between Yokohama, Vancouver, and Seattle. Charlie Chaplin travelled on the ship in this time period in 1932.

The second time period takes place during the war, when the Imperial Japanese Navy commandeered and refitted the Hikawa Maru as a hospital ship, and after the war, when the ship repatriated Japanese soldiers from the front.

The third time period takes place during the ship's post-war return to service as a passenger and cargo ship. The fourth time period takes place after its decommissioning and permanent berthing.

[Source: Anime News Network]

  1. Action
  2. Adventure
  3. Drama
  4. Mecha
  5. Sci-Fi
Tetsuwan Atom: Uchuu no Yuusha
  1. Mushi Production
July 25, 1964 EDT

From the TV series of "Astro Boy," three episodes were selected for theater re-edition, "Robot Rocket" (46th episode), "Earth Defense Troops" (56th episode) and "The Last Day of Earth" (71st episode). Of these three, "Earth Defense Troops" was the only one originally derived from Tezuka Osamu's story "Number 7." Its settings were diverted to the "Astro Boy" series. In this film, the whole scene of "Earth Defense Troops" and a part of "The Last Day of Earth" were reproduced in color for this theater version.

[Source: Official site]

  1. Comedy
  1. Mushi Production
Apr 2, 1973 at 5:00am EST

The hero of Wansa-kun is Wansa, a puppy who is sold for a pittance, then escapes, and spends much of the rest of the series looking for his mother.

  1. Action
  2. Adventure
  3. Comedy
  4. Sci-Fi
Wonder 3
  1. Mushi Production
Jun 6, 1965 at 6:00am EDT

Wonder 3 is an Osamu Tezuka manga and a black and white anime series. It involved the adventures of three agents from outer space who were sent to Earth to determine whether the planet, a potential threat to the universe, should be destroyed. The instrument of destruction is a device resembling a large black ball with two antennae that is variously called an anti-proton bomb, a solar bomb, and a neutron bomb. Although the three agents (Captain Bokko, Nokko, and Pukko) are originally humanoid in appearance, upon arrival on Earth they take on the appearances of a rabbit (Bokko), a horse (Nokko), and a duck (Pukko) that they had captured as examples of Earth life forms. While on Earth they travel in a tire-shaped vehicle capable of enormous speeds called the Big Wheel, which can travel on both land and water (and, with modifications, through the air).

The series tackles a number of issues which were surprisingly progressive for an animated cartoon of that period; particularly ecological concerns and poverty.

[Source: Wikipedia]

  1. Drama
  2. Music
  1. Mushi Production
Apr 8, 1971 at 5:00am EST

Two baby girls were born in the same hospital: one of them is the daughter of an aristocratic family while the other belongs to a deprived household which lives in the slums of the city. However, the nurse-in-charge, Michiko, secretly switches the two babies due to a personal grudge, resulting in a change of fates of the girls from then on. Many years later, the lives of the two girls continue to be intertwined with each other, with the rich Miki ill-treating the poor Nozomi, yet both of them hold similar dreams to become a singer.

[Source: Anime News Network]

  1. Tags TBD
  1. Tezuka Productions
  2. Mushi Production
Oct 3, 1971 at 5:30am EDT

After losing her mother in an accident, Lilly must take care of her two siblings on her own, despite being only nine years old. To do this she can use magic candies capable of making her bigger than ten years (blue candies), or making it rejuvenated by as many years (red candies).

[Source: IMDb]

  1. Sports
Kyojin no Hoshi tai Tetsuwan Atom
TV Special
  1. TMS Entertainment
  2. Shin-Ei Animation
  3. Mushi Production
Sep 6, 1969 at 6:30am EDT

Star of the Giants vs Astro Boy is an anime crossover special that aired on September 6th, 1969. Broadcasted by the TV Network Nippon Television, it was a collaboration between the studios Tokyo Movie and Mushi Pro in which rival characters on the same network would battle each other over a game of baseball. It’s considered one of the oldest anime crossover specials, but despite its historical significance, only small clips have surfaced over time.

[Source: Lost Media Wiki]

  1. Action
  2. Mystery
  1. Mushi Production
Feb 1, 1968 at 5:00am EST

A group of young boys (plus a token girl and her little brother, the obligatory brat) form a detective club, pooling their talents for brain, brawn, invention, and driving skills to solve crimes in Tokyo. Much to the consternation of police chief Nakamura, they often succeed where the professionals fail.

[Source: The Anime Encyclopedia]

  1. Comedy
  2. Fantasy
Gokuu no Daibouken Pilot
  1. Mushi Production
June 11, 1966 EDT

In this film, because of complaints from children that Goku is depicted as too much of an eager student, he is instead portrayed as a very naughty modern boy. It then received so many complaints from the PTA about its bad language that it was forced out of the show after all.

[Source: official YouTube channel]

  1. Adventure
Jungle Taitei
  1. Mushi Production
Oct 6, 1965 at 6:00am EDT

Leo the white lion was born on an ocean liner that crashed on the shores of a bustling city, where he spent his childhood learning the language and customs of humans. But something was missing. In search of his family, home, and a place to truly belong, Leo traveled back to Africa and began his journey to become the King of the Jungle.

Leo's adventure centers around finding peace between the animals and humans who live in his African home, often competing for space and resources. As he grows, Leo must survive both the area's harsh environment, dangers from other animals, and humans who hunt lions like him for sport. Only communication and mutual understanding can end the fighting, and Leo's knowledge of human culture may be just what the jungle needed.

Jungle Taitei is the epic story of a young lion's struggles to survive in a dangerous land.

[Source: MyAnimeList]

Advertisement