is a Japanese

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animation, animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales ...

headquartered in Nakano,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

(formerly in

Suginami is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 pe ...

, Tokyo). Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including ''

Terror in Resonance , also known as ''Terror in Tokyo'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by MAPPA. The anime was created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, with character designs by Kazuto Nakazawa and music by Yoko Kanno. It was broadcast for ...

'', ''

Yuri!!! on Ice is a Japanese sports anime television series about figure skating. The series was produced by MAPPA, directed and written by Sayo Yamamoto with original scripts by Mitsurō Kubo under the chief episode direction of Jun Shishido. Characte ...

'', '' 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 ...

'', ''

Zombie Land Saga is an anime television series produced by MAPPA, Avex Pictures and Cygames. The series aired in Japan between October and December 2018. A second season titled ''Zombie Land Saga Revenge'' aired between April and June 2021. An anime ...

'', ''

Dororo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's childhood memory of his friends pronouncing as ''dororo'' inspired the title of the series. ''Dororo'' was first serialized in Shogakukan's '' ...

'' (in co-production with

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as ''Marvelous Melmo'', the Astro Boy (1980 TV series), 1980 and Astro Boy (2003 TV series), 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and ''Black Jack ...

), ''

Dorohedoro is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Q Hayashida. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazines '' Monthly Ikki'' (November 2000 to September 2014), ' (March 2015 to August 2017), and '' Monthly Shōnen Sunday'' (Nove ...

'', ''

The God of High School is a South Korean manhwa released as a webtoon written and illustrated by Yongje Park. It has been serialized in Naver Corporation's webtoon platform Naver Webtoon from April 2011 to December 2022, with the individual chapters collected and pub ...

'', ''

Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. It was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from March 2018 to September 2024, with its chapters collected in 30 volumes. The ...

'', ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

'' (

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

), '' Vinland Saga'' (

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album by Unk, 2008 * "Season 2", a song by Phoenix from ''Alpha Zulu ''Alpha Zulu'' is the seventh studio album by French indie pop band Phoenix, released on 4 ...

), ''

Chainsaw Man is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Its first Story arc, arc was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2018 to December 2020; its second arc began ...

'', '' Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku'', and the 2024 adaptation of ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected in 38 volumes by Shogakukan. The story revolves a ...

''. MAPPA is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

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 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. Mappa is overworked and cannot meet demand. 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 is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Kōji Morimoto in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense. History has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include ' ...

, became the CEO following Maruyama's official departure.

Controversies

The studio's scheduling, work, and culture have been the subject of scrutiny by industry creators and critics. 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 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)

Music videos (MVs)

Video games

Other productions

Cancelled projects

* '' Dreaming Machine'' (film) cancelled film, originally directed by

Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art Univer ...

and taken over by Yoshimi Itazu after Kon's death; planned co-production with Madhouse * '' Yuri!!! On Ice: Ice Adolescence'' (film) 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 (animation producer; MAPPA Sendai representative) *Makoto Kimura (board member, 2018~2024) *Hiroya Hasegawa (animation producer; 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) *Yuuichi Fukushima (executive vice president at

CloverWorks is a Japanese animation studio that was rebranded from A-1 Pictures' Kōenji Studio. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. Establishment On April 1, 2018, A-1 Pictures rebranded its Kōenji Studio ...

; external board member since 2025) *Keisuke Seshimo (animation producer; executive officer since 2024) *Motoi Okunou (executive officer since 2025) *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) *Kouya Okamura (2015~present) *Tooru Kubo (2015~2021) *Katsuhito Masuda (2017~2018) *Ryouta Kitsunai (2023~present) *Ryou Ooigawa (2024~present) *Yuriko Waki (2024~present) *Koudai Katou (2025~present) *Makoto Arakawa (2025~present)

Directors

Munehisa Sakai is a Japanese anime director. He joined Toei Animation in 1992, where he directed part of ''One Piece'', ''Suite PreCure'', and ''Sailor Moon Crystal''. After leaving Toei Animation and joining MAPPA in 2017, he has directed '' Zombie Land Saga' ...

(2017~2022)

Animators

* (2018~present)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Company profile
* * {{Japanese animation studios Animation controversies Anime and manga controversies Japanese companies established in 2011 Mass media companies established in 2011 Japanese animation studios Animation studios in Tokyo Nakano, Tokyo