Experienced anime fans are familiar with a variety of anime studios, and they may even have favorite studios. After all, the biggest and best studios are often known for making certain smash-hit anime or focusing on certain kinds of anime, which will make any studio a household name in the anime community. But while each studio has a few huge, must-watch series to their names, fans should also know what kind of anime these studios were making in the early days.

In the present era, anime fans can attach major anime titles to big studios, such as Toei Animation making Dragon Ball Z, studio MAPPA making Jujutsu Kaisen, and Studio Ghibli making Spirited Away. Still, there is more to an anime studio than its biggest names, and it's always fun to see what else these major production studios have to offer. In particular, if anime fans check out the first anime series or movie from each studio, they can appreciate how these studios got started and see how far they have come since then.

Today, anime fans know Studio Ghibli best for classic anime movies such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, among many others. But it all had to start somewhere, and interestingly enough, Ghibli's first work was based on a manga created by Hayao Miyazaki himself. That manga was Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and fans might say it was an in-house effort from beginning to end. Miyazaki penned the manga, then made his creation into a movie.

Fans of rich pop culture topics are sure to enjoy an anime movie like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, seeing how it draws from works like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea, and even works by Isaac Asimov, the famed sci-fi writer. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind takes an anti-war stance and explores environmentalism, themes that certainly appeared again in later Ghibli productions as well.

It's common for even the biggest anime studios to find their footing with obscure or mediocre anime, but that wasn't the case for studio Wit. Incredibly, Wit's first project was the famed shonen anime Attack on Titan, complete with some of the best animation fans have ever seen. Even for an experienced anime studio, producing something like Attack on Titan would have been a major feat, but for studio Wit, making this their debut work is astonishing.

Every anime fan can agree studio Wit hit the ground running with the first few seasons of Attack on Titan before handing it over to studio MAPPA to finish the job. Even now, Attack on Titan is studio Wit's best-known work, and it's almost synonymous with Wit's name. Most likely, that will remain the case for many years to come, because it's not easy to imagine any anime topping Attack on Titan, at least not in Wit's own anime catalog.

Studio Trigger is known for its relatively cartoony look in its anime series, such as Little Witch Academia, but that's no reason to dismiss Trigger's anime series as cheap or silly. Trigger has made some truly delightful and surprisingly deep anime, with Kill la Kill being the first and one of the best examples. Kill la Kill is famed for its flamboyant visuals and action sequences, but there is more to it than that.

Kill la Kill is a revenge story only at the start, as heroine Ryuko Matoi seeks vengeance for her slain father Isshin. Soon, Kill la Kill will become a rather pointed comment on society and conformity, all expressed through the importance of Goku uniforms for the main characters. That theme will usually be more resonant for the intended Japanese audience, but it may still strike a chord with anime fans anywhere, especially if they're already familiar with the conformity seen in fictional anime high schools.

Toei Animation is a huge and time-honored anime studio responsible for some of the most prominent anime titles of all time. Toei Animation is the name behind works like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and One Piece, but even those relatively old anime are fresh new titles compared to what Toei has done before. Toei Animation's time in the anime industry stretches back to 1963, when it released Wolf Boy Ken.

Fans may note how Wolf Boy Ken was a step forward for Japanese animation at the time, with the anime having more frames per second than any other anime of the era. As for the premise, Wolf Boy Ken is a simple but charming anime reminiscent of Western stories like The Jungle Book and Tarzan, with protagonist Ken being a boy raised by animals in the wilds of the Himalaya Mountains. He has a particular affinity for wolves, including a wolf whose life Ken once saved.

Today, anime fans know studio MAPPA best for heavy hitters like Spy x Family and Chainsaw Man, but before all that, MAPPA got its feet wet with a delightful slice-of-life anime titled Kids on the Slope. This particular anime was produced fairly recently, first airing in 2012, but it's set much earlier, all the way back in the 1960s. No matter the decade, though, anime fans may relate to the friendship found in the story.

In Kids on the Slope, protagonist Kaoru Nishimi is a shy high schooler who just moved to yet another high school, where he will make an unlikely friend: the feared delinquent Sentaro Kawabuchi. Their common interest lays in music, with Kaoru being a capable pianist with an affinity for classical works. Sentaro is more of a jazz lover, and Kaoru will be inspired to try out jazz music on the keys once his friendship with Sentaro takes root.

The original Full Metal Panic! anime is a sci-fi series by Gonzo Animation, but when it came time for the spinoff Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, it was up to Kyoto Animation to get the job done. That might come as a surprise to anime fans who associate Kyoto Animation with more flowery anime like Violet Evergarden and A Silent Voice.

While the main Full Metal Panic! franchise excites sci-fi and action anime fans with its high-tech adventures, the Fumoffu anime is a whole different experience. It's mostly high school fluff and comedic shenanigans, sometimes with crude humor thrown in. Fans might say it's purely a piece of bonus material, contributing rather little to the main story and its themes. Still, if anime fans are curious to see how far Kyoto Animation has come, they can try Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu out of sheer curiosity.

Some anime series merely look like they're children's cartoons and actually have a lot of substance to them, yet other anime really are meant for young eyes. Doraemon is the biggest example, but there are other kid-centric anime as well, including Zenmai Zamurai. This is how A-1 Pictures got started in the anime industry before moving on to bigger, more mainstream hits like Blue Exorcist, Your Lie in April, and most of all, Solo Leveling.

Zenmai Zamurai is a quaint little anime series with very short episodes that aired at the right time to fit into children's schedules in daily life. Japanese viewers may appreciate the historical familiarity of Zenmai Zamurai's Edo Period setting, while Western anime fans may watch Zenmai Zamurai as a fun way to get a taste of Japan's history in an easily digestible package. There are bigger and more adult-oriented historical anime out there too, but for a change of pace, Zenmai Zamurai could be worth a watch, too.

Studio Bones has gone on to make heavy hitters like both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist and the superhero anime My Hero Academia, while Bones' debut work is much more obscure. This is another charming, cartoony historical anime for those interested in Japan's Meiji era. For Japanese audiences, it's review, and for Western anime fans, it's a welcoming peek into Japan's world in the 1800s or so.

The story and premise of Hiwou War Chronicles are nothing groundbreaking, but Studio Bones had to start somewhere. This cheerful adventure anime stars a young boy name Hiwou, who will form a group of friends who travel across Japan with the aid of robot dolls who are turned into true fighters. As a fun bonus, all kinds of historical figures are included in the story of Hiwou War Chronicles, adding to the cartoony edutainment value.

Some of the biggest titles to come from studio Pierrot include two members of the shonen "big three," those being Naruto and Bleach, along with the popular seinen anime Tokyo Ghoul. This anime is not based on a Japanese light novel or manga, instead being derived from a Swedish novel in the 1900s by author Selma Lagerlöf. Notably, she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature, so anime fans can rest assured The Wonderful Adventures of Nils is based on a worthwhile story.

The story of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils feels like something from Disney or Studio Ghibli, with protagonist Nils being a troublemaker boy on a farm who gets shrunk into a tomte, a gnome-like creature from Norse folklore. Humbled and surrounded by the animals he used to torment, Nils will take flight with a flock of geese to begin his new adventures, seeing the world in a whole new way. Anyone who's caught up on Studio Ghibli ought to give Pierrot's first anime a try.

Many of Madhouse, Inc.'s best and most popular anime come from the 2010s, including One-Punch Man and Death Parade, and in the 2020s, they brought Frieren: Beyond Journey's End to life. Even if anime fans focus on Madhouse's most recent hits, though, they must still appreciate how long Madhouse has been in the game. Studio Madhouse made its debut anime all the way back in 1973 with Aim For the Ace!.

Looking back, Aim For the Ace! is an important and impressive piece of work, and the same is true for its source manga, which ran for 18 volumes. If anime fans dive into this classic title, they'll see Aim For the Ace! isn't just about sports, though tennis is still a major focus. Heroine Hiromi Oka is struggling not just to become an incredible tennis player, but also to overcome her personal woes, including anxiety. Hiromi's efforts to become a true ace are thus highly inspiring and heartfelt to watch.