Thursday, 12 November 2026

Anime, manga, and games, with a take · A Yukimedia publication

CyberAgent and MAPPA Sign Business Alliance, Acquire Stake in MHD

CyberAgent announced on November 11, 2026 that it has signed a business partnership agreement with animation studio MAPPA and acquired a stake in MAPPA's parent company, MHD Co., Ltd.

7 sources 9h ago

Reporting from 7 sources: Anime News Network, KAI-YOU, Denfaminicogamer, GameBusiness.jp, and 3 more.

Why it matters

The deal ties a studio known for Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man to the group that owns ABEMA, and it follows CygamesPictures becoming a consolidated CyberAgent subsidiary, so CyberAgent is now building out both production capacity and a distribution arm inside one group.

CyberAgent and MAPPA Sign Business Alliance, Acquire Stake in MHD

The two companies will combine MAPPA's animation production capability with CyberAgent's media, game and advertising operations, and will consider cooperation across anime planning and production, broadcasting and streaming, game adaptation, merchandise and events. MAPPA president and CEO Manabu Otsuka also holds the president and CEO post at MHD. MAPPA's management structure stays as it is, and the studio says it will keep working as an independent animation studio. The companies have worked together before on anime planning, broadcasting and streaming through ABEMA, and game adaptations, and both framed the new agreement as a way to deepen that relationship over the long term. CyberAgent did not disclose the size of the stake or the value of the investment. The stated shared value is a creator-first culture.

The two presidents have known each other for about eight years and have traded views on corporate management, according to a joint dialogue published on both companies' websites. The first point of contact between the firms was the 2014 anime "Rage of Bahamut: Genesis," which Cygames, part of the CyberAgent group, commissioned MAPPA to produce.

  • MAPPA was founded in 2011 and has worked on "Jujutsu Kaisen," "Chainsaw Man" and "Attack on Titan The Final Season."
  • The studio launched its own music label, mappa records, in 2025, and runs licensing, merchandise, streaming and events in Japan and overseas.
  • MAPPA's 15th anniversary exhibition runs at the Yurakucho Museum in Tokyo from September 16 to December 27 and travels to Fukuoka between January and March 2027.
  • CyberAgent set up its Anime & IP Business Headquarters in February 2024, and established the studio CA Soa to expand production capacity.
  • CygamesPictures became a consolidated CyberAgent subsidiary on February 27 and was renamed Cypic on April 6.
  • CyberAgent opened the Canvas Kyoto creative hub in June to develop creators in the Kansai region.

Yamauchi framed the deal around shared values: "As fellow leaders of our generation in the industry, Mr. Otsuka and I adopt 'Creative First' as our shared value." Otsuka said the studio will "continue to create with great care for quality and at the right pace."

Written with AI by Yomimono from the 7 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.

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Jujutsu Kaisen Chainsaw Man MAPPA CyberAgent MHD

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