2008 in anime

Years in anime:	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Centuries:	20th century · 21st century · 22nd century
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years:	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Events in 2008 in anime.

Events

In this year, 288 anime television programs were produced and home video sales of anime DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs in Japan were worth 77.9 billion yen. Animation studio 8-Bit was founded in September.

Accolades

At the Mainichi Film Awards, The Sky Crawlers won the Animation Film Award and Ponyo won the Ōfuji Noburō Award. Ponyo also won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year; the other nominees were Doraemon: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend 2008, The Sky Crawlers, Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear and One Piece - The Movie: Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in the Winter, Miracle Sakura. Internationally, La Maison en Petits Cubes won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and Le Cristal d'Annecy at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Sword of the Stranger was nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Ponyo and The Sky Crawlers were in competition for the Golden Lion at the 65th Venice International Film Festival.

Releases

Films

A list of anime that debuted in theaters between January 1 and December 31, 2008.

Release date	Title	Studio	Director	Running time (minutes)	Notes	Ref
April 8	Kite Liberator	Arms	Yasuomi Umetsu	60
July 19	Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior	OLM	Kunihiko Yuyama	96
October 26	Kite Nightmare	Arms	Tim Burton	65

Television series

A list of anime television series that debuted between January 1 and December 31, 2008.

First run start and end dates	Title	Episodes	Studio	Director	Alternate title	Ref
January 1 – March 25	Sisters of Wellber Zwei	13	Trans Arts	Takayuki Hamana
January 3 – March 27	Rosario + Vampire	13	Gonzo	Takayuki Inagaki
January 4 – March 21	H2O: Footprints in the Sand	12	Zexcs	Hideki Tachibana
January 4 – March 29	Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de	13	A.C.G.T	Susumu Kudo	They Are My Noble Masters
January 5 – March 8	Hatenkō Yūgi	10	Studio Deen	Yoshihiro Takamoto
January 5 – June 28	Major S4	26	SynergySP	Toshinori Fukushima
January 5 – June 28	Persona: Trinity Soul	26	A-1 Pictures	Atsushi Matsumoto
January 5 – March 29	(Zoku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei	13	Shaft	Akiyuki Shinbo
January 6 – March 30	Minami-ke: Okawari	13	Asread	Naoto Hosoda
January 6 – December 28	Porphy no Nagai Tabi	52	Nippon Animation	Tomomi Mochizuki
January 6 – March 22	Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed	12	J.C.Staff	Tatsuo Satō
January 6 – March 30	True Tears	13	P.A.Works	Junji Nishimura
January 8 – March 31	Aria the Origination	13	Hal Film Maker	Junichi Sato
January 8 – April 1	Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino	13	Artland	Hiroshi Ishidori
January 9 – March 26	Spice and Wolf	13	Imagin	Takeo Takahashi	Ōkami to Kōshinryō
January 10 – March 20	Kitarō of the Graveyard	11	Toei Animation	Kimitoshi Chioki	Hakaba Kitarō
January 14 – September 27, 2009	Yatterman	60	Tatsunoko Production	Hiroshi Sasagawa
February 3 – July 6	Mnemosyne	6	Xebec	Shigeru Ueda
February 3 – January 25, 2009	Yes PreCure 5 GoGo!	48	Toei Animation	Toshiaki Komura
March 31 – September 26	Chi's Sweet Home	104	Madhouse	Mitsuyuki Masuhara
April 1 – September 23	Sugarbunnies: Chocolat!	27	Asahi Production	Hiroshi Kugimiya
April 1 – June 20	The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk	12	Gonzo	Koichi Chigira
April 2 – March 30, 2011	Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's	154	Gallop	Katsumi Ono
April 3 – October 2	Allison & Lillia	26	Madhouse	Masayoshi Nishida	Allison to Lillia
April 3 – June 19	Kure-nai	12	Brain's Base	Kō Matsuo
April 3 – February 19, 2009	Kyo Kara Maoh! (season 3)	39	Studio Deen	Junji Nishimura
April 3 – June 26	xxxHolic: Kei	13	Production I.G	Tsutomu Mizushima
April 4 – June 28	Amatsuki	13	Studio Deen	Kazuhiro Furuhashi
April 4 – September 25	Itazura na Kiss	25	TMS Entertainment	Osamu Yamazaki
April 4 – September 26	Macross Frontier	25	Satelight	Yasuhito Kikuchi Shōji Kawamori
April 4 – September 26	To Love-Ru	26	Xebec	Takao Kato
April 5 – September 27	Blassreiter	24	Gonzo	Ichirō Itano
April 5 – March 28, 2009	Blue Dragon: Trials of the Seven Shadows	51	Studio Pierrot	Yukihiro Matsushita	Blue Dragon: Tenkai no Shichi Ryū
April 5 – June 28	Da Capo II: Second Season	13	Feel	Hideki Okamoto
April 5 – June 21	Kamen no Maid Guy	12	Madhouse	Masayuki Sakoi
April 5 – June 21	Kanokon	12	Xebec	Atsushi Ōtsuki
April 5 – March 27, 2010	Penguin no Mondai	100	Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment	Jun Kamiya
April 6 – September 28	Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2	25	Sunrise	Gorō Taniguchi
April 6 – September 28	Nabari no Ou	26	J.C.Staff	Kunihisa Sugishima
April 6 – June 29	Neo Angelique Abyss	13	Yumeta Company	Shin Katagai
April 6 – March 29, 2009	Net Ghost PiPoPa	51	Studio Hibari	Shinichiro Kimura
April 6 – March 29, 2009	Onegai My Melody Kirara☆	52	Studio Comet	Makoto Moriwaki
April 6 – September 14	Our Home's Fox Deity.	24	Zexcs	Yoshiaki Iwasaki	Wagaya no Oinari-sama.
April 6 – September 14	Special A	24	AIC Gonzo	Miyao Yoshikazu
April 6 – March 29, 2009	Zettai Karen Children	51	SynergySP	Keiichiro Kawaguchi	Psychic Squad
April 7 – March 29, 2010	Hakken Taiken Daisuki! Shimajirō	101	Pierrot+	Akira Shigino Masahiro Nakata
April 7 – September 29	Monochrome Factor	24	A.C.G.T	Yuu Kou
April 7 – March 30, 2009	Soul Eater	51	Bones	Takuya Igarashi
April 7 – June 30	Vampire Knight	13	Studio Deen	Kiyoko Sayama
April 8 – June 24	Glass Maiden	12	Studio Fantasia	Mitsuko Kase	Crystal Blaze
April 8 – September 30	Top Secret: The Revelation	26	Madhouse	Hiroshi Aoyama
April 10 – June 26	Junjo Romantica	12	Studio Deen	Chiaki Kon
April 10 – July 24	Kaiba	12	Madhouse	Masaaki Yuasa
April 10 – June 26	Library War	12	Production I.G	Takayuki Hamana	Toshokan Sensō
April 11 – March 27, 2009	Golgo 13	50	The Answer Studio	Shunji Oga
April 12 – October 4	Kyōran Kazoku Nikki	26	Nomad	Yasuhiro Kuroda
April 12 – September 27	Nijū Mensō no Musume	22	Bones Telecom Animation Film	Nobuo Tomizawa
June 2 – November 24	RoboDz Kazagumo Hen	26	Toei Animation	Daisuke Nishio
June 11 – August 27	Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians	12	Arms	Koichi Ohata
June 21 – December 20	Telepathy Shōjo Ran	26	TMS Entertainment
July 1 – September 16	Ultraviolet: Code 044	12	Madhouse	Osamu Dezaki
July 2 – September 17	Sekirei	12	Seven Arcs	Keizō Kusakawa
July 2 – September 24	Slayers Revolution	13	J.C.Staff	Takashi Watanabe
July 2 – September 24	Someday's Dreamers: Summer Skies	12	Hal Film Maker	Osamu Kobayashi	Mahōtsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora
July 3 – September 18	Antique Bakery	11	Nippon Animation Shirogumi	Yoshiaki Okumura
July 3 – September 25	Hidamari Sketch × 365	13	Shaft	Akiyuki Shinbo
July 3 – September 25	Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu	12	Studio Barcelona	Munenori Nawa
July 3 – September 18	Strike Witches	12	Gonzo	Kazuhiro Takamura
July 4 – September 26	Birdy the Mighty: Decode	13	A-1 Pictures	Kazuki Akane	Tetsuwan Birdy Decode
July 5 – September 27	Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo	13	Doga Kobo	Tarō Iwasaki
July 7 – September 22	Mission-E	12	Studio Deen	Toshiyuki Katō
July 7 – September 29	Natsume's Book of Friends	13	Brain's Base	Takahiro Omori	Natsume Yūjin-chō
July 7 – September 30	World Destruction	13	Production I.G	Shunsuke Tada
July 8 – September 21	The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses	12	J.C.Staff	Yū Kō	Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo
July 8 – September 23	Koihime Musō	12	Doga Kobo	Nobuaki Nakanishi
July 8 – September 14	Neo Angelique Abyss: Second Age	13	Yumeta Company	Shin Katagai
July 14 – December 29	Blade of the Immortal	13	Bee Train	Kōichi Mashimo	Mugen no Jūnin
September 7 – September 6, 2009	Battle Spirits: Shounen Toppa Bashin	50	Sunrise	Mitsuru Hongo
September 28 – December 23	The Earl and the Fairy	12	Artland	Kōichirō Sōtome	Hakushaku to Yōsei
October 1 – March 15, 2009	Casshern Sins	24	Madhouse Tatsunoko Production	Shigeyasu Yamauchi
October 1 – December 24	Hyakko	13	Nippon Animation	Michio Fukuda
October 2 – December 18	Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka	12	TNK	Keitaro Motonaga
October 2 – December 24	Rosario + Vampire Capu2	13	Gonzo	Takayuki Inagaki	Rosario to Vampire Capu2
October 2 – December 25	Shikabane Hime: Aka	13	Feel Gainax	Masahiko Murata
October 2 – March 26, 2009	Toradora!	25	J.C.Staff	Tatsuyuki Nagai
October 2 – December 18	Yozakura Quartet	12	Nomad	Kou Matsuo
October 3 – March 27, 2009	Astro Fighter Sunred	26	AIC A.S.T.A.	Seiji Kishi	Tentai Senshi Sunred
October 3 – March 27, 2009	Black Butler	24	A-1 Pictures	Toshiya Shinohara	Kuroshitsuji
October 3 – March 26, 2009	Clannad After Story	24	Kyoto Animation	Tatsuya Ishihara
October 3 – March 20, 2009	Linebarrels of Iron	24	Gonzo	Masamitsu Hidaka	Kurogane no Linebarrels
October 4 – March 19, 2009	A Certain Magical Index	24	J.C.Staff	Hiroshi Nishikiori	Toaru Majutsu no Index
October 4 – April 4, 2009	Hell Girl: Three Vessels	26	Studio Deen	Hiroshi Watanabe	Jigoku Shōjo: Mitsuganae
October 4 – December 27	Kannagi	13	A-1 Pictures	Yutaka Yamamoto
October 4 – December 20	Kemeko Deluxe!	12	Hal Film Maker	Tsutomu Mizushima
October 4 – September 26, 2009	Shugo Chara!! Doki—	51	Satelight	Kenji Yasuda
October 4 – March 28, 2009	Tales of the Abyss	26	Sunrise	Kenji Kodama
October 5 – December 21	Ga-Rei: Zero	12	AIC Spirits Asread	Hiroshi Nishikiori
October 5 – April 27, 2011	Inazuma Eleven	127	OLM	Katsuhito Akiyama Yoshikazu Miyao
October 5 – December 28	Kyō no Go no Ni	13	Xebec	Tsuyoshi Nagasawa
October 5 – December 21	Macademi Wasshoi!	12	Hal Film Maker Zexcs	Takaomi Kanzaki
October 6 – March 29, 2008	Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (season 2)	25	Sunrise	Seiji Mizushima
October 6 – December 29	Vampire Knight Guilty	13	Studio Deen	Kiyoko Sayama
October 7 – December 23	Ef: A Tale of Melodies	12	Shaft	Shin Ōnuma
October 7 – December 30	Mōryō no Hako	13	Madhouse	Ryosuke Nakamura
October 7 – December 23	Kurozuka	12	Madhouse	Tetsurō Araki
October 7 – March 31, 2009	One Outs	25	Madhouse	Yuzo Sato
October 8 – March 25, 2009	Stitch!	25	Madhouse	Masami Hata
October 9 – December 18	Nodame Cantabile: Paris-Hen	11	J.C.Staff	Chiaki Kon
October 9 – March 26, 2009	Tytania	26	Artland	Noboru Ishiguro
October 10 – December 25	Legends of the Dark King	13	Satelight	Masashi Abe	Ten no Haō Hokuto no Ken Raō Gaiden
October 12 – December 27	Junjo Romantica (season 2)	12	Studio Deen	Chiaki Kon
October 15 – December 31	Chaos;Head	12	Madhouse	Takaaki Ishiyama
October 15 – March 18, 2009	Michiko & Hatchin	22	Manglobe	Sayo Yamamoto	Michiko to Hatchin

Original net animations

A list of original net animations that debuted between January 1 and December 31, 2008.

First run start and end dates	Title	Episodes	Studio	Director	Alternate title	Ref
May 2 – May 8, 2009	Candy Boy	7	AIC	Takafumi Hoshikawa
July 16 – February 3, 2009	Xam'd: Lost Memories	26	Bones	Masayuki Miyaji	Bōnen no Xam'd
August 1 – September 18, 2009	Time of Eve	6	Studio Rikka	Yasuhiro Yoshiura	Eve no Jikan

Original video animations

A list of original video animations that debuted between January 1 and December 31, 2008.

First run start and end dates	Title	Episodes	Studio	Director	Alternate title	Ref
August 8	Detroit Metal City	12	Studio 4°C	Hiroshi Nagahama
February 22 – November 21	My-Otome 0: S.ifr	3	Sunrise	Hirokazu Hisayuki
February 29 – March 28	Yotsunoha	2	Hal Film Maker	Hiroshi Nishikiori
March 14 – March 28	Bus Gamer	3	Studio Izena	Naoyuki Kazuya
April 2	Green vs. Red	1	TMS Entertainment	Shigeyuki Miya
April 19 – November 25	Penguin Musume Heart	22	Picture Magic	Hitoyuki Matsui
May 23	Amuri in Star Ocean	3	Studio Hibari CG Team	Yoshitomo Yonetani	Hoshi no Umi no Amuri
August 29 – June 26, 2009	Cobra the Animation	6	Magic Bus	Buichi Terasawa Kenichi Maejima
September 18 – October 2	Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel	2	Nomad	Tatsuyuki Nagai
October 24 – April 24, 2009	MS IGLOO 2: Gravity Front	3	Sunrise	Takashi Imanishi
October 24 – February 25, 2009	Switch	2	Actas	Naoki Oohira
November 24	Tegami Bachi: Hikari to Ao no Gensō Yawa	1	Studio Pierrot	Mamoru Kanbe
December 22 – April 6, 2015	Kissxsis	12	Feel	Munenori Nawa

See also

• 2008 in Japanese television
• 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
• 2008 in television
• 2008 in animation

External links

• Japanese animated works of the year, listed in the IMDb