The documentary series, produced and hosted by company CEO and MediaOCD founder Justin Sevakis, features interviews with North American anime industry luminaries; Episodes 1 and 2 available on YouTube.
AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD have announced The Anime Business Episode 2 is now available on YouTube. The documentary series features interviews with a variety of Western anime industry luminaries, providing insight into the genre’s popularization in North America.
The latest installment features Robert Napton, the former Director of Marketing and Producer of US Renditions and Managing Editor at Bandai Entertainment. Napton recalls his days at U.S. Renditions, which was the Special Projects Division of Books Nippan (the American branch of Nippon Shuppan Hanbai), and reminiscences about titles such as Gunbuster, Eureka Seven, and Appleseed as well as his tenure at Bandai Entertainment.
Justin Sevakis, MediaOCD founder and AnimEigo CEO, produces and hosts the series. Sevakis founded the Anime News Network in 1998 and co-hosted the ANNCast from 2009-2015. He was the first in-house video and subtitle editor at anime distributor Central Park Media, and worked on Grave of the Fireflies and Project A-ko. He acquired anime distributor AnimEigo in 2024.
All episodes will be available in English. Japanese subtitles will also be available via a special grant from the Kleckner Foundation. Episodes 1 and 2 are available on the AnimEigo YouTube channel. Episode 3 is set to premiere later this month. Additional episodes and interviews are in production now.
Check out The Anime Business Episode 2 now:
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
