In early 1997, fellow Tatsunoko employee Koichi Mashimo presented an idea of his to President Ishikawa. Mashimo had conceived the idea of a small studio that could work on small productions and "nurture" the creative spirit of its staff members. Ishikawa liked the idea and sponsored Mashimo's endeavor and studio Bee Train Animation Inc. was formed as a subsidiary company. Production I.G and Ishikawa helped supervise and produce the early productions such as "PoPoLoCrois Monogatari", ', and "Arc the Lad". Along with Xebec it was the second subsidiary company under I.G. In 2006, Bee Train became independent and Ishikawa stepped down as an executive in the company. The two studios worked again in 2008 to work on "Blade of the Immortal", ', and again in 2010 for "Halo Legends". In 1998, the company incorporated to become "Production I.G, Inc." Following that, Production I.G merged with ING, another production company founded by the same Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, in 2000. In a Q&A session Ishikawa said: