Which studio animated the anime sequence in Kill Bill: Volume 1?

Production I.G animated the anime sequence in Kill Bill: Volume 1. The approximately 15-minute sequence dramatizes O-Ren Ishii’s childhood, the murder of her parents, and her transformation into a feared assassin before she becomes one of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad’s leaders.

Quentin Tarantino specifically approached Production I.G, the Japanese studio known internationally for sophisticated anime production, including Ghost in the Shell. Kazuto Nakazawa directed the Kill Bill animation, with Mitsuhisa Ishikawa serving as executive animation producer and Katsuji Morishita as animation producer.

The sequence was not a separate anime film; it was integrated into the live-action feature as a chapter of O-Ren’s backstory. Its stylized violence and shifting visual language let Tarantino depict events that would have been difficult or expensive to stage conventionally while also honoring the anime and exploitation cinema he admired.

The scene’s influences include the ultraviolent anime Golgo 13: The Professional and the urban-gothic style of Wicked City. Production I.G’s work helped make O-Ren’s history one of the most visually distinctive sections of the 2003 film.