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The Chainsaw Man manga is over, but there is still plenty of material for the ongoing anime adaptation to cover in Part 1 before we even start on Chainsaw Man Part 2. And MAPPA, the studio behind the Chainsaw Man anime, isn’t likely to stop anytime soon. In fact, MAPPA president Manabu Otsuka recently said that manga like Chainsaw Man are why he got into animation in the first place, which is why he risked so much to make the anime happen.

During a column for Bunshun Online (originally translated by Automaton), Manabu Otsuka talked about why he pushed for MAPPA to not just animate the Chainsaw Man anime but to fund it entirely themselves. For context, most anime are funded by a mix of the animation studio, the manga publishers, and external investors, forming what is called a “committee” that oversees production. This mitigates the potential risk for any one organization.

“I felt that Chainsaw Man clearly embodies the reason why I chose to work in animation and the subcultural heritage which I was in love with back when I started working for STUDIO4℃,” MAPPA president Otsuka explained. “It’s the rawness that can’t be contained in an existing framework, and its slightly distorted perspective, juxtaposed with its power to remain solid as a piece of entertainment. It kind of overlapped with the spirit of the creators gathered at MAPPA and the kind of work we ourselves have loved creating until now.”

“And that is precisely why, if we were to take on the project, we didn’t want to just simply be in charge of the production – we wanted to pour everything we had into it,” he continued. That meant putting up all the money for the Chainsaw Man anime themselves, which gave them greater creative freedom and responsibility for the overseas distribution of the anime. Thankfully, it has proven to be a wise investment, as Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc was a box office hit both in Japan and in the US when it was released in 2025.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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