Chainsaw Man: MAPPA Boss Wanted Ryu Nakayama to Direct Anime After Numerous Recommendations

There is much excitement about Chainsaw Man right now after it was confirmed that a new trailer will be released next week along with the cast announcement. After all, the first teaser, which was unveiled more than a year ago, promised an action-packed anime adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga. Now, MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka is hyping up Ryu Nakayama's work by admitting that there were several recommendations for the director.

When the first Chainsaw Man teaser was dropped last year, it was confirmed that Ryu Nakayama directed the 70-second preview and that Nakayama will direct the entire anime. So how did MAPPA find Nakayama in the first place? Manabu Otsuka told Crunchyroll that the director was pretty hard to miss and that Nakayama was someone they had been looking for.

"When I saw Fujimoto-sensei’s expressions of bursting, explosive, raw energy, we needed somebody to be able to bring that out and direct it in that way," Otsuka said. "We've worked with many directors on MAPPA, but I kind of started thinking that we needed to inject new blood. We needed somebody else, something new, in order to get this sort of bursting raw energy out of the story."

Otsuka continued by pointing out that someone they trusted referred Ryu Nakayama right away.

"There is an animation producer that I worked with, his name is [Keisuke] Seshimo. Seshimo-san knew Nakayama-san from before. These creators are probably like, one generation younger than all of us," Otsuka said. "And so that's how we learned about Nakayama-san and he came with a lot of recommendations from [Seshimo-san]. That's why we requested him to direct this show."

We're glad that Keisuke Seshimo suggested Ryu Nakayama for Chainsaw Man. With that in mind, we can't wait to see Nakayama's direction in the anime later this year.

Chainsaw Man has not yet been given an official release date. The new trailer and cast announcement will be dropped on August 5, 2022.

Related: Chainsaw Man Is Being Overrated Ahead of the Anime