Japan's anime industry could lose top spot to China, warns MAPPA and Madhouse founder Masao Maruyama

Founder of MAPPA and Madhouse Studios, Masao Maruyama, warns Japan's anime industry risks losing to China due to a fixation on commercialization.

Masao Maruyama, the founder of MAPPA and Madhouse Studios and a well-respected figure in the anime industry, recently made a bold statement in an interview with AFP News. He warned that Japan's anime industry could soon lose its top spot to China due to its excessive focus on commercialization. Maruyama argues that this preoccupation has hindered the industry's ability to cultivate the next generation of animators.

Founder of MAPPA and Madhouse Studios, Masao Maruyama, warns Japan's anime industry risks losing to China due to a fixation on commercialization. (AFP)

"In Japan, people are no longer trained in animation,” Maruyama said. “The only reason China hasn’t quite caught up with Japan yet is because of a bunch of restrictions imposed on free expression there. If more freedom is unleashed, Japan will be overtaken in no time."

Despite his fears, Maruyama believes that creating work is all about challenging yourself to do something new.

“But creating works is all about challenging yourself to do something new, regardless of what you said in the past. That makes you selfish in a way, and it’s a trait I’ve inherited in its pure form.”

Maruyama's career spans 50 years, and he has been involved in the anime industry since 1965, starting his career at Mushi Pro, a studio headed by legendary manga author Osamu Tezuka. In 1972, Maruyama co-founded Madhouse studio and was instrumental in planning and executing some of the most iconic anime movies in history. However, he departed from Madhouse in 2011 to create MAPPA studio and later founded Studio M2.

M2, Maruyama's other production studio, is currently producing an anime adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's Pluto, set to be exclusively released on Netflix in 2023. Set to release exclusively on Netflix in 2023, this collaboration marks the third time Maruyama has tackled one of Urasawa's masterpieces. The visionary producer had previously worked on the anime adaptations of "Monster" and "Master Keaton" under his former studio, Madhouse.

Despite Maruyama's doubts, the anime industry remains a massive cultural export for Japan. With China's rise, Japan may have to re-evaluate its priorities to maintain its dominance in the industry. Only time will tell whether Japan can continue to produce innovative, creative works that appeal to fans worldwide.