Attack On Titan Season 4 Budget Expenses Will Blow Your Mind!
Written & illustrated by Hajime Isayama, Attack On Titan is one of the most well-received anime series since its debut in 2013. After completing a successful cycle with WIT Studio, the series is now in the hands of MAPPA for the final phase of the franchise. But, have you ever wondered that how much it exactly costs to produce a single episode of Attack On Titan?
Precisely, as an anime fan this thought comes into mind several times and, it’s not something new. Well, looking back at the past couple of years, Attack On Titan used to be less expensive in terms of budget. But, now since Studio MAPPA is in charge of the animation production, the budget has increased twofold.
Production companies never reveal about their hefty budget they put in a series to make it bloom. Still, it’s not so difficult to find about it. And, surprisingly, Studio MAPPA is putting a lot of money in the making of ongoing finale season. As per data, a single episode of Attack On Titan costs around US $300,000 – $350,000 (¥35-40 million) per episode.
Yes, three hundred thousand bucks just for a single episode of Attack On Titan. For this amount, a person can buy a luxurious electric car like Tesla. So, a 12 episode Season 4 Part 2 of Attack On Titan will cost around US $3.6 – $4.2 million which is unimaginably very high as compared to other anime airing out there.
Now, the question arises how an episode can cost that much? Well, to be precise a lot of factors are involved in the making of a single episode. Everyone involved in the series gets paid for their hard work. This includes the animators, directors and the voice acting cast as well. And, the cast of Attack On Titan, involves the likes of Yuki Kaji & Hiroshi Kamiya who are a very popular and busy voice actors.
Moreover, the one thing that makes Attack On Titan far more expensive than others is the involvement CGI (Computer-generated Imagery) graphics in its 2D animation. According to a report published on Statista, the average production cost of CGI, 3D and animation effects amounted to US $33.7 million per movie in 2018.
In a 2015 report published by Anime News Network, a CGI creator in the anime industry revealed that an average 13-episode anime season costs around 250 million yen (or $2 million). It was estimated that a 60-second CGI frame costs around US $16,000 which is almost 1/5th of the entire budget of Demon Slayer per episode.
So, considering the high action packed sequences and the involvement of CGI made Titans in Attack On Titan Season 4 it should not be surprise that the studio is putting a lot of financial effort in it.
But, such an expensive production budget does not go in vain as it brings up a lot of profit for the franchise as well. According to reports, in 2021 alone, the Attack On Titan franchise generated an estimated annual sales revenue of 4.2 billion yen (US $37 million), becoming one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
The numbers are staggering and it’s just the revenue of one year that simply clarifies why the Japanese production companies don’t shy to put their money in the big projects. And, eventually multiple new anime are released every single week.
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