Chainsaw Man director Ryu Nakayama appears to have ended the franchise as well as studio MAPPA following his recent social media posts.
Nakayama posted to A better working environment is the mission in this year. It’s still on a small scale, but I’m slowly building it up little by little. Since this is still my first year, I’m slowly laying a reasonable foundation. Soon I will be able to announce it publicly.” Nakayama also added in a separate post: “I will be able to do many things starting next year. Thank you to the people around me ????.”
Many fans have used words like “power harassment and ethical harassment” against MAPPA, the studio where Nakayama directed the first part of the hit Chainsaw Man and where a toxic work culture is increasingly famous. Chainsaw Man ends in December 2022, which suggests that about a year on, Nakayama’s goals stem directly from his experiences at MAPPA. His favorite posts on X also show a tweet by animator Sota Shigetsugu protesting MAPPA’s grueling production schedule, famously revealing that Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was completed in four months. Shigetsugu is also working on the ongoing Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 and recently showed how popular the MAPPA elite is, describing the destruction of the MAPPA production floor in Episode 18 as an inside joke.
Under Nakayama’s direction, Chainsaw Man debuted to critical acclaim, becoming one of the biggest anime of the year. Despite its widespread success — receiving award nominations, inspiring cosplay, and generating a decent financial return for MAPPA — there are still a significant number of anime fans who criticize the adaptation . Among the most common criticisms of the series are its excessive use of CGI as well as its leaning towards a cinematic feel at the expense of Chainsaw Man’s eccentricity.
Rumors swirled earlier this year that Nakayama had left MAPPA or would not take over as director for Chainsaw Man Season 2. Although his recent post did not confirm this, it appears that he has spending time with the company, with some fans speculating that he may reveal the creation of his own studio at some point. Chainsaw Man is Nakayama’s directorial debut, though he’s also had key animation roles on visually stunning series like Fate/Apocrypha, Black Clover, One Punch Man and more.
Crunchyroll streams Chainsaw Man, described as follows: “Denji is a boy who works as a Demon Hunter alongside ‘Chainsaw Demon’ Pochita. One day, he was living his miserable life trying to pay off the debt he inherited from his father. parents, he was betrayed and killed. While unconscious, he made a deal with Pochita and was revived as “Chainsaw Man”: the owner of the Devil’s heart.”
Source: X (formerly Twitter)