IMAGICA Entertainment Media Services will launch a dedicated animation sound production facility in Tokyo’s West Shinjuku district, betting on sustained demand growth in Japan’s strained animation sector.
The new studio, scheduled to begin operations in February 2026, will feature three voice recording booths capable of accommodating 20 people each, with one equipped for 5.1-channel surround sound recording. The facility also includes four editing suites split between offline and online production.
The timing coincides with Japan’s animation market expansion, where the global anime market reached $34.3 billion in 2024 and domestic production generated ¥339.5 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2022. However, the industry grapples with severe capacity constraints and talent shortages that have disrupted production schedules across multiple studios.
IMAGICA’s West Shinjuku location positions the facility near established animation houses including ufotable and CloverWorks, while providing access to traditional animation clusters in Nakano and Ogikubo. The company aims to consolidate post-production workflows under one roof, from initial editing through final sound mixing and multilingual dubbing services.
The expansion follows recent industry consolidation moves, including COMISMA’s acquisition of Imagica Infos’ feature-length animation division for an undisclosed sum in February 2025. Such transactions reflect growing competition for production capacity as streaming platforms increase content orders.
Industry analysts note that Japanese animators face challenging working conditions, with entry-level professionals earning approximately ¥1.15 million ($7,800) annually despite producing hand-drawn frames requiring over an hour each. These labor issues threaten to constrain output growth even as international demand surges.
IMAGICA’s integrated approach targets clients seeking streamlined production pipelines, though the facility’s success will depend on securing talent in an increasingly competitive market where studios struggle to meet existing commitments.
