Danica Davidson
July 18, 2023 
Yuri!!! on ICE is a fan-favorite anime with viewers around the world, but according to Manabu Ohtsuka, the CEO of MAPPA, the anime barely brought any earnings into the studio.
Ohtsuka explained in a recent interview, “Our production, Yuri!!! on Ice!!!, was a huge hit. But compared to that success, the money that came into the studio was very little.”
He continued:
“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.
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.”
He also said that Makoto Kimura, the planning department general manager “had been working in these areas [of business] for a long time, joined us. And, at the same time, overseas distribution platforms entered the Japanese animation market, which greatly expanded our opportunities.”
Crunchyroll is streaming Yuri!!! on ICE and gave this description for it:
“Yuri Katsuki carried the hope of all Japan on his shoulders in the Figure Skating Grand Prix, but suffered a crushing defeat in the finals. He returned to his hometown in Kyushu and hid away in his family’s home, half wanting to continue skating and half wanting to retire. That was when the five-time consecutive world champion, Victor Nikiforov, suddenly showed up with his teammate, Yuri Plisetsky, a young skater starting to surpass his seniors. And so the two Yuris and the Russian champion Viktor set out to compete in a Grand Prix like none the world has ever seen!”
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
