A MAPPA Alum Turns Superfan
Actor Non's connection to MAPPA runs through In This Corner of the World, the studio's 2016 wartime drama set in Hiroshima and Kure, in which she voiced the lead, Suzu. A companion Oricon report from the same event notes it was her first job after changing her professional name, and she has described the role as one she had to fight for.
At the opening event, though, she spoke less like a cast member and more like a viewer. Asked about her favorite MAPPA titles, she said there were plenty, then listed Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku and Yuri!!! on Ice, adding that she watches all of them. Oricon's photo set from the event even has her striking a Jujutsu Kaisen Domain Expansion pose for the cameras.
What she admires most, she told reporters at the event, is the studio's polish. She said In This Corner of the World was so carefully made that she could sink into its world, and that MAPPA's other anime share that quality. She singled out the direction, camerawork and movement, saying every title feels stylish and that watching it gives her chills.
The "Cool" Philosophy, According to MAPPA's CEO
Non also recalled a past radio conversation with Manabu Otsuka, MAPPA's president and producer. When she told him that all of the studio's work looks stylish, he explained that MAPPA prioritizes being cool in every genre, whether that means "cute and cool" or "cool and cool."
She said the idea stuck with her. Even a bright, cute-looking series changes character when there is a cool aesthetic underneath it, and she now watches MAPPA titles with that in mind, looking for that signature cool.
Hell's Paradise, With a Survival Plan
The lighter moment came when reporters asked which MAPPA world she would enter if she could. After some hand-wringing over having to choose just one, Non landed on Hell's Paradise, saying she wants to see the colors of the series' flowers with her own eyes.
Then a reporter asked whether she thought she could survive there. Non pushed back on the question before answering: she said she has no special abilities and has never been in a fight to the death, so she isn't confident, but she would try to hide and somehow make it out alive. Given the show's body count, hiding is a reasonable plan.
Looking Ahead
MAPPA EXPO 15th Anniversary opens to the public on September 16, 2026 at YURAKUCHO MUSEUM, in the basement of the Tokyo International Forum. The exhibition covers 23 MAPPA titles, headlined by the theatrical film Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc, Attack on Titan The Final Season and Jujutsu Kaisen, with exhibits built specifically for this show. Per the official exhibition site, all three of Non's favorites are in the lineup, as is In This Corner of the World.
The run is split in two: an early period through October 25, 2026 and a late period from October 28 to December 7, 2026, with the venue closed on October 26 and 27. Advance tickets are ¥2,000 for general admission, or ¥2,200 at the door. No international stop for the exhibition has been announced.