Behind the latest seasons of Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man is Studio Mappa. The anime studio shines with outstanding animations. However, they would never have created the three mentioned top series without a sports romance revolving around figure skating.
Every new anime season brings you almost a flood of new animes. Many of them can now be followed here in time for their release in Japan at least with subtitles.
Of course, not all new series stick in memory permanently. Successful anime originals without a manga source are often rewarded with second seasons or films.
The success of the studio behind the later seasons of Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man is based on the hype around such an anime original series: Without the figure skating romance Yuri!!! on ICE, Studio Mappa would never have obtained the licenses for the series.
All three of the mentioned action series are, by the way, among the best action animes with a lot of fighting.
Figure Skating and Pirozhki
What kind of series is Yuri!!! on ICE? The main character is Yuri Katsuki – a Japanese and one of the best figure skaters in the world. However, he has just lost one of the most important global competitions in his sport.
Frustrated, he flees to the familiar environment of his parents’ house and wants to hang up his skates. Out of the blue, however, his idol from Russia appears: Viktor Nikiforov, the current champion and multiple Grand Prix winner. And he wants to prepare his colleague for the new season.
Thus begins the training for the new season. Between choreographies, international competitions, and jealous name competitors, not only Yuri’s success is on the horizon, but also a tender romance between student and coach.
Here you can watch the trailer for the series’ opening:
What makes the series so good? Yuri!!! on ICE captivated during its release with its fluid and high-quality animations for the release year 2016. Especially the figure skating sequences, with their many details, stand out.
You might think that a sports series about figure skaters would be too boring for a larger audience. However, Studio Mappa manages to maintain excitement and fun equally.
Another important point is the slowly developing romance between Yuri and Viktor. It is realistic and heartwarming. Studio Mappa succeeds in portraying the feelings of both in the best animation quality.
Ultimately, Yuri!!! on ICE was so popular that it even received an OVA and a movie about Viktor’s career was announced. That really doesn’t happen every day.
And what does Yuri!!! on ICE have to do with Attack on Titan?
Why is the series so important? The answer lies in the career of the animation studio Mappa. Their early works such as Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, Terror in Tokyo, and In this Corner of the World may come to mind.
However, Yuri!!! on ICE was their significant breakthrough, establishing them in the international market. Mappa proved with the series that they can tell great stories in really good quality.
Moreover, the 12 episodes won many awards at the most important anime awards:
- Anime Awards 2017 by Crunchyroll
- Tokyo Anime Festival 2017
- IGN Awards
- 16th Tokyo Anime Award
- 24th AnimeLand Grand Prix
- Japan Expo Awards
- 39th Anime Grand Prix
This is just a selection. It should be noted that if the series was nominated for categories such as Best Series
or Best Animation
, they also won the awards.
How did the success affect Mappa? It was an absolute surprise that the then small anime studio could compete with the quality of giants like the studios behind Sword Art Online, My Hero Academia, and the first seasons of Attack on Titan.
The first major new license in 2017 was the adaptation of the sci-fi manga Inuyashiki. This was followed by Kakegurui, Grandblue Fantasy The Animation, and eventually Season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen as well as soon thereafter Attack on Titan: The Final Season.
The success of Yuri!!! on ICE can be seen as the trigger for Studio Mappa’s success. And as the reason they were able to take on some of the big licenses like Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan in the first place.
What happened next with Yuri!!! on ICE? – Nothing at all
Attack on Titan is finally finished adapting with The Final Season – The Final Chapter. In the summer of 2023, Jujutsu Kaisen received a second season. On the studio’s official website are the original anime Zenshu and a movie about Chainsaw Man announced.
And what about Yuri!!! on ICE? A series that made such a splash and advanced the studio must have been continued, right? Perhaps even with a second season? What actually happened to the previously mentioned movie?
Yuri!!! on ICE was Mappa’s giant hit – and they did absolutely nothing with the series: after the OVA and the announcement of the movie “Yuri!!! on ICE the Movie: ICE Adolescence”, it was silent.
For over seven years, the studio has repeatedly asserted via X.com that they were still working on the film. They even released a teaser in 2018 and a trailer in 2020.
On April 19, 2024, the studio posted a message of doom for their fans: Production was stopped.
A sad ending for a story that deserved better
Yuri!!! on ICE was one of the most important animes of the 2010s. Without the series, Studio Mappa would not be where it is now.
Many long-time fans are expressing frustration on social media. Particularly on Tiktok and X.com, the rumor mill is boiling – because Mappa has not given any reason. In their post, only “various circumstances” are mentioned. That could be a whole lot of things:
- Some say the success with series like Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen made the studio forget about Yuri!!! on ICE.
- Others speculate loudly that the studio spent all the money they earned with the anime on other productions and now there’s nothing left.
- And others suspect that they don’t want to release a movie with a Russian main character in the current political climate.
Probably the answer lies somewhere in between.
It has now been seven years since the release of Yuri!!! on ICE. It could very well be that Studio Mappa is worried that the movie would flop at the box office. Because… an obscure movie about a figure skater from a seven-year-old series – who would go to the cinema for that?
I would have gone to the cinema for that.
Yuri!!! on ICE is a story with a lot of heart, told with a good dose of humor, and the sports sequences are also fun – among other things, because they are really beautiful. You can tell with what passion the team worked on it.
When I learned about the end of production, I was incredibly disappointed and sad. The series is still important to me after seven years, and for some other stories, the wait was worth it after all.
Think of the sporadic updates for Berserk while Kentaro Miura was still alive. Or also Hunter X Hunter and D. Gray-man. Even Black Butler is currently getting another anime adaptation after the last movie for it (!) was released in 2017.
And how will it go for Mappa now? For Mappa, not much will change for the time being.
The studio has presumably already signed contracts for a whole range of other series that are currently in planning and production.
As for me, the topic of Studio Mappa is closed. But not Yuri!!! on ICE.
On my way home tonight, I will listen to the opening History Maker
by Dean Fujioka on repeat. The series is still live on Crunchyroll today. Since it is self-contained, you can easily stream it even today.
History Maker
roughly translates to something like “History Writer.” And that’s exactly what Yuri!!! on ICE has done for many fans, but also for Mappa: The series has made anime history.
By the way, history is being made right now in one of the longest-running anime and manga stories ever: One Piece is likely to reveal one of the greatest mysteries of the world that fans have been waiting for a long time
