Anime studio MAPPA, who is known for producing hits such as Attack on Titan Final Season, JUJUTSU KAISEN, Yuri!!! on ICE, and so many more, revealed yesterday that the studio is expanding to the west Japanese city of Osaka to open a production house focusing on CGI animation. The expansion is to facilitate working with animators in Osaka and will work side-by-side with MAPPA’s brand new Tokyo studio, as well as the studio’s Sendai location, which also has a CGI department.

Both Yusuke Tannawa, who is the director of the CGI department at MAPPA, and Keisuke Seshimo, who is the director of the 2nd production department, said the new studio will be set up for more remote work rather than working at the studio, letting employees choose where they want to live rather than having to be stuck in Tokyo. Seshimo is originally from Osaka and moved to Tokyo to work in anime. It was noted that in the future the animation, production, and CGI departments at the new studio will merge in line with how the Tokyo studio is currently run and to keep the entire production process in-house rather than outsourcing to other companies.

While no location has been confirmed at this stage, MAPPA is actively recruiting CGI animators, production staff, and admin staff for the new studio with an opening set by the end of the year. 

Source: MAPPA on Twitter

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.