is a Japanese animation studio headquartered 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 ''Banana Fish'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akimi Yoshida. It was originally serialized from May 1985 to April 1994 in ''Bessatsu Shōjo Comic'', a manga magazine publishing manga (girls' m ...

'', '' Zombie Land Saga'', '' Dororo'' (in co-production with Tezuka Productions), '' Dorohedoro'', '' The God of High School'', ''

Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since March 2018, with its chapters collected and published in 21 ''tankōbon'' vo ...

'', '' Attack on Titan: The Final Season'', '' Chainsaw Man''. MAPPA is an acronym for Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association.

Business

History

The studio was founded 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 is a Japanese animation director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. He is director of Contrail Co. Ltd. He has been a part-time lecturer at Nihon University College of Art since 2006, and a Project Professor at the college of Art of at the ...

'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.

Criticism

The studio's scheduling, work, and culture have been the subject of intense scrutiny, with veteran animators like Hisashi Eguchi criticizing their practices; to which Kevin Cirugeda from ''Sakugablog'' surmised as being due to the studio's incredibly fast-paced growth and "recklessness". Mushiyo, another animator at MAPPA, also criticized the company for not properly training its animators and the studio's culture of overwork, which lead 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 co-currently. Cirugeda also noted that in the 20 televised anime 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 per cut, to which Ichii claimed that is the minimum cost that animators should negotiate for.

Productions

Anime television series

Anime films

Original video animations (OVAs)

Original net animations (ONAs)

Other productions

Notes

References

External links

*
Company profile
* {{Japanese animation studios Japanese companies established in 2011 Mass media companies established in 2011 Japanese animation studios Animation studios in Tokyo