Gonzo K.K. (Japanese: 株式会社ゴンゾ, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Gonzo) (formerly GDH K.K.) is a Japanese anime studio owned by ADK that was established on February 22, 2000. Gonzo is a member of The Association of Japanese Animations. The company's predecessor Gonzo Inc. was established on February 11, 1992, by former Gainax staff members, but was later absorbed into its parent company, GDH K.K. on April 1, 2009, and it would assume the Gonzo trade name for itself.

Gonzo has not released a major animation project since 2020, with Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle being the studio's latest major work; the company has been focusing on the NFT market with its projects Samurai Cryptos and Samurai Religion,^[3] as well as co-distributing the animated film They Shot the Piano Player in Japan.^[4]

^ "Profile | Gonzo". Archived from the original on June 27, 2020.
^ "Gonzo Establishes Subsidiary in Okinawa". Anime News Network. May 22, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
^ Cayanan, Joanna (October 16, 2024). "Gonzo to Reveal New Promo Video for 'SAMURAI cryptos' NFT/Blockchain Project on October 15". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
^ "GONZO、映画『ボサノヴァ～撃たれたピアニスト』日本配給決定！| GONZO". www.gonzo.co.jp. Retrieved February 27, 2025.

History

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September 1992: Gonzo Inc. established by former Gainax members.
May 1996: Digimation K.K. established.
May 1999: Gonzo Inc. changed its company name to Gonzo K.K.
February 2000: GDH established.
May 2000: Creators.com K.K. established.
April 2002: Gonzo K.K. and Digimation K.K. merge; the combined company is renamed Gonzo Digimation K.K.
November 2003: Future Vision Music K.K. established.
July 2004: Gonzo Digimation K.K. changed its company name to GONZO K.K.; Creators.com K.K. changed its name to G-creators K.K.; Gonzo Digimation Holding changed its company name to GDH K.K.
July 2005: Gonzino K.K. established.
September 2005: Warp Gate Online K.K. becomes subsidiary.
December 2005: GDH Capital K.K. established and Warp Gate Online K.K. changed its company name to Gonzo Rosso Online K.K.
February 2006: GK Entertainment established.
April 2009: GDH K.K. merged with its subsidiary, Gonzo K.K., and changed its name to Gonzo K.K.
June 2019: Gonzo transfers some of the properties to Studio Kai.
November 2019: Okinawa Gonzo was dissolved.^[1]
March 2020: It was revealed that the company planned to execute a reverse stock split. If approved, it would reduce the number of issued shares from 38,800 down to 24, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of ADK in the process. After making Gonzo into an wholly owned subsidiary of ADK, it will transfer all of its shares in the company to Shinichiro Ishikawa.^[2]^[3]

^ "ゴンゾ傘下のデジタルアニメスタジオ「沖縄ゴンゾ」が解散".
^ "Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders" (PDF). www.gonzo.co.jp. March 9, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2020.
^ "ゴンゾ創業メンバー石川真一郎氏が全株式買取りへ | アニメーションビジネス・ジャーナル". March 13, 2020.

Financial issues

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The studio had a financial problem in their closing account in the 2008–2009 term and stated its deficit was estimated over US$30 million. The Tokyo Stock Exchange announced that on July 30, 2009, Gonzo would be delisted from the exchange. This delisting is the conclusion of a notification made to investors in March 2008 that the studio's financial liabilities exceeded its total financial assets. Since Gonzo was unable to reverse this, paperwork for delisting was filed at the end of June.^[1]

The studio is still able to operate, and its parent company GDH has absorbed it in an effort to consolidate management. The combined company now simply refers to itself as Gonzo.^[2] By April 2009, the merger was complete.

As part of the restructuring, GDH also sold the Gonzo Rosso game development subsidiary, GDH Capital financing subsidiary, and remaining shares of Tablier Communications initially acquired in March 2006.^[3] Gonzo Rosso K.K. was sold to Chushou service kikou kabushikigaisha (division of Incubator Bank of Japan, Limited) on March 31, 2009.^[4]

Since this deficit, Gonzo has started to post better earnings due to the release of titles such as Rosario + Vampire to western online streaming services such as Netflix. The marketing of these products to western audiences has returned Gonzo to financial stability, and Gonzo posted higher than expected profit margins in the April–September 2012 period.^[5]

^ "Tokyo Stock Exchange to Delist Gonzo on July 30". Anime News Network. June 29, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
^ "GDH to Absorb Its Gonzo Subsidiary, Adopt Gonzo's Name". Anime News Network. February 18, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
^ Gonzo's Parent Company to Sell Off Game Subsidiary. (Updated)
^ GDHオンラインゲーム事業から撤退，ゴンゾロッソ株式を売却へ
^ "Anime/Game Studio Gonzo Posts Higher Earnings, Profit". Anime News Network. January 3, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2015.

International distribution

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Many of Gonzo's titles were licensed for North American distribution by Geneon, ADV Films, and Funimation Entertainment. ADV Films UK branch was the UK distributor for Gonzo titles licensed by ADV, with the exception of Gantz, as it was licensed by MVM Films. Gad Guard, Hellsing, and Last Exile, which were titles originally licensed by Geneon, were also licensed by ADV Films UK, although they're no longer licensed since the company's closure. MVM Films was the UK licensee for the majority of Gonzo titles licensed by Funimation in the US, with the exception of Afro Samurai, which was initially distributed directly in the UK by GDH^[1] and later by Manga Entertainment UK^[2] who also licensed Strike Witches (season 1), Origin: Spirits of the Past, and recently Last Exile and Hellsing. Welcome to the N.H.K., Pumpkin Scissors, and Red Garden, which were originally licensed by ADV Films UK, were re-licensed by MVM Films.

In June 2006, it signed a long-term output deal with the anime television network, Animax, which saw Animax broadcasting all of Gonzo's anime titles across all of its networks around the world, including Japan, Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Latin America and from November 2007 on Southern Africa's DSTV satellite network.^[3] As of 2008 they decided to stream some of their airing anime on video sites such as: YouTube, Crunchyroll, and BOST.^[4] Gonzo’s precarious financial situation at the time, as well as their history of experimentation with digital technologies, arguably lead them to be the first anime company to license their content of Crunchyroll, then largely known for their anime piracy.^[5]

^ "AFRO SAMURAI". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved November 22, 2011.^{[dead link]}
^ "AFRO SAMURAI". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved November 22, 2011.^{[dead link]}
^ "Animax Asia Signs New Output Deal with GDH". Anime News Network. June 21, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
^ "Gonzo Works to be Streamed Simultaneously with Airing". Anime News Network. March 21, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
^ Ristola, Jacqueline (2024). "Going Gonzo: Crunchyroll, Anime Streaming, and Unpaid Digital Labour". Kinephanos: Revue d'études des médias et de culture populaire / Kinephanos: Journal of media studies and popular culture. 10 (1): 159–161. doi:10.7202/1113453ar. ISSN 1916-985X.

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