Bones was founded by
Sunrise staff members
Masahiko Minami,
Hiroshi Ōsaka and
Toshihiro Kawamoto in October 1998. One of their first projects was collaborating with Sunrise on ''
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door, a feature film based on the Cowboy Bebop'' anime series. According to Minami, the studio's name was chosen as a reference to its staff count at the time (8), which he described as being "like bones" while citing the desire to "work hard and put on some flesh". In 2007, the studio suffered the loss of co-founder
Hiroshi Ōsaka, well known for his works as character designer on series such as
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam,
Mobile Fighter G Gundam and
The Mars Daybreak. Ōsaka had been battling with cancer, and died from the disease on September 24, 2007. He was 44 years old. After the death of Ōsaka, two new additions have been made to the studio's board of directors: Makoto Watanabe and Takahiro Komori. Komori is well known as a character designer and animator who has been with the studio since its inception. His previous works as designer consist of
Angelic Layer,
Scrapped Princess, and
Darker than Black. In October 2024, Bones spun-off its production division under a separate, wholly owned subsidiary known as Bones Film. As such, all productions from 2025 onward are credited to Bones Film. == Studios ==