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IS MADHOUSE ON A DECLINE: ANIME ESSAY


I am a ‘90s kid. I started watching anime in 2010s. but that didn’t stop me from going back and watching 2000s or even 1990s anime. I am an anime fan, and if a show is good, I’ll watch it.

I preface it like this because when I started exploring the 2000s anime, one name popped out more than anything else: Madhouse. The studio is a legend in its rights and I have watched more hit shows produced by them than anything else, but only if you’re counting 2000-2010 anime.

See, Madhouse is no amateur studio. It has produced good anime even when people didn’t care about it. It has been on top of its game and I see anime Youtubers raving about it in the form of its shows or movies. I’m not saying its not well deserved, but I am questioning is it well deserved TODAY?

The climate of anime community has changed from what it was ten years ago. Shows like Death Note, Tatami Galaxy, Highschool of the Dead and movies like Paprika, Redline and Summer Wars are ultimate classics. And I named these series on the top of my head. Series like Black Lagoon and Beyblade are my all-time favourites.

So, lets talk about anything from 2011 to present time. One Punch Man ruled Fall 2015, Mahouka and No Game No Life are crowd favourites, Parasyte and Death Parade have etched their names in the anime horizon and movies like Wolf children and NGNL 0 didn’t disappoint. But, is that all?

Madhouse has taken a hit. Now, I’m not industry specialist, but it doesn’t take an expert to tell when the show is going south. Best Example: Overlord. I liked the first season for what it was. I absolutely hated the second season. we also got the third season mere 3 months after the second season concluded. My best guess is that all the Overlord anime was produced on loose change. The animation was never a top quality Madhouse product we came to love, the music was generic to say the least, and the only saving grace was that of voice acting and somewhat appealing story.

Again, I liked the first season of Overlord for what it was worth, but my major problems came when I started marathoning season 2. The first arc with lizard men was kind of bearable, but the second arc was a complete waste of time. Maybe the story was written in that way, but I was not pleased. And then, the studio tried to walk JC Staff’s shoes to release the third season after 3 months. My question is: WHY? Was the hype dying for one of the hottest property Madhouse has right now? Was it so good that fans wanted more? WHAT WAS THE USE OF RUSHING TO PRODUCE AN ANIME IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO COMMIT TO IT ALL THE WAY? And yes, I am commenting on that god-awful CGI in the concluding episodes. Not to mention, how forgetful the whole season was!

Now lets get down to another side: their produced series. I’ll be honest, and I will say that I have not watched a lot from them after the Overlord debacle. I know ‘A Place Further than the Universe’ garnered quite a buzz when it was airing, and Cardcaptor Sakura’s new season was a nice dose of nostalgia for a lot of people, but am I wrong to say that anything else by them just fizzled out by one or two mentions? I mean, this world runs online now, and Madhouse is not leaving THAT big of impression over the anime community. Prince of Stride caught reasonable amount of flak, and ‘Mr. Tonegawa’ caught eye of YouTuber ‘Mother’s Basement’ and that was the last of what I saw. You know who is ruling the live chats on Reddit and MAL? Trigger [Darling in the Frankxx], Mappa [Zombieland Saga], Bones [My Hero Academia S3], A1 Pictures [SAO: Alicization], and this is only the series of 2018 that I can think over the top of my head.

So, Final Question: Is MadHouse crumbling? Not really. They have changed a lot and that change is not suited well for this generation or the coming one. The online climate is changing, and Madhouse must step up its gears to provide the crowd what they want. We can use another NGNL season, or a reboot of Overlord too. But I don’t run a mega corporation, so I can only throw around my opinion.



Thank You Readers. Please let me know how wrong I am on my Twitter: @rishabh_SSW
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