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FROGMAN's Anime Studio DLE Starts AI Brand Focused on Studio's Older IP

Animation studio DLE announced on Wednesday that it is launching a new brand called "AI Kaeru Otoko Shōkai" ("AI Frogman Company"), focused on making anime using generative AI based on the studio's older properties. The brand is a parallel to the studio's already existing "Kaeru Otoko Shōkai" ("Frogman Company") anime brand.

DLE plans to use generative AI to make anime of its older 2000s properties, including "Kofun Gal no Coffy" and "Dokan-kun." These characters first appeared in the studio's earlier productions, and were featured in The Frogman Show and Keihin Kazoku anthology series.

DLE will unveil a new AI-generated short every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. JST (7:00 a.m. EDT), beginning today. The shorts will be available on the "AI Kaeru Otoko Shōkai" YouTube channel, TikTok account, and X (formerly Twitter) account.

DLE and Shimane and Tottori prefectures' TSK San-in Central Television channel debuted a short anime/AI program titled "The World of Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan" ("Koizumi Yakumo no KWAIDAN (Kaidan) no Sekai") in October 2025.

Ryō Ono, also known under his production pseuudonym of FROGMAN, was officially appointed as DLE's new representative board director and president in June 2025, replacing Hideo Hoshi, who resigned from the position. Under the FROGMAN pseudonym, Ono created the Eagle Talon anime shorts. DLE launched the first Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume (Secret Society Eagle Talon) television series in 2006, and the series spawned nine films. FROGMAN serves as the "director/writer/character designer/sound recording engineer/Flash animator/editor/voice actor." The franchise spawned a new anime titled Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume XX (Eagle Talon XX, pronounced "double X") that debuted on the franchise's YouTube channel on January 6. 

Ono became a board director at DLE in 2007, and has been serving as CCO since 2021. 

Source: Press release