Matt Schley
February 18, 2025 
Masaaki Yuasa, the master behind films like Mind Game, Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, and Inu-Oh, not to mention series like Ping-Pong, Kemonozume and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, has launched a new studio. The studio, revealed by Yuasa on X, is called Ame Pippin (Rain Pippin). The official website’s English-language greeting reads:
We are hoping that our new studio will be a place for new opportunities and a fresh creative environment. As a collective, we will make steady progress, maintain quick turnarounds and flexibility, and foster joy in creativity. The next chapter of film and media entertainment starts here!
Yuasa is listed as the CEO and co-founder. The studio has the backing of entertainment companies Asmik Ace, Aniplex and CoMix Wave Films.
Previously, Yuasa founded the studio Science Saru in 2013 with producer Eunyoung Choi before stepping down from that studio in 2020. Science Saru was acquired by Toho last year.
Yuasa’s latest work as director is 2021’s Inu-Oh, an adaptation of the modern reworking of The Tale of Heike by Hideo Furukawa. The film premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, and won the Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Feature at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Source: Yuasa (X)
