MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka has opened up about the studio’s decision to fully finance Chainsaw Man, explaining why the anime became the company’s first major project to receive 100% independent funding instead of being produced through a traditional production committee.
In an interview published by Bungeishunju Plus, Otsuka reflected on MAPPA’s business strategy, the risks involved, and how the profits generated from the project will be used to support the studio’s future.
“Chainsaw Man Embodies Why I Chose Animation”
According to Otsuka, Chainsaw Man represented the kind of work that originally inspired him to pursue a career in animation.
“Chainsaw Man embodies the reason why I chose to work in animation.”
He explained that the manga’s unconventional storytelling, unique perspective, and subcultural influences closely matched the creative identity of MAPPA and the artists working at the studio.
Because of that connection, he believed simply producing the anime was not enough.
“If we were going to take on this work, we didn’t want to just handle the animation production. We wanted to throw everything we currently had into it.”
Why MAPPA Chose 100% Independent Funding
Instead of joining a production committee, a business model commonly used throughout the anime industry—MAPPA chose to finance Chainsaw Man entirely on its own.
Otsuka explained that the studio took responsibility not only for animation production but also for promotion, overseas distribution, and merchandising.
“The approach we chose was full, 100% independent funding. Rather than forming a production committee, we decided to take responsibility ourselves for promotion, international distribution, and merchandising. It wasn’t so much a decision based on confidence as it was one based on determination.”
At the time, the move attracted significant attention, as few anime studios had attempted to fully fund a television anime of that scale on their own.
Profits Will Be Reinvested Into Creators
Otsuka also explained that the goal of fully investing in projects like Chainsaw Man extends beyond increasing company profits.
According to him, revenue generated from independently funded productions will be reinvested into improving the studio itself.
“The profits generated won’t be kept within the company. Instead, they’ll be reinvested into improving creators’ working conditions, developing the next generation, and upgrading equipment so we can continue producing better works.”
He described this reinvestment strategy as the primary objective behind MAPPA’s business model.
The Risks of Going Alone
While discussing the decision, Otsuka also acknowledged the challenges that came with independently financing such a high-profile title.
Without a production committee, MAPPA became solely responsible for every aspect of the project beyond animation itself, including marketing, overseas expansion, and merchandise licensing.
He admitted that Chainsaw Man Season 1 did not go exactly as the studio had hoped.
According to Otsuka, both the production side and the rights management side exposed areas where the company still lacked experience, and choosing full independent funding meant MAPPA had to bear responsibility for those results.
Chainsaw Man’s Success
Despite those challenges, Otsuka noted that Chainsaw Man achieved record-breaking viewership on Crunchyroll during its broadcast, becoming the platform’s most-watched title at the time.
He also recently commented on the upcoming Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, saying it was a project that could only have been created with the specific team assembled at that time.
“It was a work that could only have been made at that moment with those members. Even if they were to be gathered again, there’s no guarantee that they would be able to recreate the sense of drive that was present in this work.”
The full interview with Manabu Otsuka was published in Bungeishunju Plus and the April 2026 issue of Bungei Shunju magazine.
About Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. It began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2018 before moving to Shonen Jump+ for Part 2. The manga has surpassed 35 million copies in circulation.
The anime adaptation is produced by MAPPA and premiered in 2022. The franchise is set to continue with Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which adapts one of the manga’s most popular story arcs.
Crunchyroll describe the story as:
Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita.
One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as “Chainsaw Man”–a man with a devil’s heart.
Source: Bunshun
