Gonzo (company)

Gonzo K.K. is a Japanese animation studio established on 22 February 2000 and formerly known as GDH K.K. Its predecessor, Gonzo Inc., was founded in 1992 by former Gainax staff, among them producer Shouji Murahama, director Mahiro Maeda, screenwriter Hiroshi Yamaguchi and filmmaker Shinji Higuchi, who took the name from the nickname of the American journalist Hunter S. Thompson. The studio shifted toward digital animation in the mid 1990s and made its first anime, the video release Blue Submarine No. 6, in 1998. In 2000 it became the core of the GDH Group, and GDH was listed on the Mothers market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2004. Financial difficulties after the collapse of the DVD boom led to delisting in 2009, and in 2016 ADK announced a tender offer to make the studio a subsidiary. Its works include Black Cat and Afro Samurai.