Here Is Why Wit Studio Isn’t Making Attack on Titan Season 4
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One of the most popular anime titles of all time is Attack on Titan, which enjoyed three amazing seasons under the anime production studio called Wit Studio, which has had a lot of success in animating manga titles that have also become successful. In that regard, when Wit Studio took on the job of animating Attack on Titan, this was a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the studio because the manga was a hit among fans. And that meant that many people would want the anime to be just as great.
Of course, Wit Studio did a great job handling Attack on Titan’s animation throughout three seasons. But the thing was that Wit Studio suddenly dropped the final season as the job of animating season 4 was given to MAPPA. Of course, the animation style between the two companies was noticed by fans that got used to Wit Studio’s animation. In light of that, we will look at why Wit Studio isn’t the one animating season 4 of Attack on Titan.
Wit’s Studio’s Business Model
The first thing that we need to look at to understand why there was a need for Wit Studio to drop Attack on Titan after successfully animating the series for three seasons is the company’s business model. That is where everything starts regarding the decisions about which anime series the company has to animate.
In an interview with Anime News Network, George Wada, the president of Wit Studio and Production IG, explained that the company’s entire business model relied on DVD sales. The decision of whether or not to animate a new season was based almost entirely on whether or not the anime did well in terms of its DVD sales.
What Wit Studio does is play it on the safe side by only picking up one season at a time instead of taking a gamble on multiple seasons of the anime. So, when the DVD sales numbers come out, and Wit Studio sees that the performance of the anime in terms of its DVD sales is favorable, they decide to pick up a new anime season.
That means that the DVD sales of an anime series decide almost every decision. Of course, because we now live in the digital world, it can be hard to base decisions on DVD sales because most people now buy digital copies of their favorite anime. That means it is possible that Wit Studio also looks at the sales figures of digital copies of its anime before deciding whether or not to pick up a new season.
Wit Is a Smaller Studio
Despite its success with different anime series, such as Attack on Titan, Seraph of the End, the Great Pretender, and Vinland Saga, the company is smaller than most other production studios.
Wit Studio was established in 2012 by George Wada, who funded the venture from Production IG’s capital. As of 2021, the company has about 130 employees, which means it isn’t a big studio compared to the other animation studios in Japan. To put it into perspective, TOEI Animation has more than 1,200 employees, Sunrise has about 300 employees, and MAPPA has more than 300 employees.
But while Wit Studio doesn’t have a lot of employees and is a smaller company compared to the other animation studios out there, it focuses more on quality than quantity. Other animation studios can take on multiple projects simultaneously without sacrificing the work’s quality.
On the other hand, Wit Studio would rather focus on ensuring the quality is up to par by taking on only a few projects at a time and focusing on those projects. This is one of the reasons why there was a four-year gap between seasons 1 and 2 of Attack on Titan, as Wit Studio acquired several projects during that time and focused more on those anime titles.
If you look at the portfolio of Wit Studio, the company tends to release only one or two anime seasons in a year due to how the employees focus on one series at a time. This allows the company to ensure that the animation quality of the series is up to par.
Fans Demand Faster Seasons
At the end of the day, fans can’t wait to watch their favorite anime series as soon as possible. In the case of Attack on Titan, it is a popular multi-season series that has garnered many fans worldwide and is quite popular not only in Japan but in the western world as well. That means that, unlike the other multi-season series that Wit Studio handles, Attack on Titan fans are not as patient when waiting for a new season.
A lot of fans were disappointed by the fact that there were four years between seasons 1 and 2 of Attack on Titan. While season 3 was released around a year after season 2, the fact of the matter is that fans were looking to watch season 4 as soon as possible.
As mentioned, Wit Studio relies on its DVD sales to determine whether or not they want to produce a new season. So, while waiting for the DVD sales of seasons 2 and 3, the company had already picked up other projects they needed to work on.
Of course, the numbers of seasons 2 and 3 of Attack on Titan were nothing short of stellar. But the problem was that Wit Studio didn’t have the manpower to work on a new season of Attack on Titan right away while the employees were still working on the projects the company had already committed to.
In that regard, Wit Studio made the difficult decision to drop Attack on Titan from its roster because the company was already swamped with work, and fans were already excited for the series’ final season. And this explains why Wit Studio didn’t animate Attack on Titan season 4 after seeing three successful seasons with this title.
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