Chainsaw Man Will Be Animated by Mappa Branch Focused on Work Conditions

Chainsaw Man is already one of the biggest anime series out there, and it hasn't even debuted yet. The franchise has been enjoying explosive growth this past year, and Studio MAPPA hopes to keep the hype going with its adaptation. The studio's first teaser trailer did insanely well with fans as we expected, and now, it seems MAPPA hopes to right a wrong with its work on Chainsaw Man.

And what could the wrong be? Well, it turns out Studio MAPPA wants to fix its reputation as a workplace with hellish conditions. In the last year, several complaints from animators have put MAPPA in a dark light, but Chainsaw Man might change that. After all, it turns out the studio is making a new branch to work on the anime, and it looks fabulous to start.

チェンソーマンはここで制作してます！駅やコンビニからも近くて内装も綺麗です。やる気のある若いデジタル作画の方々、興味ありましたら一緒に仕事しましょう！学生・新人・未経験者も準備でき次第今後積極的に声かけていこうと思ってますのでよろしければ是非。リンク内URLからより詳細見れます。 https://t.co/wEZqYdyZB0

— 中山竜/Ryu Nakayama (@r_nkym_) July 5, 2021

The news was shared over on Twitter by Chainsaw Man's director Ryu Nakayama. It was there the exec shared an update from a local architecture magazine, and Nakayama said the publication has a feature on the studio space MAPPA acquired for Chainsaw Man.

The magazine makes a special note about the conditions animators face working in Japan. From overtime expectations to unlivable wages, the anime industry has become a toxic place for artists trying to make a living from animation. MAPPA has received several critiques in the last year about its conditions with one artist calling the studio robotic in its artistry. So to combat that, Architecture Now had the following to write about the new branch's big studio:

"In recent years, the sparsity of Human Resources for animators has become a serious issue. The cause is the outsourcing of employees to Chinese animation studios," the magazine writes. "In order to secure better resources, it is necessary to improve work environments, so these desks are made of warm wood and there's a lounge space where breaks are encouraged. In the future, this company hopes to gather all its studios at a large site... to create an animator village filled with nature, shapes, and cafes."

Clearly, MAPPA has taken its critiques close to the chest, and this plan would surely benefit the studio's most loyal artists. Still, all of these bonuses are window dressings unless the wage issue is solved. So for now, artists can keep an eye out for their pay until MAPPA (and studios like it) settle on a solution.

What do you think of this new office space? Do you think this new division can right Mappa's reputation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.