A1 Pictures is one of the most recognizable studios in anime, and while their renown has always been quite high, it's been seen in a different light compared to a studio like Kyoto Animation. A1 produced works like Sword Art Online and Black Butler, and occasionally something different and out there like Shelter or Occultic;Nine, but they also gained a reputation for more "trashy" material.
For a time, a common nickname of A1 was the "McDonald's of Anime," probably for the success the studio saw with admittedly popular but somewhat divisive and cheap-looking light novel adaptations. Around the time of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, this label was rebuked by analysts like The Canipa Effect on YouTube, who pointed out the studio's structure and how its priorities shift. Much of the studio is completely freelance, with the direction the studio takes dictated by the production committee at the top. Considering this, A1 Pictures' reach and ability to secure good talent for their productions is one of their best attributes. The perception of the studio is shifting as more of their productions have adopted higher quality visuals, like the newer SAO works and new ones like 86 and Lycoris Recoil.
A1's Big Year
In light of the studio's seeming redemption in the eyes of skeptics, they have also begun announcing a lot of exciting high-profile adaptations to big properties. The announcements came throughout 2022, and it wouldn't be surprising if more were on the way, but having claim to such anticipated works is a huge win for the studio.
The first announcement that seemed to usher in a wave of excitement was the long-speculated anime for Korean webcomic Solo Leveling. While mostly just a display of pleasing key artwork, the music by Hiroyuki Sawano seemed to hit some primordial chord that says "this is going to be incredible," and thus the hype was real.
It's practically the same treatment as the recent trailer for Fate/Strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn, which also showed very little and hyped up a soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano. The fact that the special's staff is the same that worked on the commercial from 2019, which also featured a song from Sawano, was just some extra assurance of good things on the horizon.
But arguably the most exciting was the announcement of the NieR: Automata anime, which from its first look seemed to capture the game's style well. However, it's not yet certain how well such a faithful recreation will play out in animation. Some anime adaptations of video games will have the artwork and character designs down, but fail to deliver on the animation fully, such as the Bayonetta anime film from years ago.
Even with some healthy trepidation, A1's lineup of projects for 2023 is already impressive. Just this year they've released the sensational Lycoris Recoil, another SAO movie, and the third season of Love is War. While Fate, Solo Leveling, and NieR are all very different, something about their announcements feels similar.
The shows could be argued to have some overlap in their fanbases and the use of Hiroyuki Sawano in both Fate and Solo Leveling is already a sign that A1 is banking on his talents. But it wouldn't be outlandish to suggest that before these announcements, fans might have thought of any other studio but A1 to produce them.
Fate fans may have suspected Ufotable would be handling Strange Fake, while Solo Leveling may have felt like the kind of project that would have been snatched by MAPPA. And it could have been anyone's guess who would have tackled NieR. In acquiring these shows, A1 was making a power move, likely in response to the current juggernaut of the industry.
Moves Like MAPPA
2020 was the year that MAPPA stopped being the niche studio that broke off from Madhouse and became a titan of the industry, so big that it literally was making Attack on Titan. And for a time it seemed glorious, and it still is for hungry fans excited for the *FINAL* final season of Attack on Titan (allegedly) or Jujutsu Kaisen's second season (whoever might be directing it). But it also was worrying considering overwork in Japan and the animation industry.
MAPPA has brought in freelance talent to create some of the most anticipated and critically acclaimed shows of the past few years and did so better than a lot of studios that use freelancers. However, making a lot of good shows isn't inherently great for the industry if the conditions of the industry don't hold up to scrutiny under a closer inspection.
In reality, MAPPA isn't doing things much different from how A1 Pictures has always done things, prioritizing connections with a diverse talent pool rather than a dedicated studio staff. It's not a change to the industry, but a rather pristine-looking reflection of what the current industry has been building towards. A1 is just taking what they learned from MAPPA, who learned it from them and optimizing their formula. The inspiration becomes the inspiration.
Foreshadowing & Speculation
MAPPA isn't exactly on a decline yet, even with the criticism and concern about the state of the industry, so it would be foolish to take away a lesson that A1 is going to decline. It's not even for certain that A1 will be recognized as a studio attempting to dethrone MAPPA.
The point of this speculation is that A1 might be making larger moves that could put them in a position similar to MAPPA's by which success will incur more opportunities. With more high-quality projects by the same studio in one year, the brand of A1 Pictures grows with it, and in return allows the name A1 to carry significant weight when selling new projects.
Competition is good for business and MAPPA would hypothetically have a major competitor. The key word is "hypothetically" but the point isn't about A1's business plan, but that regardless of whether it's true and regardless of the plan's success if it is, the industry is likely being tested.
It's been thoroughly discussed that the anime industry's biggest problems deal with the animators, both in their pay and the working conditions. While those issues in themselves have solutions that seem obvious (higher wages and work culture reform), the road to those solutions is complicated. The easiest way to describe it is schedule and workload.
I have previously written about Fate/Grand Order Babylonia and how that show was able to look so impressive thanks to a comparably generous schedule given to the team to finish the series. A studio staff having a good schedule that isn't too restrictive has demonstrably shown high-quality work, but this is a rare blessing. Another issue is the number of shows getting made.
"There is too much anime," might sound like a funny complaint, but production committees are green lighting far too much and splitting studio attention across too many projects. None of this is new, but as titanic properties like Chainsaw Man come out this month and more anticipated works are on the horizon, audiences need to pay special attention to the anime industry in the next year.
Regardless of whether the next few seasons are full of successes or disappointments, they will be very telling of the state of the industry. High-quality work may be a sign of flourishing talent or crippling crunch time, and going forward it will be more important than ever to discern which is which.