We sit down down with Crunchyroll COO Gita Rebbapragada ahead of the ninth Anime Awards to talk about its worldwide impact , Solo Levelingand the advice that drive her .
The 9thCrunchyrollAnime Awards are OTW and fans around the world are gearing up to see which show will take home theBIG"Anime of the Year" title for 2025.
Anime is (and always has been) watched, adored and discussed around the world. Everyone has a connection to it, whether it be turning on the TV to a random episode ofPokémonas a kid, seeing friends collect trading cards/merch or being a diehard series viewer. The genre has grown up with us and continued growing into something HUGE. But how did it get to where it is now?
Its further cultural explosion over the last five years has been a spectacle and according to Crunchyroll ’s Chief Operating Officer Gita Rebbapragada , it comes down to one thing : the fans .
Ahead of the Awards, we sat down with Gita to answer this very question, chat about what’s coming next and living in an anime world.
BFOZ: With the wild jump in Anime Awards votes from 30 million+ last year to 50 million+ this year, what do you think has made anime into the global phenomenon that it is today?
Bhagavad-Gita : Well , one is it ’s just accessible in so many more place , correct ? You have more anime game , you have way more anime merch and there ’s just way more in zeitgeist . That ’s one thing .
I think there ’s also been some crossover shows that have also propelled it into more of a ethnic maintstream , but that ’s not recent . It ’s been bump for 15 geezerhood or whatever . Some anime franchise are just becoming beloved , that been on ecumenical entertainment cyclosis services and ours . That ’s also help labour the maturation .
BFOZ: When you speak to the studios about what’s on their slate for the upcoming year, what are the key indicators to success that jump out at you and figuring out what to put onto Crunchyroll next?
Gita : We look at what manga is really popular . We hear a muckle from our fans in terms of what they ’re reading , what they ’re like . We have a lot of our own data to go through , so there ’s that . We also face at how things compliment what ’s already being made and what genres we think are kind of pop .
patently we have a passel of Isekai , for example , on our religious service that preserve to be a really popular thing . And then we also reckon at taking some originative risks too . One of the thing that we ’re doing , we just denote this . Solo Leveling , for case — a show we ’ve had that ’s based on a Korean webtoon — we just announced that we ’re doing an Zanzibar copal off of a PlayStation plot , Ghost of Tsushima .
BFOZ: Working in the anime space, do you have any all-time comfortanime showsor movies?
Gita : Oh my gosh . I think that in term of show that are I could put on , because they get with me , because they ’re so different — Tomo - chan is a Girl ! , is one of my favourites .
Naruto — that feel like a comfort food for me and really I recently finish it surprisingly . Solo Leveling , I love is such a phenomenal show .
BFOZ: Stepping outside of the anime bubble for a moment, as a woman of power, how do you learn to trust and strengthen your gut in an entertainment industry that’s ever-evolving and at the mercy of emerging technologies?
Gita : Wow , my girl would see that so hilarious that I would be described that way . She ’s going to in all probability roll her eyes .
One is know your audience . That is the single biggest matter . You ’re put on this planet , not for yourself . We subsist as a company , not to make ourselves feel undecomposed . We answer an interview and that consultation is changing .
BFOZ: What’s the best business advice that anyone has shared with you that you still keep to you till this day, other than know your audience?
Gita : Great leadership is the crossroad of utmost ambition and uttermost humility . And I suppose that has always stick around with me , especially at Crunchyroll , where ultimately we are here to serve creators and fans . This is not about us .
We are something right smart large than this company .
I remember that has deeply resonated me . The other piece of music of advice that stays with me , this is advice I ’ve throw to people : never get to a place where you ’re complacent and always dispute yourself and ask the enquiry more than once a year — " If I were to build this troupe today , know what I know , what would it bet like and how dissimilar is it from what you have ? " .
BFOZ: And finally, if there was one anime universe you could live in, which one would it be?
Bhagavadgita : Oh man . Well , I can tell you where I would n’t want to experience . That ’s almost an easier question .
Okay . Just based on the landscape painting . I would saySuzume , because it ’s such a beautiful countryside , right . Just the background , I think the storyline aside orFruits Basket . Again , storyline apart , just in a beautiful sort of idyllic rural community , I would say those would be probably the two I would pick .
Which show do you think will take home “Anime of the Year”?
Tune into the Crunchyroll Anime Awards onTwitchandYouTubeon 19 March 2025 — the pre-show kicks off from 6pm AEST.
