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Toei, the Japanese studio giant behind “Kamen Rider” and the Super Sentai series that became “Power Rangers,” has drawn up rules for generative AI and started using AI in its film and video production, president and CEO
Yoshimura Fumio said at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei.
A dedicated team at the company is testing how far AI can be used in actual content production, and Toei is building an AI system that helps less experienced producers estimate budgets.
“We have put in place rules for the use of generative AI, and from this year we have started using AI in our film and video production,” Yoshimura said. “We are already working on things like creating backgrounds with AI.”
Toei’s back-office departments also use AI for routine tasks, data processing and internal queries, and the company is looking at applying it to the creative supervision of IP merchandise. Yoshimura pointed to “Dreams of Violets,” a live-action feature made entirely with generative AI that was selected for the Tribeca Festival in June. The 75-minute film was reportedly made by two creators for around $2,000.
“I believe AI is not something that takes away jobs, but a tool that expands the possibilities of expression and business,” he said.
Toei also put a timeline on its move into games. Toei Games, the label launched this year to mark the company’s 75th anniversary, will release “Hino” in early 2027, with “Killa” and “Debug Nephemee” following from spring 2027. All three are original titles from outside creators rather than adaptations of Toei IP, and will launch on Steam before rolling out to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox.
“We aim to bring game creators’ talent on board over the long term as a new vein of IP creation, and make games the starting point for stories in place of novels and comics,” Yoshimura said.
The keynote also mapped out how Toei is taking “Kamen Rider,” which turned 55 this year, beyond Japanese TV. Yoshimura held up the franchise as his main example of what the company calls the “evergreening” of IP. The first series premiered in 1971, and the Showa-era shows that ran until 1988 built its core fanbase. The Heisei-era series that began in 2000 handed the franchise down from parents to children, while events, merchandise, manga, anime and stage shows have since carried it to a third generation.
The current series, “Kamen Rider Zeztz,” was rolled out almost simultaneously around the world, including Taiwan, the rest of Asia and North America, which Yoshimura called a big step for the group. Toei is also pushing into India. “Kamen Rider” was introduced there at a Japanese IP event in 2025, and the strong response led to a deal with a local Disney-affiliated company.
“Considering the population size and rising incomes from a growing middle class, I think India can be called an extremely promising market in the medium to long term,” Yoshimura said. “We expect it will take time before this takes root as a business, but it’s important to build connections now and steadily grow our partnerships and fan base.”
In April, Toei launched The Kamen Rider Animated, an animation label. Its first project teams the studio with Aniplex, the company behind “Demon Slayer,” and Shirogumi, which worked on Yamazaki Takashi’s “Godzilla Minus One,” on a new “Kamen Rider” property with a scale and style of action only animation can deliver. A live-action label, The Kamen Rider Premium, will make full-scale hero action films for a wider audience, including international viewers and people who don’t follow the TV shows.
Under its Toei New Wave 2033 medium- to long-term plan, the company aims to raise the share of its sales that comes from overseas from 30% to 50%, with Asia the current focus. Yoshimura cited estimates that the global entertainment and media market is growing by an average of 3.4% a year. He added that streaming now lets K-pop, Japanese anime, Indian films and Chinese microdramas travel the world without being changed.
“Now that content rooted in local cultures and histories, like ‘Shogun,’ is crossing racial and national borders and captivating people around the world, I’d say the main battlefield for our business is overseas,” he said.
During the audience Q&A, Yoshimura said that before “Power Rangers,” Toei exported its Japanese series unchanged, and they struggled to win over Western audiences. The breakthrough came from keeping only the characters and rebuilding the cast and drama in the U.S.
“I believe this approach of localization is indispensable for spreading characters around the world,” he said. “We also understand that, unlike animation, live-action work in particular is not something that is readily accepted as-is in each country.”
“Power Rangers” has now run in the U.S. for more than 30 years. In 2025, the original “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was relaunched as “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Re-Ignition,” with newly designed toys from Hasbro, a “Fortnite” collaboration and a Lego line in the works. Toei used a similar remake model in the Philippines. “Voltes V: Legacy,” the 2023 live-action version of Toei’s 1977 anime “Super Electromagnetic Machine Voltes V,” peaked at a 58% rating there and was released in Japanese cinemas the following year.
The company is also building stories from scratch in other markets. In February, it signed a strategic co-production partnership with Thai producer-distributor M Studio. Together with M Studio and Korea’s Showbox, it is adapting Ito Junji’s “Long Hair in the Attic” as a premium Thai film for Asian audiences. The film will open in Thailand first before heading to Japan and other territories.
In co-production, Toei backed “Dear Stranger,” a Japan-Taiwan-U.S. film from director Mariko Tetsuya that stars Gwei Lun-mei and Nishijima Hidetoshi. It was shot entirely in New York and released last September. The project was selected for the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum’s HAF and raised money abroad from the start, with Taiwanese investors including TAICCA’s TICP 2.0 program. Toei’s Kyoto studio is also supporting the Japan shoot of “Iris,” an action thriller from a U.S. independent producer.
Toei is the only company in Japan that owns and runs two studio lots, one in Tokyo and one in Kyoto. The Tokyo lot houses Japan’s only permanent 270-degree LED volume stage.
Toei is also making short-form content. “Everyday Host Club” is a short anime of 24 episodes that run about three minutes each. “Meshimori Onna,” produced at the Kyoto studio for a client, is a vertical period drama of 30 episodes that run one to two minutes. Yoshimura suggested that vertical formats could one day become the norm even in cinemas.
On Taiwan, he noted that in 2025 Japanese films were the most-released titles in the market and second only to U.S. films at the box office. Toei titles released there include “Midnight Diner,” “Shin Kamen Rider,” “Howling Village” and “Oshi no Ko.” Local broadcaster YoYo TV airs “Kamen Rider,” and Toei is expanding live character shows in Taiwan with a local partner. The studio also invested in the Taiwanese horror film “The Rope Curse 4.” Yoshimura said he wants long-term tokusatsu partnerships and international co-productions with Taiwan.
“We are looking for partners with whom we can plan, make and deliver compelling stories to the world together,” he said.
Yoshimura joined Toei in 1988. He worked in live events, licensing and digital distribution, including some of Japan’s early mobile content and subscription streaming services, and became president in 2023.
