With Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc being a box office hit in both Japan and the US, studio MAPPA has been making preparations for its upcoming anime adaptation of the Assasin’s Arc, first announced last December. Reflecting on the series’ success as an anime, MAPPA studio president Manabu Otsuka wrote a column for Bunshun Online in which he talked about the adaptation’s beginnings, and the great risks the studio took to realize the project.
It is a well-known fact that MAPPA made the rather bold move of making a 100% investment in Chainsaw Man’s budget without relying on external funding (as is common practice in the anime industry). However, Otsuka calls it a decision that was based “less on confidence, and more on the team’s determination,” stemming from the link they recognized between the manga series and their own artistic sensibilities when they first encountered it.
“I felt that Chainsaw Man clearly embodies the reason why I chose to work in animation, and the subcultural heritage which I was in love with back when I started working for STUDIO4℃. It’s the rawness that can’t be contained in an existing framework, and its slightly distorted perspective, juxtaposed with its power to remain solid as a piece of entertainment. It kind of overlapped with the spirit of the creators gathered at MAPA and the kind of work we ourselves have loved and have been creating until now,” Otsuka wrote.
“And that is precisely why, if we were to take on the project, we didn’t want to just simply be in charge of the production – we wanted to pour everything we had into it.” Driven by that determination, MAPPA decided to fully fund the project out of their own pocket, taking on complete responsibility for how the anime would be handled, including marketing, overseas distribution and merchandising. This also meant that the project wasn’t overseen by a production committee (consortium of companies that come together to invest in the production of anime on a project-by-project basis), which is a rather unusual move for the industry.
Otsuka clarifies, however, that the main objective of this decision is to create an environment in which they would be able to further invest into making better content. “Instead of hoarding those profits […] within our company, we thoroughly reinvest them into improving the work environment of our creative teams, raising the next generation, and equipment so we can keep creating even better works.”
On the other hand, Otsuka writes that the responsibility that came with handling everything by themselves was far heavier than MAPPA had imagined. He specifically cites the first season of Chainsaw Man as “not going exactly as planned,” both when it came to production and dealing with ownership rights. “I think a part of it came into light due to a lack of experience and an immature team structure. Of course, since we are the ones who chose to fund everything by ourselves, all the consequences will come back to us.”
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