Studio Mappa is behind the final seasons of Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man. The anime company shines with excellent animations. Without a sports romance surrounding figure skating, they would never have made the three top series mentioned.
Every new anime season brings you almost a flood of new anime. You can now follow many of them in this country, at least with subtitles, just in time for the release in Japan.
Of course, not all new series stay in your memory forever. However, successful anime originals without a manga template 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 surrounding such an original anime series: Without the figure skating romance Yuri!!! on ICE, Studio Mappa would never have gotten the licenses for the series.
Incidentally, all three of the action series mentioned are among the best action anime in which there is a lot of fighting.
Figure skating and piroshki
What is Yuri!!! on ICE for a series? The main character is Yuri Katsuki – 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 surroundings of his parents’ house and wants to give up the sport. But his great idol from Russia appears out of the blue: Viktor Nikiforov, the current champion and multiple Grand Prix winner. And he wants to get his colleague fit for the new season.
This is how training for the new season begins. Between choreographies, international competitions and envious name-callers, not only Yuri’s success is brewing, but also a tender romance between student and coach.
You can watch the trailer for the opening of the series here:
Studio Mappa shows new scenes from Yuri!!! on ICE for the official opening of the anime series
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What makes the series so good? Yuri!!! on ICE was already impressive during its release with its fluid and high-quality animations for the 2016 release year. The figure skating sequences particularly stand out with their many details.
One might also think that a sports series about figure skaters would be too boring for a larger audience. But Studio Mappa manages to maintain excitement and fun in equal measure.
Another important point is the slowly developing romance between Yuri and Viktor. It is realistic and heartwarming. Studio Mappa manages to show the two’s feelings in the best animation quality.
Yuri!!! on ICE was ultimately so popular that an OVA was even released for it and a feature film about Viktor’s career was announced. This really doesn’t happen every day.
And what’s wrong with Yuri!!! on ICE now to do with Attack on Titan?
Why is the series so important? The answer lies in the career of the Mappa animation studio. Of their early works, you can find Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, Terror in Tokyo and In this Corner of the World in Germany.
Yuri!!! on ICE was their big breakthrough, with which they positioned themselves on the international market. Mappa proved with the series that they can tell great stories in really good quality.
The 12 episodes also won many prizes at the most important anime awards:
This is just a selection. It should be noted, however, that when the series was nominated for categories such as Best Series or Best Animation, they also won the awards.
How did success affect Mappa? It was an absolute surprise that the then-small anime studio was able to compete with the quality of top dogs like the studios behind Sword Art Online, My Hero Academia and the first seasons of Attack on Titan.
The first major new license was the 2017 adaptation of the sci-fi manga Inuyashiki. This was followed by, among others, Kakegurui, Grandblue Fantasy The Animation and finally Season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen, and soon afterwards Attack on Titan: The Final Season.
The success of Yuri!!! on ICE can be seen as the catalyst for Studio Mappa’s success. And the reason why they were able to take over some of the big licenses like Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan in the first place.
How did Yuri go!!! on ICE next? – Not at all
Attack on Titan is finally finally adapted with The Final Season – The Final Chapter. In summer 2023, Jujutsu Kaisen received a second season. The original anime Zenshu and a Chainsaw Man film have been announced on the studio’s official website.
And what about Yuri!!! on ICE? Surely a series that had such a impact and pushed the studio forward was continued? Maybe even with a second season? What actually happened to the movie mentioned above?
Yuri!!! on ICE was Mappa’s huge hit – and they didn’t do anything with the series: after the OVA and the announcement of the movie “Yuri!!! on ICE the Movie: ICE Adolescence” there was silence.
For seven years, the studio repeatedly claimed 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 bad news for their fans: production was canceled.
A sad ending to a story that deserved better
Yuri!!! on ICE was one of the most important anime of the 2010s. Without the series, Studio Mappa wouldn’t be where it is now.
Many long-time fans express frustration on social media. The rumor mill is bubbling especially on Tiktok and X.com – Mappa hasn’t given any reason. Her post only talks about different circumstances. This could be a lot of things:
The answer probably lies somewhere in between.
It’s now seven years since the release of Yuri!!! on ICE passed. It may very well be that Studio Mappa is worried that the film would flop at the box office. Because… an obscure film about a figure skater from a seven-year-old series – who goes 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 how passionately the team worked on it.
When I found out about the end of production, I was incredibly disappointed and sad. The series is still important to me even after seven years and some of the other stories were still worth the wait.
Think about the sporadic updates to Berserk during Kentaro Miura’s lifetime. Or Hunter X Hunter and D. Gray-man. Even Black Butler is currently getting another anime adaptation after the last film (!) was released in 2017.
And what’s next for Mappa? Nothing will change for Mappa for the time being.
The studio has probably already signed contracts for a number of other series that are currently being planned and produced.
For me, this is the end of the Studio Mappa issue. But not Yuri!!! on ICE.
On the way home tonight I’m going to listen to Dean Fujioka’s opening History Maker on loop. By the way, the series is still live on Crunchyroll today. Since it is self-contained, you can still stream it today without any problem.
By the way, History Maker means something like historian. And that’s exactly what Yuri has!!! on ICE did for many fans, but also Mappa: The series made anime history.
Incidentally, history is currently being written in one of the longest-running anime and manga stories ever: One Piece will probably reveal one of the biggest mysteries to the world that fans have been waiting for for a long time