GoHands
Japanese animation studio
title: "GoHands" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gohands", "japanese-animation-studios", "mass-media-in-osaka", "mass-media-companies-established-in-2008", "japanese-companies-established-in-2008"] description: "Japanese animation studio" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoHands" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Japanese animation studio ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | GoHands Co., Ltd. |
| native_name | 株式会社GoHands |
| romanized_name | Kabushiki-gaisha Gōhanzu |
| image | File:NLC Shin-Osaka No.6 building.jpg |
| image_caption | NLC Shin-Osaka Building 6, where GoHands' main office is located |
| logo | GoHands Logo.svg |
| type | Kabushiki gaisha |
| foundation | |
| location | Nishinakajima |
| location_city | Yodogawa-ku, Osaka |
| location_country | Japan |
| key_people | Ringo Kishimoto (president) |
| industry | Japanese animation |
| divisions | GoHands Laboratory |
| num_employees | 63 |
| homepage | |
| :: |
| name = GoHands Co., Ltd. | native_name = 株式会社GoHands | romanized_name = Kabushiki-gaisha Gōhanzu | image = File:NLC Shin-Osaka No.6 building.jpg | image_caption = NLC Shin-Osaka Building 6, where GoHands' main office is located | logo = GoHands Logo.svg | caption = | type = Kabushiki gaisha | traded_as = | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = | founder = | location = Nishinakajima | location_city = Yodogawa-ku, Osaka | location_country = Japan | key_people = Ringo Kishimoto (president) | industry = Japanese animation | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | owner = | divisions = GoHands Laboratory | num_employees = 63 | parent = | homepage =
GoHands Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio located in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka. It was founded in 2008 by Ringo Kishimoto and former members of Satelight.
Known for their unique house animation style, GoHands have produced a number of anime series and films, including adaptations of Seitokai Yakuindomo (2010), Mardock Scramble (2010), Coppelion (2013) and The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses (2023), as well as original anime including K (2012), Hand Shakers (2017), and Momentary Lily (2025).
History
GoHands was founded in August 2008 by Ringo Kishimoto and other former employees of Satelight's former Osaka Studio 2. The company's name derives from the desire to be able to "put food on the table by making anime" and the kanji han (阪) used in the Japanese spelling of Osaka Castle. The studio's first production as lead producer was an adaptation of the adult visual novel Princess Lover! in July 2009.
The company has two studios: a head office in Osaka, and a second studio in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. GoHands does not operate a public website or any social media profiles and employs a policy of completing works entirely in-house and completing the production of all television anime episodes before broadcast begins.
''Tokyo Babylon 2021'' plagiarism controversy and cancelation
On October 25, 2020, an anime adaptation of Clamp manga series Tokyo Babylon was announced, to be produced by GoHands in cooperation with King Records. A presentation for the project, entitled Tokyo Babylon 2021, was held on November 19, 2020, confirming that the series would be directed by Shingo Suzuki and Susumu Kudo and premiere in April 2021. A day later, however, on November 20, 2020 the anime production committee was accused of plagiarizing outfit designs from the Volks Doll company, and the K-pop group Red Velvet. After an investigation, on December 4, 2020, the anime producer apologized on their official website and announced that they would be changing the designs. Due to the necessary changes to be made, on December 24, 2020, the anime production committee announced that the series was delayed to an unspecified date. After more cases of plagiarism surfaced through an internal investigation, on March 29, 2021, the production committee announced that the current TV series would be canceled, while a new anime production would be produced by a different studio.
On August 3, 2021, it was reported that GoHands was suing King Records for for failing to pay the expenses they previously agreed to pay. In the lawsuit, it was revealed the GoHands series was planned to have run for 21 episodes. According to the same lawsuit, the first 13 episodes were completed by November 2020.
Animation style
GoHands is known for its unique house animation style, which combines traditional 2D character animation with 3D computer animated backgrounds, often featuring complex camera movements, particle effects, and aggressive postprocessing. The studio's style has been simultaneously described as controversial, striking, and bizarre.
Productions
Anime television series
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Network | Director(s) | Eps. | Note(s) | Refs. | 2009 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Lover! | Chiba TV | Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 12 | Adaptation of the eroge visual novel by Ricotta. | ||||||||||||||
| Cheburashka Arere? | TV Tokyo | Susumu Kudō | 26 | Television shorts based on the Russian children's book character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky. | ||||||||||||||
| Seitokai Yakuindomo | TV Kanagawa | Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 13 | Adaptation of the four-panel comedy manga series written and illustrated by Tozen Ujiie. | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-11-17/seitokai-yakuindomo-manga-volume-7-to-bundle-anime-dvd | title=Seitokai Yakuindomo Manga Volume 7 to Bundle Anime DVD | publisher=Anime News Network | date=November 17, 2011 | access-date=October 21, 2012}} | |||||||||
| K | MBS | Shingo Suzuki | 13 | Original anime created in collaboration with the author group GoRA. | ||||||||||||||
| Coppelion | AT-X | Shingo Suzuki | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiromichi Kanazawa | ||||||||||||||||||
| Susumu Kudō | 13 | Adaptation of the military action/science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Tomonori Inoue. | ||||||||||||||||
| Seitokai Yakuindomo* | Tokyo MX | Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 13 | Second season of Seitokai Yakuindomo. | ||||||||||||||
| K: Return of Kings | AT-X | Shingo Suzuki | 13 | Second season of K. | ||||||||||||||
| Hand Shakers | Tokyo MX | Shingo Suzuki | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 12 | Original anime created in collaboration with Frontier Works and Kadokawa. | ||||||||||||||||
| W'z | Tokyo MX | 13 | Original anime sequel to Hand Shakers, set ten years later. | |||||||||||||||
| Project Scard: Scar on the Praeter | JNN | Shingo Suzuki | 13 | Original anime, based on the Project Scard media project by Frontier Works. | ||||||||||||||
| The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses | Tokyo MX | Susumu Kudō | ||||||||||||||||
| Katsumasa Yokomine | 13 | Adaptation of the romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Koume Fujichika. | ||||||||||||||||
| The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today | JNN | 13 | Adaptation of the slice of life comedy manga series written and illustrated by Hitsuji Yamada. | |||||||||||||||
| Momentary Lily | Tokyo MX | Shingo Suzuki | ||||||||||||||||
| Susumu Kudō | ||||||||||||||||||
| Katsumasa Yokomine | 14 | Original anime created in collaboration with Shochiku. | ||||||||||||||||
| The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System | Shingo Suzuki | |||||||||||||||||
| Tetsuichi Yamagishi | ||||||||||||||||||
| Katsumasa Yokomine | Adaptation of the fantasy/isekai light novel series written by Nekoko and illustrated by Jaian. | |||||||||||||||||
| :: |
Anime films
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Dur. | Note(s) | Refs. | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2017 | 2018 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mardock Scramble: The First Compression | Susumu Kudō | 69m | First of a trilogy of films based on the Japanese cyberpunk novel series written by Tow Ubukata. | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-25/mardock-scramble-anime-to-be-3-films-starting-in-fall | title=Mardock Scramble Anime to Be 3 Films Starting in Fall | publisher=Anime News Network | date=March 25, 2010 | access-date=October 21, 2012}} | ||||
| Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion | 62m | Sequel to The First Compression. | ||||||||||
| Mardock Scramble: The Third Exhaust | 66m | Sequel to The Second Combusion. | ||||||||||
| K: Missing Kings | Shingo Suzuki | 73m | Anime film sequel to K. | |||||||||
| Seitokai Yakuindomo: The Movie | Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 60m | Anime film sequel to Seitokai Yakuindomo*. | |||||||||
| K: Seven Stories "R:B - BLAZE -" | Shingo Suzuku | 55m | Six-part film series presenting stories from the various clans depicted in K and its sequels. | |||||||||
| K: Seven Stories "SIDE:BLUE - Sirius -" | 61m | |||||||||||
| K: Seven Stories "SIDE:GREEN - Overwrite World -" | 59m | |||||||||||
| K: Seven Stories "Lost Small World - Outside the Cage -" | 66m | |||||||||||
| K: Seven Stories "Memory of RED - BURN -" | 61m | |||||||||||
| K: Seven Stories "Circle Vision - Nameless Song -" | 58m | |||||||||||
| Seitokai Yakuindomo: The Movie 2 | Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 78m | Sequel to Seitokai Yakuindomo: The Movie. | |||||||||
| :: |
Original video animations
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Eps. | Note(s) | 2011–2013 | 2012 | 2014–2020 | 2017 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seitokai Yakuindomo | Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 8 | Additional episodes of Seitokai Yakuindomo released on DVD, some of which were packaged with limited edition manga volumes. | ||||||
| See Me After Class | 1 | Adaptation of the harem romantic comedy series written by Akiyoshi Ohta and illustrated by Munyū. | |||||||
| Seitokai Yakuindomo* | 10 | Additional episodes of Seitokai Yakuindomo*. | |||||||
| Hand Shakers: Go ago Go | Shingo Suzuki | ||||||||
| Hiromitsu Kanazawa | 1 | Additional unaired episode of Hand Shakers; a prequel set four years before the events of the TV series. | |||||||
| W'z: Hand Shakers with W'z | 1 | Additional unaired episode of W'z, taking place chronologically between Hand Shakers: Go ago Go and Hand Shakers. | |||||||
| :: |
References
References
- (2017-01-13). "Anime Craft Weekly #26: Please Gohands and Never Come Back". Sakuga Blog.
- "「株式会社GoHands」会社見学会へ！｜新着情報｜ECCコンピュータ専門学校".
- (2024-06-25). "アニメ『東京BABYLON』放送延期 キャラ衣装の模倣問題受け再び謝罪「深く反省」".
- Loveridge, Lynzee. (November 23, 2020). "Tokyo Babylon 2021 Character Designs Appear to Reference K-Pop Group, Volks Doll". [[Anime News Network]].
- link. Tokyo Babylon 2021. (December 4, 2020)
- Hodgkins, Crystalyn. (December 24, 2020). "Tokyo Babylon 2021 Anime Delayed From April 2021 Due to Plagiarism Incident".
- Pineda, Rafael Antonio. (March 29, 2021). "Tokyo Babylon 2021 Anime Canceled with Restart Planned, After More Plagiarism Uncovered".
- Loo, Egan. (August 5, 2021). "Tokyo Babylon 2021 Studio GoHands Sues King Records for 450 Million Yen Over Canceled Anime".
- (2025-02-08). "This Week in Anime - Throw Hands with GoHands".
- Greenall, Jonathon. (2023-07-08). "The Strange History Of GoHands, The Anime Fandom's Most Controversial Studio".
- (2025-02-08). "This Week in Anime - Throw Hands with GoHands".
- (March 16, 2009). "Princess Lover! Adult Game Gets TV Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network.
- "Informasi Mengenai TV". Cheb TV.
- (2024-07-31). "Russia's Cheburashka Character Gets Japanese TV Anime (Update 2)".
- (November 17, 2011). "Seitokai Yakuindomo Manga Volume 7 to Bundle Anime DVD". Anime News Network.
- (May 28, 2012). "'K' Anime Gets Manga Adaptation". Anime News Network.
- (September 6, 2013). "Coppelion Anime's 2nd Promo Confirms Staff, Premiere". Anime News Network.
- (2024-07-31). "Seitokai Yakuindomo Anime Gets 2nd TV Season, New OAD".
- (2024-07-31). "K Anime Project Gets Sequel in 2015".
- (July 16, 2016). "GoHands' Hand Shakers Anime's 1st Promo Video Reveals Cast, January Premiere". Anime News Network.
- (March 18, 2018). "Go Hands, Frontier Works Reveal Original Anime Project W'z for 2019". Anime News Network.
- (September 6, 2020). "Project Scard Franchise Gets Scar on the Praeter Anime by GoHands in January 2021". Anime News Network.
- (March 14, 2023). "The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Anime Reveals 1st Promo Video, Visual, Staff, Cast". Anime News Network.
- (February 9, 2023). "The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today Anime Reveals Cast, Staff, July Debut". Anime News Network.
- (April 25, 2024). "GoHands Reveals Original Anime Project Momentary Lily With January 2025 Premiere". Anime News Network.
- (March 19, 2025). "The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System Anime's 2nd Teaser Announces Cast, Staff, 2026 Debut". Anime News Network.
- (March 25, 2010). "Mardock Scramble Anime to Be 3 Films Starting in Fall". Anime News Network.
- (May 26, 2013). "K Movie Adaptation Green-lit". Anime News Network.
- (2024-07-31). "Seitokai Yakuindomo Anime Film Reveals Staff, Cast, July 21 Premiere".
- "K: Seven Stories (movies) - Anime News Network".
- (2024-07-31). "2nd Seitokai Yakuindomo Film Slated for January 2021".
- (November 22, 2011). "Asa Made Jugyou Chu! Romantic Comedy Manga Gets Anime". Anime News Network.
- (2024-07-31). "Hand Shakers Anime Gets Unaired Episode With New Character".
- (2024-07-31). "GoHands' Original W'z Anime Reveals Unaired Episode on Home Video, Stage Play Adaptation".
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