MAPPA

MAPPA Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社MAPPA, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha MAPPA) is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo.^[2] Founded in 2011 at Suginami, Tokyo by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime television series including Terror in Resonance, Yuri!!! on Ice, Kakegurui, Banana Fish, Zombie Land Saga, Dororo (with Tezuka Productions), Dorohedoro, Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan (season 4), Vinland Saga (season 2), Chainsaw Man, Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, and Ranma ½ (2024). MAPPA is an acronym for Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association.^[3]^[4]

Native name

株式会社MAPPA

Romanized name

Kabushiki-gaisha MAPPA

Company typeKabushiki gaisha

IndustryJapanese animation

Quick facts Native name, Romanized name ...

MAPPA Co., Ltd.

Headquarters in Nakano, Tokyo
Native name	株式会社MAPPA
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha MAPPA
Company type	Kabushiki gaisha
Industry	Japanese animation
Founded	June 14, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-06-14)
Founder	Masao Maruyama
Headquarters	Nakano, Nakano, Tokyo , Japan
Key people	Manabu Otsuka (CEO) Masao Maruyama (chairman) Hiroya Hasegawa (executive vice president) Eiji Matsuo (chief rights officer)
Products	Animation planning and production
Number of employees	467 (as of April 2025)^[1]
Divisions	MAPPA Tokyo Nakano Studio MAPPA Sendai Studio MAPPA Osaka Studio Contrail
Website	mappa.co.jp/en/

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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.^[5] Maruyama served as the company's first representative director, and the studio's initial goal was to produce Sunao Katabuchi'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.^[6] 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.^[7]

In April 2016, Maruyama resigned as a CEO of the studio and became a chairman, withdrawing his management position and going on to establish Studio M2 to create Pluto (Japanese TV series). Leaving the studio in hands of animation producer Manabu Otsuka, a founding member of MAPPA and a former employee of Studio 4°C, who became the CEO following Maruyama's official departure.

In September 2019, Director Sunao Katabuchi established Animation Studio Contrail to produce his next work. While Otsuka serving as the representative director for the same.^[8]

In February 2026, It was announced that Contrail will cease to exist as an separate legal entity and will be acquired by MAPPA.^[9] To add, Director Katabuchi said that its just a management shift and they still will be producing under the Contrail name.^[10]

Production system

In addition to the head office in Nakano, a studio in Sendai was established in April of 2018 specializing in in-betweening and finishing and a studio in Osaka in March of 2022 that specializes in 3DCGI, To decentralize the excessive concentration of animation production in Tokyo and to bring opportunities for the graduates of the local vocational schools in their own respective region, instead of them having to move to Tokyo.^[11]

Tokyo Studio

The Tokyo studio consists of production department, CGI department, directing department, animation department, rights division, planning and development department.^[12]

Currently, other than every animation related project being primarily handled here, The head office also houses The Rights department which is responsible for copyright, illustrations, merchandises, coordination of events and advertisement of related intellectual property(s). To expand in this area in April 2025, a record label "mappa records" was started Kensuke Ushio's OST for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc being the first publication under that label ^[13]

Sendai Studio

Opened on April 2018, it was established to build a more stable production base, and to increase the percentage of in-house production, is mainly responsible for the processes of in-between animation and digital painting. There are future plans to establish a CGI section for 3DCG, compositing, and backgrounds.

Osaka Studio

Opened in 2023, in the center of Osaka city acts as a satellite office of the CGI Department. This studio is primarily staffed by the 3DCG section artists. The studio has future plans to establish other departments such as the CGI Department's background art section, the Animation Department, and the Production Department, with the aim of creating a functional production equivalent to that of Tokyo.