Chocolate Inc., Kassen, WACHAJACK Establish STUDIO DOTOU, Which Enters Business Partnership with Pony Canyon – News

Japanese company CHOCOLATE Inc. (live-action film Mondays: See You “This” Week!, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba‘s Total Concentration exhibition, production and publicity for Dark Gathering anime), VFX studio Kassen Inc. (live-action Yu Yu Hakusho VFX), and concept artist group WACHAJACK (Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness pre-production cooperation) have jointly established a new animation studio called STUDIO DOTOU, and also announced its business partnership with Pony Canyon Inc. on July 4. STUDIO DOTOU and Pony Canyon aim to work toward creating “animation works that will be loved all over the world,” starting with the KILLTUBE original anime film, STUDIO DOTOU‘s first animation production.

CHOCOLATE Inc., Kassen Inc., and WACHAJACK established STUDIO DOTOU (Dotou means “raging waves” in Japanese) to bring together various professionals to create “new ways of making things,” without being bound by the boundaries of their respective fields of expertise or industry conventions.

Pony Canyon‘s director of Anime and Video Business Division Sadakazu Kikuchi stated that the company was impressed with the pilot film for KILLTUBE, and had a meeting with STUDIO DOTOU to discuss Pony Canyon‘s participation in the project. Kikuchi added that during the meeting, the company felt the studio’s strong enthusiasm for creating new animation production and business, and decided not just to participate in the KILLTUBE project, but also build a business partnership with the studio.

CHOCOLATE Inc. announced its plan to produce KILLTUBE on April 8. The company is targeting the 90-minute film for spring 2026, with plans for a worldwide release.

Kazuaki Kuribayashi is directing and planning the film at STUDIO DOTOU. CHOCOLATE Inc. is in charge of planning and production.

The film project is part of the “108 Experiments” initiative by CHOCOLATE Inc. to develop new ways to create works, present them, and earn revenue to nurture original stories.

Sources: Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web, PR Times