Bee Train logo
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Native name
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ビィートレイン株式会社 |
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Kabushiki kaisha () Animation studio |
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Industry | Animation (Anime) |
Genre | various |
Founded | Tokyo, Japan June 5, 1997 |
Founder | Kōichi Mashimo |
Headquarters | Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan |
Number of locations
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3 (Kokubunji, Kichijōji, Karuizawa) |
Key people
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Kōichi Mashimo, CEO Kenji Horikawa, Director |
Products |
Noir (2001) .hack//Sign (2002) Madlax (2004) Tsubasa Chronicle (2005–06) .hack//Roots (2006) El Cazador de la Bruja (2007) |
Total equity | ¥ 10,000,000 |
Number of employees
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70 (April 2007) |
Parent | Production I.G (1997 – 2006) |
Divisions |
Bee Train Digital (defunct) |
Website | www.beetrain.co.jp |
Bee Train Digital (defunct)
Studio Road
C-Station (2009–12)
Bee Train Production (ビィートレイン株式会社 Biītorein Kabushikigaisha?), commonly referred to simply as Bee Train, is a Japanese animation studio founded by Kōichi Mashimo in 1997. Since their involvement with Noir, .hack//Sign, and Madlax (among other series) they have a strong following in the yuri fandom for being involved in series portraying strong female leads with speculatively ambiguous relationships.
The studio Bee Train was founded on June 5, 1997 by Koichi Mashimo, who was previously a director at Tatsunoko Productions and the founder of Mashimo Jimusho, a small freelance staff working for other studios. Originally, Bee Train was a subsidiary of Production I.G along with Xebec but in February 2006, it ended its relationship and became independent.
Koichi Mashimo's goal when he founded Bee Train was to create a "hospital for animators", an animation studio interested in nurturing young talents and artistic quality of production rather than in corporate strategies and profit. This studio-as-hospital approach was allegedly invented by Mashimo during his prolonged stay in an intensive care unit (after a severe skiing accident) and has been Bee Train's official strategy ever since.