[AFA 2022] Studio MAPPA Gives A Peek Of What They’re Cooking

Studio MAPPA took the stage at AFA 2022 today, talking about all the exciting products the high-profile studio has in store next such as the critically-acclaimed Attack on Titan: The Final Season as well as Chainsaw Man.

CEO Manabu Otsuka, Executive Director Makoto Kimura, and Director Yuichiro Hayashi spoke to a packed room about what it’s like working on some of the most hotly anticipated series in anime.

Note that photography wasn’t allowed during the actual event itself.

Topping The Rumbling In Attack On Titan

They opened the show with talking about one of the highest rated anime of the past decade, Attack on Titan, and its impending final batch of episodes.

According to Hayashi, the capstone moment of Attack On Titan: The Final Season Part 2 was the Rumbling- an event so epic and significant the series’ second opening was named after it.

He describes the kickoff scene as cinematic, almost like a movie- as a legion of Colossal Titans burst through the walls to exact Eren’s revenge on the world.

“The scene was amazing”, he describes.

With The Final Part of the Final Season picking up directly after the Rumbling starts though, Studio MAPPA is far from done, as Hayashi promises even more spectacle.

Exciting the crowd, he explains that it would be “One of the grandest seasons in all of anime”.

Devils Working 9-5 In Chainsaw Man

As the other high-profile project in Studio MAPPA’s proverbial kitchen, fans were also excited to hear the trio’s takes on the manga adaptation.

“I’ve seen everyone’s positive comments from around the world. Thank you for all your comments!”, Otsuka says to applause and cheers.

A lot of their discussion was just about how popular the series had become- Otsuka notes that it’s not particularly hard to cosplay your average Devil Hunter since they all just wear black suits, like demonically-infused Men In Black.

Similarly, Kimura mentioned the other unique feature of the Chainsaw Man anime, which was its unique End Credits sequences for every episode- while adding a whole new layer of work to the production, it’s certainly created a unique feeling to each episode.

Kimura says that the concept was originally his idea, and that it took a lot of work collaborating with music labels to have the sequences made.

With the anime on track to end nowhere near the manga’s ending though, one question was on everyone’s lips- would Chainsaw Man be getting a season 2?

“Obviously if the fans really want to see more, the production studio will do their best if they get the ok. We can’t confirm anything at this point but if we get the ok, we’ll definitely do it”, Otsuka says.