That’s $63,926,560. This is Japan only and doesn’t take into account worldwide. Worldwide earnings are $180m.
PendragonDaGreat2025-12-31 05:28
For comparison Elio (a Disney/Pixar movie) is at $154 million WW. So yeah, Reze Arc doing really good.
YellowAppleCinema2025-12-31 09:19
Its incredibly successful, and it reminds me of how weird it truly was a few weeks ago when some Japanese creators talked how they should design future animes more for the "western market" instead of what we all fell in love with for the past 50 years.
Reze Arc had shameless action, nudity, and insane craziness, and dared to do things no other anime did. And it paid off. It was so insanely good. This is what I want from my anime and how it should stay, when I look at a certain TV show designed for the "western market" its insufferable with nonstop exposition dumps, everything is overexplained, and everything is stripped to its bare minimum to avoid any controversy
moon-twig2025-12-31 13:28
I don’t disagree with you but I do think it’s interesting that Fujimoto majored in Western painting at his university.
lverson2025-12-31 17:18
His sense of humor and even some character mannerisms also reminds me a lot of Tarantino. Also anime in general is the medium I find the most constant exposition dumps other than Netflix garbage bin products or YA novels (I don't think I'm alone in this). So I don't think Reze arc's, lack thereof is due to not "western-izing"
HarshTheDev2025-12-31 13:35
See I look at upvoted comments like this and I wholeheartedly agree, but then I remember CSM S1 and how much of a shitshow that was here for anyone who wasn't fond of the "western-live-action" aesthetic.
Warm-Enthusiasm-95342026-01-03 08:36
People who complained about the aesthetic of season 1 came across as the most entitled fans in the history of anime. There are so many adaptations that disappoint because of overall mediocrity, that complaining about one that makes strong choices comes across as ungrateful.
LLJKCicero2026-01-01 09:34
Anime tends to be way worse at constant info dumping compared to Western shows, what are you on about.
Of course, Reze Arc doesn't really do it, which is part of why it's great.
TatsunaKyo2026-01-20 04:03
Mind you, this happened with an arc from an anime that was widely controversial in Japan. This should really make japanese directors understand that quality wins all.
notanfan2025-12-30 16:26
i wonder when we will get se2 or a movie
MonsterKiller1122025-12-30 16:30
It has been announced already so most likely by 2027.
DaviMenezes29072025-12-30 16:51
Season 2 has already been officially announced (it will probably be in 2027).
thalefteye2025-12-30 16:57
So it will be CSM vs OPM part 2 😳.
Light_3xorcists2025-12-30 17:10
🤣🤣
DayMysterious47172025-12-30 17:24
tsar bomba vs aborted fetus
garfe2025-12-30 19:12
Wasn't 100% confirmed to be season 2 though. Could be another movie
DaviMenezes29072025-12-30 19:26
The announcement doesn't mention "Gekijouban" in the title, so I don't think it's a movie. If it were a movie, they would simply announce it as such, like they did with the Reze bow movie.
Jesus101012025-12-30 19:41
Some Japanese press accounts did post it was a movie but it was quickly taken down.
My guess is that they aren't sure if they want to continue with a season 2 or movie.
Honestly, I think Movie makes more sense since it would be the Assassin's arc and the leftover chapters can be condensed to a 12 episode season 2.
littlewillie6102025-12-30 22:02
The chapters after the next arc would only be about 8 or 9 episodes, unless they really stretch the material. I'm hoping all three will be part of season 2, and that they're just splitting it up into two shorter cours that will add up to a little more than the standard 11-13 episodes.
Icapica2025-12-31 13:05
> Honestly, I think Movie makes more sense since it would be the Assassin's arc and the leftover chapters can be condensed to a 12 episode season 2.
The entire rest of part 1 after Reze has enough content for 13-14 episodes.
Emergency_Revenue6782025-12-31 15:01
If they make assassins into a movie there isn't enough left for a full cour.
garfe2025-12-30 19:45
But they would have said "TV Broadcast" if it was a confirmed TV season
littlewillie6102025-12-30 22:07
I will note that seasons 3 and 4 of Demon Slayer were announced as Swordsmith Village Arc and Hashira Training Arc instead of seasons 3 and 4, while Mugen Train, the Infinity Castle trilogy, Reze Arc, and (I think) JJK0 were all referred to as movies right off the bat.
Ben99ny222025-12-30 23:59
Still doesn't really make sense. The rest of chainsaw man part 1 could fit in a 13 episode season. so why specify assassin arc. Unless they are adapting only that arc which at most takes 6 episodes. And what happens with the rest.
At least with those demon slayer subtitles, they were the whole season.
littlewillie6102025-12-31 00:28
14 or 15 episodes total would be more ideal, I think. I'm hoping it's going to be like a combination of what was done with JJK season 2 and Re:Zero season 3. In the former's case, the arcs were marketed separately and there was a short break in between them; in the latter's case, there were two irregularly short cours that added up to 16 episodes.
PhenomsServant2025-12-30 23:09
I mean it took 3 years just to get the movie. So Im not holding breath.
MonsterKiller1122025-12-30 16:38
From being called a flop movie that performs like a non cannon anime movie to achieving the 10 billion yen milestone. CSM movie has quite a journey surpassing the expectations of both the creators, the fans and the haters.
The best part is that it is entirely by the power of word of mouth. It didn't have a great start at the beginning but the positive word for mouth ensured that the audience kept on coming back and recommending it to more people.
Yoshihara and his team deserve all the praise for delivering us an audio-visual masterpiece that the audience couldn't look away from. They really put their all and were rewarded for their efforts.
Some-Kaleidoscope2652025-12-30 16:51
And dont forget the nice post release marketing with freebies by Mappa as well
MonsterKiller1122025-12-30 16:53
That's done for every anime movie out there. If your product is trash no amount of promotion will save it.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-30 17:05
I actually felt that CSM's popularity in the West was much lower than expected.
Not long ago, people were saying it was more popular overseas, but the movie's box office revenue ended up being far below expectations.
MonsterKiller1122025-12-30 17:14
Nope. It is the top 14 highest grossing Japanese movies of all time because of the western market. It didn't underperform at all.
ZandeR6782025-12-30 17:20
People just have unrealistic expectations due to KNY. But that's genuinely too popular to be compared to anything else. It consistently outsold One Piece at its peak.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-30 17:23
Japan was the most profitable country by far, followed by South Korea, and then the rest.
Considering population size and fan numbers, the Western market was honestly a big disappointment.
lalindu1232025-12-30 17:32
USA was the second biggest
CuntJab2025-12-30 17:19
The talking points never made sense to begin with. CSM, the manga, was competing against other manga that already had anime adaptations. It has always been targeted toward the Japanese audience despite Westerners claiming that it isn’t.
I’m glad the movie was made because now I can point to objective metrics that indeed prove that S1 maybe, *just maybe*, had flaws worth noting and that it indeed had questionable choices that detract from the source material.
VoidEmbracedWitch2025-12-30 17:29
>It has always been targeted toward the Japanese audience despite Westerners claiming that it isn’t.
I think you're mixing up narratives here. That was something Japanese manga fans perpetuated by taking the S1 director's words out of context while complaining about the adaptation not being what they wanted stylistically.
CuntJab2025-12-30 17:41
Nah, from my point of view years after it stopped airing, it really isn’t. It’s literally the primary cope for why the Blu-ray sales were as bad as they were. “They just weren’t made for the Japanese audience,” they said. “They just don’t appreciate cinema like we do,” they said.
VoidEmbracedWitch2025-12-30 18:36
From my point of view having followed the director's harassment while the season aired, it really is.
E: note that many source readers around these parts hated on the adaptation for the same reason minus director comments, although they of course didn't have the reach to affect anyone involved in the production.
CuntJab2025-12-30 18:45
The group that harassed the director accounts for 0.999% of the die-hard fans who were lukewarm or even disappointed with S1. They're not a conglomerate, man.
VoidEmbracedWitch2025-12-30 18:47
I never said they are a conglomerate. They're a very vocal, very toxic minority, and the one that pushed this narrative the most aggressively.
CuntJab2025-12-30 18:48
I agree.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-30 17:32
The CSM movie itself was basically flawless, but we still need to examine why its revenue in North America was underwhelming.
The number of theaters dropped significantly in less than a week after release.
CuntJab2025-12-30 17:47
Not really. Stop comparing it to Demon Slayer. For a sequel movie, the revenue garnered is perfectly adequate to be considered successful.
Ordinal43NotFound2025-12-30 18:21
It made more than JJK0 dawg.
KNY movies are simply the outlier. The amount of theaters that dropped CSM is considered normal for anime movies.
It's like comparing James Gunn's Superman to Avengers Infinity War
Ben99ny222025-12-30 19:18
I mean, chainsaw man only made 7 million less than mugen train.
Infinity castle isn't comparable less because its demon slayer but perhaps more because its got multiple seasons.
lalindu1232025-12-30 18:28
It is the sixth biggest anime movie in USA and it had better legs than most anime films
nightsky_cxiv2025-12-30 19:09
Underwhelming in absolutely what context lmao, it beat freaking JJK 0's domestic run at 43M+ and thats with more competition creep after it's first week performance.
Ben99ny222025-12-30 19:16
* Demon slayer Mugen train made 50 million in the US.
* The Boy and the Heron made 46 million in the US.
* Chainsaw man Reze arc made 43 million in the US.
* Dragon ball super super hero made 38 million in the US.
* JJK 0 Made 34 million in the US.
* Dragon ball super Broly made 30 million in the US.
* One piece film red made 12 million in the US (highest gross one piece film btw)
Make of this what you will.
chazzergamer2025-12-30 17:40
There are a number of factors that could have contributed to the movies financial success other than “Season 1 sucked!” Narrative you seem to be alluding to.
Did it maybe occur to you that a lot of the more cinematic and unique direction the movie had wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Season 1’s presentation? Setting a standard for it?
This reeks of confirmation bias.
“I didn’t like Season 1s style and the movie made a lot of money ergo season 1’s style was the reason it was bad.”
CuntJab2025-12-30 17:45
>There are a number of factors that could have contributed to the movies financial success other than “Season 1 sucked!” Narrative you seem to be alluding to.
I'd like you to present an argument that states otherwise. Changes were made in the movie that follow the source material more closely; Japan liked it, others liked it or weren’t too bothered by it; ergo, the S1 style wasn’t all that successful at satisfying the core demographic: the die-hard fans.
>Did it maybe occur to you that a lot of the more cinematic and unique direction the movie had wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Season 1’s presentation? Setting a standard for it?
Are you kidding? You’re insinuating these things never existed in the manga to begin with, which is absurd considering Look Back exists.
chazzergamer2025-12-30 18:02
Again, confirmation bias.
“Movie changed style from season 1, I’ve come across more positive feedback, ergo better in every way.”
It can’t have been that more promotional material for the film caused more people to give the series a go, it can’t have been that Crunchyroll uploaded the entire season on YouTube for free so that it exposed more people to the series, couldn’t have been that the general event nature of a film helped boost the hype vehicle of online discussion since it’s more easily digestible than a full series, which also exposed it to those that haven’t watched the series.
Naaaaaaah, none of that right?! It’s season 1s quality cus…circumstances…
So again, confirmation bias.
> it didn’t satisfy the core audience, hardcore fans.
Hello, I am a hardcore chainsaw man fan (or at least I’d consider myself one, I don’t read digital chapters cus I can’t get invested in any story like that but I’ve bought all the physical volumes released in my country) and the anime straight up reignited my love of anime.
The harsher shadows, the slightly muted but by no means boring colour scheme and cinematic flair gave me a televised anime experience I haven’t had since I first watched Evangelion, which also had a director who was more inspired by live action film than anime.i don’t think every choice was a gold medal but it standard head and shoulders above what many people consider “good animation”.
That’s not to say I think the movie is bad, it’s fantastic! Combining the more outrageous visuals of the manga with the cinematic competency to elevate them.
> your insinuating that these things never existed in the manga to begin with.
I mean yea? Some of the more expressive shots and angles of the film didn’t exist in the manga, the same sort of cinematic language that was present in season 1.
At the risk of this discussion resulting in wasted time let’s just end it here. Ultimately these are speculations that neither one of us can prove (without being incredibly arrogant anyway) and I’m happy to have a film that has combined what I love from season 1 while ironing out the kinks.
I just object to your metric of how to evaluate the films quality compared to season 1, and I think it reeks of confirmation bias.
CuntJab2025-12-30 18:13
>It can’t have been that more promotional material for the film caused more people to give the series a go, it can’t have been that Crunchyroll uploaded the entire season on YouTube for free so that it exposed more people to the series, couldn’t have been that the general event nature of a film helped boost the hype vehicle of online discussion since it’s more easily digestible than a film.
>Naaaaaaah, none of that right?! It’s season 1s quality cus…circumstances…
It doesn’t matter in the end anyway. It’s not something that can be objectively measured. What’s undeniable is that the change in style is always cited as a positive aspect of the movie that made it breathtaking. That’s something you can’t take away from it.
>Hello, I am a hardcore chainsaw man fan (or at least I’d consider myself one, I don’t read digital chapters cus I can’t get invested in any story like that but I’ve bought all the physical volumes released in my country) and the anime straight up reignited my love of anime.
You’re an outlier in this case, something I never claimed was impossible. The fact of the matter is, you’re not the one I’m talking about.
>The harsher shadows, the slightly muted but by no means boring colour scheme and cinematic flair gave me a televised anime experience I haven’t had since I first watched Evangelion, which also had a director who was more inspired by live action film than anime.i don’t think every choice was a gold medal but it standard head and shoulders above what many people consider “good animation”.
I’m happy for you, dude, but that’s not what’s being discussed.
>I mean yea? Some of the more expressive shots and angles of the film didn’t exist in the manga, the same sort of cinematic language that was present in season 1.
Dawg, no, just no. Are you kidding me? The criticism that’s always brought up is that the “cinematic” part of the manga is the only element that gets highlighted, while the zany, chaotic parts are muted. It’s always been there, whether S1 existed or not in the first place.
chazzergamer2025-12-30 18:14
Arrogance it is then.
Me being an outlier my arse, get out your echo chamber.
CuntJab2025-12-30 18:22
If it was so beloved, why change the directorial style? Why make compilation movies that address long-standing criticisms, like voice acting and faster-paced action, that have been echoed for years? All of this seems unnecessary if I were to adopt your view.
It’s not arrogance; it’s an attempt to look at the facts objectively.
chazzergamer2025-12-30 18:26
I would attempt to explain but looking at your comment history, I can see this is a waste of time.
Cus holy shit my guy, you are arrogant.
gamebond892025-12-30 18:42
'Cinematic flair?'
I can call s1 a Zack Snyder chainsaw man and slap 'cinematic' but cinematic is a broader term not confined to one style. People think muted colours and highly polished style with grounded direction is what is cinematic. I liked many elements of s1 but new style was absolutely perfect to me and way more cinematic but again feel bad for you that the old style won't be continued. Chainsaw man has frenzy that s1 failed to convey, It has kinetic battle and crazy expressions that s1 failed to convey. It has eeriness that s1 failed to convey whether it be curse devil poor cg frame or makima in train scene falling completely flat.
Funny enough the episode that conveyed the best kinetic crazy frenzy action and expressions along with slow moments was directed by Yoshihara himself.
chazzergamer2025-12-30 18:46
But it has continued, the movie is filled with the same sort of slow, cinematic language of season 1, the lighting as well.
It just brought out the colours more which is a net plus for me too.
Unlike what the rest of the anime internet Hivemind has convinced you of, this isn’t a mutually exclusive debate.
Also calling S1 a Zack Snyder Chainsaw Man is just downright insulting.
Just say you have no basis for hating the beyond “The Internet told me to” at this point.
gamebond892025-12-30 18:48
Relax bro I am too old to be hating anything lol. Just a simple reddit convo which I guess....yeah dumb. And hey zack Snyder movies may suck but he can deliver on cool visuals if he pumps some breaks on his slow mos...
chazzergamer2025-12-30 18:53
“Nah bro I’m not hater.”
“I compared chainsaw man s1 to zach who sucks btw like actually sucks but he can make some good visuals from time to time.”
…like…you say your old…but you sure don’t seem it little bro.
gamebond892025-12-30 19:03
No point in trying to have discussion with someone who's hellbent on proving himself and cries that you're a 'hater' or call you out all sort of stuff.
CuntJab2025-12-30 19:11
Dawg, what're you yapping about lol.
gamebond892025-12-30 19:12
not you lol. the other guy who you're discussing with.
CuntJab2025-12-30 19:13
Oh, oops. My bad.
gamebond892025-12-30 18:30
The change in style is a big reason why the movie was such a success. You can read the Japanese fans reception of the movie on twitter. It's all there for you to read.
Even the staff that was present since s1 like the character designer expressed in his tweets how happy he was that with the movie he was finally able to draw the characters 'as they are'. S1 was shackled by a particular vision whereas the movie gives full freedom to staff to pour their passion and love into it.
It's undeniable one of the major points for the movie's success in japan is due to the change in style.
The movie to me was way more cinematic than the first season. Yoshihara was the mentor of Nakayama and it showed. I liked s1 but for me it took way more than what it gave and missed something aside from clearly janky full blown cg model fights that thankfully clearly won't be a thing due to looser but more faithful character designs and rightful complaints.
garfe2025-12-30 19:07
> There are a number of factors that could have contributed to the movies financial success other than “Season 1 sucked!” Narrative you seem to be alluding to.
I think it was at the bare minimum a factor for its Japanese success
PM_ME_AWESOME_SONGS2025-12-30 18:30
I still remember when daring to criticize S1 here would lead you to be utterly downvoted.
notathrowaway752025-12-30 20:53
The movies success does not prove the show's flaws at all.
Hell, if anything the movie's success proves the show's success.
Ben99ny222025-12-30 19:11
Based on what? Chainsaw man is proportionally more popular in the west than Japan.
* Chainsaw man, as far as i'm aware, is the bestselling manga in the US (per volume). Beating JJK, One piece, dragon ball, MHA, etc. At worst its top 3. And this is of all time. Compared to Japan, is it even top 50?
* Box office performance was relatively better in US. In US, the box office is $43,438,461. In Japan its $63,926,560. That's only a 20 million dollar difference. Demon slayer made 134 mil in US compared to Japan's 244 mil. JJK 0 had like 13 billion in Japan (CSM 10 billion) while US was 34 million.
* Chainsaw man has the second most viewed chapter on manga plus this year. Second to JJK's sequel season which was chapter 1.
Might also be worth noting that chainsaw man got into top 5 most popular manga on MAL and #1 on anilist before its anime.
This is to illustrate that chainsaw man gives off the impression that its perhaps proportionally more popular in the US compared to other anime.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-30 19:17
You should look into this a bit more. Chainsaw Man has surpassed 34 million copies in circulation, and most of that is in Japan. So comparing the US "Top 10" to Japan's "Top 10" is meaningless. A manga that ranks around No.
100 in Japan is probably comparable to the No. 1 title in the US. The scale is completely different. • The US has about five times Japan's population, yet its box office revenue is lower. So in what sense is it "more popular than in Japan"?
Ben99ny222025-12-30 19:49
My meaning is proportionally to other anime. That's what everyone means.
>So comparing the US "Top 10" to Japan's "Top 10" is meaningless
Its not meaningless. Using such statistics we can see anime like one piece which is huge in Japan, perhaps the biggest, but its much lower than alot of other anime in the west.
* Infinity castle in the US grossed 55% of Japan's gross.
* Chainsaw man in the US grossed 68% of Japan's gross
* Mugen train in the US grossed 13% of Japan's gross
Does that not show that perhaps, proportionally to demon slayer, chainsaw man is more popular in the west than demon slayer compared to Japan.
It may not mean much. But your original comment states that people expect chainsaw man to be more popular in the west than its home country. That's very unlikely. Especially when you say the performance was far below expectations. Literally who? Even mappa and Toho didn't expect the performance. No one expected chainsaw man to outgross JJK 0 and DBS super hero. Its only 7 million less than mugen train.
> The US has about five times Japan's population, yet its box office revenue is lower
Of course, that's usual. Does that mean Mugen train wasn't popular in the US because it only grossed 13% of Japan's gross.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-30 20:01
What are you even talking about? What is the point of comparing percentages?
Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man do not have the same baseline at all. The scale is completely different.
If you want a meaningful comparison, you have to compare them on the same baseline.
Otherwise it is pointless. Stop doing that kind of stupid math lol
It is a fact that Japan has higher box office revenue and more viewers. That does not change. So what are you trying to prove by comparing some meaningless percentages in North America?
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-30 19:44
I looked it up, and in the US it is at most about 1 million copies. Just 1 million.
Out of 34 million total copies, only 1 million.
And yet people brag, "It was No. 1 in the US" or "It was not No. 1 in Japan." That is honestly ridiculous.
They do not understand that ranking No. 1 in such a small market means far less than ranking No. 10 in Japan, the largest manga market in the world
Being No. 10 in Japan still sells vastly more than being No. 1 in the US.
DaviMenezes29072025-12-30 20:32
Of the 34 million copies in circulation, that's just in Japan; worldwide figures are likely around 50-60 million.
notathrowaway752025-12-30 20:50
I don't think people were expecting much higher than 18 million. That's a great number.
Candid_Ad47612025-12-31 21:02
I get what you mean, but I think that takeaway ignores the biggest piece of context: **Chainsaw Man has never had the same mainstream discovery pipeline in the U.S. that the biggest “overseas” anime hits had**. Netflix is the #1 casual funnel for anime in the West—being on it for years means millions of people try a show just because it’s there and the algorithm keeps feeding it to them. Chainsaw Man didn’t have that advantage, so expecting it to perform like titles that were basically “always available to everyone” is setting a higher bar than people realize.
On the box office specifically, a movie’s overseas revenue isn’t a clean popularity meter when the title is **platform-locked, more polarizing, and less “family/event-friendly”** than the biggest theatrical monsters. Demon Slayer and similar breakouts benefited from broader casual reach and a tone that makes it easy to bring friends or family. Chainsaw Man is a stronger “you either vibe with it or you don’t” series, and that tends to cap walk-up audiences for theaters even if the core fandom is loud and engaged. So “lower than expectations” might really just mean “the expectations were built on comparisons to franchises with completely different access and demographics.”
If anything, what’s impressive is that Chainsaw Man stayed culturally relevant through long gaps and constant online backlash while lacking the same mass-exposure advantage. It’s big enough to be a target, but it doesn’t have the Netflix-level casual base to drown out negativity—so it *feels* smaller than it is if you only look at discourse or a single revenue number. I’d frame it as: the movie box office may have underwhelmed relative to hype, but that doesn’t automatically mean the IP is weak overseas—it means the distribution and audience mix are fundamentally different than the titles people keep comparing it to.
Keep in mind all these other anime below have an advantage of being on netflix but haven't been able to surpass Chainsaw Man in popularity.
Here is what it looks like what a popular anime was on Netflix for 6 years. That is 330M paid users compared to 17M paid crunchyroll users. Solo Leveling and Chainsaw Man don't have that luxury.
>From being called a flop movie that performs like a non cannon anime movie
The movie was never a flop.
>It didn't have a great start at the beginning
It made a billion yen in the opening weekend in Japan.
DoctorDazza2025-12-31 01:31
Yeah I don’t know why they’re revising history, CSM opened with a decent bang in Japan and continued to do well. It wasn’t Demon Slayer levels but nothing is.
notathrowaway752025-12-31 01:52
It's to further justify their dislike of season 1. Which is especially dumb because the movie's success proves the show's success.
DoctorDazza2025-12-31 02:23
I went to S1 events in Japan and they were sold out and stupidly popular. People be like “the BDs didn’t sell” and forget that MAPPA sold the show to every streaming service in the country so there was no need to buy the discs.
luceafaruI2025-12-31 01:52
It made less than spy family code white did in its first weekend which ended up at 6 billion yen in japan.
Spy family: 866k tickets first weekend in japan
Reze movie: 807k tigers first weekend in japan
notathrowaway752025-12-31 02:00
>It made less than spy family code white did in its first weekend
This is supposed to be a bad thing?
MonsterKiller1122025-12-31 05:29
>The movie was never a flop.
I am not saying it was a flop but people were calling it a flop in comparison to other battle shonen movies after the opening weekend numbers. Even the distributor Toho was saying that their estimate for the movie is 5 billion yen which is obviously not a lot for a cannon sequel. No one was expecting it to top the weekend box office for 8 weeks straight.
>It made a billion yen in the opening weekend in Japan.
JJK 0 made it on the opening day and that was a prequel. It surpassing 10 billion is impressive because it didn't perform like a 10 billion movie on the opening day but showed insane legs later on in the box office run.
If you think this movie was always expected to reach the 10 billion mark you would be dead wrong. No one expected it to reach this milestone back on its opening weekend.
notathrowaway752025-12-31 06:03
> I am not saying it was a flop but people were calling it a flop in comparison to other battle shonen movies after the opening weekend numbers.
It would be wrong to do that.
>Even the distributor Toho was saying that their estimate for the movie is 5 billion yen which is obviously not a lot for a cannon sequel
This has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a flop.
>JJK 0 made it on the opening day and that was a prequel.
JJK is a lot more popular than Chainsaw Man and the 0 came out a lot sooner after the show than Reze Arc.
>If you think this movie was always expected to reach the 10 billion mark
I did not say that.
MonsterKiller1122025-12-31 06:20
>It would be wrong to do that.
Yes it would be but that was the popular opinion back then.
>This has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a flop.
If the distributor is low balling a movie so much so that the final numbers end up being twice their expectations then that shows the lack of faith in the product.
>JJK is a lot more popular than Chainsaw Man and the 0 came out a lot sooner after the show than Reze Arc.
Counterpoint, it was a prequel with none of the main characters of the show and a new protagonist instead. It came out during the Covid era when people were avoiding theatres yet it performed that well. CSM didn't face these issues.
>I did not say that.
Then what is this argument even about? I already clarified by flop I am referring to underperformance in comparison to other battle shonen movies judged solely by the opening weekends numbers. That was a popular opinion when the movie dropped. The movie was so good it overperformed the expectations of everyone who were calling it a flop back then. That was my only argument.
notathrowaway752025-12-31 07:21
> Yes it would be but that was the popular opinion back then.
Where? The [thread discussing it here](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1nnhyts/chainsaw_man_reze_arc_attracted_807000_viewers/) was not calling it a flop.
And it's still wrong even if it's the popular opinion.
>If the distributor is low balling a movie so much so that the final numbers end up being twice their expectations then that shows the lack of faith in the product.
Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a flop.
>Counterpoint, it was a prequel with none of the main characters of the show and a new protagonist instead.
Gojo, Maki, and Panda are on the poster. And it's still called Jujutsu Kaisen.
>It came out during the Covid era when people were avoiding theatres yet it performed that well.
It came out in December 2021 in Japan and March 2022 in the states. People were going to the theaters then. A small indie movie called Spider-Man No Way Home was out then.
>CSM didn't face these issues.
CSM isn't facing the issue of people avoiding theaters? That's been solved?
>Then what is this argument even about?
Pretty clearly that the movie was never a flop.
>I already clarified by flop I am referring to underperformance in comparison to other battle shonen movies judged solely by the opening weekends numbers.
And I just told you that's not a flop.
>The movie was so good it overperformed the expectations of everyone who were calling it a flop back then. That was my only argument.
Not a good argument when the entire premise it's based on is false.
MonsterKiller1122025-12-31 07:44
>Where?
Twitter
>And it's still wrong even if it's the popular opinion.
When have I denied that it's not wrong but it was popular.
>And I just told you that's not a flop.
I am not in disagreement with you. I am just calling out people who were saying stuff like that.
>Not a good argument when the entire premise it's based on is false.
The premise is not false. I was defending this movie when it first came out on twitter. Twitter bros were ripping it to shreds.
>Gojo, Maki, and Panda are on the poster. And it's still called Jujutsu Kaisen.
Maki and Panda are side characters. Gojo is the only main character.
>It came out in December 2021 in Japan and March 2022 in the states. People were going to the theaters then.
Still not close to the pre Covid levels. These movies would have made even more if they came out now.
notathrowaway752025-12-31 07:55
> Twitter
Truly a place full of smart people who say correct things.
>When have I denied that it's not wrong but it was popular.
You're continuing to defend the movie being considered a flop.
>The premise is not false. I was defending this movie when it first came out on twitter. Twitter bros were ripping it to shreds.
You just said you're not in disagreement with me.
And the premise is not false yet you were defending it? What?
And it is false. Idiots on twitter are in fact idiots and spouting nonsense.
>Maki and Panda are side characters. Gojo is the only main character.
Sure but they're still very familiar characters to audiences who just watched season 1. And Gojo proves your statement wrong.
>Still not close to the pre Covid levels. These movies would have made even more if they came out now.
Ok but people weren't avoiding theaters contrary to what you said.
dagreenman182025-12-30 16:47
Nearly 200 million worldwide. For something that IIRC only cost about 20 million with marketing? Insane ROI.
And it’s legitimately the best animated film of 2025.
Roveloran2025-12-30 16:52
If we take into account the production cost, it probably cost more.
However, they are definitely making some great net profts. This also doesn’t take into account the increased sales of the manga, and derivatives products as well related to the CSM license.
Abysswatcherbel2025-12-30 17:48
>This also doesn’t take into account the increased sales of the manga, and derivatives products as well related to the CSM license.
Mappa won't make a cent from increased manga sales, that's on Shueisha, the rest yes, but derivatives products *from the anime*, derivatives products from the manga they also won't make a cent
Really important to separate the manga ip and the anime ip, the anime is a separate legal entity, the revenues won't mix *directly*, indirectly definitely we can see one raising the revenue for the other, but as far as the companies go, Shueisha doesn't directly make money from the anime, and MAPPA doesn't directly make money from the manga
DaviMenezes29072025-12-30 16:57
What cost 20 million was Demon Slayer Infinity Castle, CSM budget must have been less than 10 million.
dagreenman182025-12-30 17:18
With a few million for marketing and distribution it probably cost around 15 then. Wild.
Abysswatcherbel2025-12-30 17:42
Really doubt, not even 10 million marketing included
The most expensive marketing for the movie came from the international distributors (Sony), not the original production
DireSickFish2025-12-30 16:52
Boom!
Electrical_Chance9912025-12-30 16:58
Mappa must be swimming in money now since they are the solo production committee member of CSM anime, even if distributors and Toho/Sony took like 50-60% of the cut from the worldwide 180 Million revenue the movie generated, Mappa still most likely got like 60-70 Million(just me speculating) from it. Which is fking massive considering the speculated budget was only 6-8 Million.
From now on they'll most likely start solo funding more projects, especially now considering they have [10 production lines/teams under them](https://x.com/FallenDemiurgus/status/2005252785877684334).
bonkysucks2025-12-30 17:15
Hopefully they decide to treat their workers a little better after making all this money 💔
Candid_Ad47612025-12-30 17:50
this number that is being throwing out is not correct.
The real profit to mappa is not close to 60-70 million to MAPPA.
Toho takes a good chunk from in Japan. Crunchyroll/Sony bought the theatrical and streaming rights outside of Japan (for a good price because expectations were low).
[Why the $70M MAPPA take is unrealistic](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1pzks4c/comment/nwr84bf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Mecha_Link2025-12-30 18:45
MAPPA is probably only netting \~$20M from the movie, but the real revenue will be coming from merch sales, streaming deals, digital purchase (actually not sure about this one).
dumquestions2025-12-30 21:15
We don't really know the size of the deal with Sony/Crunchyroll, chainsaw man season 1 wasn't as big as expected in Japan, but it was quite successful in the west.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-31 17:42
Success in the West? What kind of success? It's not like people are buying DVDs.
Without concrete numbers, the so-called success in Western markets honestly feels unreliable.
dumquestions2025-12-31 18:18
Crunchyroll treaming numbers are a pretty decent measure of success in the West.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-31 18:26
How much revenue does Crunchyroll’s viewership actually generate?At the end of the day, that is just popularity on a single streaming platform, isn’t it?
So if the payment model is performance-based, how much money does an anime studio actually receive from that?
Do you really think that would be larger than the success of the same title in Japan?
dumquestions2025-12-31 19:26
I'm not talking about generated money relative to Japan, just popularity in the West vs Japan, op said in a more detailed comment that the deal with Sony/Crunchyroll for the global distribution of the movie must've been small because season 1 wasn't huge, but truth is it was pretty big outside Japan by all available metrics.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-31 22:17
That’s exactly why I want to see actual numbers.
For movies or comics, sales figures make things clear, but when it comes to popularity in the West, far too many people never present any concrete data at all.
HisaAnt2025-12-31 07:24
Damn, that's such a rip-off. Sony/Crunchyroll basically stealing most of the money while doing nothing except for owning certain rights. Really shows how fucked this world is where the actual workers don't get shit compared to big companies and CEOs who steal all your money for chump change.
elmagio2025-12-30 17:29
> Mappa must be swimming in money now since they are the solo production committee member of CSM anime, even if distributors and Toho/Sony took like 50-60% of the cut from the worldwide 180 Million revenue the movie generated, Mappa still most likely got like 60-70 Million from it. Which is fking massive considering the speculated budget was only 6-8 Million.
It was also reported that domestically at least they paid Toho upfront for distribution on the basis of a (I think) 5B Yen final gross, which would mean that the next 5B would have been pure profit for MAPPA.
However you do need to take into account a roughly 50% cut for the theaters themselves and probably Sony taking a larger distribution cut of international BO and MAPPA also had to handle all the merch bonuses given out in theaters which definitely adds a few millions to their costs.
Still, even with all the caveats you could throw at it MAPPA is guaranteed to have netted a massive profit, probably in the 30/40M range which is completely insane for an anime studio. And that's before streaming rights (which were baked in the Sony distribution deal), merch sales, ...
thepeciguy2025-12-31 13:02
>merch bonuses given out in theaters which definitely adds a few millions to their costs.
I doubt it adds that much. The bonuses were some small booklet/ postcards/ posters and printing in Japan has to be so damn cheap, because like all the big famous artists i follow basically sell hundred pages thick colored artbooks with the same price as two cinema tickets over there.
Abysswatcherbel2025-12-30 17:39
That's ridiculously high amount of money for an independent anime studio
From what I see people talking they dont seem to grasp that, blame that on them, for some reason, associating anime studios with Hollywood studios or even worse video game studios/publishers
Funniest one, was when the cost of Reze went viral, people surprised it didn't cost 100 million, and using some Hollywood 2d movies as their benchmark
Man, that was hilarious
Candid_Ad47612025-12-30 17:43
Not really how it works.
Even though MAPPA is the sole production committee member for Chainsaw Man, that doesn’t mean they’re directly collecting most of the worldwide box office.
For overseas markets, the movie was almost certainly licensed out in advance (theatrical + streaming) to Sony / Crunchyroll for a fixed deal. That means the international box office mainly goes to the distributors, not straight back to MAPPA.
In Japan, MAPPA does get a share of the box office, but it’s split with Toho as the distributor. Something around a \~40% producer share is a reasonable assumption, but it’s nowhere near 100%.
If you try to ballpark everything together, MAPPA’s total return from this movie is probably somewhere in the **high-30s to low-40s million range**, once you combine domestic box office share with the international licensing deals.
After production and marketing costs, that still leaves something like **low- to mid-20s million in profit**, which is obviously a good result — just not the $60–70M cash haul people are throwing around.
So yeah, MAPPA is clearly profitable on the movie, but the idea that they pocketed $60–70M in cash is pretty unrealistic once you factor in licensing structures and production costs.
The real win here isn’t this movie by itself. it’s leverage.
After this performance, MAPPA goes into the next Chainsaw Man project with way more bargaining power. Better domestic terms, better international deals, more control. That’s where the big upside is.
They didn’t suddenly become a cash-printing machine overnight. they just put themselves in a much stronger position for whatever comes next.
[deleted]2025-12-30 18:58
[deleted]
Candid_Ad47612025-12-30 19:12
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Mobbyq2025-12-30 19:31
Just a question, i understand why there is a fixed deal for streaming overseas, since paying per viewer is obviously unpredictable for the streaming services and MAPPA (and therefore inconvenient for both sides).
but why for the overseas theatrical release? Is that normal? Surely MAPPA would try to take a percentage deal if possible right?
Is it because they wanted to mitigate the chances of a risk and got a fixed deal that paid for their production costs?
Or is it because they wanted to leave overseas marketing over to Sony and therefore pay less? Idk
Sorry if this comment is ignorant, just genuinely curious.
Candid_Ad47612025-12-30 19:47
1). Its because Sony has leverage and can get a wide release in many countries for an otherwise unproven IP. Crunchyroll controls the Chainsaw Man audience and can easily market the movie to their 17M subscribers.
You really think Chainsaw Man would have gotten a 3000+ theater release in the US without Sony? You think Chainsaw Man would have gotten a trailer playing after every Demon Slayer Movie without Sony? What about releasing in 100+ countries? What about releasing only 1 month after the Japan release worldwide? What about imax, Dolby release? Not a chance.
If Sony was used as just a distributor and did not have the theatrical rights outside of Japan, they would not have done all this effort for IP they don’t own. They gave Chainsaw Man the same love as they did the Demon Slayed. They own the Demon Slayer IP. They do not own the Chainsaw Man Ip.
Mappa benefits from all that Sony has done for the Cjainsaw Man Ip because they own it.
Abysswatcherbel2025-12-30 21:23
You are all overestimating the cost of a anime movie like this
Candid_Ad47612025-12-30 21:28
probably. but i rather overestimate than underestimate. If you want to say it cost around 5M to make then the net would be around mid 30 million in profit.
nico_juro2025-12-30 19:34
Praying they pick up KGB when JJK is done
TechnicalPark45222025-12-30 20:16
It's already picked up by Cygames
nico_juro2025-12-30 21:00
is that good or bad
Candid_Ad47612025-12-30 21:06
it's good. They are top tier anime studio and production committee all into one.
You should thank the heavens you don't see Bandai Namco as the producer and JC staff as on the Studio (one punch man)
Simple-Original4542026-01-04 04:31
The animation world doesn't resolve around OPM. Every studio did garbage shows at some point. Even mappa did an even worst garbage adaptation anime than OPM S3 in 2019.
Plus Bandai and JC staff participate in the reze movie too.
PhenomsServant2025-12-30 23:07
Why havent we heard anything about it yet? I thought for sure we would get an official announcement by now and a fall 2026 release date
Thanatos-ES2025-12-31 00:31
Honestly MAPPA should start looking for manwhas to grab some good projects. There's good manwhas that beg to be taken to animation. I can only imagining MAPPA animating "The Swordmaster's Youngest Son"
CodeMonkeyX2025-12-31 00:58
Hopefully they will start paying their employees better. Realize that there is more money to be made from Anime that is giving the love and respect it deserves to make a great product like the Reze Arc. In contrast hopefully the company behind One Punch Man S3 loses money and is never given the opportunity to destry another property.
SedesBakelitowy2025-12-30 17:36
And rightfully so. CSM may be running on borrowed time but it still has a few great arcs worth animating and Reze movie was great.
cow_goo2025-12-30 17:44
It was alright
TiredofyourBSyo2025-12-30 18:05
A fantastic movie. I thought it was slow to start, but then you realize the point of the slow burn, the character development and the looming love story, then the second half is straight up poetry.
Organic-Habit-30862025-12-30 18:32
At 10 billion yen in Japan it joins a list of less than 20 anime films and less than 25 films total to cross that barrier. Its a major achievement and likely the final big one for the film and its also impressisve that it is double the high end predictions back when the movie came out. CSM has had an amazing run in Japan.
Ok_Carob_32782025-12-31 17:46
Well, unlike in the West, Chainsaw Man is extremely popular here
ginger66162025-12-31 18:43
Huh? Csm is a really popular in the west. In America fujimoto had years when he was the second most popular author in comics/manga. Csm has been nothing but huge in America for years now, the comics topping the sale chart before the anime even came out
watrmeln4202025-12-30 19:19
I watched it 3 times. I’m so glad it’s doing well.
HipsDontKawaiii2025-12-30 22:38
Wow that's huge news. Really happy to see the Reze arc getting this much love at the box office. Well deserved. MAPPA must be going crazy lol.
biggiebass132025-12-30 22:46
Well deserved 👏
Monkguan2025-12-31 01:34
Ty, please keep us updated every day
Salty1452025-12-31 15:15
The West has fallen. Billions must watch *Chainsaw Man*.
AoiShimaShima2026-01-02 13:39
the movie is great but that damn stupid ass song i hear everywhere is fucking annoying. its not even a good song by itself.
Commentaires
Reze Arc had shameless action, nudity, and insane craziness, and dared to do things no other anime did. And it paid off. It was so insanely good. This is what I want from my anime and how it should stay, when I look at a certain TV show designed for the "western market" its insufferable with nonstop exposition dumps, everything is overexplained, and everything is stripped to its bare minimum to avoid any controversy
Of course, Reze Arc doesn't really do it, which is part of why it's great.
My guess is that they aren't sure if they want to continue with a season 2 or movie.
Honestly, I think Movie makes more sense since it would be the Assassin's arc and the leftover chapters can be condensed to a 12 episode season 2.
The entire rest of part 1 after Reze has enough content for 13-14 episodes.
At least with those demon slayer subtitles, they were the whole season.
The best part is that it is entirely by the power of word of mouth. It didn't have a great start at the beginning but the positive word for mouth ensured that the audience kept on coming back and recommending it to more people.
Yoshihara and his team deserve all the praise for delivering us an audio-visual masterpiece that the audience couldn't look away from. They really put their all and were rewarded for their efforts.
Not long ago, people were saying it was more popular overseas, but the movie's box office revenue ended up being far below expectations.
Considering population size and fan numbers, the Western market was honestly a big disappointment.
I’m glad the movie was made because now I can point to objective metrics that indeed prove that S1 maybe, *just maybe*, had flaws worth noting and that it indeed had questionable choices that detract from the source material.
I think you're mixing up narratives here. That was something Japanese manga fans perpetuated by taking the S1 director's words out of context while complaining about the adaptation not being what they wanted stylistically.
E: note that many source readers around these parts hated on the adaptation for the same reason minus director comments, although they of course didn't have the reach to affect anyone involved in the production.
The number of theaters dropped significantly in less than a week after release.
KNY movies are simply the outlier. The amount of theaters that dropped CSM is considered normal for anime movies.
It's like comparing James Gunn's Superman to Avengers Infinity War
Infinity castle isn't comparable less because its demon slayer but perhaps more because its got multiple seasons.
* The Boy and the Heron made 46 million in the US.
* Chainsaw man Reze arc made 43 million in the US.
* Dragon ball super super hero made 38 million in the US.
* JJK 0 Made 34 million in the US.
* Dragon ball super Broly made 30 million in the US.
* One piece film red made 12 million in the US (highest gross one piece film btw)
Make of this what you will.
Did it maybe occur to you that a lot of the more cinematic and unique direction the movie had wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Season 1’s presentation? Setting a standard for it?
This reeks of confirmation bias.
“I didn’t like Season 1s style and the movie made a lot of money ergo season 1’s style was the reason it was bad.”
I'd like you to present an argument that states otherwise. Changes were made in the movie that follow the source material more closely; Japan liked it, others liked it or weren’t too bothered by it; ergo, the S1 style wasn’t all that successful at satisfying the core demographic: the die-hard fans.
>Did it maybe occur to you that a lot of the more cinematic and unique direction the movie had wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Season 1’s presentation? Setting a standard for it?
Are you kidding? You’re insinuating these things never existed in the manga to begin with, which is absurd considering Look Back exists.
“Movie changed style from season 1, I’ve come across more positive feedback, ergo better in every way.”
It can’t have been that more promotional material for the film caused more people to give the series a go, it can’t have been that Crunchyroll uploaded the entire season on YouTube for free so that it exposed more people to the series, couldn’t have been that the general event nature of a film helped boost the hype vehicle of online discussion since it’s more easily digestible than a full series, which also exposed it to those that haven’t watched the series.
Naaaaaaah, none of that right?! It’s season 1s quality cus…circumstances…
So again, confirmation bias.
> it didn’t satisfy the core audience, hardcore fans.
Hello, I am a hardcore chainsaw man fan (or at least I’d consider myself one, I don’t read digital chapters cus I can’t get invested in any story like that but I’ve bought all the physical volumes released in my country) and the anime straight up reignited my love of anime.
The harsher shadows, the slightly muted but by no means boring colour scheme and cinematic flair gave me a televised anime experience I haven’t had since I first watched Evangelion, which also had a director who was more inspired by live action film than anime.i don’t think every choice was a gold medal but it standard head and shoulders above what many people consider “good animation”.
That’s not to say I think the movie is bad, it’s fantastic! Combining the more outrageous visuals of the manga with the cinematic competency to elevate them.
> your insinuating that these things never existed in the manga to begin with.
I mean yea? Some of the more expressive shots and angles of the film didn’t exist in the manga, the same sort of cinematic language that was present in season 1.
At the risk of this discussion resulting in wasted time let’s just end it here. Ultimately these are speculations that neither one of us can prove (without being incredibly arrogant anyway) and I’m happy to have a film that has combined what I love from season 1 while ironing out the kinks.
I just object to your metric of how to evaluate the films quality compared to season 1, and I think it reeks of confirmation bias.
>Naaaaaaah, none of that right?! It’s season 1s quality cus…circumstances…
It doesn’t matter in the end anyway. It’s not something that can be objectively measured. What’s undeniable is that the change in style is always cited as a positive aspect of the movie that made it breathtaking. That’s something you can’t take away from it.
>Hello, I am a hardcore chainsaw man fan (or at least I’d consider myself one, I don’t read digital chapters cus I can’t get invested in any story like that but I’ve bought all the physical volumes released in my country) and the anime straight up reignited my love of anime.
You’re an outlier in this case, something I never claimed was impossible. The fact of the matter is, you’re not the one I’m talking about.
>The harsher shadows, the slightly muted but by no means boring colour scheme and cinematic flair gave me a televised anime experience I haven’t had since I first watched Evangelion, which also had a director who was more inspired by live action film than anime.i don’t think every choice was a gold medal but it standard head and shoulders above what many people consider “good animation”.
I’m happy for you, dude, but that’s not what’s being discussed.
>I mean yea? Some of the more expressive shots and angles of the film didn’t exist in the manga, the same sort of cinematic language that was present in season 1.
Dawg, no, just no. Are you kidding me? The criticism that’s always brought up is that the “cinematic” part of the manga is the only element that gets highlighted, while the zany, chaotic parts are muted. It’s always been there, whether S1 existed or not in the first place.
Me being an outlier my arse, get out your echo chamber.
It’s not arrogance; it’s an attempt to look at the facts objectively.
Cus holy shit my guy, you are arrogant.
I can call s1 a Zack Snyder chainsaw man and slap 'cinematic' but cinematic is a broader term not confined to one style. People think muted colours and highly polished style with grounded direction is what is cinematic. I liked many elements of s1 but new style was absolutely perfect to me and way more cinematic but again feel bad for you that the old style won't be continued. Chainsaw man has frenzy that s1 failed to convey, It has kinetic battle and crazy expressions that s1 failed to convey. It has eeriness that s1 failed to convey whether it be curse devil poor cg frame or makima in train scene falling completely flat.
Funny enough the episode that conveyed the best kinetic crazy frenzy action and expressions along with slow moments was directed by Yoshihara himself.
It just brought out the colours more which is a net plus for me too.
Unlike what the rest of the anime internet Hivemind has convinced you of, this isn’t a mutually exclusive debate.
Also calling S1 a Zack Snyder Chainsaw Man is just downright insulting.
Just say you have no basis for hating the beyond “The Internet told me to” at this point.
“I compared chainsaw man s1 to zach who sucks btw like actually sucks but he can make some good visuals from time to time.”
…like…you say your old…but you sure don’t seem it little bro.
Even the staff that was present since s1 like the character designer expressed in his tweets how happy he was that with the movie he was finally able to draw the characters 'as they are'. S1 was shackled by a particular vision whereas the movie gives full freedom to staff to pour their passion and love into it.
It's undeniable one of the major points for the movie's success in japan is due to the change in style.
The movie to me was way more cinematic than the first season. Yoshihara was the mentor of Nakayama and it showed. I liked s1 but for me it took way more than what it gave and missed something aside from clearly janky full blown cg model fights that thankfully clearly won't be a thing due to looser but more faithful character designs and rightful complaints.
I think it was at the bare minimum a factor for its Japanese success
Hell, if anything the movie's success proves the show's success.
* Chainsaw man, as far as i'm aware, is the bestselling manga in the US (per volume). Beating JJK, One piece, dragon ball, MHA, etc. At worst its top 3. And this is of all time. Compared to Japan, is it even top 50?
* Box office performance was relatively better in US. In US, the box office is $43,438,461. In Japan its $63,926,560. That's only a 20 million dollar difference. Demon slayer made 134 mil in US compared to Japan's 244 mil. JJK 0 had like 13 billion in Japan (CSM 10 billion) while US was 34 million.
* Chainsaw man has the second most viewed chapter on manga plus this year. Second to JJK's sequel season which was chapter 1.
Might also be worth noting that chainsaw man got into top 5 most popular manga on MAL and #1 on anilist before its anime.
This is to illustrate that chainsaw man gives off the impression that its perhaps proportionally more popular in the US compared to other anime.
100 in Japan is probably comparable to the No. 1 title in the US. The scale is completely different. • The US has about five times Japan's population, yet its box office revenue is lower. So in what sense is it "more popular than in Japan"?
>So comparing the US "Top 10" to Japan's "Top 10" is meaningless
Its not meaningless. Using such statistics we can see anime like one piece which is huge in Japan, perhaps the biggest, but its much lower than alot of other anime in the west.
* Infinity castle in the US grossed 55% of Japan's gross.
* Chainsaw man in the US grossed 68% of Japan's gross
* Mugen train in the US grossed 13% of Japan's gross
Does that not show that perhaps, proportionally to demon slayer, chainsaw man is more popular in the west than demon slayer compared to Japan.
It may not mean much. But your original comment states that people expect chainsaw man to be more popular in the west than its home country. That's very unlikely. Especially when you say the performance was far below expectations. Literally who? Even mappa and Toho didn't expect the performance. No one expected chainsaw man to outgross JJK 0 and DBS super hero. Its only 7 million less than mugen train.
> The US has about five times Japan's population, yet its box office revenue is lower
Of course, that's usual. Does that mean Mugen train wasn't popular in the US because it only grossed 13% of Japan's gross.
Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man do not have the same baseline at all. The scale is completely different.
If you want a meaningful comparison, you have to compare them on the same baseline.
Otherwise it is pointless. Stop doing that kind of stupid math lol
It is a fact that Japan has higher box office revenue and more viewers. That does not change. So what are you trying to prove by comparing some meaningless percentages in North America?
Out of 34 million total copies, only 1 million.
And yet people brag, "It was No. 1 in the US" or "It was not No. 1 in Japan." That is honestly ridiculous.
They do not understand that ranking No. 1 in such a small market means far less than ranking No. 10 in Japan, the largest manga market in the world
Being No. 10 in Japan still sells vastly more than being No. 1 in the US.
On the box office specifically, a movie’s overseas revenue isn’t a clean popularity meter when the title is **platform-locked, more polarizing, and less “family/event-friendly”** than the biggest theatrical monsters. Demon Slayer and similar breakouts benefited from broader casual reach and a tone that makes it easy to bring friends or family. Chainsaw Man is a stronger “you either vibe with it or you don’t” series, and that tends to cap walk-up audiences for theaters even if the core fandom is loud and engaged. So “lower than expectations” might really just mean “the expectations were built on comparisons to franchises with completely different access and demographics.”
If anything, what’s impressive is that Chainsaw Man stayed culturally relevant through long gaps and constant online backlash while lacking the same mass-exposure advantage. It’s big enough to be a target, but it doesn’t have the Netflix-level casual base to drown out negativity—so it *feels* smaller than it is if you only look at discourse or a single revenue number. I’d frame it as: the movie box office may have underwhelmed relative to hype, but that doesn’t automatically mean the IP is weak overseas—it means the distribution and audience mix are fundamentally different than the titles people keep comparing it to.
Keep in mind all these other anime below have an advantage of being on netflix but haven't been able to surpass Chainsaw Man in popularity.
[https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=chainsaw%20man,vinland%20saga,frieren,apothecary%20diaries,dandadan&hl=en](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=chainsaw%20man,vinland%20saga,frieren,apothecary%20diaries,dandadan&hl=en)
Here is what it looks like what a popular anime was on Netflix for 6 years. That is 330M paid users compared to 17M paid crunchyroll users. Solo Leveling and Chainsaw Man don't have that luxury.
[https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=chainsaw%20man,solo%20leveling,demon%20slayer&hl=en](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=chainsaw%20man,solo%20leveling,demon%20slayer&hl=en)
Here is how much 'hours' of advantage these anime were given over Chainsaw Man just for being on netflix.
[https://www.imdb.com/list/ls525639432/](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls525639432/)
The movie was never a flop.
>It didn't have a great start at the beginning
It made a billion yen in the opening weekend in Japan.
Spy family: 866k tickets first weekend in japan
Reze movie: 807k tigers first weekend in japan
This is supposed to be a bad thing?
I am not saying it was a flop but people were calling it a flop in comparison to other battle shonen movies after the opening weekend numbers. Even the distributor Toho was saying that their estimate for the movie is 5 billion yen which is obviously not a lot for a cannon sequel. No one was expecting it to top the weekend box office for 8 weeks straight.
>It made a billion yen in the opening weekend in Japan.
JJK 0 made it on the opening day and that was a prequel. It surpassing 10 billion is impressive because it didn't perform like a 10 billion movie on the opening day but showed insane legs later on in the box office run.
If you think this movie was always expected to reach the 10 billion mark you would be dead wrong. No one expected it to reach this milestone back on its opening weekend.
It would be wrong to do that.
>Even the distributor Toho was saying that their estimate for the movie is 5 billion yen which is obviously not a lot for a cannon sequel
This has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a flop.
>JJK 0 made it on the opening day and that was a prequel.
JJK is a lot more popular than Chainsaw Man and the 0 came out a lot sooner after the show than Reze Arc.
>If you think this movie was always expected to reach the 10 billion mark
I did not say that.
Yes it would be but that was the popular opinion back then.
>This has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a flop.
If the distributor is low balling a movie so much so that the final numbers end up being twice their expectations then that shows the lack of faith in the product.
>JJK is a lot more popular than Chainsaw Man and the 0 came out a lot sooner after the show than Reze Arc.
Counterpoint, it was a prequel with none of the main characters of the show and a new protagonist instead. It came out during the Covid era when people were avoiding theatres yet it performed that well. CSM didn't face these issues.
>I did not say that.
Then what is this argument even about? I already clarified by flop I am referring to underperformance in comparison to other battle shonen movies judged solely by the opening weekends numbers. That was a popular opinion when the movie dropped. The movie was so good it overperformed the expectations of everyone who were calling it a flop back then. That was my only argument.
Where? The [thread discussing it here](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1nnhyts/chainsaw_man_reze_arc_attracted_807000_viewers/) was not calling it a flop.
And it's still wrong even if it's the popular opinion.
>If the distributor is low balling a movie so much so that the final numbers end up being twice their expectations then that shows the lack of faith in the product.
Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a flop.
>Counterpoint, it was a prequel with none of the main characters of the show and a new protagonist instead.
Gojo, Maki, and Panda are on the poster. And it's still called Jujutsu Kaisen.
>It came out during the Covid era when people were avoiding theatres yet it performed that well.
It came out in December 2021 in Japan and March 2022 in the states. People were going to the theaters then. A small indie movie called Spider-Man No Way Home was out then.
>CSM didn't face these issues.
CSM isn't facing the issue of people avoiding theaters? That's been solved?
>Then what is this argument even about?
Pretty clearly that the movie was never a flop.
>I already clarified by flop I am referring to underperformance in comparison to other battle shonen movies judged solely by the opening weekends numbers.
And I just told you that's not a flop.
>The movie was so good it overperformed the expectations of everyone who were calling it a flop back then. That was my only argument.
Not a good argument when the entire premise it's based on is false.
Twitter
>And it's still wrong even if it's the popular opinion.
When have I denied that it's not wrong but it was popular.
>And I just told you that's not a flop.
I am not in disagreement with you. I am just calling out people who were saying stuff like that.
>Not a good argument when the entire premise it's based on is false.
The premise is not false. I was defending this movie when it first came out on twitter. Twitter bros were ripping it to shreds.
>Gojo, Maki, and Panda are on the poster. And it's still called Jujutsu Kaisen.
Maki and Panda are side characters. Gojo is the only main character.
>It came out in December 2021 in Japan and March 2022 in the states. People were going to the theaters then.
Still not close to the pre Covid levels. These movies would have made even more if they came out now.
Truly a place full of smart people who say correct things.
>When have I denied that it's not wrong but it was popular.
You're continuing to defend the movie being considered a flop.
>The premise is not false. I was defending this movie when it first came out on twitter. Twitter bros were ripping it to shreds.
You just said you're not in disagreement with me.
And the premise is not false yet you were defending it? What?
And it is false. Idiots on twitter are in fact idiots and spouting nonsense.
>Maki and Panda are side characters. Gojo is the only main character.
Sure but they're still very familiar characters to audiences who just watched season 1. And Gojo proves your statement wrong.
>Still not close to the pre Covid levels. These movies would have made even more if they came out now.
Ok but people weren't avoiding theaters contrary to what you said.
And it’s legitimately the best animated film of 2025.
However, they are definitely making some great net profts. This also doesn’t take into account the increased sales of the manga, and derivatives products as well related to the CSM license.
>This also doesn’t take into account the increased sales of the manga, and derivatives products as well related to the CSM license.
Mappa won't make a cent from increased manga sales, that's on Shueisha, the rest yes, but derivatives products *from the anime*, derivatives products from the manga they also won't make a cent
Really important to separate the manga ip and the anime ip, the anime is a separate legal entity, the revenues won't mix *directly*, indirectly definitely we can see one raising the revenue for the other, but as far as the companies go, Shueisha doesn't directly make money from the anime, and MAPPA doesn't directly make money from the manga
The most expensive marketing for the movie came from the international distributors (Sony), not the original production
From now on they'll most likely start solo funding more projects, especially now considering they have [10 production lines/teams under them](https://x.com/FallenDemiurgus/status/2005252785877684334).
The real profit to mappa is not close to 60-70 million to MAPPA.
Toho takes a good chunk from in Japan. Crunchyroll/Sony bought the theatrical and streaming rights outside of Japan (for a good price because expectations were low).
[Why the $70M MAPPA take is unrealistic](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1pzks4c/comment/nwr84bf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Without concrete numbers, the so-called success in Western markets honestly feels unreliable.
So if the payment model is performance-based, how much money does an anime studio actually receive from that?
Do you really think that would be larger than the success of the same title in Japan?
For movies or comics, sales figures make things clear, but when it comes to popularity in the West, far too many people never present any concrete data at all.
It was also reported that domestically at least they paid Toho upfront for distribution on the basis of a (I think) 5B Yen final gross, which would mean that the next 5B would have been pure profit for MAPPA.
However you do need to take into account a roughly 50% cut for the theaters themselves and probably Sony taking a larger distribution cut of international BO and MAPPA also had to handle all the merch bonuses given out in theaters which definitely adds a few millions to their costs.
Still, even with all the caveats you could throw at it MAPPA is guaranteed to have netted a massive profit, probably in the 30/40M range which is completely insane for an anime studio. And that's before streaming rights (which were baked in the Sony distribution deal), merch sales, ...
I doubt it adds that much. The bonuses were some small booklet/ postcards/ posters and printing in Japan has to be so damn cheap, because like all the big famous artists i follow basically sell hundred pages thick colored artbooks with the same price as two cinema tickets over there.
From what I see people talking they dont seem to grasp that, blame that on them, for some reason, associating anime studios with Hollywood studios or even worse video game studios/publishers
Funniest one, was when the cost of Reze went viral, people surprised it didn't cost 100 million, and using some Hollywood 2d movies as their benchmark
Man, that was hilarious
Even though MAPPA is the sole production committee member for Chainsaw Man, that doesn’t mean they’re directly collecting most of the worldwide box office.
For overseas markets, the movie was almost certainly licensed out in advance (theatrical + streaming) to Sony / Crunchyroll for a fixed deal. That means the international box office mainly goes to the distributors, not straight back to MAPPA.
In Japan, MAPPA does get a share of the box office, but it’s split with Toho as the distributor. Something around a \~40% producer share is a reasonable assumption, but it’s nowhere near 100%.
If you try to ballpark everything together, MAPPA’s total return from this movie is probably somewhere in the **high-30s to low-40s million range**, once you combine domestic box office share with the international licensing deals.
After production and marketing costs, that still leaves something like **low- to mid-20s million in profit**, which is obviously a good result — just not the $60–70M cash haul people are throwing around.
So yeah, MAPPA is clearly profitable on the movie, but the idea that they pocketed $60–70M in cash is pretty unrealistic once you factor in licensing structures and production costs.
The real win here isn’t this movie by itself. it’s leverage.
After this performance, MAPPA goes into the next Chainsaw Man project with way more bargaining power. Better domestic terms, better international deals, more control. That’s where the big upside is.
They didn’t suddenly become a cash-printing machine overnight. they just put themselves in a much stronger position for whatever comes next.
but why for the overseas theatrical release? Is that normal? Surely MAPPA would try to take a percentage deal if possible right?
Is it because they wanted to mitigate the chances of a risk and got a fixed deal that paid for their production costs?
Or is it because they wanted to leave overseas marketing over to Sony and therefore pay less? Idk
Sorry if this comment is ignorant, just genuinely curious.
You really think Chainsaw Man would have gotten a 3000+ theater release in the US without Sony? You think Chainsaw Man would have gotten a trailer playing after every Demon Slayer Movie without Sony? What about releasing in 100+ countries? What about releasing only 1 month after the Japan release worldwide? What about imax, Dolby release? Not a chance.
If Sony was used as just a distributor and did not have the theatrical rights outside of Japan, they would not have done all this effort for IP they don’t own. They gave Chainsaw Man the same love as they did the Demon Slayed. They own the Demon Slayer IP. They do not own the Chainsaw Man Ip.
Mappa benefits from all that Sony has done for the Cjainsaw Man Ip because they own it.
You should thank the heavens you don't see Bandai Namco as the producer and JC staff as on the Studio (one punch man)
Plus Bandai and JC staff participate in the reze movie too.