Latest / FUTURE OF XYZ / Future of Anime | Gita Rebbapragada | S7 E21
Transcript
- 00:00:04:00 - 00:00:25:11 Speaker 1 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Future of XYZ. We have a cool topic today the future of anime and with us is the Chief Operating Officer and former Chief Marketing Officer at Crunchyroll, the global leader in anime content, Gita Rebbapragada. Gita, thanks so much for joining us today. 00:00:25:17 - 00:00:28:06 Speaker 2 Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. 00:00:28:08 - 00:00:49:04 Speaker 1 Well, it's really a cool opportunity I have to say, because obviously I know anime because my little sister in the 90s started really like watching it a lot. And I've just watched the genre grow, so I want to have that conversation. But I guess the most important, because our listeners and viewers may not have a clue what anime is. 00:00:49:09 - 00:00:55:15 Speaker 1 Let's start as we always do, which is how do we define anime in the context of this conversation? 00:00:55:17 - 00:01:28:05 Speaker 2 So we define it as Japanese animation that's conceived or inspired by a studio in Japan. So it is a specific animation and storytelling style that's 100 years old. It is, you know, obviously born and raised in Japan, but that doesn't necessarily mean that all the stories that are made into anime are inherently Japanese. Much of anime is comes from Japanese comic books, which are called manga. 00:01:28:07 - 00:01:40:21 Speaker 2 But again, any story can be made into an anime. It just has to follow the storytelling style and the animation style that respects the 100 year old tradition of the art form. 00:01:40:23 - 00:01:44:09 Speaker 1 Wow, that's really fascinating. 00:01:44:11 - 00:01:55:03 Speaker 2 A lot of people don't realize that a lot of anime is actually still hand-drawn. So it's a very unique, sort of artistic style. 00:01:55:05 - 00:02:08:06 Speaker 1 Well, I want to talk about both of those things. I mean, you kind of you've alluded to the fact that there's this long tradition. What is the origin of anime and kind of how has that evolved over the last 100 years? 00:02:08:08 - 00:02:35:02 Speaker 2 So, believe it or not, the origins of anime, I mean, it's it's, as I mentioned, 100 years old. It is inspired, actually but, you know, certain studios started developing animation sort of actually in tandem with how animation started in, you know, Hollywood, similar timing, but was inspired by a lot of different cultures, actually. And if you go back to the early the earliest anime, they're actually very heavily inspired by, Betty Boop. 00:02:35:02 - 00:02:54:16 Speaker 2 And, you know, there's sort of like the signature eyes and there's there's little iconic pieces of the art form that actually come from a lot of different cultures. So it's a pretty interesting evolution. But that has then been codified in this sort of like really rich storytelling tradition that is now, you know, what we know is as anime. 00:02:54:18 - 00:03:22:23 Speaker 1 It's really interesting. I do I know that obviously the widespread success has something to do with the internet. I would expect internationally from the 80s, but as I was mentioning, my little sister would like the 90s and when I was kind of researching for this topic, because it's not an area I have any expertise in, frankly, I was I was coming up against, you know, titles like ghost in the shell and Cowboy Bebop and, you know, kind of these, these kinds of crazy things that, frankly, were very, very popular at that time. 00:03:22:23 - 00:03:40:14 Speaker 1 And then Sailor Moon and you start seeing these like, stories. And then, of course, there was an Academy Award winning animation film, I think in the early 2000s that maybe, like, exploded the genre. Would you would you say that that's kind of like the last 20 years have really been the the massive growth, or do you think it was already happening? 00:03:40:20 - 00:04:03:21 Speaker 2 So I think in the U.S. that is the case, right? That we in the 80s, you know, Cartoon Network, Toonami, these were, on linear television. These were channels that started to show the Dragon Balls, you know, sort of some of the more iconic anime that you referenced. but that's really not the case in Asia, for example, which has, you know, maybe a longer tradition. 00:04:03:21 - 00:04:23:12 Speaker 2 And we even see, you know, for example, in France, there's a long tradition of anime being available for free on linear television that also, you know, sort of predates that. So it's very different in every single country. And that's why every single country has a unique relationship with anime is very different in Brazil, for example, than it is in France than it is in the US. 00:04:23:18 - 00:04:44:01 Speaker 2 But what you characterize is very is is is very common, right. So now we are seeing people who probably like your sister, who kind of grew up on those titles. They've now grown up. They have kids. They're now sharing their love of anime of these classic, iconic titles with their kids, which is super awesome to see actually. 00:04:44:01 - 00:05:03:03 Speaker 2 And we, you know, there's been a couple Dragon Ball films that have come out over the last couple years. And as we've attended them and, and, have been involved with those films, it has been really rewarding to see that multi-generational viewing, which is kind of a relatively new thing, actually, for anime. 00:05:03:05 - 00:05:27:18 Speaker 1 It's super interesting. I want to I'm going to jump around a little bit, probably, but in terms of like the various segments or content variety, how is anime, because this is a now very big genre. Like I think about the little kid stuff and the girl power stuff and the kind of more like maybe sexually explicit, like adult stuff, like how how is the genre actually like segmented. 00:05:27:20 - 00:05:51:02 Speaker 2 So what what we say is that, and a lot of people don't think about it this way, because anime on a general entertainment service will be a category. But truly, it's not a genre, it's a medium. And so every medium that you have in general entertainment applies to anime. So there's romance, there's comedy, there's you name it, every single one exists. 00:05:51:02 - 00:06:14:06 Speaker 2 And so that's why, I mean, we love it, right? Because all we do is anime. And so our genres are all the genres that you would find in general entertainment. In addition to that, there's unique genres for anime. So there are just stories that fundamentally aren't told in that way, that are told in anime. So I'll give you an example, which is there's a genre called isekai, which is super popular. 00:06:14:08 - 00:06:39:12 Speaker 2 And actually, like I watch a lot of isekai personally and it's about, it's a genre where you literally go from one world into another world and you're kind of crossing between worlds. That's a super popular storytelling narrative in anime. It doesn't quite exist in that way in other storytelling environments. So that's a good example of that. 00:06:39:12 - 00:07:05:16 Speaker 2 But yeah, there's so many I mean, there's art house, you have everything from, you know, Miyazaki films that are just sort of, you know, different types of stories that are told. There's horror, there's things, I mean, makes you laugh, makes you cry. It really is fairly broad. A lot of the, titles that you were referencing that sort of came to the US in the 80s and 90s, that those are what we call shonen titles. 00:07:05:18 - 00:07:27:18 Speaker 2 So that literally translated means young boy. And that's like a lot of the action, a lot of, you know, the swords. That's sort of what I think a lot of people think anime is, because that's what what has come over first to the US in particular. But it's so much, you know, it's it's got so much complexity and depth in the genres. 00:07:27:18 - 00:07:39:16 Speaker 2 And there's mixed genres. So I could talk about this for a long time. But yeah, it is. It is a it's pretty cool. Like there's, you know, amazing stories that are being told across so many across so many different emotional terrains. 00:07:39:18 - 00:08:05:14 Speaker 1 I love that. So, so Crunchyroll just really quickly to ground people who are watching and listening is a joint venture that operates independently. But it was formed by the US based Sony Pictures Entertainment Corporation and Japan's Aniplex which is also a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. It's essentially a streaming platform, but you have a lot of different distribution aspects. 00:08:05:16 - 00:08:10:21 Speaker 1 Talk about anime, if you will, in terms of its entertainment value today. 00:08:10:23 - 00:08:40:00 Speaker 2 Sure. So, Crunchyroll, we think of ourselves as being in the audience business, not necessarily a streaming service. And so we actually have a very broad offering to give fans access to their favorite stories in a lot of different ways and to be honest, like, you know, the to think about what the future of entertainment looks like, it is that right. The lines between different entertainment disciplines are completely blurring and we will see that continue to happen. 00:08:40:02 - 00:09:00:16 Speaker 2 And so that that's always been sort of the case in anime. So that's just kind of how we live and breathe. But we have stories that are on our streaming service. We have an e-commerce store, we do films, we have games, different types of games, on and on. And so we do experiences. We have Crunchyroll news, we do an award show. 00:09:00:16 - 00:09:20:10 Speaker 2 So there's so many different ways that you can engage with your favorite show or, or the medium in general through Crunchyroll. And that's super important to us. And I think is, is, like a core part of how we think of ourselves as a company and like our reason for being right, which is we're just we say this a lot internally. 00:09:20:16 - 00:09:38:18 Speaker 2 We're not trying to be something for everyone. We're trying to be everything to someone. And that someone is the anime fan. And so whatever they want with that particular show or whatever new shows they want to see, we want to be able to give that to them. And that's that's a lot of why many people at Crunchyroll wake up in the morning and come to work. 00:09:38:20 - 00:10:02:13 Speaker 1 It's really cool, I love that. Just talking about like, I want to get to like, where the stories that you guys are bringing to life come from and, and these products and things. And I want to talk about the, the market size because it's kind of bananas to me and what's happening. But just first, because this is interesting, like the creative process and the talent piece of, you know, anime like talk about that a little bit. 00:10:02:13 - 00:10:10:18 Speaker 1 And also like, I mean, we're in 2025. But of course, the title of the show is Future of XYZ and the Future of Anime. Like, how is it evolving? 00:10:10:20 - 00:10:38:07 Speaker 2 Yeah, so we see our role. I think first and foremost, a core value of ours is absolute respect for the creative process that primarily happens in Japan. and so we have great relationships with studios all over, long deep standing relationships. And from all of that time working together, have a deep amount of respect for the integrity of the characters that are being developed in the stories that are being developed. 00:10:38:12 - 00:11:04:02 Speaker 2 So we usually let them speak about the creative process because they are the experts. And of course, we work with Aniplex, they’re one of our parent companies. They are experts at making fantastic stories, as well. But that is and that will continue to evolve. Now where Crunchyroll does play a role is that we take a lot of these stories and we bring them all over the world. 00:11:04:04 - 00:11:22:06 Speaker 2 So because of that and we're just constantly listening. So, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly, whatever a fan has to say. And there's a lot of information that gets sent back to us through many, many different ways. But we've collected that over time and we've seen, okay, this does well here or fans want to see more of this. 00:11:22:11 - 00:11:46:08 Speaker 2 And so we've been able to take that and say, hey, let's work with the experts. Because what we don't want to do, you know, the the authenticity of anime is not to be diluted. It is it is really, truly exceptional storytelling that doesn't exist elsewhere. And we respect that. but what we can do is say, hey, I think this type of story will work really well in these markets. 00:11:46:10 - 00:12:07:12 Speaker 2 And so what we've started to do, and we recently announced a joint venture, Hayate, also with Aniplex, to start to take some of these stories and, bring them into anime to do more of that. But what we're starting to do is, is identify the stories that we think could be made into great anime and then get them made with the experts. 00:12:07:14 - 00:12:12:12 Speaker 2 So a good example of that is, solo leveling is a really, really popular show. 00:12:12:12 - 00:12:13:16 Speaker 1 Solo leveling. 00:12:13:22 - 00:12:37:00 Speaker 2 Solo leveling, it is a small plug. It is a fantastic show. Not only is the story just absolutely gripping, the animation is stunning. Cool. They do a really great job with the show. that is a, Korea. It's a it's a story from Korea. It was a webtoon, that was made into an anime, incredibly successful. 00:12:37:05 - 00:12:59:01 Speaker 2 We recently announced, that we're making, really popular PlayStation game The Ghost of Tsushima into an anime. And so that's just an example of, there's an example, in, in a different genre. Tomo-chan is a girl is a story that is a manga that wasn't going to be made into an anime that our teams thought. 00:12:59:03 - 00:13:09:16 Speaker 2 We think this is going to do really well in our markets. And we worked with our partners at Aniplex to get that made was very, very successful when it launched. So that is more of what how we're involved in the storytelling. 00:13:09:16 - 00:13:34:20 Speaker 1 It's interesting. So I mean, the creative process is it's mostly happening in Japan, but you've also just like referenced a Korean story. So there's stories coming from global IP at this point at the, and then you as Crunchyroll don't make animation and you don't train creators, but you bring these stories to the world and sometimes you help facilitate it sounds like the development and the crossover from one kind of let's call it platform to another. 00:13:34:22 - 00:14:02:08 Speaker 2 I think what we do is take what we're hearing and suggest things and some sometimes that's a specific IP, sometimes that's a specific arc that we think is really, landing it can it can vary. But ultimately we are here to like package up the information of what we're hearing and what we think there's demand for and work with experts and and long standing, really brilliant minds to, you know, take some of those stories to life. 00:14:02:08 - 00:14:16:03 Speaker 2 And that that is super rewarding for us because we, we truly believe that any there are many story, not any story. There are many stories that can be made into great anime. They can be from all over the world. And I think we'll continue to see that. 00:14:16:05 - 00:14:46:21 Speaker 1 It's awesome. I want to talk about the market for a minute because, the data says that the market is rapidly growing, that in 2024, the anime market was over $34 billion, I believe, the projected market size is expected to grow 10% in the next five years. Asia Pacific remains the largest kind of consumer, if you will, but the US is the fastest growing with a 16% CAGR anticipated in the next five years. 00:14:46:23 - 00:15:06:21 Speaker 1 I want to talk specifically about the drivers of this, if you don't mind. We can just go in, like, whatever, rapid fire. So I think the first question I have is like, is one of the drivers of this growth like, and how does it work, the expansion of streaming platforms, even though I know you said Crunchyroll, you see yourself as kind of a different than a streaming platform, but streaming platforms in general. 00:15:06:23 - 00:15:26:15 Speaker 2 Yeah, of course, 100%. I mean that that is absolutely the case. There is more anime accessible to more people than ever before. And we've always said it, we say this a lot, it's a great time to be an anime fan. There’s stories everywhere. And that's great. We stand for building a sustainable anime ecosystem. And, you know, we believe that anime is bigger than Crunchyroll. 00:15:26:16 - 00:15:47:09 Speaker 2 So that is a that is a great thing. It's great for the creators. It's great for Crunchyroll. It's great for the consumer. I think what we're seeing is driving growth. And the reason why we continue to be and I think others are curious about it, but we continue to be very bullish about our ability to deliver value is that it's so resonant with younger generations. 00:15:47:11 - 00:16:14:17 Speaker 2 So Gen Z and Gen Alpha has really connected with this art form for a couple of reasons. It's, you know, there's sort of just this, like kismet alignment between what these younger generations like, want out of not just entertainment, but brands and consumption in general. Right? They want consumption. They want they want authenticity. They want escapism. They want community, but on their own terms. 00:16:14:22 - 00:16:42:14 Speaker 2 And so all of these things that they, you know, sort of click with them just across everything is really present in anime. And so that is going to continue to drive growth because these younger generations like, will get financial independence, continue to get financial independence, and they will continue to spend on the things that they love and the brands that they love and the shows that they love and characters they love. 00:16:42:16 - 00:16:56:17 Speaker 2 And that's what we're seeing. And so that is why we, I think that is one of the, distribution is definitely one of the levers of growth. But the second is just the the absolute alignment and cultural tailwinds here. 00:16:56:19 - 00:17:21:12 Speaker 1 It's interesting. I admit I was going to ask about gaming, but I want to first ask something that's just resonant with what you just said. There's also like merch, right? I mean, there's like strong connection between popular animations or anime series and like, I think it's 32% of revenues of those that that market value in ‘24. Like you yourself and your team, I should say have launched an exclusive streetwear collection. 00:17:21:12 - 00:17:28:03 Speaker 1 And, you've launched some McDonald's collabs, like what is the role of merch as we look ahead? 00:17:28:05 - 00:17:49:21 Speaker 2 Well, I think it's huge because people want to wear what they love. And, you know, it's just it's just a form of collection. In my mind, it's just the collection you wear versus put on your shelf versus, you know, share digital goods, you know, that you buy as well. So it's, it's so many different things. But yeah, that's a really big part of being in anime or anything you love. 00:17:49:21 - 00:18:05:14 Speaker 2 Just being passionate about something as you buy it. And so if we're going to be everything to someone and of course, if you love solo leveling, we're going to give you ways to wear it, ways to put it on your shelf, ways to listen to it, things like that. So that's really important to us too. 00:18:05:14 - 00:18:08:20 Speaker 2 And gaming is is super important. So is music. 00:18:08:22 - 00:18:14:04 Speaker 1 That was going to be my next. So you can. Yeah. Yeah. Which, which one you want to tackle first, gaming or music? 00:18:14:06 - 00:18:35:20 Speaker 2 Yeah. So both are super important. Gaming is interesting because, you know, when people aren't watching anime, actually, and we say this a lot, not every anime fan is. I'm sorry, not every gamer is an anime fan, but an incredibly high percentage of anime fans are gamers. And like two thirds of them describe themselves as hardcore gamers. 00:18:35:20 - 00:19:07:22 Speaker 2 And so when they're not gaming, they're oftentimes watching anime. And so that's what they’re ping ponging between back and forth. So that is obviously we know this. We've added games to our service. Some of them are anime games, some of them are just interesting sort of IP based games that anime fans love. So we are definitely, you know, very interested in making sure our subscribers have access to games, and all anime fans have access to our games. 00:19:07:24 - 00:19:29:02 Speaker 2 And then music. We have music on our service. That's a big part, openings and then endings are such a big part of the anime experience, and there's like such phenomenal music coming out of these shows. And you can watch some of these performances. We have, you know, many of these bands play at the Anime Awards, and they're just really, like, really fun and fun experiences to go to. 00:19:29:16 - 00:19:31:04 Speaker 2 00:19:31:06 - 00:19:39:22 Speaker 1 I mean, you guys started this concert series like Crunchyroll powered by like, I mean, it's yeah, it's like it's a big opportunity and a Spotify channel and all the rest of it. 00:19:39:24 - 00:19:59:12 Speaker 2 And it's fun. It's just so fun. We just did a Crunchyroll, anime fan fest at San Diego Comic-Con, and we had two days of concerts, and it was it's just fun. It's just a great way to spend a couple days and, you know, just so much joy and connection. It's awesome to be a part of. 00:19:59:14 - 00:20:24:12 Speaker 1 So I think that leads me to the last piece of this, like growth model, which is like the live events and the community building activity. I mean, the statistics, of course, on the loneliness of the Gen Z and the Alphas is is pretty horrible. But there's this, like, as you just said, spark joy, community like connection. How do you see like live events and community not only as a, as a revenue driver and a growth driver, but also, you know, kind of what's the approach? 00:20:24:14 - 00:20:28:11 Speaker 1 And I don't just mean for Crunchyroll, but I mean broadly in the anime space. 00:20:28:13 - 00:20:49:05 Speaker 2 Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I mean, I think everyone was curious to see after Covid sort of how live events would not only rebound, but would there be sort of like a correction because there was an incredible amount of demand for it after Covid. And what we've seen is that the just the demand has stayed like that is just a part of what especially younger generations are looking for. 00:20:49:05 - 00:21:08:24 Speaker 2 They're looking for in real life connection. and so that's a big part of what we try to offer where president, you know, and it's it's not just about having the Crunchyroll, you know, anime fan fest, but it's also supporting all the other anime events and being present there and just offering something really cool to experience together. When you are there. 00:21:09:01 - 00:21:27:07 Speaker 2 So it's a really big part of our program. We sponsor every Comic-Con in India, for example, like, which is all over the world. We're looking for the right partners to bring the right experiences to. And that is a huge part of and a huge part of where we'll continue to expand in the future. 00:21:27:13 - 00:21:51:09 Speaker 1 Nice. I love that. And iF Design who's my employer and also the presenting, presenter of the podcast. You know, we run the largest independent design award in the world, and animation is one of the categories in branding communications. But it's not animation on its own. It's not in the same way, but I, I did I was excited to see that you guys had, quite a, quite a large, anime awards expansion in 2024. 00:21:51:09 - 00:21:52:20 Speaker 1 So it's pretty cool. 00:21:52:22 - 00:21:53:16 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:21:53:18 - 00:22:16:12 Speaker 1 You guys commissioned a study from the National Research group that, was shared with me prior to this. You guys spoke with, like, almost 30,000 general entertainment consumers, kind of 13 to 54, 3500 like hardcore anime fans across seven markets. I'm curious, what were the biggest takeaways for you, like top three takeaways? 00:22:16:14 - 00:22:37:11 Speaker 2 I mean, I love this study because it kind of put numbers behind what we see every day. So that was really rewarding to see. I think what will be surprising to people who are not familiar with anime is that 44% of all general entertainment consumers between the ages of 13 and 54 identify as anime fans. So just the number is large. That’s huge. 00:22:37:13 - 00:23:00:18 Speaker 2 It's, you know, people think anime is is a niche. It's really not. Or if it is going to be defined as niche, it is a really, really large niche. But I think for me, the thing that, I loved to see and honestly, this large number was also surprising, nearly 40% of teen anime fans say anime is a meaningful part of who they are. 00:23:00:20 - 00:23:03:22 Speaker 2 So that connection to identity, I mean, that that's a that's a powerful number. 00:23:03:24 - 00:23:04:06 Speaker 1 That’s huge. 00:23:05:04 - 00:23:24:19 Speaker 2 And then if you put that into the sort of cultural context of what? And this is across countries, right. but if you put that in, you alluded to this before, like you've put it into the cultural context of what the teenage experience is now, and all the, you know, sort of research that's coming out around all the things that you mentioned, right? 00:23:24:19 - 00:23:54:04 Speaker 2 Loneliness, need for connection, sort of like digital fatigue and anxiety, that is a really meaningful number because it means that not only is this bringing joy, but it's also like really meaningful, meaningfully, you know, contributing to the characters of these sort of this younger generation, which I think is super cool. There's a lot of great parables, a lot of great storytelling, a lot of great wisdom in the anime canons. 00:23:54:06 - 00:24:01:24 Speaker 2 So I was happy to see that. I was surprised that that number was 40%. But I was also like, yeah, it makes sense. It's kind of what we're seeing. 00:24:02:01 - 00:24:11:10 Speaker 1 Was there anything that surprised you, like really surprised. I mean, you've just alluded to one thing, but like, was there anything that was like flat out shocking? 00:24:11:12 - 00:24:33:09 Speaker 2 This was a little bit shocking, which is that, and it’s maybe a cousin of the identity question, but then just the number is so large, which is that, almost 80% of our respondents said anime strengthens their relationships and they turn to it for community and connection. And I think that, it's like a confluence of so many different things. 00:24:33:09 - 00:24:56:22 Speaker 2 One is just the passion around the storytelling. The second is around this desire for community and connection. That's just sort of like Paramount in this, generation. But that's almost 100%. I mean, 80% is very close to 100%. And so that that we looked at that number and we thought like, okay, that's this, this is so much bigger than us, right? 00:24:56:22 - 00:25:14:13 Speaker 2 Like, this is contributing to identity formation and fundamental relationships and friendships that are so much a part of the human experience and just rooted us in such a like, place of wanting to do more of what, of this, you know. 00:25:14:15 - 00:25:32:05 Speaker 1 It's interesting because it's, I mean, it's, it probably brings you guys to, to Earth in terms of your responsibility as well as as, as as the largest. Are there any learnings that emerge that you think really point the way towards the future direction of anime? 00:25:32:07 - 00:26:03:20 Speaker 2 I think what anime does is sort of shine a spotlight on, where the trends are going, because it's a lot of behaviors with younger audiences. I think that the things that are top up, you know, we see is that what I mentioned before, which is the lines between entertainment are blurring. So, you know, the the having music be separate from your show, be separate from going to a movie, what you shop like, it's all just, games especially. 00:26:03:22 - 00:26:22:02 Speaker 2 It's just all really kind of fluidly moving together where your favorite song is now in a game, that then character is in a film, and then you learned about it because you saw a hat it in a store and your friend was wearing it. So I think those are all sort of really converging. I think for us that's our focus. 00:26:22:02 - 00:26:52:10 Speaker 2 So, you know, we're seeing that we're trying to make sure we're serving all of those needs. But I certainly see that happening, you know, outside of anime as well. The second is just like that, this word is used so much and so, you know, that authenticity, which I, I will use another word which is like just freshness, you know, just, something that doesn't feel familiar but is still comforting. 00:26:52:12 - 00:27:15:11 Speaker 2 I think that I see so much of that. And for example, even in Solo Leveling, for example, it's a great story, beautifully animated. But there is a familiar it's it's used a lot of gaming discipline in it, like there's a lot of sort of ranks and leveling and so, so in that way it feels comforting and familiar. 00:27:15:11 - 00:27:39:08 Speaker 2 Yet it's a new story, with incredibly dynamic characters. And of course, we are studying, okay, that show and sort of what's resonating with everyone. And certain characters do that. And, you know, the unsung hero or the imperfect character sort of achieving this level. Of course, that's really powerful and that's very powerful and common in anime, that sort of unsung hero, sort of imperfect character. 00:27:39:10 - 00:27:50:24 Speaker 2 Right? You know, of course, everyone relates to that. I relate to that. but I see I see a lot of that. And I think that freshness, you know, real creative risk taking in the story arcs. I think that's, you know. 00:27:50:24 - 00:28:08:12 Speaker 1 It's really cool. I can't believe how quickly our time went to. But, as, as far as, my last question is always the same to all guests. What's your greatest hope for the future of anime in 25 years? Which brings us to 2050. 00:28:08:14 - 00:28:46:00 Speaker 2 Yes, well, there will be multiple even more generations of viewing. I think what I will love to see, and I think we will see, is that you will see stories from all over the world that are made into great anime, and maybe those stories are wildly popular in one part of the world that become massive hits. I think the other thing you will see is that you'll just see more anime seep into more elements of pop culture, and we're already seeing it. 00:28:46:00 - 00:29:10:23 Speaker 2 And it's it's big and especially with younger generations, obviously, as I mentioned, but it's just working its way more into just the mainstream pop culture zeitgeist. And we'll see more of that. Now, my hope is that anime does get recognized for the medium that it is, and that all the different story types get recognized and more shows win the Prestige awards. 00:29:10:23 - 00:29:21:19 Speaker 2 And, you know, sort of get those the mantles and the recognition that they deserve on those stages. That is what I expect to see and also hope to see. 00:29:21:21 - 00:29:31:23 Speaker 1 Gita, thank you so, so much for joining us on Future of XYZ today. This was a totally fascinating and surprising conversation about the future of anime. I really thank you. 00:29:32:00 - 00:29:35:02 Speaker 2 Thank you so much. It was great to be here. Enjoyed it. 00:29:35:04 - 00:30:00:18 Speaker 1 For everyone watching and listening, you can visit Crunchyroll to find out what their programing looks like. Subscribe. You can also for, everything that is related to the Future of XYZ, visit ifdesign.com/futureofxyz and make sure that you follow us on social media, that you subscribe on YouTube or leave us a five star review wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. 00:30:00:23 - 00:30:03:18 Speaker 1 We'll see you again in two weeks time. Thanks. 00:30:03:20 - 00:30:05:06 Speaker 2 Thank you.