Toei Animation clarifies previous AI usage implications following major backlash

Monday, May 19, 2025, saw Toei Animation, the studio behind the Dragon Ball Z and One Piece anime series, confirm that they have yet to use AI in any of their works as previously implied. This news comes after the circulation of a March 2025 fiscal report from the company, which highlighted their intent to use AI in the production process and implied this had already been done.

Toei Animation’s implication of such usage came from the inclusion of scenes from the Wonderful PreCure! anime series in the description of their intended AI usage. Toei likewise has clarified that AI has yet to be used in Wonderful PreCure!, or “in the production process of any of [Toei’s] works, including the PreCure series works listed in the document.” Toei has also clarified that it is “correcting this statement as it was misleading.”

Anime fans breathe a sigh of relief following Toei Animation’s latest clarification on generative AI usage

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In addition to clarifying their past use of AI, Toei Animation also claimed that the documentation in the latest fiscal report is “an example of a production area that we expect to see in the future.” Essentially, the company is clarifying that while generative AI has yet to be used in the production of any of their works thus far, this may not always be the case. Fans can expect more details on this usage in the future.

This clarification from Toei comes after some online traction regarding their March 2025 fiscal report, as mentioned above. In the fiscal report, Toei proclaimed its intent to utilize AI in various areas of production in the future. This included the cleanup of “genga,” or in-between animation, color correction and general coloring processes, storyboarding, and generating backgrounds from photographs.

Toei Animation also made it clear that they intended to partner with Preferred Computing Infrastructure, Inc. and use their generative AI technology. The company is a joint venture between Preferred Networks, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Internet Initiative Japan, which Toei has also financially invested in. In the fiscal report, Toei called it “Japan’s best” AI technology and expressed a belief that the partnership would “advance business co-creation.”

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Fans grew upset to hear this, both from a qualitative and ethical perspective. Many pointed to the fact that the use of AI in such processes could potentially put talented animators and other creatives out of work for what is, in the end, an inferior product. Fans also expressed a concern regarding the ethics of training generative AI models; however, Toei did clarify that it intended to train these models with works from its own library and those works only.

Toei Animation is best known as the studio behind the beloved One Piece and Dragon Ball Z anime franchises. They’re also the producers of the aforementioned PreCure anime franchise, as well as Digimon, Dr. Slump, Slam Dunk, Toriko, World Trigger, Saint Seiya, and many more.

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About the author

Joseph has been working as an anime content specialist for Sportskeeda since the past 2.5 years. Primarily covering his core genre, he also contributes to popular culture writing news stories and cult classic features on older series.

Joseph holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware, United States. His love of anime, combined with his background in literature, influenced his interest in engaging readers through the written word. He maintains complete accuracy in his content by verifying each and every piece of information regardless of how long it takes, and ensure that the output is impartial and free of bias.

Chainsaw Man, One Piece, Berserk, Undead Unluck, Re:ZERO, Tower of God, Jujutsu Kaisen, Inuyasha, and Fire Punch are some of Joseph’s favorite animanga. His exposure to 4kids' Sonic X series, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Dragon Ball Z on Toonami fueled his enthusiasm for the medium.

When not dissecting anime plots, Joseph likes to cook, play games, work on cars, browse new music, and watch pro wrestling, especially AEW. He also enjoys ocean-based activities - beach trips, fishing, swimming and watersports.

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Edited by Joseph Brogan