---
title: 'I Worked Like a MAPPA Animator For 7 Days'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=sOOgpSqVd0M'
video_id: 'sOOgpSqVd0M'
date: 2026-06-15
duration_sec: 1278
---

# I Worked Like a MAPPA Animator For 7 Days

> Source: [I Worked Like a MAPPA Animator For 7 Days](https://youtube.com/watch?v=sOOgpSqVd0M)

## Summary

A YouTuber attempts to replicate the grueling work schedule of a MAPPA animator for 7 days, animating sequences from Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man. The challenge highlights the extreme workload, tight deadlines, and physical/mental toll faced by professional animators.

### Key Points

- **Challenge Introduction** [0:00] — The creator commits to working like a MAPPA animator for 7 days, animating two sequences: a Jujutsu Kaisen scene (4 cuts, first 3 days) and a Chainsaw Man scene (5 cuts, last 4 days).
- **Daily Workload** [1:18] — To meet deadlines, the creator plans to work 10-12 hours per day, including weekends, double a regular 9-to-5 job.
- **Animation Process** [3:13] — Uses Clip Studio Paint with 3D models for reference. Key steps: sketching, line art, in-betweens, and shading. The first cut (Sukuna in Shibuya) takes a full day.
- **Day 1 Completion** [5:25] — After 12 hours, the first cut is finished. The creator feels confident but acknowledges the difficulty ahead.
- **Day 3 Struggles** [8:55] — Working on cut 4 (Sukuna exploding buildings), the creator experiences extreme boredom and fatigue, forcing themselves to continue despite wanting to stop.
- **Burnout Sets In** [10:50] — Day 4 begins with heavy burnout. The creator transitions to the Chainsaw Man sequence, feeling the weight of remaining work.
- **Day 4 End** [14:35] — Two cuts completed. The creator worries about not having enough time to realize their ideas, a common issue for animators.
- **Final Day Push** [16:40] — Day 6: the most complex cut (Denji's transformation) requires 32 frames. The creator uses a 3D model in Blender to save time, tracing over it.
- **Reflection and Gratitude** [19:01] — On the final day, the creator steps outside to clear their mind. They feel grateful for their normal life and gain empathy for professional animators.
- **Final Thoughts** [20:30] — The challenge was the hardest on the channel. The creator hopes fans appreciate the effort animators put in, despite inevitable criticism.

### Conclusion

The 7-day challenge reveals the brutal reality of MAPPA animators: extreme hours, physical pain, and mental exhaustion. The creator gains deep respect for the industry and urges viewers to be more understanding of animators' struggles.

## Transcript

for the next 7 days I'm going to work
like a MAA
animator the wind is very cold this did
not go as expected if you don't already
know MAA is the studio behind some of
the biggest anime of recent years such
as jiujitsu Kaizen chainsaw man and
Attack on Titan the final season however
the studio has faced severe backlash
over its heavy workload near impossible
deadlines and immense pressure on its
animators which has become detrimental
to their personal lives and health and
for the next 7 days I'm going to be
taking on the treacherous deadlines and
long hours of work of a mapa animator
this was the most I've ever pushed
myself and it gave me a completely new
view of the anime
industry after forcing myself out of bed
I made myself a quick breakfast and
since I got like no sleep last night I
almost overdosed on caffeine in the
early morning and uh the second the at
9:00 a.m. the work day had begun for the
next 7 days I have not one but two
animation sequences to complete and
since Studio MAA is known to deliver
highquality detailed animation I knew
that this was going to be nearly
impossible to pull off so to try to set
myself up for success I split my week
into two parts the first 3 days we're
going to be used to animate a jiujitsu
kaisen sequence that features four cuts
and the last 4 days we're going to be
used to animate a chainsaw man sequence
of five cuts I already had all the
storyboards and character sheets ready
to go so I was able to start animating
right away in order to be on track my
priority today was to get at least one
to two cuts done and considering how
timeconsuming animating semi-realistic
characters is I would have to work at
least 10 to 12 hours a day this week
including the weekend to get the these
Cuts done in time that's about double
the hours of a regular 9 to5 job God
please give me strength this is what the
first animation sequence is going to be
sukuna is standing in the middle of
Shibuya alone as dust and smoke Rush
toward him with zero effort he makes it
all disappear he then starts laughing
uncontrollably with his voice echoing
throughout the empty streets then out of
nowhere he claps his hands and a bunch
of buildings
explode before diving into the animation
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I started animating cut one by setting
up a 3D model in clip Studio paint which
is the software I'm going to be using to
animate I'm going to leave a link in the
description if you guys want to try it
out as well this was going to help me
get the angle just right to match the
storyboard and will ultimately save me a
ton of time and brain power which under
these conditions any help will really go
a long way once I had the post locked in
I sketched out sakuna since it was going
to be a bit windy in the scene I
animated the movement of his hair and
clothing waving making sure they flow
naturally to give the scene some life
after that I focused on animating the
dust and smoke rushing toward him only
to have it completely be blown away as
he flexes his impeccable Aura to really
sell the impact I threw in an impact
frame which was really simple and
nothing much to be proud of to be honest
but I guess it gets the job done then it
was time to do the cleanup and the
in-betweens which took a long time the
now you to
stay it is now my lunch break I got
myself some chicken and rice and a
protein shake but uh I'm doing pretty
good so far and I'm just I just hope I'm
able to pull this off again this is
delicious I'm not going to lie to you
after my awesome lunch break I got right
back to it for a couple of hours until
cut number one was completely finished
it is 6:00 p.m. and uh reality is
starting to set in this is going to be
very very difficult to pull off in time
so I legit have no time to waste face at
all I need to start working on the
second cut right now and even though I
didn't get that much sleep I have a lot
of reserved energy I feel like so this
is a great time to get a lot done I
started animating cut to by sketching
out sua's face this shot was a little
bit difficult because the camera pinned
slightly as he transitions from smiling
to bursting out laughing and I struggled
to get the proportions and the angles
right to make things easier I pulled up
some of the character sheet pictures of
sakuna face and use them as a reference
for some of the frames I used the
liquefy tool to stretch out his mouth to
make him laugh it looks super goofy
right now but I knew it would look way
better once the line art was done
speaking of line art I knew there was no
way I was finishing this cut today
because that and the inets are by far
the most timeconsuming part of the
process so I'd have to tackle most of it
tomorrow for now I focus on cleaning up
the rubs and getting started on the inet
to keep everything consistent I also
added shading references across the
frames which took a bit of extra time
but it was worth it to make sure
everything looked solid in the final
product and just like that the clock hit
900 p.m. meaning I had finished my first
12 our day guys it is officially 9900
p.m. that means I have finished my first
day let's go yeah I think I got a lot of
work done so far and uh I'm very
confident that I'm going to be able to
finish it in time but you know it's
animation so you never really know with
day number one being finished I took a
nice little shower and got ready to go
to bed because as time goes on this was
only going to get more
difficult day two started with a quick
trip to McDonald's for breakfast because
I just didn't feel like cooking while
eating I thought about how things went
yesterday I got a decent amount done but
there's still a lot left to do
especially with all the line art and
inet that cut two still needs I also
didn't get the best sleep so I'm still
feeling a little bit tired but I'm
hoping once I get into the Flow State I
can power through and get a lot done
with that being said the clock hit 9:00
a.m. yet again so it's time to get back
to work I jumped straight back into
animating Cut 2 my journey to get the
cleanest line art possible was still
going strong so I knew this is going to
take a lot of time getting the inet
right to make everything look smoother
Took a ton of effort but it was worth it
to make the animation flow properly I
also copied Suk kuna's hands and eased
them to further emphasize his evil
maniacal laugh as I was wrapping up this
cut and I was looking back at what I
made I noticed that something felt a bit
off the way sukuna turned East in at the
start wasn't looking quite right it felt
a little bit stiff so I went back and
added a couple more in between frames to
fix it and just like that after a ton of
tweaking and polishing cut two was
finally finished it is 2:23 p.m. so I
still have how many hours like 6 hours
and a half left of today oh my gosh
today has felt extreme extremely slow
I'm not going to lie the time has been
slowly passing by done like 15 16 hours
of work so far I feel sore from sitting
down does that make any sense is that
like normal I've been sitting down for
so long I'm starting to feel sore from
sitting without wasting any time I got
started on cut three which features
sukuna still laughing with the camera
panning out and then he claps I yet
again positioned the 3D model in clip
Studio to help me get the most extreme
positions nailed down once I had those
set I sketched out a rough version of
the two key frames after that I started
filling in the in between which turned
out to be way more mentally exhausting
than I had anticipated it took a while
but once I had the rough sketch sort of
figured out I jumped straight into the
line art for this cut I wanted to focus
on having super detailed Line work
similar to some of the high quality Cuts
we see in jiutu kaisen season 2 because
of that I decided to skip shading
entirely for this one to keep things
more manageable I also made sukuna
Expressions as exaggerated as possible
by intentionally going off model to
really sell his manic unhinged energy at
around 600 p.m. I took a quick snack
break to get my mind off the animation
for at least a little bit but I dwelled
in my mind that I still had a ton of
work left to do don't ask me why again
we tried again and didn't feel the same
the plans was up the diagram when I
overseas I got some bags that need
airing we used to get cash the checks
bigger so they wired them 9:00 p.m. was
creeping up yet again and although I
hadn't finished this cut I had made a
good amount of progress that is to be
proud of I got a pretty good amount done
today I'm pretty happy with how
everything is turning out obviously I
still have a lot to do but you know I
think I might have to do with a little
bit of overtime tomorrow you know if I
want to make it as good as it can be I'm
a little bit nervous for tomorrow but
you know we're going to see it through
hopefully day three started with me
actually cooking breakfast but since I
overslept I didn't have time to sit and
eat properly with the 9:00 a.m. shift
about to begin so I brought the food
with me to my setup and I ate while I
got back to
[Music]
drawing cut 4 was up next and it
featured sukuna exploding some tall
building since Shibuya I started by
making the canvas extra tall since this
was going to be a pan up shot which
needed a lot of vertical space I didn't
want to spend too much time stressing
over the background so I imported a
picture of Shibuya and traced over it
call it cheating I don't care to get the
scale right I positioned the 3D model
yet again which has come and clutch this
entire project time and time again with
the background sorted I sketched out the
animation for the explosions explosions
grow fast and then they ease out slow
and so I did just that to make the
movement feel more natural after the
sketch was done I started cleaning up
and making the inet and I got to say the
number of lines I had to draw for this
cut was just insane I am so unbelievably
bored of animating I'm just like so
tired I'm actually like really really
scared because I have another 4 days to
go out today but man I really do not
want to keep doing this man I'm actually
just like I'm forcing myself to just
keep on drawing but every single bone in
my body is telling me to stop to go lay
down on my bed and fall asleep that's
literally all my brain is telling me at
around 7:50 p.m. the endless inbetween
for the explosions had completely
drained my soul in other words I got
tired of drawing the inbetween for the
explosions so I switched to drawing
sukuna for a bit which was only a still
frame after that I got back to working
on finishing the remaining in between
frames for the explosions I kept going
and going and as the hours crawled by
The Clock Was ticking closer to 9:00
p.m. at some point my hand felt like it
was on autopilot but thankfully the day
came to an
end I finally finished project number
one I have no idea how I'm going to
survive the next next 4 days I'm very
very exhausted I'm just glad I'm done
with this at least but now I got to move
on to a potential even harder
animation day four started and I could
feel the burnout hitting me pretty hard
and it's not just the workload it's the
anticipation of everything I still have
left to do this the real killer here
even as I sat down to eat breakfast the
thought of how much work was still ahead
sat heavy in the back of my mind I knew
I had to keep going but it was getting
harder to stay focused with every single
cut and today was no different now that
the first sequence is officially over
it's time to move on to the chainsaw man
animation the animation begins with
denji in mima's office caught in a spicy
situation as she leans in he shyly leans
back in his chair flustered makima
places a hand on his face her thumb
playing with his hair while he sits
there stun the next shot is the close-up
shot of her face she blinks and then her
hands move all over denji reaching for
his cord without hesitation she pulls it
in the final shot Benji's head brutally
explodes as he transforms into chainsaw
man the clock has hit 9:00 a.m. so you
know what that means it's time to lock
in I started animating cut one by
drawing the chair denji is sitting on
making sure to get the shape and the
proportions right since it's a key part
of the scene once that was done I placed
yet another 3D model and Drew dji's body
into position I referencing his
character sheet to make sure his skinny
frame matched the design perfectly after
that I repeated the process for makima
getting makima into the right posst
turned out to be way more difficult than
I expected it took a lot longer than it
should have and at this point I could
really feel myself burning out and this
is to the point where I could barely
even draw the simplest of drawings once
both characters were posted I started
animating denji leaning back into the
chair to keep things consistent I copied
and pasted dji's head into each frame
instead of redrawing it every single
time I did the same thing for AKA as she
leaned in which saved me some time and
helped keep the proportions more
accurate I also adjusted the timing of
their movements to make the scene make
more sense next I moved on to dji's line
art focusing on making it consistent
with this character sheet once I had the
key frames cleaned up I moved on to the
inbetween which at this rate is
increasingly making me want to rip my
head off also if you made it this far
and didn't skip to the end to watch the
final result comment something random
like uh hariry Eagle to confuse all the
fake frauds that did Skip To the End
also please like And subscribe it would
really mean the world to me if we can
make it to 100,000 subscribers soon
thanks a lot the support has been
awesome it is day 4 3:40 p.m. and I am
so tired I don't know if you can tell by
my eyes I'm about to go make a quick run
to Target and buy myself some energy
drinks because I think I'm going to fall
asleep mid animating and we really don't
want that so I got in my car safely
drove to Target and grabbed a couple of
Celsius
drinks can we just talk about how this
was almost $16 for four drinks and a egg
white thing like this is getting
ridiculous at what point is it enough
cheers after finishing up the line art
for denji I moved on to makima her
details took a bit longer than expected
but I eventually wrapped it up after
what felt like way more time than I
probably should have spent the first cut
was finally finished I'm not exactly too
proud of how this came out but I really
don't have the time to sit in a corner
and be disappointed in myself today so
without wasting any time I jump straight
into working on the next cut cut two was
next and it featured a close-up of dji's
face looking a bit surprised as mima's
hand comes in to play with his hair this
cut involves animating a hand which as
you guys know is something I fear
drawing with every fiber of my being I
more or less follow the same techniques
as before starting with a clean line art
based on the sketch of the storyboard I
left parts of dji's hair open to make
room for mima's hand interacting with it
and since I wanted the animation to feel
as natural as possible I made sure that
as mima's thumb moved across his hair
his hair shifted accordingly with her
movements to make dji's reaction more
realistic I also added a little bit of
Animation to his cheek making it move
slightly it took a lot of trial and
error to get everything feeling smooth
but by the end it was starting to come
together and right as the clock hit 9:00
p.m. I finished the second cut and also
day four is officially done it is
officially the end of day four and I
have completed the first two cuts
tomorrow I'm going to try to do two
three and that's pretty much it and then
I'm going to spend the last 2 days
working on this one cuz I want to make
sure that it's like insane so I don't
even know if I'm going to be able to get
my ideas out in time which is an issue
that happens in the anime Community
animators don't have enough time to get
their ideas as Al fly and end up turning
in unfinished work which uh ends up
looking unfinished in the anime and it's
because of this cuz there's not enough
time day five started with cut three
which is a close-up of makima blinking
as I began to draw I didn't know what
was wrong with me but I really just
couldn't draw for today I was
messing up pretty badly on the simplest
cut so far so in order to get some
assistance I set up a quick 3D model for
reference and then I sketched out mima's
eyes and her face I then proceeded to
move on to the line art and to avoid any
interference with the animation I made
sure to draw everything on separate
layers the hair on the highest layer the
face and shoulders on the bottom layer
and the eyes which is going to be the
only thing moving in the middle the
animation itself was pretty
straightforward but getting mima's face
to look just right took a lot longer
than I thought it would next was cut
four where makima moves her hand down
dji's body and pulls his core to
transform him I started yet again with a
3D model as a foundation then I sketched
things out and adjusted the size and
positioning until it felt just right
mima's hand would start on dji's cheek
move down to to his chest and pull the
cord but making that motion look natural
was way harder than it looks the drawing
of the hands where she's pulling his
cord was very difficult for me to figure
out so I ended up taking a picture of my
own hand as a reference to help me out a
little bit I spent a ridiculous amount
of time tweaking the movements to make
it look right especially when it came to
the inbetween keeping the fingers length
to remain consistent and also keep the
animation looking smooth was also very
difficult this took a ton of time to
pull off and I felt myself getting more
and more exhausted by the second at this
point I was was starting to miss my
normal routine but this is what mapa
animators go through and then 10 times
more as the clock closed in on 9:00 p.m.
I finally finished cut for and wrapped
up yet another exhausting
day I just woke up it's day six which
means I have just today and tomorrow
left and then I'm done with all this and
that's the good part but the bad part is
now I have to animate the most hard cut
out of all these the most complicated
one the biggest tragedy of all this is
how I've been able to get like not that
much sleep these last couple days I'm at
a point right now where I'm having
dreams of animating I spent all day
animating and now I'm animating in my
dreams I can't catch a break cut five is
the Final Cut of the week and it was
going to be by far the most challenging
and the one with the most drawings it
features a camera pan out of dji's face
followed by his head exploding and
transforming him into chainsaw man right
at 9:00 a.m. I started by sketching out
the final frame of the first half of the
animation to give me a clear idea of
where the camera movement is going to
end once I had that figured out I drew
the first frame to map everything out
properly and began working on the
details of dji's face and body after
that I started sketching the breakdown
frames to create a smooth easing flow
things were moving along decently until
I got to the part where dji's head turns
into chainsaw man this was where I hit a
wall chainsaw man's design is incredibly
detailed and trying to give it motion
feel borderline impossible even a single
frame would take forever to draw let
alone animating the whole transformation
as I sat there frustrated and stressed I
realized that I needed to think outside
the box animators are always looking for
ways to save time so so I found the 3D
model of Chainsaw man big shout out to
the Creator and I imported it into
blender I animated the movement I wanted
there then when that was done I exported
it at 12 FPS and brought it back to clip
Studio to trace over leaving me with
something that's okay it's not exactly
what I envisioned when I started but it
gets the job done and honestly it
doesn't look that bad what came next was
hands down the most painful part of
these seven days cleaning up and doing
the inet for this cut I had to get
through 32 frames and with around 16
hours of work ahead of me it felt like
it was never going to end I was
struggling with every single frame and
as the hours dragged on I could feel
myself becoming more and more empty with
this process I tried to make everything
as consistent as I could with the time I
had but honestly I just felt lifeless I
didn't want to do this anymore but I had
to my hand felt like it had a brain of
his own and my desire to keep going was
at an all-time low I kept telling myself
there's only one more day but honestly
it didn't help much by the time the
clock finally hit 9:00 p.m. I was
completely drained but more than
anything I was just relieved that day
six was finally over
[Music]
before the day started I decided to step
outside for a bit to truly take in the
moment to clear my head and to remind
myself that today is the final day one
final hard push and then I'm finally
free from this when I sat back down it
was time to lock in and finish this
animation everything every frame every
detail had to be done by the end of
today today was about getting it done as
best as I can with a little time I had
left as I worked I could feel the weight
of the last 7 Days on me my hand was
sore my back was hurting like a
and my mind was racing trying to keep
track of every little movement in the
animation but also thinking about how
much of a privileged position I'm in
this entire week has reminded me to be
grateful for the life I have and to
become more mindful of the opportunities
and privileges I often take for granted
it's made me realize that even in
challenging times there's always
something to be thankful for you A
Dream just put
[Music]
[Applause]
good in front of the other
this was without a doubt the hardest
challenge I've done so far on this
channel it pushed me physically mentally
and emotionally in ways I didn't even
think were possible after just 7 days of
this I can't even begin to imagine what
it's like for animators who have to live
this reality every single day the amount
of effort The Blood Sweat and Tears that
goes into something that will inevitably
be scrutinized by people that aren't
willing to lift up a pebble let alone
put in the work to create something
meaningful is insane I hope that after
seeing a fraction of the work that goes
into making an animation and anime fans
can try to be more understanding and
appreciate the animators who put in the
hard work every single day to give us
our entertainment
[Music]