Xebec (studio)

Xebec, Inc.
Native name	株式会社ジーベック
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha Jībekku
Company type	Kabushiki gaisha
Industry	Japanese animation
Founded	May 1, 1995; 29 years ago
Defunct	May 31, 2019; 5 years ago
Fate	Xebec:; Sold to Sunrise and Production I.G in 2019.; Xebec M2:; Went defunct in 2009.; Xebec Zwei:; Sold to Production I.G in 2019.;
Successor	Xebec:; Sunrise Beyond; Studio Mother; Xebec Zwei:; I.G. Zwei;
Headquarters	3-22-31 Minami-cho, Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan 〒 185-0021 Southern Building 5F
Key people	Xebec: (unknown dates); Tooru Satou (CEO); Nobuyoshi Habara (CEO); Yukinao Shimoji (CEO); Xebec M2:; Hideyuki Motohashi (CEO);
Total equity	¥10,000,000
Owner	Production I.G (1995–2007); IG Port (2007–2019);
Number of employees	100
Divisions	Photography Dept.; Fukuoka Studio (2018–2019);
Subsidiaries	Triple A (2002–2005); Xebec M2 (2003–2009); Xebec Zwei (2010–2019);
Website	www.production-ig.co.jp/xebec/

Xebec, Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社ジーベック, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Jībekku, stylized in all caps) was a Japanese animation studio based in Kokubunji, Tokyo, founded by former Tatsunoko Production animators on May 1, 1995. They worked on many popular series, such as Nadesico, Love Hina, Keijo, Shaman King, Fafner, To Love Ru, and Space Battleship Yamato remakes 2199 and 2202.

The company logotype includes the International Phonetic Alphabet transcription [zíːbek], which represents not the Japanese pronunciation using syllabification for Hepburn romanization but rather a presumed "English" pronunciation.

Closure

On November 20, 2018, Xebec's parent company, IG Port, sold the studio to Sunrise after constant deficits that the subsidiary had in different years.^[2]^[3]

On January 12, 2019, Xebec Zwei, a subsidiary of Xebec, was transferred to Production I.G, becoming a subsidiary and changing its name to IG Zwei accordingly.^[4]

On March 5, 2019, Sunrise announced that they established a new company, Sunrise Beyond, at Xebec's address, with Xebec's operations being transferred to it.^[5]

Xebec ceased to exist as a business entity on May 31, 2019. Its post-production teams, which were not part of the sale to Sunrise, were broken up and consolidated into several IG Port companies, but Production I.G inherited the company's assets. Copyright of Xebec's past works reverted to the IG Port group as a whole.^[6]

Works

Divisions

In 2003 the subsidiary Xebec M2 was established, which focuses in providing animation assistance for their main studio and other companies (including OLM, as in Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys). It has also produced three full series: Petopeto-san, ZOMBIE LOAN and Hitohira. Its last activity was in 2009/2010.^[7]

In 2010, it was followed by Xebeczwei, which handled in-between, key, and 2nd key animation for Xebec's main studio and other anime studios. It later produced the full series Fafner in the Azure: Exodus, which ran throughout 2015.^[8]

In late 2018, it was announced the coloring department of Xebec would be transferred to Signal.MD following the release of the former from IG Port. In addition, Xebeczwei would be transferred to Production I.G as a subsidiary and subsequently be renamed IGzwei.^[9]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Sunrise took over most of Xebec's assets, which included the building which the studio operated. In its place, Sunrise established a new subsidiary, Sunrise Beyond, which retains a number of former Xebec staff, including former Xebec CEO Nobuyoshi Habara, who is one of Sunrise Beyond's board members. Xebec's Fukuoka Studio was rebranded to Sunrise Beyond Fukuoka (and later BFN Fukuoka), and a few other assets remained under Production I.G.
^ The Xebec M2 substudio was dissolved following the departure of its representative director, Hideyuki Motohashi, in 2009.
^ ^a ^b Xebec Zwei was a part of the assets that Xebec owned which were given to Production I.G after its dissolution, and its name was subsequently changed to I.G. Zwei.
^ Former Xebec CEO Yukinao Shimoji founded Studio Mother in 2019 after Xebec's dissolution.
^ Xebec Photography Department (XEBEC撮影部), the studio's in-house compositing division.