Anime Expo is ‘Super Bowl’ for Crunchyroll and Anime Lovers: Q&A

The growing popularity of and intense fandom devoted to anime content is on colorful display in downtown Los Angeles over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Some 100,000 fans of the art form gathered Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention for the start of Anime Expo, one of the largest annual fan gatherings in the world.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has a sizable footprint in the anime sector through its ownership of Crunchyroll, a subscription streaming platform and content brand. Sony Pictures also jointly owns the Aniplex anime production studio based in Tokyo in partnership with its sibling Sony Music.

With such a significant investment in anime, Crunchyroll and Sony can’t afford to miss the four-day Anime Expo event in Los Angeles. It’s second only in size to the annual AnimeJapan event, which is run by the same organization and drew more than 150,000 fans in Tokyo in March.

For Crunchyroll, the gathering in L.A. is a prime opportunity to promote new projects to fans. And it’s evolved into a key moment on the business calendar for anime creators, producers and distributors to meet with the licensors, brand partners, vendors and other suppliers who are crucial to Crunchyroll’s operations.

Mitchel Berger, executive VP of global commerce for Crunchyroll, says the growth of Anime Expo mirrors the rise of anime as both a lifestyle and art form. For sure, the crowd milling around L.A. Live and the Convention Center plaza on Thursday wore their passion for shows, characters and franchises on their sleeves — and everywhere else, including copious tattoos.

Anime Expo has its humble roots in an event launched by anime buffs at UC Berkeley in 1991. It launched as “Anime Con” and was held the first year at Red Lion Inn in San Jose, Calif. The event moved to Southern California and was held for several years in Anaheim and in…