MAPPA’s Comments on Yuri!!! on Ice’s Lack of Profitability Leads to Worries About Ice Adolescence

Studio MAPPA continues to spark fear and frustration in Yuri!!! on Ice fans on the status of Ice Adolescence.

Manabu Otsuka, the CEO of MAPPA, and Makoto Kimura, MAPPA’s producer, recently sat down for an interview with Kompass to discuss the studio’s recent works such as Chainsaw Man and Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill. However, their comment on the 2016 figure skating hit Yuri!!! on Ice has led to many fans fearing the promised film Ice Adolescence may never see the light of day. In response to the question around the limits of running a business in the creative industry, Otsuka noted the success of Yuri!!! on Ice. “Our production, Yuri!!! on Ice, was a huge hit. But compared to that success, the money that came into the studio was very little,” Otsuka said, as translated by Anime News Network. “We felt that our studio had been responsible for continuing to allow this structure and we felt that we had to increase what we could do on our own. We can’t control when we will get a hit production, so unless we make the most of the limited opportunities we have, we will not be able to grow as a company.”

Otsuka continued, “To get out of this situation, investments in other businesses, the environment, and human resource development were needed. In addition to that, we needed to think about business plans. [Planning department general manager Makoto] Kimura, who had been working in these areas for a long time, joined us. And, at the same time, overseas distribution platforms entered the Japanese animation market, which greatly expanded our opportunities.”

While studios do most of the work, animation is only a small part of the process. As explained in this Reddit thread, an anime production committee consists of multiple stakeholders, from TV broadcasters to the actual animation studio, with each stakeholder contributing some expertise or resource and consequently earning a certain percentage of the profits pertaining to their level of contribution. While this means that animation studios won’t earn as much as they might as the sole producer, it also helps mitigate their risk if the series doesn’t earn as much as forecasted. Yuri!!! on Ice‘s production committee included names such as Avex Pictures and TV Asahi, with MAPPA at the lowest tier, thus earning the least out of all the organizations. However, it is unclear what percentage MAPPA earned from Yuri!!! on Ice.

Since Yuri!!! on Ice, MAPPA has produced another Boys’ Love series, adapting Akimi Yoshida’s 1985 manga Banana Fish in 2018 and six original works with another one, titled Bucchigiri?! coming in 2024. The studio has also gone on to adapt popular shōnen works, including Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, and took over as the studio for the final season of Attack on Titan. Chainsaw Man and Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill were two works Otsuka cited as being works MAPPA invested 100 percent in, meaning MAPPA will gain all the profits — and suffer the loss.

MAPPA’s Other Financial Complaints

While Otsuka noted, in a separate interview, that Chainsaw Man had been “a financial success,” he also commented on how the adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s best-selling manga did not achieve the same level of success as Jujutsu Kaisen. Despite its enormous popularity overseas and amongst manga fans, the anime did not sell as many DVD/Blu-Ray copies. “To be honest, I wish I could have reached more audiences who pay for the package,” he said. “We will explore how to approach the target audience who will pay money for the work of CSM.“

With MAPPA’s first original movie Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō, set to air later this year, Otsuka was asked whether the studio would continue to make original works or focus on adapting popular series. “It takes time to create an original anime,” Otsuka said. “I think that this is characteristic of anime and cannot be helped. However, I believe that it is important for an entertainment company to create a story and to run a business that can leave it to the world, so MAPPA will continue to create originals.”

Premiering in 2016, Yuri!!! on Ice follows the story of Yuuri Katsuki, the top-ranked Japanese figure skater who claims he’s a “dime a dozen.” After suffering a sixth-place finish at the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri decides to halt his competitive career and return to his hometown of Hasetsu. However, he gets the shock of his life when his idol, Victor Nikiforov, the most decorated male figure skater in history, arrives at his family’s onsen, announcing he will be Yuuri’s coach.

Yuri!!! on Ice’s Huge Cultural Impact

During the anime’s time of airing, it became the most-tweeted anime of the season, with over a million tweets that year. It was the fourth most popular TV anime series of the year. Fans raved about the animation’s accuracy of figure skating and the depiction, and confirmation, of the romantic relationship between Yuuri and Victor. Yuri!!! on Ice‘s feature of a same-sex relationship between the main characters in such a positive and affirming light was virtually unheard of, especially in 2016.

Sales for Yuri!!! on Ice have been extremely high, with each of its six Blu-Ray volumes topping the Oricon Animation Blu-ray Disc ranking and having the highest combined DVD and Blu-Ray sales of any animated series in Japan. It grossed over 3.2 million yen from home video and music release sales. Yuri!!! on Ice’s opening song, “History Maker,” performed by Dean Fujioka, reached number 43 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart. The soundtrack for the anime became the top-selling anime CD album on the Oricon charts for the first half of 2017.

Fans’ Long Wait for Ice Adolescence

Yuri!!! on Ice announced an original film titled Ice Adolescence in April 2017 with an initial release date of 2019. The film has been delayed with the production committee’s reasoning that it was to “substantially scale up the content more than originally planned.” The studio released a teaser trailer in January 2019 in Japan with the trailer released internationally in November 2020. On the official Yuri!!! on Ice: Ice Adolescence‘s official website, a note reads: “The production of YURI!!! on ICE the movie: ICE ADOLESCENCE is still ongoing with the aim of further enriching the film. ​However, we have not yet reached the stage where we can announce the release date. Our team will continue to work diligently to deliver a film and share our unwavering love and dedication for skating. We deeply apologize to all fans for the circumstance and ask for your generous understanding.”

Yuri!!! on Ice is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Source: Twitter, via Kompass