Crunchyroll’s Gita Rebbapragada Is Always Thinking About Anime Fans And It’s Truly Heartwarming
The 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards are OTW and fans around the world are gearing up to see which show will take home the BIG “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 of Pokémon as 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?
Gita: Well, one is it’s just accessible in so many more places, right? You have more anime games, 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 cultural maintstream, but that’s not recent. It’s been happening for 15 years or whatever. Some anime franchises are just becoming beloved, that been on general entertainment streaming services and ours. That’s also helped drive the growth.
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 lot from our fans in terms of what they’re reading, what they’re liking. We have a lot of our own data to go through, so there’s that. We also look at how things compliment what’s already being made and what genres we think are kind of popping.
Obviously we have a lot of Isekai, for example, on our service that continues to be a really popular thing. And then we also look at taking some creative risks too. One of the things that we’re doing, we just announced this. Solo Leveling, for example — a show we’ve had that’s based on a Korean webtoon — we just announced that we’re doing an anime off of a PlayStation game, Ghost of Tsushima.
BFOZ: Working in the anime space, do you have any all-time comfort anime shows or movies?
Gita: Oh my gosh. I think that in terms of shows that are I could put on, because they stick with me, because they’re so different — Tomo-chan is a Girl!, is one of my favourites.
Naruto — that feels like a comfort food for me and actually I recently finished 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 daughter would find that so hilarious that I would be described that way. She’s going to probably roll her eyes.
One is know your audience. That is the single biggest thing. You’re put on this planet, not for yourself. We exist as a company, not to make ourselves feel better. We serve an audience and that audience 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 intersection of extreme ambition and extreme humility. And I think that has always stayed with me, especially at Crunchyroll, where ultimately we are here to serve creators and fans. This is not about us.
We are something way bigger than this company.
I think that has deeply resonated me. The other piece of advice that stays with me, this is advice I’ve given to people: never get to a place where you’re complacent and always challenge yourself and ask the question more than once a year — “If I were to build this company today, knowing what I know, what would it look like and how different is it from what you have?”.
BFOZ: And finally, if there was one anime universe you could live in, which one would it be?
Gita: Oh man. Well, I can tell you where I wouldn’t want to live. That’s almost an easier question.
Okay. Just based on the landscape. I would say Suzume, because it’s such a beautiful countryside, right. Just the backdrop, I mean the storyline aside or Fruits Basket. Again, storyline aside, 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”?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
