MAPPA

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Expand Japanese Template:Infobox company Template:Nihongo is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo (formerly in Suginami, Tokyo). Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including Terror in Resonance, Yuri!!! on Ice, In This Corner of the World, Kakegurui, Banana Fish, Zombie Land Saga, Dororo (in co-production with Tezuka Productions), Dorohedoro, The God of High School, Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan (season 4), Vinland Saga (season 2), Chainsaw Man, Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, and the 2024 adaptation of Ranma ½. MAPPA is an acronym for Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association.

Business

History

The studio was established on June 14, 2011, by Masao Maruyama, a co-founder and former producer of Madhouse, at the age of 70. Maruyama served as the company's first representative director, and the studio's initial goal was to produce Sunao Katabuchi's In This Corner of the World. Due to financial difficulties at Madhouse, Maruyama and Katabuchi established MAPPA in the hopes of producing the film; however, despite moving studios, the film had a lot of production troubles, and wasn't released until 5 years later. Maruyama first started working with Katabuchi for the film in 2010 during Madhouse era, but it took three years to start the production due to difficulties to raising funds.

In April 2016, Maruyama resigned as a CEO of the studio and became a chairman. Studio animation producer Manabu Otsuka, a founding member and a former employee of Studio 4°C, became the CEO following Maruyama's official departure.

Controversies

The studio's scheduling, work, and culture have been the subject of intense scrutiny. Veteran animator Hisashi Eguchi criticized the studio's low pay. Mushiyo, another animator at MAPPA, also criticized the company for not properly training its animators and the studio's culture of overwork, which led to them eventually quitting their job at the studio. Besides the animator's individual output within the studio, they also criticized the company's decision to produce four series concurrently. Kevin Cirugeda from Sakugablog suggested the problems were due to the studio's incredibly fast-paced growth and "recklessness".

Cirugeda also noted that in the 20 televised animes MAPPA produced from the beginning of 2015 to the beginning of 2020, the company had only been on the production committee for four of them, all of which listed MAPPA near the bottom or at the very bottom of the list, indicating that they served to a capacity almost as if they were being specifically contracted for work even on "original" series.

MAPPA denied offering "unreasonable compensation" to "creators" in a response to claims that the studio underpaid workers; however, animator Ippei Ichii claimed that an anime produced by MAPPA under Netflix was suggesting a pay of Template:Yen per cut, to which Ichii claimed that Template:Yen is the minimum cost that animators should negotiate for.

Productions

Anime television series

Year	Title	Director(s)	Animation producer(s)	Source	Eps.	Refs.
2012	Kids on the Slope (co-produced with Tezuka Productions)	Shinichirō Watanabe	Manabu Otsuka Masao Morosawa Sumio Udagawa	Manga	12
	Teekyu	Shin Itagaki	Masashi Tanaka	Manga	12Template:Efn
2013	Teekyu 2	Shin Itagaki	Manabu Otsuka	Manga	12Template:Efn
	Teekyu 3	Shin Itagaki	Manabu Otsuka	Manga	12Template:Efn
2013–2014	Hajime no Ippo: Rising (co-produced with Madhouse)	Jun Shishido	Shintarou Hashimoto Yasuteru Iwase Masakazu Watanabe	Manga	25
2014	Terror in Resonance	Shinichirō Watanabe	Manabu Otsuka	Original work	11
	Rage of Bahamut: Genesis	Keiichi Sato	Manabu Otsuka	Video game	12Template:Efn
2014–2015	Garo: The Carved Seal of Flames	Yuichiro Hayashi	Manabu Otsuka	Original work Tokusatsu series	24
2015	Punch Line	Yutaka Uemura	Manabu Otsuka Fuuko Noda	Original work	12
	Ushio & Tora (co-produced with Studio VOLN)	Satoshi Nishimura		Manga	26
2015–2016	Garo: Crimson Moon	Atsushi Wakabayashi		Original work Tokusatsu series	23Template:Efn
2016	Ushio & Tora Part 2	Satoshi Nishimura		Manga	13
	Days	Kōnosuke Uda	Manabu Otsuka	Manga	24
	Yuri!!! on Ice	Sayo Yamamoto Jun ShishidoTemplate:Efn	Takahiro Ogawa Fuuko Noda	Original work	12Template:Efn
2017	Idol Incidents (co-produced with Studio VOLN)	Daisuke Yoshida		Media-mix project	12
	Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul	Keiichi Sato	Katsuhito Masuda	Video game	24
	Kakegurui	Yuichiro Hayashi		Manga	12Template:Efn
	Altair: A Record of Battles	Kazuhiro Furuhashi	Wataru Kawagoe	Manga	24
	Inuyashiki	Keiichi SatoTemplate:Efn Shuhei Yabuta	Katsuhito Masuda	Manga	11
2017–2018	Garo: Vanishing Line	Sunghoo Park	Takahiro Ogawa Manabu Otsuka	Original work Tokusatsu series	24
2018	Banana Fish	Hiroko Utsumi	Manabu Otsuka	Manga	24
	Zombie Land Saga	Munehisa Sakai	Manabu Otsuka	Original work	12
2019	Dororo (co-produced with Tezuka Productions)	Kazuhiro Furuhashi	Masato Matsunaga	Manga	24
	Kakegurui ××	Yuichiro HayashiTemplate:Efn Kiyoshi Matsuda	Takahiro Ogawa	Original work	12
	Sarazanmai (co-produced with Lapin Track)	Kunihiko Ikuhara Nobuyuki TakeuchiTemplate:Efn	Manabu Otsuka Masakazu Watanabe	Original work	11
	To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts	Jun Shishido	Takahiro Ogawa	Manga	12
	Granblue Fantasy The Animation (season 2)	Yui Umemoto	Masato Matsunaga	Video game	12Template:Efn
2020	Uchitama?! Have you seen my Tama? (co-produced with Lapin Track)	Kiyoshi Matsuda	Tooru Kubo Masakazu Watanabe	Character franchise	11
	Dorohedoro	Yuichiro Hayashi	Fuuko Noda	Manga	12Template:Efn
	Listeners	Hiroaki Ando	Takahiro Ogawa	Original work	12
	The God of High School	Sunghoo Park	Tooru Kubo Wataru Kawagoe	Manhwa	13
	Mr Love: Queen's Choice	Munehisa Sakai	Fuuko Noda	Mobile game visual novel	12
	The Gymnastics Samurai	Hisatoshi Shimizu	Fuuko Noda	Original work	11
2020–2021	Jujutsu Kaisen	Sunghoo Park	Keisuke Seshimo	Manga	24
2020–2023	Attack on Titan (season 4)	Yuichiro Hayashi Jun ShishidoTemplate:Efn	Masato Matsunaga (part 1) Wataru Kawagoe (parts 2–4)	Manga	35Template:Efn	Template:Efn
2021	Zombie Land Saga Revenge	Munehisa Sakai	Takahiro Ogawa	Original work	12
	Re-Main	Masafumi NishidaTemplate:Efn Kiyoshi Matsuda	Manabu Otsuka	Original work	12
	The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace	Seimei Kidokoro	Fuuko Noda	Manga	11
	Takt Op. Destiny (co-produced with Madhouse)	Yuuki Itoh	Wataru Kawagoe Yuuichirou Fukushi	Media-mix project	12
2022	Dance Dance Danseur	Munehisa Sakai	Takahiro Ogawa	Manga	11
	Chainsaw Man	Ryū Nakayama Makoto NakazonoTemplate:Efn	Keisuke Seshimo	Manga	12
2023	Vinland Saga (season 2)	Shūhei Yabuta	Hiroya Hasegawa	Manga	24
	Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill	Kiyoshi Matsuda	Takahiro Ogawa	Light novel	12
	Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku	Kaori Makita	Wataru Kawagoe	Manga	13
	Jujutsu Kaisen (season 2)	Shōta Goshozono	Keisuke Seshimo	Manga	23
2024	Bucchigiri?!	Hiroko Utsumi	Takahiro Ogawa	Original work	12
	Oblivion Battery	Makoto Nakazono	Hiroya Hasegawa Kouya Okamura	Manga	12
	Ranma ½	Kōnosuke Uda	Kouya Okamura	Manga	12
2025	Zenshu	Mitsue Yamazaki	Takahiro Ogawa	Original work	Template:TBA
	Lazarus (co-produced with Sola Entertainment)	Shinichirō Watanabe	Masato Matsunaga	Original work	13
TBA	Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku (season 2)	Template:TBA	Template:TBA	Manga	Template:TBA
	Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill (season 2)	Template:TBA	Template:TBA	Light novel	Template:TBA
	Jujutsu Kaisen (season 3)	Template:TBA	Template:TBA	Manga	Template:TBA

Anime films

Year	Title	Director(s)	Animation producer(s)	Source	Refs.
2016	Garo: Divine Flame	Yuichiro Hayashi	Manabu Otsuka Takahiro Ogawa	Original work Tokusatsu series
	In This Corner of the World	Sunao Katabuchi	Ryoichiro Matsuo	Manga
2019	In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the WorldTemplate:Efn	Sunao Katabuchi	Ryoichiro Matsuo	Manga
2021	Jujutsu Kaisen 0	Sunghoo Park	Keisuke Seshimo	Manga
2022	A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot	Shinichiro Watanabe		Original workTemplate:Efn
2023	Maboroshi	Mari Okada Seimei KidokoroTemplate:Efn	Fuuko Noda Ryouta Kitsunai	Original work
2024	Gekijōban Inazuma Eleven: Aratanaru Eiyū-tachi no Joshō	Template:TBA	Template:TBA	Video game
2025	The Rose of Versailles	Ai Yoshimura	Template:TBA	Manga
TBA	Zombie Land Saga the Movie	Template:TBA	Template:TBA	Original work
	Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc	Template:TBA	Template:TBA	Manga

Original video animations (OVAs)

Year	Title	Director(s)	Animation producer(s)	Source	Eps.	Refs.
2017	Days: OVA	Kōnosuke Uda		Manga	2
	Onihei: Sono Otoko, Hasegawa Heizou	Shigeyuki Miya		Manga	1
2018	Days: Touin Gakuen-sen!	Kōnosuke Uda		Manga	3

Original net animations (ONAs)

Year	Title	Director(s)	Animation producer(s)	Source	Eps.	Refs.
2012–2015	Komachi and Dangorō	Hisashi Abe		Original work	4
2020	Oblivion Battery	Parako Shinohara	Ayako Sekine	Manga	1
2021	Yasuke	LeSean Thomas Takeru SatoTemplate:Efn	Takahiro Ogawa	Original work	6
2022	Kakegurui Twin	Yuichiro HayashiTemplate:Efn Kaori Makita	Takahiro Ogawa	Manga	6

Music videos (MVs)

Year	Title	Director(s)	Animation producer(s)	Artist(s)	Notes	Refs.
2013	Hana wa Saku	Sunao Katabuchi	Manabu Otsuka	Yoko Kanno	The theme for NHK's Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Project
	Korekarasaki, Nando Anata to.	Sunao Katabuchi	Ryoichiro Matsuo	Mishmash Aimee Isobe
2021	Oretachi Maji-kō Destroy
2023	Seventeen	Parako Shinohara	Ayako Sekine	YOASOBI	Produced by Contrail
2024	Like the Flatwoods Monster	Satomi Maiya	Ryo Oikawa	Eve Deu
	Lucky	Kyohei Ishiguro		Nulbarich Sunny UMI	Co-produced with Contrail

Video games

Year	Title	Director(s)	Animation producer(s)	Publisher	Notes	Refs.
2019	Persona 5 Royal	Yuichiro Hayashi		Atlus	Opening animation
2022	Jujutsu Kaisen: Phantom Parade	Takuji Miyamoto	Keisuke Seshimo	Toho Games	Opening animation
2024	Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club	Kyohei Ishiguro	Ayako Sekine	Nintendo	Cutscene in Minoru: Famicom Detective Club, co-produced with Contrail
	Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road		Yuriko Waki	Level-5	Cutscenes

Cancelled projects

• Dreaming Machine (film) Template:Endash cancelled film, originally directed by Satoshi Kon and taken over by Yoshimi Itazu after Kon's death; planned co-production with Madhouse
• Yuri!!! On Ice: Ice Adolescence (film) Template:Endash cancelled film to be directed by Sayo Yamamoto and announced in 2017 before being delayed in 2019 and in production hell for several years. The film was cancelled in April 2024.

Notable staff

Representative staff

• Masao Maruyama (founder, first president (2011~2016), board chairman since 2016)
• Manabu Otsuka (second president since 2016)
• Wataru Kawagoe (MAPPA Sendai representative)
• Makoto Kimura (board member, 2018~2024)
• Hiroya Hasegawa (executive vice president since 2024)
• Yasuteru Iwase (board member since 2024; former animation producer)
• Yuusuke Tannawa (board member since 2024)
• Shuuhei Yabuta (board member since 2024)
• Kousuke Hosokai (board member since 2024)
• Keisuke Seshimo (operating officer since 2024; also animation producer since 2016)
• Eiji Matsuo (chief rights officer since 2024)

Animation producers

• Masato Matsunaga (2012~present)
• Masakazu Watanabe (2012~2014; co-founder of Lapin Track)
• Fuuko Noda (2014~2024)
• Takahiro Ogawa (2014~present)
• Koya Okamura (2015~present)
• Toru Kubo (2015~2021)
• Katsuhito Masuda (2017~2018)
• Ryota Kitsunai (2023~present)
• Ryo Oikawa (2024~present)
• Yuriko Waki (2024~present)

Directors

• Munehisa Sakai (2017~2022)

Animators

• Template:Ill (2018~present)

See also

• List of Japanese animation studios
• Grizzly, an animation studio specialized solely on BL titles

External links

• Template:Official websiteTemplate:In lang
• Company profile Template:WebarchiveTemplate:In lang
• Template:Anime News Network
• Template:Anime News Network