---
title: 'How MAPPA Became Anime''s Biggest Studio!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=M9OsBGopWng'
video_id: 'M9OsBGopWng'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 428
---

# How MAPPA Became Anime's Biggest Studio!

> Source: [How MAPPA Became Anime's Biggest Studio!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=M9OsBGopWng)

## Summary

MAPPA has become one of the biggest anime studios, known for hits like Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, and Chainsaw Man. Founded by Masao Maruyama in 2011, the studio grew rapidly but faced criticism over working conditions.

### Key Points

- **MAPPA's Rise** [0:00] — MAPPA has produced major anime like Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan Final Season, and Chainsaw Man.
- **Founder Masao Maruyama** [0:30] — Maruyama co-founded Madhouse and later MAPPA in 2011 to produce 'In This Corner of the World'.
- **Early Works** [1:20] — Before the film, MAPPA released series like Kids on the Slope, Terror in Resonance, and Hajime no Ippo season 3.
- **2016 Turning Point** [2:05] — Maruyama resigned as CEO to start Studio M2; Yuri on Ice became a global phenomenon.
- **Working Conditions** [2:48] — Reports of tight deadlines and low wages emerged during Yuri on Ice production.
- **Post-Maruyama Success** [3:05] — MAPPA released Kakegurui, Banana Fish, Dororo, and Dorohedoro.
- **2020 Breakout** [3:25] — Released 8 anime, including Attack on Titan Final Season and Jujutsu Kaisen.
- **Chainsaw Man and Beyond** [4:36] — Chainsaw Man in 2022 was highly anticipated; Vinland Saga S2 and Hell's Paradise in 2023.

### Conclusion

MAPPA has become a juggernaut in the anime industry, but must improve working conditions to sustain its success.

## Transcript

Napa has been on an absolute Terror
lately as though one of the biggest
anime studios in the world if you don't
recognize the name then you probably
heard of their shows like Jiu Jitsu
kaisen Attack on Titan the final season
and Chainsaw man just to name a few
mapla has been successful in creating
fantastic anime adaptations of the most
popular manga on the planet but how did
they start and how did they achieve such
notoriety well the answer will most
definitely surprise you Maple would not
be what it is today without masal
mariyama who's produced iconic anime
films over the years and helped bring up
big time directors like mamaru hasoda
and Satoshi Khan he's an honorary member
of the Beloved anime convention autocon
which if you haven't been you should
definitely check out and more
importantly co-founded Studio madhouse
who is responsible for popular shows
like Trigun death note and even Hunter
Hunter because of this the studio grew
into something more corporate than the
70 year old had wanted which is one of
the reasons why he co-founded the
mariama animation produce project
Association or maplin 2011. he also
really wanted to get the ball rolling to
make the now highly acclaimed film in
this corner of the world which ran into
financial difficulties at mad house you
think this movie would have been the
first work map it would have released
but you'd be wrong several titles
released beforehand like the cincero
autonomy directed series kids on the
slope and Terror and resonance the third
season of the boxing classic Hajime no
ippo and the supernatural Harem like
comedy punchline in this corner of the
world ran into a lot of production
problems but it finally released in
2016. set during the 1930s and 40s this
film Chronicles the life of a young
married woman named suzu who moves away
from Hiroshima and she tries to take
care of her family this movie won tons
of awards including the country's top
prize at the Japan Academy and has been
praised greatly on his portrayal of war
from a respective lesser scene that of
Regular People 2016 was a major turning
point for MATA just as Studio was
gaining traction mariyama reside as CEO
in April that year in order to create
Studio M2 so that he could focus on
personal projects he passed a job to
promising young producer manabotsuka
later that year the studio released Yuri
on Ice which quickly became a worldwide
phenomenon for its approach on the
portrayal of lgbtq plus and mental
health issues the story revolves around
Japanese figure skater named Yuri who
decides to quit the sport but runs into
his Idol Victor who wants to coach him
out of retirement Marion Ice is a pretty
good series and much to its Acclaim is
hailed for its realistic approach to
Yuri and Victor's complicated
relationship 2016 wasn't all Rose tinted
flowers as reports started to emerge on
the working conditions at Napa during
the production of that series and they
were less than ideal with very tight
deadlines and low wages this would be a
recurring problem for the studio as they
grew bigger the post-mariama period for
MATA released of resume worthy list of
anime like kakaguri in 2017 Banana Fish
in 2018 the re-adaptation of Osama
tessica's 1969 classic doroto in 2019
and an absolute favorite of mine the
post-apocalyptic Dark Fantasy Dora
hedora in 2020. 2020 was the next
breakout year for Matas they released a
whoppin eight anime titles within the
calendar year and while most were pretty
Unforgettable there were a couple
standouts Attack on Titan the final
season was the most anticipated since
mapa announced they would take over
producing the anime from with Studio
while some people had issues with the
show most desertedly how they are
dragging out bending by making at this
point what 50 million parts now Jiu
Jitsu Kaizen is the other anime that
stood out and this Supernatural Shonen
was a surprising success with its
gorgeous animation wild fight scenes
crazy characters and amazing EP at this
point Napa has ascended to a new level
of notoriety but the working conditions
continue to get worse as animators
directors and producers alike have all
reported short deadlines and long
working hours an extremely high
expectations unfortunately this systemic
problem has no immediate answer but the
studio has made improvements to combat
this like opening a new studio in Tokyo
with the aim to improve the working
environment for its teams 2022 was the
year of Chainsaw man which had become
the most highly anticipated anime of all
time and much is because of the
celebrated reputation of mangaka tatsuki
Fujimoto while chainsaw man may not have
lived up to most people's locked
expectations the series is still a very
darn good one and has built the Studio's
profile even higher in 2023 Napa
released the second season of yet
another popular anime Finland Saga which
has received strong reviews the first
half of the third part of Attack on
Titan the final season which just saying
that is nearly as ridiculous as the
studio actually doing it and I bet you
can't say that fast three times first
half of the third part of Attack on
Titan final season the first half of the
third part of attacker Titanfalls the
first half of the third part of the
attack the fight of season
I guess I got a b or an A I guess I
don't know thankfully map is planning to
release the last half of the third part
of the attack on Titan the final season
later this year so I'm not to say that
Ridiculousness anymore and collectively
we can just call it the last season most
Paradise is another great series that
started in early April and there's more
on the horizon for mapo like Jiu Jitsu
Tyson the second season and movies for
Yuri and ice and Zombieland Saga the
possibilities are truly endless for the
studio because who knows what giant
anime IP they will take or next maybe
one piece JoJo's Bizarre Adventure look
it could happen besides Ghibli there
isn't an Anime Studio as successful
internationally right now as MacBook and
they've only been around for 12 years
it's also important for mappa to
continue making inroads and treating
their employees better because if they
stop trying people will leave and the
entire Studio could fall apart mapa was
born out of the simplest of reasons but
has grown into something much greater
than I'm sure any of the founders
including Mariam himself ever expected
with consistently high quality stories
and the most popular anime out there
mapa is the Juggernaut of the anime
industry right now and seemingly shows
no signs of slowing down now if you got
anything to say I'd love to hear from
you and talk some more about it let me
know your thoughts in the comments you
can send me an email or you can find me
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videos thanks for watching and stay
nerdiest