Muse Communication
Muse Communication Co., Ltd. (also known simply as Muse) is a Taiwanese distributor and licensor that specializes in the distribution of anime. Based in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, the company also distributes Asian and European films in Taiwan. It has licenses for several popular anime series and tokusatsu such as Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Martian Successor Nadesico, One-Punch Man, Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, Spy × Family, Saint Seiya, Ultra Series, Kamen Rider Series, Super Sentai and many more.
| Type | Joint-stock |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Genre | Anime |
| Predecessor | Muse Cultural Enterprise Co., Ltd. |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Southeast Asia, South Asia, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau |
Key people |
|
| Products | Anime, motion pictures, merchandise, Asian and European cinema |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | e-muse.com.tw |
History
Originally founded in 1987, the company was formerly known as Muse Cultural Enterprise Co., Ltd before becoming Muse Communication Co., Ltd. in 1992. Fukang Enterprise is in charge of physical distribution, while Eagle International Communication handles distribution for live-action films from Asia and Europe.
Muse Communication (Hong Kong) was founded in November 1997. Muse Animation (Shanghai) was founded in January 2013. On August 7, 2018, Muse Communications began marketing select titles from their library on YouTube in Taiwan.
| Type | Private Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Genre | Anime |
| Founded | March 2019 |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Jeff Lee Chien - Fu (general manager / director)[4] |
| Products | Anime, motion pictures, and merchandise |
| Owner | Muse Communication |
| Divisions | Hakken! |
| Website | e-muse.com.sg |
Muse Communication Singapore (also known as Muse Asia) was founded in March 2019. In June 2019, it launched Muse Asia YouTube channel, which provides anime with English and Chinese subtitles for audiences in parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia.[5] The company has since launched localized YouTube channels for audiences in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and India.[6][7][8][9] Company has also launched new localised dub channels for audiences in Thailand and Indonesia.
Hakken! is a retail brand operated by Muse Communication Singapore which specializes in anime merchandising.[4] On 16 January 2021, it has launched its first retail store in Plaza Singapura, Singapore.[10] The second store is located inside the VivoCity shopping mall, which is also in Singapore; it opened on 17 July 2021.[11] Hakken! later expanded to Malaysia through Shopee on 21 October 2021 as an online shop.[12]
Distribution
Physical distribution
Muse does not directly release its titles on home video outside of Taiwan but instead sub-licenses to other companies such as Dream Express (DEX), and previously Rose Media and Entertainment for the Thai market.[13]
Digital and television distribution
Muse sub-licenses select titles to OTT platforms and TV stations in other served regions. Notable platforms include Netflix, Disney+, Animax Asia, Aniplus Asia (formerly), iQIYI, CATCHPLAY+, Bilibili, Viu, Tencent Video/WeTV, Sushiroll, Vidio and many more.[13][14][15][16] In 2016, Taiwanese anime streaming service Bahamut Anime Crazy began streaming select anime titles from Muse, marking the first time the company released its catalog of series and films for free on streaming. On 7 August 2018, Muse began distributing full episodes of series on YouTube to combat piracy, starting in Taiwan.[3]
Notable titles
Anime series
- 86
- A Certain Magical Index
- Accel World
- Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
- Argonavis from BanG Dream!
- Ascendance of a Bookworm
- Assassination Classroom
- Attack on Titan
- BanG Dream!
- Battle Game in 5 Seconds
- Beast Tamer
- Beelzebub
- Black Bullet
- Bofuri
- Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious
- Cells at Work!
- Classroom of the Elite
- Combatants Will Be Dispatched!
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Fairy Tail (season 9)
- Goblin Slayer
- Golden Kamuy
- Girlfriend, Girlfriend
- Gurren Lagann
- Hunter x Hunter
- Higehiro
- High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World
- Hyouka
- Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
- Is the Order a Rabbit?
- Isekai Quartet
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- Junji Ito Collection
- Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
- Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
- Love Live!
- Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer
- Made in Abyss
- Mob Psycho 100
- Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation
- My Dress-Up Darling
- My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
- My Roommate Is a Cat
- My Senpai Is Annoying
- Nekopara
- One-Punch Man
- Parallel World Pharmacy
- Pripara
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica
- Rage of Bahamut
- Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
- Rent-A-Girlfriend
- Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
- Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie
- Spy × Family
- Sword Art Online
- Talentless Nana
- Tawawa on Monday
- The Detective Is Already Dead
- Teasing Master Takagi-san (season 3)
- The God of High School
- The Seven Deadly Sins
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
- The Familiar of Zero
- Tokyo Revengers (Moved to Disney+ from season 2)
- Ushio and Tora
- Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina
- Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun
- WorldEnd
Tokusatsu series
- Ultraman (The rights has now carried by Beast Kingdom in Taiwan)
- Kamen Rider
- Super Sentai
- Pretty Cure
References
- ^ "「中華動漫出版同業協進會」第十屆理事長確認由木棉花總經理 康振木當選" [10th Chairman of Chinese Animation & Comic Publishers Association Confirmed to Be Muse's General Manager Kang Zhenmu]. GNN News (in Chinese). Bahamut Gamer. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (18 November 2020). "'Demon Slayer' Japanese Animation Rewrites Taiwan Box Office Records". Variety. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ a b "「鬼滅」、「進擊的巨人」幕後推手！ 木棉花代理動畫卻免費放送 這樣是要怎麼賺錢？" [The company behind "Demon Slayer" and "Attack on Titan"! How does Muse make money by releasing anime for free?]. Manager Today (in Chinese). Business Next Media. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Mengenal Muse Asia, Distributor Anime Resmi di Asia dan Gratis di YouTube!". nawalakarsa.id (in Indonesian). 20 November 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Melegrito, JM (17 July 2019). "MUSE Asia launches Legal Anime Streaming Platform on YouTube". animepilipinas.com. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (24 February 2020). "Muse Asia Launches Malaysian, Vietnamese Anime Streaming in March". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Lee, Crystal (10 September 2020). "Muse Asia Launches Muse Indonesia Channel". Anime Trending. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Lee, Crystal (6 August 2020). "Muse Asia Launches Thailand Anime YouTube Channel". Anime Trending. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Muse Philippines Officially Launched to Serve More Free Anime on YouTube for Filipinos". Otacobitesph. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Hakken!, Singapore's First Experiential Anime Retail Store, Officially Opens in Plaza Singapura" (Press release). MUSE Communication Singapore. Anime News Network. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Singapore's Largest Anime Retail Brand Hakken! Officially Launches Second Outlet in VivoCity" (Press release). MUSE Communication Singapore. Anime News Network. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "Hakken Coming to Malaysia! (New window for Anime Merch!!!) Stay tune for tomorrow news~". Instagram. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ a b Where is OPM Episode 25? Answering questions that we get 273 times daily. YouTube. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (27 July 2020). "iQiyi Adds 7 Summer Anime for Southeast Asia". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Hanson, Kwok-Wai (7 October 2020). "Muse Asia to Stream Noblesse OVA, Episode 1 & 2". Anime Trending. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "關於我們 - 發行網絡｜木棉花國際". e-muse.com.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
External links
Media related to Muse Communication at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Muse Communication at Anime News Network's encyclopedia