David Production

David Production is a Japanese animation studio established in September 2007. It was founded by Koji Kajita, formerly a producer at Gonzo. The company initially worked on projects outside long-running television franchises, but it became internationally prominent through its adaptations of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. In August 2014, Fuji TV acquired David Production, making it a subsidiary of the broadcaster. The studio’s first television anime production was Ristorante Paradiso (2009), an adaptation of Natsume Ono’s manga about a Rome restaurant. Its early output also included the television series Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra (2009), adapted from Ishio Yamagata’s light novels; Level E (2011), based on Yoshihiro Togashi’s manga; and Ben-To (2011), based on Asaura’s light novel series. David Production began JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in 2012. That television series adapted Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, the first two parts of Araki’s manga. The studio subsequently made JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (2014–2015), Diamond Is Unbreakable (2016), Golden Wind (2018–2019), and Stone Ocean (2021–2022). It also produced the 2017–2019 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan original video animation series, adapting Araki’s JoJo spin-off stories. Outside JoJo, the studio produced Cells at Work! (2018), Akane Shimizu’s manga about anthropomorphized cells in a human body. Its Fire Force television adaptation started in 2019; the source manga was created by Atsushi Ohkubo, known for Soul Eater. David Production also animated the 2022–2024 television remake of Rumiko Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura, whose original television anime had aired from 1981 to 1986. Other television projects include Captain Tsubasa (2018–2019), a new adaptation of Yoichi Takahashi’s football manga, and the 2021 series 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team. In 2022, David Production animated Spriggan for Netflix, adapting the manga written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by Ryoji Minagawa. The studio followed this with Undead Unluck (2023–2024), based on Yoshifumi Tozuka’s Weekly Shonen Jump manga. The studio’s Stone Ocean release had an unusual pattern. Netflix debuted episodes 1–12 worldwide in December 2021, then released episodes 13–24 in September 2022 and episodes 25–38 in December 2022. Japanese television broadcasts ran from January through December 2022. This catalogue spans seventeen years of operations across varied source authors and publishers.