Arab News Japan

D’ART Shtajio is known as Japan’s first ever predominantly black-owned anime studio, which was established in 2016.

The studio was founded by three pioneers of the anime industry, including animator Henry Thurlow, background artist Arthell Isom and his twin brother Darnell.

The team created a unique studio to bring together American characteristics and Japanese anime.

Animator Thurlow worked with Nakamura Production previously and was responsible for anime series such as Pokemon and Gundam Build Fighters.

Thurlow also worked on Tokyo Ghoul with Pierrot Animation studio.

Isom also worked as an animator for Ogura Kobo and earned massive hits including Bleach, Black Butler and Naruto.

“The great thing is with us being here, Black creators seek us out. It’s a great opportunity to work with them,” Isom explained. “We’ve worked with quite a few like independent manga creators with projects like Tephlon Funk and XOGENASYS; we get the opportunity to then tell more Black stories. These are storytellers who want to see their story adapted to anime form.”