MAPPA anime business profile: the private studio that bet on owning rights

MAPPA is privately held and publishes no financial statements. What is verifiable is its structure, its works, and an unusually candid account from its own CEO of how the business model changed.

Published: 2026-08-19. Updated: 2026-08-19.

Short answer: MAPPA Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese animation studio established on June 14, 2011, led by President and CEO Manabu Otsuka with Masao Maruyama as chairman. It does not publish revenue or profit figures. Its official company page describes five divisions, including a Rights and Licensing Division that participates in production committees and owns rights, and studios in Tokyo, Sendai, and Osaka. Otsuka has publicly described the studio's progression from commissioned production on Kids on the Slope to fully self-funding Chainsaw Man and managing all of its rights.

What MAPPA is

MAPPA was established on June 14, 2011, and its official company page lists Manabu Otsuka as President and CEO and Masao Maruyama as chairman of the board. Otsuka joined the studio at its founding from Studio 4°C and became president in 2016.

The studio is private: it is not listed on any exchange and files no public financial statements, so MAPPA revenue and profit are not disclosed anywhere official. Its catalog, by contrast, is fully public and includes Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan: The Final Season, Yuri!!! on Ice, Vinland Saga Season 2, Hell's Paradise, and Ranma 1/2.

Structure: five divisions, three cities

MAPPA's company page describes five divisions. The Production Division runs roughly ten production lines that budget, schedule, and staff each project through delivery. The CGI Division is the largest, with more than 160 members covering 3DCG, backgrounds, coloring, compositing, and editing, plus engineers and production managers. The 2D Animators and Directors Division handles drawing and episode direction.

The fourth division is the one that matters most for business analysis: the Rights and Licensing Division, which the company says develops long-term business globally through participation in production committees and by owning rights, spanning advertising, merchandising, e-commerce, events, and overseas distribution. Geographically, MAPPA runs its Tokyo headquarters plus a Sendai studio opened in 2018 and an Osaka studio opened in 2023 as a CGI satellite.

Where public evidence stops: MAPPA publishes no revenue, profit, or ownership breakdown. Figures circulating on business databases are unverified estimates. The verifiable record is the company's official structure and works list, plus statements from its CEO in interviews and essays.

From near-bankruptcy to self-funding

In a 2026 essay for Bunshun Plus, summarized in English by Anime Corner, Otsuka said MAPPA's first series, Kids on the Slope in 2012, lost money and forced the young studio to consider what it needed to do to avoid bankruptcy. The core problem was reliance on production commissions, which often barely cover a studio's operating costs.

Otsuka described MAPPA's progression in stages: simple production-committee investment on Yuri!!! on Ice, whose Blu-ray and DVD sales surpassed 430,000 copies but left MAPPA with only a small royalty share; managing specific rights windows on Mr Love: Queen's Choice; and finally 100% self-funding Chainsaw Man in 2022, with MAPPA handling publicity, overseas distribution, and merchandising itself. Otsuka said in 2023 that Chainsaw Man season one was a complete financial success in revenue terms, even if it lacked the impact of Jujutsu Kaisen, and that the 2025 Reze Arc film grossed over USD 162 million globally.

How MAPPA makes money today

MAPPA's revenue model now has two layers. The first is the classic studio layer: production fees across roughly ten parallel production lines, fed by a large in-house CGI operation and regional studios in Sendai and Osaka that lower hiring dependence on Tokyo.

The second layer is rights. The Rights and Licensing Division invests in production committees, manages rights windows on selected titles, and runs merchandising, e-commerce, events, and overseas distribution. Otsuka has said he personally took over leadership of the rights division after Chainsaw Man exposed the studio's inexperience in rights management, and he pointed to a Netflix co-production deal as a symbol of where the studio wants to go. He has also said MAPPA expects to pass 500 employees, which would put it among the largest employers in the industry.

Strategy and where MAPPA fits in anime

MAPPA's strategy is scale plus ownership: keep production volume high enough to be structurally important, while moving up the rights chain from contractor to investor to sole funder on select titles. The works list shows the result: simultaneous marquee franchises such as Jujutsu Kaisen season 3, Hell's Paradise season 2, and the Chainsaw Man: Assassins Arc film alongside films, music clips, and commercials.

The trade-offs are real. Self-funding concentrates financial risk on the studio, and high volume has drawn public criticism of working conditions, which Otsuka has acknowledged while noting steps such as ending Saturday work when he became president in 2016. With no public financials, outsiders cannot measure whether the model is more profitable than the commission-only studios it left behind; they can only see that MAPPA has chosen it deliberately.

Frequently asked questions

What is MAPPA's annual revenue?

MAPPA is a private company and does not disclose revenue or profit. No official financial figures exist; numbers on third-party business databases are unverified estimates.

Who owns MAPPA?

MAPPA is privately held. Its official site lists Manabu Otsuka as President and CEO and founder Masao Maruyama as chairman, but the shareholder structure is not publicly disclosed.

Did MAPPA fund Chainsaw Man itself?

Yes. CEO Manabu Otsuka has stated that MAPPA self-funded the Chainsaw Man television anime and managed all of its rights, including publicity, overseas distribution, and merchandising.

How big is MAPPA?

MAPPA operates studios in Tokyo, Sendai (opened 2018), and Osaka (opened 2023). Its CGI Division alone has more than 160 members, and Otsuka has said the company expects to pass 500 employees.

Sources and methodology

Company, MAPPA. Official company page: established June 14, 2011, President and CEO Manabu Otsuka, chairman Masao Maruyama, five divisions including Rights and Licensing, and the Sendai (2018) and Osaka (2023) studios.
Works, MAPPA. Official works list from Kids on the Slope (2012) through Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 and Chainsaw Man: Assassins Arc.
MAPPA CEO Opens Up on Past Fears of Going Bankrupt, Failures, Yuri on ICE, and Chainsaw Man Solo Funding, Anime Corner. March 31, 2026: English summary of Otsuka's Bunshun Plus essay covering Kids on the Slope losses, Yuri on Ice royalties, Chainsaw Man self-funding, Reze Arc's USD 162 million gross, and headcount expectations.