--- title: 'AI Anime Researcher at Spellbrush' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ai-anime-researcher-spellbrush-tokyo-5pej30ze08je' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-13' --- # AI Anime Researcher at Spellbrush - **Company:** Spellbrush - **Location:** Tokyo, Japan - **Employment:** full-time - **Posted:** 2024-02-07 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/spellbrush/8a8898ef-fdb4-4b2c-861c-3419f00264da ## Job description The Research Role: We're looking for an experienced AI Researcher to join our team and help us push the boundaries of AI and anime. You'll design and develop large-scale diffusion models with a primary focus on images, and secondary focus on other modalities like 3d, text, video and audio. You may be a good fit if: You love anime and the anime aesthetic. This one of the only labs in the world where you can combine your expertise on anime and deep learning to work on state-of-the-art anime models. You understand diffusion, or can get up to speed quickly. We're looking for experienced researchers who aren't afraid of jumping headfirst into experimenting and designing massive models. You're proficient in Pytorch (and maybe JAX too) We have a very large Pytorch codebase, and an equally large JAX codebase for large-scale TPU training. You enjoy a tight loop between research and production. We pride ourselves on getting models from the lab into production quickly. Our research team works closely with our internal studio to both develop game-ready models, and deploy regular quality updates to [niji・journey](https://nijijourney.com). You're comfortable working on small, fast-paced teams We currently have a team of four on AI. You'll be working closely alongside some of the best AI researchers in the world, on the literal best image model in the world. We also believe in the unmatched speed of in-person teams, and prefer on-site collaboration in either our primary research office in Tokyo (downtown Akihabara), or San Francisco. Visa sponsorships are available. ## About Spellbrush ## Company Overview - **One‑liner**: Spellbrush is the world’s leading generative AI studio for anime – the team behind niji・journey – that is building a no‑compromise turn‑based tactics game. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed‑stage; received $245K in total funding from Y Combinator and other investors) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (also offices in Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan) - **Founded**: 2018 - **Founders**: Cory Li (CEO), Haitao Mao (Co‑Founder, GameDev), Ruwen Liu (Co‑Founder) ## Core Business - **Primary industries**: Generative AI, Computer Games (Anime) - **Target customers**: B2C – anime fans, gamers, and digital artists; also B2B2C through their AI image/video generation platform used by artists and studios. - **Mission statement**: “Making Anime Real” – using AI to help human artists create masterpieces in the most complex medium of video games. ## Products & Services - **[niji・journey](https://spellbrush.com/)**: AI image generation model specialized in anime and illustration styles; accessible via Midjourney. Users can generate high‑quality anime art from text prompts. - **Niji Video**: A recently released video generation model that produces anime‑style video clips (announced in 2025‑2026). - **Unannounced Turn‑Based Tactics Game**: A “good anime game” being developed in‑house, focused on well‑balanced gameplay and a truthful love of visual arts. The game uses Unity and leverages Spellbrush’s own AI research. ## Market Standing - **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metrics**: - Annual Revenue: Approximately $800K (estimated from 2025‑2026 data). - Total Funding: $245K (Seed rounds in 2018). - Headcount: ~25 employees (+19.2% YoY). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (Winter 2018 batch; primary partner Diana Hu). Seed investors include unnamed backers. - **Growth Signals**: - 10 active job postings across AI research, engineering, and game design. - Released Niji Video, expanding beyond static images into anime video generation. - Expanded headcount by ~20% year‑over‑year. - Presence in both San Francisco and Tokyo, tapping into the global anime and game talent pool. ## Competitive Advantages - **Leading generative AI for anime** – niji・journey is the most prominent anime‑focused AI image generator, with a large user community. - **Deep integration with Midjourney** provides a built‑in distribution channel for their model. - **Niche focus**: The company is singularly dedicated to high‑quality anime and game art, creating a tightly‑focused R&D pipeline. - **In‑house game development** allows them to eat their own dogfood – using AI to accelerate game asset creation while maintaining human artistry. ## Strategic Focus - **AI‑powered game development**: Using their generative AI to build an original turn‑based tactics game, demonstrating their technology in practice. - **Advancing anime video generation**: Expanding from still images to video (Niji Video) to capture the growing demand for AI‑assisted animation. - **Research‑first approach**: Hiring AI researchers (LLMs, motion generation, video models) to push the boundaries of what AI can do for the anime medium. ## Why Work Here - **Culture & mission**: A team of passionate anime and game lovers who care about artistic quality. “No‑compromise approach to well‑balanced gameplay married to a truthful love of visual arts.” - **Work environment**: Remote‑friendly – roles are open to candidates in San Francisco, Tokyo, or fully remote. Fresh graduates are welcome (some positions note “Any (new grads ok)”). - **Engineering culture**: You’ll work on cutting‑edge generative AI (diffusion models, LLMs, video generation) alongside veteran researchers from Midjourney, Meta, NVIDIA, and Preferred Networks. - **Perks & highlights**: Opportunity to contribute to a globally used AI platform (niji・journey) and to build an original anime game from the ground up. Flexible location, small team with high ownership. ## Sources 1. [spellbrush.com](https://spellbrush.com/careers) – Career page (company description, values) 2. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush) – Y Combinator profile (founding, batch, team size, HQ) 3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/spellbrush) – LinkedIn page (headcount, revenue, funding, locations, recent news) 4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/spellbrush) – Open roles (tech stack: Unity, TypeScript; remote policy) ## Other roles at Spellbrush - [HPC/ML Infrastructure Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hpc-ml-infrastructure-engineer-spellbrush-san-francisco-zhh2f9af9wcn) — San Francisco, CA - [3D Game Programmer (Unity)](https://feeny.ai/job/3d-game-programmer-unity-spellbrush-san-francisco-fwee1ea6fp02) — San Francisco, CA - [AI Anime Researcher - LLM](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-anime-researcher-llm-spellbrush-san-francisco-1tzstywjhh72) — San Francisco, CA - [AI Anime Researcher - Motion Generation Models](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-anime-researcher-motion-generation-models-spellbrush-san-francisco-sb7f86zn4qvq) — San Francisco, CA - [バックオフィス　マネージャー](https://feeny.ai/job/spellbrush-tokyo-07ng2njrate7) — Tokyo, Japan - [Level Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/level-designer-spellbrush-san-francisco-2rn72sf2g34v) — San Francisco, CA - [Game Programmer (Unity)](https://feeny.ai/job/game-programmer-unity-spellbrush-san-francisco-rt0g3ng467yr) — San Francisco, CA - [Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-spellbrush-san-francisco-7p9r7r1f6q1b) — San Francisco, CA - [AI Infrastructure Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-infrastructure-engineer-spellbrush-san-francisco-gesa1p6q0qnf) — San Francisco, CA - [Front-End Engineer (Anime)](https://feeny.ai/job/front-end-engineer-anime-spellbrush-san-francisco-bgraht6gnhf3) — San Francisco, CA