Ask John: Who Have Been the Most Influential People in America’s Anime Industry?

Question:
Who have been the most influential people in the anime industry over the past 20 years?

Answer:
I hope it’s obvious that this question affords the possibility of a book length answer. At my present state, I have neither the knowledge nor motivation to compose such a thorough dispatch, so my answer will be brief and may very well criminally exclude names that I’ve simply not thought to mention. Furthermore, as a consequence of my limited knowledge, I’ll have to cite both individuals and organizations in the event I’m not aware who the precise individual deserving credit is. Finally, this is my own, subjective observation, drawn as someone involved in America’s anime industry but not a primary “industry insider.” I’m also going to take the “past 20 years” time frame a little bit liberally by starting from the mid 1980s rather than strictly 1989.

Love him or hate him, Carl Macek must be credited with practically launching the American commercial anime distribution industry. Although he wasn’t the first person to bring anime to America, Mr. Macek was the first American businessman to emphasize the Japanese origin of anime and its distinctive differences from homegrown American animation. Macek will always be most remembered for creating Robotech, the popular Frankenstein’s monster hybrid of three unrelated anime series. However, Macek was also instrumental in bringing anime including Akira, Vampire Hunter D, Robot Carnival, Dirty Pair, Lupin III, Captain Harlock, Fist of the North Star, and numerous other titles to America.

Seiji Horibuchi founded Viz Communications in 1986 and published the company’s first English translated manga the following year. Viz wasn’t the first publisher to release translated manga in America, but Viz was the first publisher to concentrate on introducing America to the phenomenon of Japanese comics. Rather than release just one title, Viz was the first publisher to translate and distribute a variety of manga titles representing an range of genres.

Manga translator and critic Toren Smith‘s contribution to the American anime industry may be largely forgotten today, but its impact is more prevalent now than ever. Mr. Smith should be credited as America’s pioneering champion for responsible, accurate, and authentic translation. From the 1960s through the mid 1980s, Japanese pop art brought to America was typically heavily altered for American consumption. Toren Smith insisted upon English translation that remained faithful to the intentions of its Japanese creators. The fact that an expectation for translation accuracy is taken for granted today is largely due to Mr. Smith’s influence on the fan community and manga publishing industry during the 1990s.

Anime scholars Fred Schott and Fred Patton are responsible for convincing Americans that anime and manga are a serious and legitimate art form. Their books and writing acknowledged anime and manga as a cultural, historical, and literary invention, not as merely a cheap, disposable commodity. Their influence has affected the perception of generations of American anime fans.

Robert Napton & David Keith Riddick were instrumental in the formation of US Renditions, Books Nippan’s home video distribution branch. US Rendition’s March 1990 releases of Gunbuster and Dangaioh marked the first ever subtitled anime released on American commercial home video.

The heads of any and every American anime distribution house deserve some acknowledgment for their contributions to the American anime industry, but Central Park Media founder John O’Donnell deserves extra recognition for two reasons. In 1996 O’Donnell commissioned M.D. Geist creator Koichi Ohata to create a sequel, as much for the American market as for Japan. American companies contracting Japanese studios to produce animation was nothing new by 1996, but an American company financing the production of an original anime – not an American created cartoon animated overseas – established the precedent for later co-productions like Ghost in the Shell, The Big O, and Afro Samurai. Furthermore, Central Park Media, under Mr. O’Donnell, gave America its first anime DVD: director Masami Obari’s Battle Arena Toshinden OVA series.

Children’s television program producer DiC Entertainment isn’t commonly considered a significant player in the anime industry, but DiC USA chairman Andy Heyward should be given credit for introducing Americans to modern shoujo anime. Princess Knight got very limited American television exposure in the late 1970s, but it was DiC’s 1995 broadcast of Sailor Moon that introduced shoujo anime to all of America.

The Cartoon Network’s Toonami program, visibly represented by producer Sean Akins, aired Voltron in 1997, and launched Robotech, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball Z in 1998. While DiC introduced America to shoujo anime, Toonami put anime into every American household. Networks including Nickelodeon, UPN, and even the Sci-Fi Channel broadcast anime prior to Toonami, but Toonami was the first network to group anime and promote its stylish chic. Toonami convinced America that watching anime was cool.

The Anime on DVD website, now an integrated part of the larger Mania.com site exerted an influence that irrevocably forced the evolution of the American anime industry. Webmaster Chris Beveridge and fellow reviewers and site visitors introduced a consumer demand for quality that had never existed prior to the DVD era. Mr. Beveridge inspired expectations for excellent image & sound quality, supplemental material, and attractive packaging – consumer demands that were never seriously considered in the VHS distribution era. The Anime on DVD website practically single-handedly forced America’s commercial anime distribution industry to establish and live up to high standards. Anime on DVD turned consumers into critical consumers.

Viz Media pioneered manga distribution in America. Tokyopop, under the advisory of Stuart Levy, revolutionized it. Tokyopop wasn’t America’s first publisher to release manga in “unflipped” Japanese right-to-left format, but Tokyopop’s “100% Authentic” promotion brought awareness to the publishing decision and set the precedent that the entire American publishing industry now follows. Furthermore, Tokyopop standardized the publishing size and retail price of domestic manga graphic novels. All domestic manga publishers now either adhere to the standard Tokyopop established or diverge from it.

In 1997, following the signing of Tokuma Shoten’s distribution agreement with the Walt Disney company, Miramax was put in charge of preparing the anime film Princess Mononoke for American theatrical release. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki sent a samurai sword and the simple message, “No cuts,” to Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein. This concise statement still rings as a resonant reminder that America’s anime industry has a responsibility to profitably distribute anime while respecting the work that its Japanese creators put into it.

When Mike Tatsugawa founded the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) in 1991 I doubt he foresaw that the anime convention the SPJA organizes, Anime Expo, would eventually become the de facto American anime industry trade show that brought the executives of America’s anime industry together face-to-face every year. Simultaneously, and ostensibly, Anime Expo is America’s largest anime fan convention and the American anime industry’s foremost opportunity to market to and interact with its customers, supporters, and detractors.

No one seems to remember exactly what the first digital fansubbing group was, but suspicion centers around Animefactory‘s August 14th, 2000 release of Megami Kouhosei episode 00. Although digital fansubbing didn’t start out as part of the American anime distribution industry, its impact on the industry worldwide has been immeasurable. In the VHS era, an anime was “new” if it reached America within a year of its Japanese release. The first episode of Candidate for Goddess reached America, unofficially translated in English, eight months after its Japanese premiere. From that beginning, we now have officially translated and distributed anime episodes reaching American viewers a mere hour after Japanese broadcast.

Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter was instrumental in bringing Studio Ghibli’s 2001 feature Spirited Away to America. Lasseter served as executive producer for the American localization, and has since been an outspoken proponent of anime creator Hayao Miyazaki. Spirited Away took the 2002 Oscar for Best Animated Film, and it’s both that recognition and Lasseter’s enthusiasm for Miyazaki’s animation that have helped propel anime into mainstream American recognition and grudging respect.

Crunchyroll founders Kun Gao, Vu Nguyen, Brandon Ooi, and James Lin launched Crunchyroll in 2006, initially streaming unlicensed anime fansubs and Asian movies. The site quickly grew in size and prominence until now, three years later, it’s one of America’s foremost officially authorized anime distribution companies. Crunchyroll has negotiated unprecedented partnerships with Japanese distribution companies, resulting in a greater amount of anime reaching America faster than any other domestic distributor has ever approached. Crunchyroll has also been accused of significantly contributing to the practical extinction of the traditional American anime specialty distribution industry.