TOHO LAUNCHES EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTION THROUGH ACQUISITION OF ANIME LIMITED FROM PLAION PICTURES
December 19, 2025 · 9 comments
TOHO GLOBAL REGIONAL OFFICE TO BE BASED IN LONDON
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ANIME LIMITED FOUNDER ANDREW PARTRIDGE TO HELP LEAD ANIME LIMITED AS A STANDALONE SUBSIDIARY OF TOHO GLOBAL
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ADDITIONAL STRATEGIC ALLIANCE AGREED BETWEEN TOHO GLOBAL AND PLAION PICTURES FOR PAN-EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTION
Tokyo, December 19, 2025 – Japanese entertainment leader TOHO Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “TOHO”) announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire a 100% equity share of UK-based distribution company Anime Limited from PLAION PICTURES GmbH (hereinafter “PLAION PICTURES”). The company will be operated as a subsidiary of Toho Global, Toho’s consolidated subsidiary overseeing overseas business.
The new subsidiary company has retained Anime Limited founder and Managing Director Andrew Partridge and the full Anime Limited staff. This acquisition will provide Toho with immediate film distribution, home video, TV sales, and merchandise and licensing capabilities in the UK and France.
This acquisition aligns with the Toho Group’s long-term management strategy, ‘TOHO VISION 2032,’ which identifies ‘Overseas’ and ‘Animation’ as key growth drivers. It follows the company’s aggressive global expansion in late 2024, including the acquisition of the U.S.-based distributor GKIDS, INC. in October and the launch of Toho Entertainment Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore in November. Toho will establish its European regional headquarters in London within this year. With this move, Toho has now successfully secured bases in all major regions: Asia, North America, and Europe.
In tandem with the sale of Anime Limited, Toho and PLAION PICTURES have agreed to establish a strategic alliance, with PLAION PICTURES extending Toho’s distribution capabilities in Germany, Italy, and other European markets.
The expansion comes at a time of rapid growth for the industry. The European anime market is estimated at approximately $4.77 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $9.05 billion by 2030, growing at an annual average rate (CAGR) of 11.2%. Toho aims to capture this demand by combining its direct distribution capabilities in the UK and France with PLAION PICTURES’ extensive network across the region.”
Anime Limited was founded in 2012 and is one of the UK’s leading Japanese content distributors as well as a top e-commerce provider through its ALL THE ANIME online store. Toho and Anime Limited have worked together for many years on such hits as Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name and Weathering With You, Studio TRIGGER’s Promare, the Toho-produced Godzilla Minus One. Additional Anime Limited distributed titles include Naruto, Bleach, Attack on Titan. Anime Limited also has a 15-year history of cooperation with the US based GKIDS, now a Toho subsidiary.
By combining the strengths of TOHO Global, Anime Ltd, and PLAION PICTURES, We aims to maximize the value of IP, such as anime and Godzilla, in Europe.
Claire
December 19, 2025 12:08 pm
I for one welcome the new Kaiju overlords.
Liam Quane
December 19, 2025 1:14 pm
What an amazing accomplishment! :D
Michael donnelly
December 19, 2025 2:11 pm
Gratz and awesome news
Matt
December 19, 2025 2:13 pm
Does this affect the series you license and/or the shows you've already announced or promised would be supported further? i.e. what does this mean for the likes of InuYasha, Gundam, Macross etc.?
Mattieeee
December 19, 2025 2:47 pm
Just wanted to say congrats, Toho are a big company and to be acquired by such a prestigious company is a huge accomplishment for all your hard work over the years.
Forever Craig
December 19, 2025 7:20 pm
Interesting, I am intrigued to see where this leads, like someone else commented though I do wonder what this means for previously announced licenses of shows and films that have yet to be released as well as does this mean we will not be getting shows and films in the future from non TOHO studios (like MAPPA, A-1, Trigger, JC Staff, IG, etc.) - still, very pleased to hear that everyone in Anime Limited's Employment will keep their jobs, that is always good to hear, especially with this happening so close to the Holidays.
Adam Anouer
December 25, 2025 8:46 pm
Well bud given Toho has stated that this is an area they wish to see global growth I wouldn't be worried that All The Anime is going to stop distributing titles from those studio. If anything Toho is looking to expand upon those types of deals as a long term part of their growth strategy and if I were put it as succinctly, they basically bought the entire phone book. If anything licensed IP from these studio's should be more seamless given it's all operating through channel.
Chris Campbell
December 20, 2025 12:14 am
As long as it doesn't effect Bleach releases. I welcome it. hopefully they will re-release some hard to get animes like No Game No Life
Adam Anouer
December 25, 2025 8:38 pm
This is a huge moment for All The Anime's legacy as for the past 15 years they have been arguably the greatest Japanese anime distributor in the UK and to be paired Toho a company's who's own legacy has spanned nearly a century I want to say is a hugely encouraging sign for those of us who love Japanese imports. This is a huge deal for Toho as well as throughout their history they've excelled in preserving legacy franchises and merchandising so for them to finally reach out onto the global stage after so long would imply they're committed to maintaining that legacy. I know there's always uncertainty when it comes to new owners but it seems this is being handled the right way and I'm looking forward to seeing good things in future. I'll still be buying from All The Anime and MVM as long as these guys retain the legacy of franchises I care about.