Just a couple months after Crunchyroll’s new weekly podcast series “The Anime Effect Podcast” launched on the company’s YouTube page, it’s now gearing up to make its TV debut on the Crunchyroll channel.
The TV debut will happen on April 6, starting with Episode 6, Nicholas Friedman, “The Anime Effect” host and Senior Manager of Multimedia and Editorial at Crunchyroll, told TheWrap. “I can’t wait for my parents to call me and say that I’m on TV.”
Friedman makes up one-third of “Anime Effect’s” panel of hosts, which also includes LeAlec Murray, who is a brand manager for Crunchyroll and Leah President, who serves as a partnerships producer for the company. On a weekly basis the group discusses all things anime and everything the genre impacts, like gaming, fashion and music. Markus Gerdemann, Senior Vice President of Creative Marketing, explained the podcast is an extension of Crunchyroll’s desire to be a one-stop-shop for anime fans.
“Our goal is to allow fans to experience and become part of anime the way they want to, where they want to and how they want to,” Gerdemann said. “We’re a part of Sony Music, [and with Sony Music] being well established in the podcast space and very successful, and then our expertise with anime and bringing those two together, it was really low-hanging fruit and that’s where [the idea for a podcast] came from… We have a streaming service, we’re doing theatrical, folks can watch anime on the big screen, then there’s the gaming portion, merch and collectibles; this was just another addition to basically allow fans to engage with their favorite medium.”
Friedman highlighted that the podcast, which aired its first episode on Feb. 16, was a no-brainer move for Crunchyroll, saying devoted fans are often looking for a place where they can learn more about a specific topic, especially with anime growing in demand.
“We know a lot of anime fans have crossover with so much in pop culture: gaming, fashion and sports. And one of the common denominators there is that when you’re a deep enough fan of something, or if you’re just curious about something, you listen to a podcast,” Friedman said.
With its television debut approaching and wrapping up its special episode that premiered at Crunchyroll’s eighth annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards ceremony, where Grammy award-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion presented Season 2 of “Jujutsu Kaisen” with the Anime of the Year,” Crunchyroll is exploring even more possibilities for the series and wouldn’t be opposed to the Houston Hottie stopping by as a guest.
“It was a big, big moment for us, especially for [Megan Thee Stallion] also to present the anime of the year,” Gerdemann said. “I think that all made with Crunchyroll proud and I think it was amazing to be an anime fan. We’re open to work with her more in the future. She is a big anime fan, and I think that’s when when we look at partnerships and talent to work with — that’s always the key, just like we want to work with folks who have strong anime fandom, and she’s probably the top one on the list. That genuine fandom needs to be there, and she has it, so let’s see where this goes and what comes comes in the future.”
He continued: “We want to honor anime. That’s the key objective of everything we do, and it’s also one of the key objectives for the podcast,” Gerdemann said.
New audio episodes of “The Anime Effect” air every Friday at 12:30 a.m. EST and full video episodes arrive on Crunchyroll and the official Crunchyroll YouTube channel starting at 7 p.m. EST. The audio version is also available on all podcast platforms. The Crunchyroll channel is available on Amazon Freevee, LG Channels (LG Smart TVs), The Roku Channel and VIZIO WatchFree+.
