Chainsaw Man Exec Details the Impact of the Anime's Financial Success

Chainsaw Man marks one of Studio MAPPA's most popular titles to date.

By Megan Peters

Chainsaw Man reigns as one of the most famous series in anime these days, and all eyes are on its future. If you did not realize, the hit series by Studio MAPPA brought its first season to life last year, and it will tackle theaters before long. With a feature film in the works, Chainsaw Man has become a juggernaut for its studio, and a recent interview with a former Chainsaw Man executive says its financial success will have a lasting impact on the industry.

The confession comes from Makoto Kimura, a former executive at Studio MAPPA that oversaw Chainsaw Man as a producer. Not long ago, Kimura left MAPPA to form their own company Blue Rights, and the gig brought him to a local workshop in Japan. It was their Cool Japan Fund asked Kimura to speak about the current state of anime and its future, so the executive brought up Chainsaw Man as an example of what can be.

"It is quite hard to pursue new businesses and grow as a company in such a situation," Kimura explained. "MAPPA implemented several approaches to change this environment and drafted growth strategies. One approach was to obtain rights to an anime through investments, and another was to produce a popular anime. A third approach was to pursue projects related to popular anime (merchandising, events, etc.).

Continuing, Kimura stressed Studio MAPPA approached Chainsaw Man with a unique view. Rather than have the studio share production costs across a committee, MAPPA took a leap of faith by funding the project on its own.

"With Chainsaw Man, we were determined to try our hand at all three approaches with a 100% investment. We would create, deliver and sell products on our own. Several issues remained, but it was a financial success, and I hope we can apply this success to the next update," he shared.

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Clearly, the gamble paid off for Studio MAPPA given how big Chainsaw Man has become. By keeping costs in house, MAPPA invested more money into the series, but it didn't have to split up profits with a committee in return. For decades, the production committee model has ruled the anime industry as it eases the burden of production costs on any one company. But as anime continues to grow, Kimura believes solo productions like Chainsaw Man will become more and more common.

What do you think about this Chainsaw Man update? Are you eager to see the anime return? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

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