Crunchyroll celebrated the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards in style, hosting the event in Tokyo for the first time. The anime distributor and multimedia production firm sent a slew of all-star talent to the 2023 awards as presenters and attendees, who walked the event’s orange carpet. Everyone from WWE Superstars to the stars of Netflix’s biggest original series were in attendance to show their support for the anime medium and its recent triumphs.
CBR attended the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo to speak with several presenters at the event’s orange carpet about various projects they’re working on and their love of anime.
CBR: Zelina, we’re less than a month away from Wrestlemania. How are you feeling?
Zelina Vega: I’m feeling really good about it! I just realized today that Rhea put her hands on Santos. Now I’m thinking that I might have to get involved and equalize that. I’m excited, but you never know what to expect at Wrestlemania.
Jacob, you’re about to start the last season of Cobra Kai. Having grown up playing Hawk, what is one big thing you want to do with the character before the send-off?
Jacob Bertrand: I’d love to see him take on more of a mentorship role to the younger kids. I would love to see some real reconciliation between him and Robby. I think that would be pretty cool. I’d really love to have another scene between him and Kreese. I feel like there’s some unfinished business there, with some things left unsaid.
What was your guys’ gateway into anime?
Nick Wolfhard: My brother and his friend used to play Dragon Ball, and through that, I watched Dragon Ball Z Kai. Finn told me about Bleach, and I’ve been a fan of Bleach ever since, and then we watched Cowboy Bebop together.
Finn Wolfhard: A lot of it was Nick and I watching Toonami and Adult Swim whenever we were in the States. We’re from Canada, so we’d take road trips, and at night, we’d sneak out and turn on the TV whenever it was a Saturday night.
Nick Wolfhard: We’d stay up late, till 1 or 2 am, just to catch it if we didn’t get the East Coast feed.
What is your favorite anime these days?
Nick Wolfhard: Right now, it’s probably Chainsaw Man. I’m on the fifth episode right now, and I’m very much enjoying it and excited to see where it goes.
Finn Wolfhard: It’s been a while since I’ve watched a whole anime altogether, but I’m halfway through Cowboy Bebop, and I’m loving it, and I’m going to finish it.
How has anime inspired your performances?
Nick Wolfhard: I don’t think I’d be a voice actor without the series Gurren Lagann, made by Studio Gainax. The whole message of the show is getting away from the impossible and embracing what you don’t think you can do. You can hit rock bottom, but even if you hit rock bottom, there is nowhere to go but up. I don’t honestly think I’d be where I am without that show.
Finn Wolfhard: I think all Western live-action movies take inspiration from anime, especially nowadays. Every action movie has taken inspiration from anime. There wouldn’t be all these amazing tropes that we have in movies without anime.
Nick Wolfhard: You wouldn’t have scenes, like in Inception, for example, or Black Swan.
Finn Wolfhard: There’s so much you can do in anime that you obviously can’t do in live-action, and I think that is so special.
Robert, with The Mandalorian Season 3 out now, would you do another Stars Wars project or another season of The Book of Boba Fett? What would you do differently?
Robert Rodriguez: It’s always something new, which is so exciting, but you turn around, and there’s a classic character you grew up with. It’s a trip. It’s like going into your childhood, but you’re going to tell these stories. I have to say, it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had making anything.
Both The Book of Boba Fett and Spy Kids had sentai influence. What is it about super sentai and the Power Rangers that you find so creatively inspiring?
Rodriguez: The wish fulfillment is the biggest thing for me. We have all these images and ideas and dream about them and enjoy them as we grow and see them grow with us as the stories evolve. There’s a comfort factor to that. It’s why people plug into that again and again. It’s why nostalgia is so strong because they have meaning to us. We learn about the world through stories, great storytelling, amazing characters, [and] amazing worlds where people feel like they own it. That’s the best, where they feel like it’s [their] show, more than the person who created it in a way.
As someone who shoots and edits, what are the big takeaways you’ve gotten from anime and Japanese cinema that haven’t quite come over to Western filmmaking?
Rodriguez: I’m always pausing and trying to go frame-by-frame to see how they impact you, where you can tell what’s going on, but viscerally, it gives you a feeling. I’ve tried to emulate it in movies, but you really can’t. You have to craft it frame-by-frame the way they do. It’s really very inspiring, and it’s in the art of the montage.
To watch the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards in full and see this year’s award winners and nominees, be sure to check out Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards site.
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