Sunrise (company)



"Gee, that Hajime Yatate guy's made a lot of stuff."

One of the biggest anime makers in all of Japan. If you are thinking "Real Robot", you probably mean Sunrise's production. Between decades-spanning Gundam franchise and one-shot gems like Vision of Escaflowne and Code Geass, Sunrise has long since cemented its reputation of one of the Humongous Mecha market trend makers. Also, being a subsidiary of Bandai Entertainment (since 1994), many of its works (the ones involving Humongous Mecha, of course) end up in Super Robot Wars sooner or later.

Several of Sunrise's original series credit "Hajime Yatate" as their original creator; that's a collective pseudonym for Sunrise and its animation staff. Yatate is depicted as an actual person in Gundam Sousei, a comedy loosely depicting the making of the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Apparently he's a loudmouth who wears a cowboy hat everywhere. Who knew?

Studio DEEN, Studio BONES, and Manglobe were formed by former Sunrise staff members.

They also animated several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series to rather mixed results and eventually became one of the two animation studios -along with Korea's AKOM- that were taken off the series. Nevertheless, Sunrise later createdThe Big O, a Batman-influenced project with a considerably more positive reception in the West.

Sunrise were also responsible for an aborted attempt to create an Americanized Gundam series, long before dubbing any of the actual anime, though nothing was made beyond a rather hilariously misguided pilot.

For the Academy Award-winning, classic 1927 silent film, see Sunrise.

Responsible for the following original series:

 * Armored Trooper VOTOMS
 * Aura Battler Dunbine
 * Betterman
 * The Big O
 * Brigadoon Marin and Melan
 * Code Geass
 * Cowboy Bebop
 * Future GPX Cyber Formula
 * GaoGaiGar (and the rest of the Brave Series)
 * Gasaraki
 * Idolmaster: Xenoglossia
 * Infinite Ryvius
 * The Mai Franchise (Mai-HiME, etc.)
 * The Gundam Franchise
 * Overman King Gainer
 * Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle
 * Ronin Warriors
 * Sacred Seven
 * S-Cry-ed
 * Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo
 * Space Runaway Ideon
 * Tiger and Bunny
 * Vision of Escaflowne
 * Wild Knights Gulkeeva
 * Witch Hunter Robin

Sunrise also adapted the following into anime versions:

 * City Hunter
 * Crest of the Stars
 * Cyborg 009 (second series with Toei Animation and third series with Japan Vistic)
 * Daily Lives of High School Boys
 * Dinosaur King
 * Dirty Pair
 * Gintama
 * Inuyasha
 * Kekkaishi
 * Keroro Gunsou
 * Kurokami
 * Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
 * Outlaw Star
 * Planetes
 * Starship Troopers (A 6-episode OVA in 1988)
 * Tales of the Abyss
 * The Ultraman (a.k.a. "Ultraman Joeneus", 1979 anime installment of the Ultra Series co-produced with Tsuburaya)
 * Yakitate!! Japan
 * Zone of the Enders (IDOLO and Dolores, i spinoffs)

Aside from Batman, Sunrise also worked on the following American Cartoons:

 * Centurions
 * Inspector Gadget (Ink & Paint for season one)
 * Street Fighter (together with Madhouse)
 * Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors

Tropes associated with Sunrise:

 * Animation Bump: Used often to the point where their animation is referred to as "Sunrise Smooth" to many (unfortunately, it sacrifices consistency).
 * Asskicking Pose: Called the Brave Perspective in Japan due to recurring use, the pose is performed by Sword Pointing a BFS diagonally upwards in extreme foreshortening. Also known as the Sunrise Stance much like the Gaina Stance, it has become referenced endlessly even in professional works.
 * Conspicuous CG: Whenever they use CG, generally speaking, but the examples include shows like Code Geass, recent Gundam series and Keroro Gunsou...ESPECIALLY Keroro Gunsou. This is largely due to trying to make the models photo-realistic and cartoonish at the same time, with varying degrees of success. Nevertheless, integration has admittedly improved over the years.
 * Defector From Decadence: After a fashion. Like Kyoto Animation, Sunrise was founded by former Mushi Production staff who were dissatisfied with how anime was being made there.
 * Enhanced on DVD: Sunrise is also known for improving the quality of its works after their TV broadcasts. Among the most notable being Code Geass, whose DVD/Blu-Ray visuals are substantially better than the broadcast versions.
 * Humongous Mecha: The Kings of this trope, at least in the Real Robot genre (though Toei Animation was one of the originators).
 * Long Runners: Sunrise itself has been around since 1972 and has since grown into one of the largest anime studios in Japan. Which is further helped along by its status as a subsidiary of Bandai Entertainment/Bandai Namco Holdings. This is also in addition to a number of its franchises, most notably Gundam (since 1979).
 * Mascot: While they don't have an official one, one could argue that the RX-78 Gundam, Haro or Keroro might count.
 * Merchandise-Driven: The Entire Gundam Franchise is built around this trope (The sales of the models actually saved it). Some of their other shows also fall into this category.
 * Mythology Gag: Occasionally, there's a nod or reference to the Gundam franchise inserted in other Sunrise shows. This can range from similar themes to blatant Shout Outs.
 * Off-Model: This occurs from time to time in several of their anime, especially in the original Gundam series and its sequels or spin-offs.
 * A similar issue the company has become to be noted for is the fact that some of their characters are often given fatter-than-usual fingers in certain scenes (aptly nicknamed "Sausage Fingers").
 * Trading Card Lame: Bandai produces Sunrise Crusade, a TCG that includes Dunbine, Daitarn 3, Brain Powerd, Galient, Mightgain, King Gainer, Ryu Knight, Xabungle, Layzner, Cowboy Bebop, Wataru, Zegapain, Cyber Formula GPX, J-Decker, Votoms, Dragonar, Ideon, Mai-HiME (and Otome), s-CRY-ed, L-Gaim, Zambot 3, Code Geass, Dendoh, and Tiger and Bunny.