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Over the last couple of years, anime has prominently stepped into the global mainstream, and withCrunchyrollbecoming one of its biggest distributors, Crunchyroll views now wield surprising influence over animation studios. In fact, not too long ago, high viewership on Crunchyroll evenforced a studio to renew an animefor another season six years after its initial release.
Despite releasing back in 2018,Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spiritswas recently renewed for a second season, much to fans' surprise. According to a post on X byMangaMoguraRE, the president of the studio that produced the anime revealed the renewal was made possiblebecause the series garnered significant viewership on Crunchyroll, indicating the series was quite popular overseas.
The comment stems from an interview column posted on the Japanese infotainment siteNatalie, where Gonzo’s President and CEO, Shinichiro Ishikawa, revealed that it was in factCrunchyroll that urged the studio to bring the series back. This goes to show just how much influence global fans are beginning to gain as anime spreads outside of Japan, redefining the very metrics by which an anime’s success is now measured, while even opening the door to reviving more suchshojo anime deserving of a second season.
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Crunchyroll Views Can Now Define An Anime’s Future and Renewal Prospects
Anime Fans Around the World May Soon Hold As Much Sway As Japanese Audiences
With Crunchyroll being one of the biggest anime streaming platforms in the world, it comes as no surprise that Crunchyroll is beginning to hold this much sway over animation studios as well. If anything, this proves Crunchyroll’s user base has more power than they may believe. Granted, abuse of this power has sometimes created a toxic environment through review bombing and hateful comments, which recently ledCrunchyroll to disable the comment featureentirely.
Still, even through its views and ratings alone, Crunchyroll is giving overseas fans a chance to express their support for the series they love and have their voice be heard by Japanese studios. Gone are the days when an anime’s reception in Japan was the be-all-end-all.
In fact, not even Blu-ray sales alone decide whether an anime is a success or not, as seen with series likeSolo LevelingandChainsaw Man,which were undeniably global hits despite their abysmal sales. As such, through Crunchyroll, overseas fans may now have just as much of a say in defining an anime’s future as Japanese fans, which could even bring about the revival of an entire genre.
Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits’ Renewal Signals the Shojo Renaissance Is Here
The Coming Years May Finally Revive The Shojo Genre
Besides the fact that it has been six long years since the first season came out,Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits’renewal was all the more surprising given the fact that it is inherently a shojo romance anime. When the anime’s first season was followed by silence, many assumed the series had also fallen victim to the one-season curse that plagues many shojo anime, especially the ones most deserving of a renewal.
The main reason for this of course is thatmale audiences often shy away from shojo and josei anime, which often leads to these series gaining poor viewership. However, as Gonzo’s president Shinichiro Ishikawa mentions in the interview,Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spiritsmanaged to gain as many views as popular shōnen anime despite Crunchyroll’s predominantly male user base. While the exact viewership count is unknown, the series presently has a 4.8 rating and Ishikawa attributes the series' appeal to its fantasy and wholesome Japanese food-centered plot.
It’s thanks to our overseas fans that we were able to make a sequel to ‘Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi’. Crunchyroll, the world’s largest video streaming site, has a large male user base, and although it’s aimed at women, ‘Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi’was watched just as much as popular male works. That’s why that work is so important to Crunchyroll, and we received a message saying, “We definitely wanted you to make a sequel”, so we decided to make a sequel, even though it was produced a while ago. We, including the people at Crunchyroll, analyzed why “Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi” was so popular, and we found it had all the elements that appeal to overseas fans, such as being a fantasy and featuring Japanese food.
- Shinichiro Ishikawa to Natalie, 2024.
Hopefully, Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits’renewal pushes anime production studios to give more shojo anime a chance, hopefully resurrecting the genre in the years to come. Signs of the ongoing shojo renaissance, as it has been dubbed by shojo enthusiasts, can already be seen in the massive success of new shojo anime likeMy Happy Marriage, A Sign of Affection,andA Condition Called Love,to name a few.
The return of shojo classics likeThe Rose of Versailles,which is receiving an anime movie forty-six years after its original run, and the renewal of newer yet just as beloved series likeKimi ni Todokeafter over a decadealso prove that the shojo genre may soon hopefully stand on equal footing with its shōnen counterpart. Global support for these series through platforms studios can monitor will no doubt play a crucial role in this revival, which is why the platforms fans choose to stream their favorite anime are more important than ever before.
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That said, for all of this to happen, it is crucial that fans support the anime they love and want to see renewed by streaming them through legal platforms. It is only by watching anime legally that Crunchyroll and the producers of an anime can properly gauge how well a particular series is being received or how much support the series has beyond Japan’s borders. This, as seen withKakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits,can revive even an old-forgotten franchise with sufficient demand.
Visible global support and interest could even urge Crunchyroll to release various language dubs more readily, as seen recently withKaiju no. 8.This means anime could be made available in even more languages in the future, spreading anime even further into the global mainstream and to even more people across the world.
Regardless, now thatCrunchyroll’s viewsare known to possess such influence, hopefully, the coming years will see more anime readily renewed season after season, which means more anime will finally get to see their stories until the end.
