Rengo Studio

Rengo Studio is an independent animation collective focused on hand-drawn 2D storytelling with a Japanese anime-inspired aesthetic. Founded in July 2016 by producer Jade "Yoshio" French and director Sean "Kurosiris" Amezcua, it initially operated as Coalition Animation Studio before adopting its current name between late 2017 and 2018. The name Rengo reflects the Japanese term for coalition or alliance.

The collective developed as an online collaboration platform for independent animated stories. Its founders, childhood friends who grew up in California, shared an interest in Japanese culture and the work of filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon. Their approach brought together remote freelance artists and performers across multiple countries, with production coordinated through digital communication rather than a physical studio.

Its production capabilities encompass visual development, character design, background painting and layout, storyboarding, traditional keyframe animation and inbetweening. Script development, animation direction, voice casting and recording, and sound design formed part of its broader script-to-screen approach.

Independent productions

The studio's principal undertaking was Paradise, originally titled The Inevitable Paradise. Written by Kristján Már Gunnarsson, the anime-inspired science-fiction parable explores human connection, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Its Kickstarter campaign reached its funding target in March 2017, and subsequent production updates documented work including voice recording and keyframe animation through 2018.

In July 2018, the collective also announced an unnamed five-minute music video or standalone animated short intended to precede Paradise. Neither production is documented as released.

The last public progress report for Paradise appeared on December 14, 2018. Production subsequently stalled, and the collective has remained dormant, with no later production updates or completed films identified in the supplied research. Its website remains available as an archival portfolio of the project and its development.