Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association, or better known simply as MAPPA, is a Japanese studio established on June 14, 2011 by former Madhouse staff (including co-founder Masao Maruyama). In 2023, the studio would help form the Anime Blender Explorers group with Toei Animation, Graphinica, ENGI and others as a means to incorporate the open-source software by the Blender Foundation into future productions.
The objective behind the studio, specifically during its first years, is to achieve greater creative freedom to pursue projects that may be less obviously commercial.
Works by MAPPA
Television series- Altair: A Record of Battles
- Attack on Titan: The Final Season
- Banana Fish
- Bucchigiri?!
- Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill
- Chainsaw Man
- Dance Dance Danseur
- DAYS
- Dorohedoro
- Dororo (2019) (with Tezuka Productions)
- GARO: The Animation
- GARO: Crimson Moon
- GARO: Vanishing Line
- The God of High School
- Granblue Fantasy (Season 2)
- Hajime no Ippo: Rising (with Madhouse)
- Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku
- The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace
- Inuyashiki
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Kakegurui
- Kids on the Slope (with Tezuka Productions)
- Listeners
- Mr. Love: Queen's Choice (under Japanese title, Koi to Producer: EVOL x LOVE)
- Pluto (Episodes 5 and 6 with Studio M2)
- Punch Line
- Rage of Bahamut: Genesis and its second season, Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
- Re-Main
- Sarazanmai (with Lapin Track)
- takt op. Destiny (with Madhouse)
- Teekyuu (Season 1-3)
- Terror in Resonance
- To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
- Ushio and Tora (with Studio VOLN)
- Yasuke
- Yuri!!! on Ice
- Zombie Land Saga
Feature-length films
- In This Corner of the World
- Maboroshi
As Subcontractors
- Amnesia (Production Cooperation)
- The Asterisk War (2nd Key & In-Between Animation)
- Cross Ange (2nd Key Animation)
- Diamond no Ace (2nd Key Animation)
- The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (2nd Key Animation)
- FLCL Progressive (In-Between Animation; Photography)
- GATE (2nd Key & In-Between Animation)
- Kuromukuro (Photography)
- Persona 5: The Animation (In-Between Animation)
- Re:CREATORS (Photography)
- Snow White with the Red Hair (In-Between Animation)
- Space Brothers (Production Cooperation)
- Space☆Dandy (In-Between Animation; Production Cooperation)
- Tokyo Ghoul (CGI)
- Idolish 7 (Music Video for Nanatsuiro REALiZE)
- Ultraman (Composite Assistance, 2019 series)
Tropes Associated with MAPPA:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Like most modern studios, MAPPA utilises this to varying degrees. Dorohedoro being one of the first to invert this by being mostly CGI with 2D elements.
- Amateur Cast: They prefer to use newer voice actors as opposed to established names in the industry. More recently however, they've been casting more All Star Casts in their more high-profile works such as Yuri!!! on Ice, Kakegurui, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc.
- Animation Bump:
- Select scenes animate at a much more fluid pace than the rest of a given episode, like the music scenes in Kids on the Slope or the fights in Rage of Bahamut: Genesis.
- The adaptations of both Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man serve as bumps to the studio's resume as a whole, showcasing their A-tier efforts in both the 2D and 3D departments.
- Awesome, Dear Boy: Their adaptation of Chainsaw Man is the first title the studio not only actively sought to adapt, but is the first time they're producing a title on their own without any committee oversight like the rest of their titles.
- Development Hell: The Yuri on Ice film was announced way back in 2017. It was originally slated to release 2019, but after several years of silence it was finally announced to be cancelled entirely in 2024.
- Production Posse: Like the studio it spun off of, DR Movie is regularly used in their productions. Raretrick often serves a co-compositing studio for their works. Asahi Production and Studio Massket also aide the studio frequently with animation and paint assistance.
- Scenery Porn: Often combined with their aforementioned Animation Bumps. This is especially noticeable whenever Studio Bihou pops up in one of their works as background artists like in Listeners and Kakegurui.
- Troubled Production: The studio has a reputation for accepting just about any project pitched to them. Reportedly they were the only anime studio willing to produce the final season of Attack on Titan on the demanded schedule. Considering the anime industry is infamous for its demands on its workers, that says something. Practically none of this is helped by the studio's incessant abuse of animation directors, some not only affiliated with other companies but not even from within Japan. Even Chainsaw Man would fall victim to this later in its run, with animators reporting the hellish conditions, and industry vet Hironori Tanaka is stated to have to work standing up to get his animation done without passing out from exhaustion.
