HorribleSubsLeader

Hi there! I have been a HUGE fan of crunchyroll since late 2008 2006 and I wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you guys release SO MUCH anime every day! A few years ago I registered the nickname "KunGao" on Rizon irc network to use as a irc bot and when I saw this AMA I thought about how I could hand over this nickname to you, what do you say?

I'll be sure to treat it with the utmost respect!

Here are some serious questions. I don't have any complaints about your subtitles, but I have a few questions about business decisions I'd like to ask:

1. Where do you see Crunchyroll in 5 years time? At the end of the day, anime has a very niche viewership. I dare say you've acquired at least 90% of the anime streaming market in North America. How do you see yourself expanding your business? Frankly, I don't think the anime market is that big worldwide. Many people are trying (Netflix), or have tried to get into the streaming market (TheAnimeNetwork, Viki). None other than Crunchyroll have succeeded.

2. Following my first question, it seems like Crunchyroll is attempting to get into the drama market. Judging by the piracy rate of asian drama in the US, I can say the market is much smaller than the anime market. Do you really foresee that business taking off? Or will it be another failure like j-manga?

3. Do you actually see simulpubbing manga as a viable business? I mean, you mentioned here you have to pull the chapters once they release in print. I feel that will prevent the manga portion of Crunchyroll from taking off. I mean, not everyone is out there to read the latest stuff. People sometimes want to catch up with the old stuff. What is your take on that?

Thanks, HSL

Correct, currently its purpose is to announce our releases to the channel.

Example:

[13:11:00] <KunGao> Release: [Anime] [HorribleSubs] Tokyo ESP - 02 [720p].mkv

Thank you for your reply. It makes sense that you would want to acquire new fans to the medium. Do you have any insights on the strategies you would use to accomplish that? To us Anime fans, anime is just another way of presenting a story. To people that aren't Anime fans, anime seems creepy and weird because it's foreign. It also doesn't help the case that social media helps propagate the notion that anime and the weird factor are linked together. What are your takes on sharing anime with the world when there's clearly a stigma against it?