Khara (studio)

khara, Inc.

Native name	株式会社カラー
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha Karā
Company type	Kabushiki-gaisha
Industry	Japanese animation
Predecessor	Gainax
Founded	May 17, 2006; 18 years ago (May 17, 2006)
Founder	Hideaki Anno
Headquarters	Suginami, Tokyo, Japan[1]
Key people	Hideaki Anno (founder/president)
Divisions	Studio Khara Digital-bu
Website	www.khara.co.jp

Khara, Inc. (株式会社カラー, Kabushiki-gaisha Karā, stylized as khara, Inc.) is a Japanese animation studio, located in Suginami, Tokyo, best known for its work on the Rebuild of Evangelion film tetralogy. Studio Khara (スタジオカラー, Sutajio Karā) is the primary animation production studio. It was founded by Hideaki Anno in May 2006, and was shown publicly on 1 August when recruitment notices were posted on his website; Anno remains its president.^[2] The name khara comes from the Greek word χαρά, meaning joy.

Anno left Gainax and transitioned to Khara; as part of his public statements on the Rebuild films, he wrote:

"For this purpose, we are not returning to our roots at Gainax. I have set up a production company and studio, and it is in this new setting that we will start again. Without looking back, without admiration for the circumstances, we aim to walk towards the future. Thankfully, we have gathered staff from the old series, new staff, and many other fantastic staff to work on this series. We realize that we are creating something that will be better than the last series."^[3]

Key contributors brought back to work on the new project include director Kazuya Tsurumaki, character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, storyboard artist Shinji Higuchi, composer Shirō Sagisu, and animator Mahiro Maeda.^[4][5]

In 2016, Khara sued Gainax for ¥100 million in unpaid royalties from an agreement that Khara would earn royalties from income received on works and properties that founder Hideaki Anno had worked on.^[6] The suit alleged that Gainax delayed on paying royalties and incurred a large debt with Khara, which had loaned ¥100 million in August 2014, but had yet to receive payment on the loan.^[7] On June 7, 2024, Gainax announced that the company has filed for bankruptcy on May 29, making the Gainax trademark and the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise rights being transferred to Khara.^[8][9][10]

On August 21, 2024, Khara announced that they had successfully acquired the intellectual property of all P Productions' tokusatsu works, after the company ceased producing tokusatsu series following Lion-Maru G.^[11]

On October 6th, 2024, Khara announced that they would begin production on a new Space Battleship Yamato film in 2025. All that is currently known is that it wil be unconnected to prior remakes done by other companies.^[12]

• The Dragon Dentist (2017)
• The Diary of Ochibi-san (2023–2024)
• Kaiju No. 8 (2024, kaiju designs)
• Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (TBA) (co-produced with Sunrise)

• Japan Animator Expo (2014–2015)
• Gravity Rush: The Animation ~ Overture ~ (2016)^[13]
• VOY@GER (2021) (co-produced with CloverWorks)

• Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
• Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
• Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)
• Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017) (co-produced with Studio Ponoc)
• Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021)
• Untitled Space Battleship Yamato movie (TBA)

• Kantoku Shikkaku (2011)
• Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo (2012, co-produced with Studio Ghibli)
• Shin Godzilla (2016, co-produced with Toho Pictures) [uncredited]
• Shin Ultraman (2022, co-produced with Tsuburaya Productions and Toho Pictures)
• Shin Kamen Rider (2023, co-produced with Toei Company) [uncredited]

• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017)
• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019)^{[citation needed]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Khara.

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Khara at Anime News Network's encyclopedia