MAPPA Artist Gives New Insight on Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man Crunch

When it comes to anime, there are plenty of successful series, and a number of recent hits have come from Studio MAPPA. The company has been around for years, but in the past decade, word of mouth has turned the company into a juggernaut. From Attack on Titan to Yuri on Ice, MAPPA knows how to churn out hits. And in the face of recent criticism, an animator familiar with MAPPA is detailing their experience with the company.

The confession comes from Shinsaku Kozuma, a talented animator who fans will know best for working on Jujutsu Kaisen. The artist, who also worked on Chainsaw Man season one, took to X (Twitter) to talk about their personal experience with MAPPA. It seems Jujutsu Kaisen was a passion project for Kozuma, and while they loved the production, its movie schedule was pretty rough.

"It turns out a production's short schedule is something you shouldn't share with others. I'm posting about it here though," Shinsaku wrote in a now-deleted post. Of course, this information is hardly new as other workers tied to MAPPA have detailed the woes of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Reports suggest the movie was produced in less than six months as manpower at MAPPA was at a premium. It was all hands on deck for Chainsaw Man, after all, and Shinsuke says the hit anime suffered some blowback because of its tight schedule.

"[This version of] Chainsaw Man wasn't what we wanted to create... That's the real truth. I'm saying this as the guy who lost his temper and got into [an argument] during episode one, there's no question about it," the animator shared.

Clearly, MAPPA had tight deadlines for its two top series, and animators like Shinsaku performed miracles to keep up. Their visions were perhaps not met in the cutting room floor, but at the end of the day, the MAPPA animators moved mountains to deliver goods to fans. Shinsaku and his coworkers are the real heroes at MAPPA, and hopefully, the studio will be able to better accommodate their visions moving forward.

What do you think about this latest insight into Studio MAPPA? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!