Everyone
knows that making anime costs an arm and a leg, and that's why in Japan there
are the famous production committees, where several companies put money so as
not to go bankrupt if the project fails. But with Chainsaw Man,
the MAPPA studio said "get out of it, I'm going
there" and decided to finance absolutely everything out of its own pocket.
Now, the studio's own president, Manabu Otsuka, finally spilled the
beans about why they made such a suicidal decision by industry standards.
The
ambition to eat the whole cake
Through a
recent column, Otsuka confessed that Tatsuki Fujimoto's original story hit him
straight into nostalgia. According to him, the raw and twisted vibe of the work
reminded him a lot of his beginnings working at Studio 4°C and represented
exactly the reason why he chose to pursue animation in the first place. Feeling
that the manga's DNA fit perfectly with MAPPA's philosophy, they set themselves
the goal of not letting go of a bit of the rights.
The master
plan was to control everything from the production of the chapters to
international distribution, marketing and merchandise sales. They wanted to
keep all the profits without having to answer to anyone, and then reinvest that
money in the studio itself. The idea was to use those funds to improve working
conditions, train the new blood of animators and buy better technical
equipment.
Of course,
not everything was honey on flakes. The president admitted
that the first season was a very difficult birth because the team sinned of
rookie and the structure of the studio was still very green to carry such a
monster alone. Without a safety net, any financial disaster was going to fall
squarely on their heads. However, they held their own hand. The massive success
of the recent Reze Arc movie proved that the gamble paid off, and they're
already sharpening the pencils for the long-awaited adaptation of the
Assassin's Arc.
About
Chainsaw Man
For those
who live under a stone, this little gem revolutionized
modern shonen by introducing us to Denji, a kid who lives in
absolute misery, merges with his chainsaw demon dog and ends up working as a
demon hunter for the government. It's a roller coaster of blood, twists that
leave you looking at the wall and characters with their perception of reality
totally altered. MAPPA's move to fund it alone is a very rare case, but if they
manage to keep up, they could be a game-changer for other independent studios.
