Established in 2011, the Japanese animation studio MAPPA is now one of the biggest in the industry, ever since the release of famous shows such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and Attack on Titan. However, if there’s one series that truly helped the studio gain fame before these Shonen hits, it would be the 2016 sports anime, Yuri!!! on Ice. 2016 was the breakthrough year for the studio, after which MAPPA released Banana Fish and several other popular shows in the next few years. Naturally, Yuri!!! on Ice gathered a massive fan following as an original sports series, which confirmed a prequel film not long after. The series debuted in October 2016 and concluded in December of the same year before promising the story’s continuation.

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Since it’s an original story, not based on any manga, fans patiently waited to find out what would happen next in Yuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov’s careers as figure skaters, especially since the latter decided to continue being a coach. A prequel film, following Victor’s journey as one of the best figure skaters in the world, was under production for a while and even released a teaser. Unfortunately, fans’ hopes were crushed when MAPPA officially cancelled it in April 2025. According to Anime Corner, in a recent feature for Bungeishunju (Bunshun) Plus, MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka talked about the studio’s struggles in the past as well as its success, shedding light on the anime’s cancellation.

MAPPA CEO Discloses Why Yuri!!! on Ice Was Cancelled

Previously, the Avex Pictures producer Hideo Katsumata said that the anime was cancelled due to issues on the creative side. Despite massive controversy and wide outrage, the studio had no intention of continuing the story and dashed fans’ hopes after making them wait for eight years. Otsuka confirmed that the Blu-ray and DVD sales surpassed 430,000 copies, which was around $20 million.

He stated, “We painfully realized the reality that, within the structure of the production committee, the studio could not be at the center of the business. We bore many responsibilities, such as guaranteeing quality, fulfilling delivery obligations, and taking investment risks, yet we were in the position of receiving the least profit. We came to clearly recognize this structure.”

MAPPA aimed to become a company capable of doing it all, which is why they created a rights department and also grew and produced more anime with a consistent amount of high-quality. He confirmed that despite facing many challenges, the studio continued producing works such as Zombie Land Saga, Banana Fish, Jujutsu Kaisen, and even the final season of Attack on Titan fell into their lap. As such, the beloved sports anime was naturally cast aside, disappointing fans across the globe.

Yuri!!! on Ice Purposely Leaves Room For The Story’s Continuation

During the anime’s production, MAPPA had every intention of delivering more films or seasons of the series, which is why the ending doesn’t give a proper conclusion to the story of Yuri and Victor. By the anime’s ending, Yuri barely missed the gold medal and won silver instead, which wasn’t his goal. Instead of beating himself up over it, he requested Victor to keep being his coach for another year, and the latter didn’t hide his happiness.

Victor swore to keep coaching for the next five years so Yuri could win as many gold medals as he did. As the story draws near its end, we see the duo performing together after Victor had made a comeback. This implies that the final performance of the anime happens in the near future after Yuri achieves his goal. Their journey remains incomplete, and fans also missed the opportunity to learn more about Victor’s past through the prequel film.

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