The studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man has just secured a new partner with quite a bit of experience in the entertainment industry. The Japanese company CyberAgent announced a commercial alliance with MAPPA and confirmed that it acquired part of the shares of MHD, the parent company of the animation studio. The deal was officially unveiled on November 11 and contemplates collaborations that go far beyond producing new anime series.
For those
unfamiliar with CyberAgent, it is one of Japan's largest entertainment groups,
responsible for businesses such as streaming platform ABEMA and video
game developer Cygames, known for franchises such as Uma Musume:
Pretty Derby and Granblue Fantasy. Now, the company is looking to
leverage that experience to develop new opportunities with MAPPA.
Of course,
there is an important detail: CyberAgent has not purchased MAPPA completely.
The investment was made through the acquisition of a stake in MHD, which is
also chaired by Manabu Otsuka, the current executive director of the firm. The
companies did not disclose how much money was involved or what percentage of
the shares changed hands.
According
to the official statement, the alliance will seek to combine MAPPA's
production capacity with CyberAgent's commercial expertise. This includes
collaborating from the early stages of planning an anime to its international
distribution, including possible adaptations to video games, official products
and fan events.
In other
words, both companies want to be involved in more aspects of a franchise,
rather than just producing a series and leaving the rest of their activities to
other companies. However, no concrete project has yet been announced as
a result of this agreement, so it would be premature to expect video game
adaptations of MAPPA's most popular productions.
And while
the announcement may seem like an entirely new collaboration, the two companies
have been working together for quite some time. In fact, one of his first
projects was Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, an anime produced by MAPPA in
2014 from the Cygames video game. Since then, they have also collaborated in
the planning of other productions, their distribution through ABEMA and
different projects related to video games.
In an
interview published alongside the announcement, the presidents of both
companies explained that their professional relationship began approximately
eight years ago. Manabu Otsuka, president of MAPPA, and Takahiro Yamauchi,
president of CyberAgent, stressed that they share a vision on the
importance of taking care of works and finding better ways to bring them closer
to international audiences.
Yamauchi
pointed out that both companies share the Creative First
philosophy, focused on respecting the work of creators. For his part, Otsuka
assured that MAPPA will continue to pay special attention to the quality of its
productions, while leveraging the strengths of its new partner to expand the
experiences it can offer to viewers.
For now, MAPPA
confirmed that it will maintain its administrative structure and continue to
operate as an independent animation studio. This means that the agreement
does not imply an announced change in its direction or that CyberAgent will
automatically take control of its upcoming productions.
The
alliance is part of a trend of both companies to expand their activities around
anime. MAPPA has been more directly involved in the commercial management of
its works for several years, while CyberAgent has reinforced its investments in
animated production, video games and content distribution.
Thus, the
agreement could open up new opportunities to develop franchises and bring them
closer to viewers in other countries. However, its results will depend on the
projects that the companies decide to undertake, as there are still no new
series, films or video games specifically linked to this investment.
