Anime Expo Exclusive Interview - AnimeJapan 2017

Sharing the same passion on spreading Japanese pop culture all over the world, we were thrilled by the chance of having an appointment with people in the industry's frontier at the Anime Expo booth. Anime Expo was located in the entertainment center of this world - California, where they are able to organize major events in the scene and cater audiences of all ages. The respondent in this article, Mark, went over some details on how all these events are organized, and the strategy they used to promote them. Furthermore, he elaborated on how the social media in the US revere local comic companies such as DC and Marvel but don't place such a heavy emphasis on Japanese manga due to its lack of popularity among US fans. His primary focus is to change that perspective so that more people can get a glimpse into the world of Japanese manga with a clear view, and that it can be welcomed with open arms.

He then emphasized on that by organizing more decent events that allow everyone to see how thrived Japanese pop culture is, people’s perception of anime may start to change. We then moved onto the topic of eSports and how Japanese pop culture has made a transition into that field. With such event like Street Fighter V and BLAZBLUE CENTRALFICTION taking the center stage and grabbing lots of attentions in Anime Expo, this would be a foreseeable asset in eliminating the cultural gap in between and opens up more collaborating opportunities for both Japanese and Western manga/animation industries. This is the message from him to everyone that attended Anime Expo- whom have seen the luxuriance of Japanese pop culture. After all, who knows if you will find something fascinating there?