The Two Sides of Studio MAPPA | Anime Studio Spotlight

[00:09] It can be difficult to talk about Studio MAPPA.

[00:15] from what I can say about the studio today,

[00:20] a lot, as has the anime industry as a whole,

[00:26] has firmly adapted to them. They’ve earned

[00:32] of risk-maker.

[00:33] At the time, MAPPA was referred to as the

[00:38] else would. But now, the studio has changed,

[00:43] like Aniplex, Shonen Jump, Netflix and Crunchyroll,

[00:49] new ideas themselves. They’re often referred

[00:55] they’re sheep to an industry that continues

[01:00] [baah]

[01:01] Sorry, that joke genuinely was awful. There

[01:07] of Zombie Land Saga, to the trusting of Yuri

[01:12] of Jujutsu Kaisen but these successes have

[01:18] Hello and welcome to The Canipa Effect. This

[01:40] MAPPA shows can be great and more significantly,

[01:46] goal, but rather, something the studio fell

[01:52] And so, to learn about MAPPA, we need to learn

[01:58] Animation Produce Project Association. Let’s

[02:05] Masao Maruyama started out in the industry

[02:12] like Miyazaki, he’s refused to retire since.

[02:18] of TV anime, Osamu Tezuka and when the company

[02:24] into a fountain of talent, who went on to

[02:30] and of course Madhouse, assembled by Maruyama’s

[02:36] was shaped in some way by Tezuka, and thus,

[03:07] Madhouse started out as a way of making cool

[03:12] Maruyama found more friends. These included

[03:18] Sakura director Morio Asaka. Yuri on Ice director

[03:24] Steins Gates’ Hiroshi Hamasaki, Devilman

[03:29] Tomohiko Ito, Attack on Titan’s Tetsuro

[03:35] Takeshi Koike. And many many more. Basically,

[03:40] most creative directors and helped launch

[03:46] material. No other producer has the breadth

[03:51] The focus at the time was always on shows

[03:56] and there was always a good mix. Plenty of

[04:00] to make, along with shows that other companies

[04:05] and is the reason so many industry-defining

[04:11] a place where they could generally do what

[04:14] That was until 2011 when NTV bought the studio.

[04:23] to be, if you can convince Maruyama it’s

[04:28] was a parent company to deal with. This sparked

[04:35] to animator left the studio. Mamoru Hosoda was in

[04:40] he created Studio Chizu to finish it off,

[04:45] “Madhouse literally was represented by Mr.

[04:50] were like, “Well, what am I going to do?

[04:54] that we want to?” Obviously, if another

[04:59] I had no choice but to create Studio Chizu

[05:03] And so while everyone else went on to create

[05:08] of other teams, Maruyama did what he knew

[05:14] back to Studio MAPPA.

[05:23] For him, starting from scratch was an opportunity.

[05:27] As Madhouse had gotten larger, he’d found

[05:31] works. Unfortunately, it’s always going

[05:35] company wants you to, rather than a passion

[05:41] this. Satoshi Kon films never performed well

[05:46] over and over again, because he’s the best

[05:52] it’s not making money.

[05:53] MAPPA started out with the goal of bringing

[05:57] it’s a bunch of friends making cool anime.

[06:02] the bucket list. Work with Cowboy Bebop director

[06:10] but despite his critical acclaim, he’s not

[06:15] he’d been working at Studio Madhouse on

[06:20] get pulled out from under him.

[06:21] Maruyama was frustrated, so when he was offered

[06:26] handed the manga to Watanabe telling him,

[06:31] Watanabe accepted, because in his words, nobody

[06:38] He wanted to bring on a producer from Studio

[06:43] come up later.

[06:44] Kids on the Slope was MAPPA’s first show

[06:49] of the studio. Maruyama wanted to finish making

[06:55] He wanted to make a Garo anime, so he did.

[07:01] Keiichi Sato, so he did. In fact, the show

[07:07] was pitched to the studio purely because a

[07:12] the Slope.

[07:23] Rage of Bahamut: Genesis itself created a wave of opportunity for the new studio. Keiichi Sato created a series that people would later

[07:32] refer to as too good for TV anime. It’s

[07:38] moments with incredible animation. And it

[07:42] how much creative freedom Sato was allowed.

[07:48] the map and Cygames agreed. Ever since Bahamut,

[07:54] when they set up their own animation studio,

[07:58] Kusanagi, they’ve returned the favour on

[08:03] and Yuri on Ice.

[08:09] But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. At this point, each show had a goal in mind.

[08:17] become essential in anime in the future, so he gave Yuichiro Hayashi the mission

[08:22] of learning how to direct 3D animation for

[08:27] another goal, he felt it was his responsibility

[08:32] rather than other old men. So in those early days, he helped produce

[08:38] he hired Yutaka Uemura, one of the last remaining

[08:44] the time.

[08:45] And Punch Line perhaps is the main differentiating

[08:50] Hayao Miyazaki. They’re both stubborn, but

[08:55] of great shows that aren’t necessarily his

[08:59] Tora, which he’s specifically a fan of and

[09:03] but stuff like Punch Line, he greenlit it because

[09:08] he jokingly thought, hey it’ll be easier

[09:13] He later found out that the show had mechs,

[09:17] As an aside, Punchline is fantastic and it’s

[09:22] he was working on these shows, that producer

[09:27] was earning his paycheck as well. The schedule

[09:32] producer Fuko Noda had heard that director

[09:39] And so they went ahead and asked to make it,

[09:43] And it kinda was.

[09:52] Manabu Otsuka was good at this. He can determine

[09:58] everyone else is giving up on them. Yuri on

[10:02] all shows that producers from outside of the

[10:07] in them when few others would, using MAPPA’s

[10:13] It would be easy to say Yuri on Ice was the

[10:19] to ramp up the amount of anime produced at

[10:24] airing in 2017. But the success of Yuri on

[10:30] difficulties, but it made a load of money.

[10:34] Welcome to the new Studio MAPPA.

[10:44] The thing about Yuri on Ice is that it was greenlit knowing that the studio was already

[10:51] close to the deadline that different broadcasters

[10:57] With the increase in productions and the studio

[11:02] the last days at Madhouse. As a company gets

[11:08] passion projects and things become too much

[11:13] a studio with his namesake yet again, founding

[11:20] be Yuri on Ice producer Manabu Otsuka.

[11:23] The amount of shows MAPPA was producing was

[11:27] of control the studio had over these productions.

[11:33] a studio needs to invest financially in the

[11:38] does this, or doesn’t invest enough to overrule

[11:44] much of a problem if you’re not making all

[11:49] in the hands of producers from publishing

[11:53] “The most important part of a producer’s

[11:59] so selling that product and making sure it

[12:05] These are the kind of people who control MAPPA’s

[12:09] to invest, they’re not doing so nearly as

[12:23] Director-focused originals are a point of

[12:28] where they say, “You’ve seen what we can

[12:32] what we can do with our own.” But not only

[12:37] case of Gymnastics Samurai created by director

[12:43] it, letting Aniplex control the show’s difficult

[12:48] why I’m worried for Masafumi Nishida’s

[12:53] in creating an original anime if the creators

[12:58] And this is putting aside stuff like Kunihiko

[13:03] MAPPA being credited, they ended up having

[13:07] it largely being planned and produced at Lapin

[13:11] MAPPA just isn’t the place for creative

[13:16] a director for Banana Fish, they requested MAPPA

[13:22] went on to pitch her own original project,

[13:28] not the only one. After Maruyama left the

[13:33] to MAPPA, instead heading back to Studio Bones

[13:38] Bizarrely, despite their prestige, instead

[13:43] staff wants to make, MAPPA is even picking

[13:48] Fantasy the Animation and Attack on Titan,

[13:53] not being able to live up to fans’ expectations.

[13:55] In a later interview, Maruyama stated that

[14:00] of shows they want to make, they should come

[14:06] currently working on a passion project adaptation

[14:10] All of this isn’t necessarily a MAPPA specific

[14:16] that’s been stretching the anime industry

[14:21] streaming from both the United States and

[14:25] it ever has been before. And so, with profits

[14:31] on their shows a liveable wage, right? Nah,

[14:36] even more anime. And now every company in

[14:41] creation of a load more anime series. From

[14:46] reality is, there’s not enough people to

[14:51] himself has chimed in, saying that there’s

[14:56] out talented artists far too quickly.

[14:59] Different companies have had different ways

[15:03] rejecting offers that would overburden them.

[15:09] “There are some in the industry who think

[15:13] decrease, but I think that is just averting

[15:18] is a lot of demand for anime, so the question

[15:22] meet the demand. Our company is still adapting

[15:27] of what has to be done. That's why I want

[15:32] anime industry head on by increasing our production

[15:36] Instead of holding fast to the ideals the

[15:41] to the broken system and it’s being put

[15:46] The studios who accept this kind of workload

[15:52] animation for the sake of constantly bringing

[15:55] But there is one clear difference and it’s

[15:59] spotlight to begin with. Jujutsu Kaisen and

[16:09] The studio has a new image. Not one based

[16:14] on creating loads of adaptations while still

[16:20] Of course, there are plenty of MAPPA shows

[16:24] but directors Sunghoo Park and Yuichiro

[16:29] of this image.

[16:30] I’ll start with Jujutsu Kaisen. By all means,

[16:36] delivering his own brand of visceral action

[16:40] Park turned his attention to the fan-favourite

[16:45] is an animator by trade and mindset, and so

[16:50] him achieve an ambitious vision. Many of these

[16:55] work with MAPPA. But despite everyone being

[17:01] character designer Tadashi Hiramatsu collectively

[17:06] who could help elevate this beyond a bog standard

[17:10] In fact, the one thing letting the show down

[17:15] to keep up with the ambitious and unique animation.

[17:18] And while Attack on Titan doesn’t rise nearly

[17:23] a lot to like about its Final Season. The

[17:28] but due to talented directors and the strength

[17:32] director Yuichiro Hayashi for years, it was

[17:38] the most popular show in the United States.

[17:41] But what anime fans often aren’t privy to

[17:45] wanting to try and improve conditions for

[17:50] their production philosophy run counter to

[17:54] MAPPA shows don’t actually work there. Instead,

[18:00] company, or increasingly, outside the country.

[18:13] There have been more anime being created over

[18:17] animators working in the industry over time.

[18:22] production staff prefer to work with animators

[18:27] they’ve started reaching out over Twitter.

[18:33] childhood doodling has resulted in being able

[18:38] the industry isn’t thinking of it the same

[18:43] skills, foreign animators are being used as

[18:48] episodes are able to be finished but not being

[18:54] MAPPA is especially guilty of this. They know

[18:58] producing this many shows themselves, and so

[19:03] more work with the knowledge that they’ll

[19:08] #2. Unlike animators in Japan, there’s no

[19:13] There’s no directing dreams ahead when you’re

[19:17] animators are increasingly becoming the backbone

[19:23] animators, in high school or university with the

[19:28] And this is only happening after they’ve

[19:33] Record of Battles has key animation from ten

[19:38] on outsourcing at Studio MAPPA is so prominent

[19:44] MAPPA would be large and reckless enough to

[19:49] when they were offered a schedule that no

[19:55] one word for it.

[19:56] This has been a pretty negative video, and

[20:01] the anime industry in 2021. I imagine most

[20:06] Jujutsu Kaisen is. And it is incredible animation,

[20:13] going to blow everyone’s minds. But when

[20:18] about the people behind the scenes.

[20:21] The directors who are constantly shifted from

[20:25] local and overseas who are being given strict

[20:30] production assistants, who have to handle

[20:50] Thanks for watching The Canipa Effect. And

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