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INTEREST: "Yuri on Ice" Made Its Studio Very Little Money, According to MAPPA's CEO

Makes me wonder whether Mugen Train's super-duper-uber-giga-mega-success trickled down to Ufotable and their animators.

Won't be surprised if like 80% of the profit went into Aniplex & Shueisha execs' pocket though.

DamianSalazar wrote:

Let me guess MAPPA was either not part of the production committee or they were but didn't make a satisfactory amount of money? Also, what about the film? Any progress on that?

MAPPA was on the production comittee for YOI, but as the very last member. So yes, they would be the company to get the least amount of money directly from the IP overall.

I'm also old enough to remember the Crunchyroll awards where people accused YOI fans of rigging the awards which I always thought was bogus but there maybe is something to that YOI had a huge online following but it didn't translate to every day real world support and there's nothing super shocking about that.

I love YOI but I don't know why what MAPPA is saying is so shocking and offensive to people and I'm not even sure anything nefarious went on with the show's finances. We've known for forever that anime originals that are critical darlings often don't always translate to financial success and this is why a lot of studios nowadays focus on adapting popular manga and light novels instead and there's nothing about this unique to MAPPA.

unlike other anime concerning sports, actual figure skaters themselves adored the series. It was realistic while still being entertaining, with a story many of them could relate to.

I'm pretty sure Captain Tsubasa (both the manga & the original anime) literally inspired future World Cup winners from around the world to take up soccer, Slam Dunk literally made basketball popular in Japan, and Michael B. Jordan has literally professed his love of Hajime no Ippo, not to mention tons of other sports series being adored by people who actually play their respective sports... but, sure, Yuri on Ice is apparently the only sports anime to be beloved by actual professional "sportspeople".

Like, yeah, I get it... Yuri on Ice had a hardcore fanbase that absolutely loved it. However, that doesn't mean that you can just start saying falsehoods in order to make it sound superior to other sports series.

-Matthew- wrote:

And it is strange because fujiyoshi and fudanshi like such content.

Way more than just them. It was amazing when it was running--unlike other anime concerning sports, actual figure skaters themselves adored the series. It was realistic while still being entertaining, with a story many of them could relate to.

Plus, its numbers when it was airing and DVD/BR sales numbers speak to its reach well beyond fujoshi/fudanshi.

I'm appalled at how this IP is being treated now.

But let's not forget the politics behind the scenes, shall we.. As MAPPA's people were actively working to get the queer elements on the show censored.. Pressuring the creator to have them removed..

This again.. wrote:

But let's not forget the politics behind the scenes, shall we.. As MAPPA's people were actively working to get the queer elements on the show censored.. Pressuring the creator to have them removed..

And your source for this is....?

Seems like a pretty big statement that you just sound like you're taking out of your arse.

Very contradictory to act like Otsuka/MAPPA would have anything against a series having queer themes, when they literally made Banana Fish

with Hiroko Utsumi, who is like, the go-to director when it comes to yaoi content,

and are making another show with her for next year, an anime original that's also very clearly gonna be on the fujo side.

Sounds more like an anti-queer themed show to me.. Perhaps it's you who should stop acting like Otsuka or MAPPA suddenly became 'queer-friendly'.. Just because they greenlit an adaptation of a problematic Japanese work from the 80s influenced by a Hays code era hollywood movie from the late 60s..

This again.. wrote:

Sounds more like an anti-queer themed show to me.. Perhaps it's you who should stop acting like Otsuka or MAPPA suddenly became 'queer-friendly'.. Just because they greenlit an adaptation of a problematic Japanese work from the 80s influenced by a Hays code era hollywood movie from the late 60s..

Banana Fish is definitely a product of its time in a number of ways, but having elements that would be considered problematic today doesn't automatically make it "anti-queer". If you personally don't like it because of those elements, that's fine, but that doesn't mean other queer people can't find meaning from the series. Banana Fish still has fans, even now, and it also had a huge influence on the BL genre (which, of course, has plenty of queer fans despite the stereotypes people still think are true).

TheSleepyMonkey wrote:

with Hiroko Utsumi, who is like, the go-to director when it comes to yaoi content,

Uhh..

What.. None of her shows are yaoi genre based.. Or did I miss something..

Utsumi directed Free!, Banana Fish and Sk8. All series that either feature yaoi or that feature almost all male casts that are a little too intimate. So yes, you "missed" something - literally her entire portfolio.

TheSleepyMonkey wrote:

and are making another show with her for next year, an anime original that's also very clearly gonna be on the fujo side.

You can't "clearly" know what's "gonna be" in it because the show is still in (early) production.. Has one of the lead staff members indicated the show is targeting a supposed 'fujoshi' audience, or are you just guessing..?

What is "considered problematic today" couldn't be considered problematic back then.. By anyone..? I find that hard to believe.. Of course you're free to make those value judgements about the views of the Japanese public in the 80s and 90s.. I am under no illusion to do so..

Also, since when do we decide whether something is anti-queer based on what year it happened.. Do we suddenly not consider the Hays code to be an anti-queer measure just because some people back then didn't consider what they did to be "problematic"..

Also, MAPPA adapted Banana Fish in 2018 so that argument doesn't particularly apply anyway..