October 21, 2020
John Leonhardt, head, consumer products, Crunchyroll, discussed anime’s meteoric rise in pop culture with Amanda Cioletti, event and content director, Global Licensing Group. Leonhardt highlighted how the category has grown from “niche” to mainstream. He detailed how anime properties continue to explode in territories globally, with business moves like
Viz Media in Europe merging with Crunchyroll
as a result.
Crunchyroll is exhibiting at Festival of Licensing, a month-long large-scale digital gathering that unites the global licensing industry to connect, learn, strike deals and do business on an international stage. The event takes place Oct. 6-29.
“Anime is not niche,” says Leonhardt. “It’s growing in popularity. We’re seeing celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, John Boyega and Billie Eilish that are really into anime. Anime has so many different aspects that people can
As anime continues to blow up across the globe, Leonhardt and Cioletti used the keynote to discuss anime’s foray into licensed merchandise, its dedicated fan base, its most popular product categories and more. Though the category was seen as niche, there was always a fanbase for the content globally and streaming companies like Crunchyroll have helped to supply that demand.
“Crunchyroll was born to solve a problem and deliver anime to fans,” says Leonhardt. “We’ve always been fan oriented. It’s our focus.”
To learn more about Crunchyroll and the future of anime in the Americas,
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