I went to the premiere of SPY x FAMILY CODE: White, whatever the correct stylization of that title is. But this text is not about the film. What caught my attention, however, was how modest this preview was. Ok, an IMAX room, but that’s already standard press boxes or previews, it doesn’t count.
Outside the room there was a screen with the film trailer and an area there with a panel to take photos — literally, a carpet and a “giant poster” of the film.
Photo: Laura Gassert/JBox.
It was one of the most “anything” wraps I’ve ever seen at a Crunchyroll premiere. And it has been noticeable. The preview of the special for the new season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba had a more elaborate setting than that of SPY X FAMILYbut was Demon Slayer. We expect more than Demon Slayer for the phenomenon that the series has become.
In the Kimetsu, there were several giant posters, a mini scene with characters — what I didn’t have was time to take a photo (the gates opening at the last minute with a huge queue) and no space, because there were a lot of people. It seemed that the organizers were unaware of the size of the event they had prepared for themselves.
The scenario set up there in 2022 at the premiere of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was not very different from Kimetsu in terms of “instagrammable space”. However, despite Dragon Ball being a major series, that event was much smaller than the last special Kimetsu, this year. Same size, including public. Clearly another time in budgetary matters. The impression is that they could have done something even cooler with Demon Slayer.
Photo: Laura Gassert/JBox.
There’s something else: in the premiere of super hero We would go right in and wait there in the “scene” and, with that, we could find the voice actors and, if they wanted, produce some quick content with them. At times, they were called upon by Crunchyroll’s networks team to produce content.
We could enjoy the sets, the presence of other colleagues, meet the film’s voice actors, in short, enjoy the event as an event (although these events for me are part of a job, and not a moment to simply enjoy).
The preview of SPY x FAMILY it was at the level of the initial anime episodes of the season — events restricted to the press and much, much smaller in size than those for films, with less than 30 people at the event. With the entrance opening very close to the show time, I didn’t have much time to produce almost any content. And, therefore, the few things they had formed a queue.
The voice actors from the film (and the series) were there, but we only found out about it when we were in the room. The main cast went to the front, close to the screen, and answered questions from Crunchyroll — in other words, nothing worth replicating for anyone who doesn’t want to be an extra arm of the service’s institutional profile, and post something that will be shared by the accounts streaming in much better quality.
There are distributors that took other anime films and set up bigger, or at least more interesting, events. The preview of ONE PIECE FILM RED, by Diamond and Panini, even had a rotating space to film or take photos. They rented a huge space from Cinemark in Pátio Paulista. The preview of THE FIRST SLAM DUNK, by Cinecolor, despite a smaller space, it even had a basketball hoop. And I had time to check everything and think of ways to create content.
Make no mistake. I am not sommelier preview. I hate the concept of an “Instagrammable” place. But I left the premiere of SPY x FAMILY wondering why they did it. The lack of decoration, as already mentioned, is also a lack of incentive to make the influencers take photos and post them on their networks (I’m not one of them, but I like taking photos when the space is nice) — they did it anyway. But wouldn’t it be easier to just make a press box?
It seems that there is not a big bet on CODE: White as a box office success. However, if there is no bet, why have a preview? They could just do a press box (with rare exceptions in my experience, it’s not a pompous event), if they still wanted to bet on the critical reaction, or simply do nothing.
They held the event to hope that the influencers boost the marketing of the film on the networks and it achieves box office sales? Or SPY x FAMILY Is it a minimally reasonable box office bet and the event just lacked vision?
Structural changes and a possible crisis
I was really confused. I cannot dissociate these previews, which seem increasingly modest, from the stampede of employees that Crunchyroll has had in recent monthsincluding key people in the company’s operations in Brazil — but not only that, the former general operating director (COO) left the company after more than 10 years.
The new management seems to leave Brazil a little aside — it is very clear that the company’s new CEO (he is the “AI guy”) favors the Indian market. I know, I know, India has had gigantic growth, there is speculation that it will take China’s place as the “engine of the global market”.
Brazil is not growing that much, but it is an increasingly significant global player, and Crunchyroll’s second largest market on the American continent (the largest if we exclude the USA). In addition to being seen as an important agent and leader of the “global south” in the geopolitical moment we live in… which is delicate.
Disclosure: Crunchyroll.
Every company that wants to survive needs to pay attention to the movements that occur in delicate moments. We will not, however, enter into the political discussion of the matter.
It is clear what side Crunchyroll is at the moment in this context, it is clear which path it wants to take with this focus on the Indian market. It’s a bet that could either be expensive or be very successful depending on the coming years, but it seems like a risky bet to me, because I can’t see a “plan B”, which seems important to me in a situation of geopolitical dispute. Crunchyroll problem.
Anyway, getting back to our topic, I’m not here to complain about the premiere decorations. What catches my attention is that this movement, along with the employee changes, worsen my view that there is a crisis at Crunchyroll. I don’t know if it’s a crisis for the company to grow less than expected, but it’s certainly an organizational issue, which may or may not be associated with a financial problem.
Around here, this has seemed increasingly evident. The company’s presence at events, for example, has changed a lot over the years. In part, there are changes expected after the purchase and all the operational implications of it, but in part there are also It seems like an identity crisis mixed with a degree of disinterest in the Brazilian market.
Sometimes, the company grows well, has good returns, but management works with absurd projections… or just doesn’t know how to deal with employees. There are times when there is no salary that can pay for the stress of a management that does not know how to manage or organize.
The purchase of Crunchyroll by Funimation/Sony seems to have gone down badly with part of the Brazilian team, and apparently with part of the American team. This is not good. Since leaving, it has been noticeable that there are disagreements regarding company issues, there is a disorganization there that is evident to those on the outside, but who have some familiarity with the way the company had been working.
Whether my impression, which is not current, is correct, only time will tell (if it really does). All I know is that I went to a premiere and left thinking there was something very strange about it all. And, no, the main issue is not that the decor was dull (but it was dull, yes, it could have been an online booth).
The text in this article is the responsibility of its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the JBox website.
