MAPPA Celebrates 15th Anniversary with Mind-Blowing Trailers for Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man
Japanese animation studio MAPPA celebrated its 15th anniversary last week by dropping highly anticipated new trailers for two of its biggest flagship franchises: Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.
Jujutsu Kaisen - The Culling Game: Part 2
In addition to showcasing explosive new footage from the upcoming fourth season, The Culling Game: Part 2, the trailer announced a major shake-up in the behind-the-scenes creative team. Shōta Goshozono, who directed the second and third seasons, has been promoted to chief director, while Takeru Satō, who previously served as an assistant director, has stepped up as the new director.
The original manga for Jujutsu Kaisen was created by Gege Akutami and ran from 2018 to 2024. It won sixth place at the Next Manga Awards and first place in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics. The anime premiered in 2020 and won the Anime of the Year award at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. In 2021, Toho produced the prequel manga Jujutsu Kaisen 0 into a film that grossed nearly $200 million globally. They also released a compilation film for the "Hidden Inventory / Premature Death" arc from the second season this past May and a compilation film for the "Shibuya Incident Arc" with the addition of the first two episodes from the third season in November.
The third season of Jujutsu Kaisen, titled The Culling Game – Part 1, follows the devastating events of the Shibuya Incident. The story centers on a deadly ritual designed by Noritoshi Kamo that forces sorcerers and newly awakened curse-users into a brutal battle royale across ten massive barriers in Japan. Overwhelmed by guilt from the Shibuya massacre and wary of Ryomen Sukuna's interest in Megumi Fushiguro, Yuji Itadori decides not to return to Jujutsu High. Instead, he teams up with Choso to eliminate the countless cursed spirits unleashed by Noritoshi Kamo. Amidst this chaos, the Jujutsu headquarters has lifted Yuji’s suspended death sentence and appointed special-grade sorcerer Yuta Okkotsu as his executioner. This season explores the clash between these two powerful sorcerers and the shifting power dynamics as ancient sorcerers are reincarnated for this era of peak jujutsu warfare.
Chainsaw Man - Assassins Arc
Based on Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga, serialized since 2019, which achieved significant accolades, including first place in Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (men version), second place in the Next Manga Award, and second place in Nationwide Bookstore Employees Recommended Comics, as well as being nominated for the Manga Taishō. The anime adaptation debuted in 2022, and last year's cinematic feature, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, pulled in nearly $200 million at the global box office. While MAPPA has yet to officially confirm whether the upcoming Assassins Arc will be a theatrical film or a television season, the end of the trailer confirmed that Reze Arc director Tatsuya Yoshihara will return to helm the project.
In Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Denji worked as a Devil Hunter for the yakuza, trying to pay off the debt he inherited from his parents, until the yakuza betrayed him and had him killed. As he was losing consciousness, Denji’s beloved chainsaw-powered devil-dog, Pochita, made a deal with Denji and saved his life. This fused the two together, creating the unstoppable Chainsaw Man. Now, in a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into his world, and Denji faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.
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Photo and Source: MAPPA