If you’ve ever been captivated by the alchemical adventures in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the magical world of Black Clover, or the graceful artistry of Yuri!!! on Ice, you’ve experienced the work of Hideo Katsumata.
A true veteran of the anime industry, Katsumata-san has built a formidable legacy as a producer, shaping beloved titles that have resonated with fans globally. Now, he’s charting a new course for an entire platform as the President of Anime Times and Avex Pictures.
This past August, Katsumata-san visited Mumbai to attend the inaugural Anime India event. Representing the streamer, his presence underscored the focused attention of major Japanese anime players on the rapidly growing Indian market.
Amidst the excitement of the event, the Animehunch team had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with him for a candid conversation about his vision for the future.
Furthermore, we explored the exciting potential of future collaborations between Japanese and Indian studios. And, for the countless fans who have been waiting, we respectfully asked the question on everyone’s mind: the story behind the cancellation of the much-anticipated Yuri!!! on Ice movie.
Animehunch Team: We’re seeing a lot of new players in the Indian anime market. Crunchyroll entered first, Netflix is acquiring more anime, and now Anime Times is positioning itself as another major player. Since your launch, particularly since becoming available as a Prime Video add-on, how has the reception from Indian audiences been? Has it been satisfactory, has it exceeded your expectations, or are you still evaluating?
Hideo Katsumata: We started in December 2023, so it hasn’t even been two years yet, but what we really want to focus on going forward is “new localization.” “New localization” refers to language support. Right now, we support four languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. We’ve managed to cover these four, and while we call language support “localization,” what we value in “new localization” isn’t just language support. It’s also about real-world events, real-world collaborations, and creating face-to-face pop-up stores, which are temporary shops. Since our establishment, we’ve done that in 30 locations. We engage with anime fans face-to-face. This is another important aspect of localization, so we want to really focus on connecting as much as possible with the anime fan communities in India. We intend to do this part of localization thoroughly.
Animehunch Team: But what about the response the platform has been getting? Are you personally happy with it?
Hideo Katsumata: I am very satisfied with the response of the Indian anime fans. But I want more and more fans to watch the anime. Not just to watch the anime, but to enjoy the anime in a deeper way.
Animehunch Team: So that’s where this whole concept of ‘new localization’ comes in right? Let’s talk about that a bit more. You’re successfully carrying out events and engaging more with the fandom, which fans here are really enjoying—the reception to Anime India, for example, has been very good, and people will be expecting more such events. While the ‘real world’ part of your strategy is going well, what about the content on Anime Times itself? Are you looking to simulcast more anime in the future? Also, how does this position you against a platform like Crunchyroll? Do you see them strictly as competitors, or do you envision working alongside them to grow the overall anime economy in India?
Hideo Katsumata: First, regarding Crunchyroll and other competitors—I clearly see them as competitors. However, I think the Indian market is still at a stage where it needs to be developed. In that sense, to popularize animation together in India, we really do need to work together. So right now, I feel it’s more important to work on developing the market with our competitors. As for simulcasting, we’re already doing what’s called ‘catch-up streaming.’ Releasing episodes in India at the same time they air in Japan is something Anime Times has been doing since this July. The strategy for Anime Times is ‘new localization,’ which we call ‘L&R.’ ‘L’ is for ‘Localize,’ and ‘R’ is for ‘Realize,’ which refers to the real-world events I mentioned earlier. It also stands for ‘Reboot’ and ‘Remake.’ So, in the future, we plan to remake old titles, or reboot works that are likely to be well-received in India or become popular there. Our strategy is this ‘L&R’ approach, where eventually we want to get involved in the planning stages of new works as well.
Animehunch Team: Moving on, we’d like to ask about your experience as a producer. As a media agency that covers the Japanese animation industry, one issue that frequently comes up is the workforce shortage, which leads to production issues and timeline constraints. Could you share your perspective on this problem?
Hideo Katsumata: As you say, regarding supply and demand, right now, demand is completely overwhelming supply, and the situation hasn’t stabilized. That’s why anime studios are booked up two to three years in advance. So there’s a clear labor shortage. The demand and requests to “make more, make more” are enormous, but the number of anime titles and the number of people involved in making them have remained the same. The number of shows that can be produced is limited. So, to resolve this labor shortage in the future, we need to nurture more animators and young people within Japan. Also, there are actually quite a lot of people from overseas who say they want to be involved in and work on Japanese animation. There are many people in Asia, India, and also in Europe who want to be involved with Japanese anime. If you look at Pixiv, you can see lots of them drawing pictures. We need to create an environment where they can more easily come to Japan and work at anime studios right away. This is something we really need to think about together with the Japanese government, for example, making visas more readily available. So this labor shortage is a very serious problem. The number of young Japanese people is decreasing, but we still have the issue of needing to train more animators. On top of that, we also need to have people from overseas participate in making Japanese animation. This is something we really have to do.
Animehunch Team: On the topic of collaborations, what are your thoughts on a project where prominent directors from Japan would lead, but the animation production itself is handled by studios in India? This would be more than just outsourcing; it would be a true collaboration with an exchange of views. Japan has the expertise in creating anime, and India has a large workforce. Instead of just animators moving from India to Japan, what about a 100% collaborative effort like this? Is this something you have considered, especially now that you’ve visited India and seen its potential?
Hideo Katsumata: There are various ways to think about joint productions and collaborations. An Indian animation studio could produce a Japanese IP that seems likely to become very popular in India. There’s also the method of outsourcing. Using infrastructure together. It could also be that the main staff is split between Indian and Japanese members. On a smaller project basis, it would be about using each other’s strengths. For example, if India’s strength is in music and dance, and Japan is skilled at creating anime characters, for a small project we could start with something small like a character, similar to a VTuber, and develop that into an original work. And for a massive project, it might even be possible for a Japanese animation studio to create something like India’s two great epics, the Mahabharata or the Ramayana.
Animehunch Team: You’ve worked as a producer on many popular titles, including Black Clover and Fullmetal Alchemist. However, you were also involved with Yuri!!! on ICE. This is something fans are desperate to ask about. The planned movie, ICE ADOLESCENCE, was officially cancelled by MAPPA, which left many fans heartbroken as they loved the series dearly. We know this is a sensitive topic, and you may not be able to discuss it, but fans would be incredibly grateful for any insight you could offer as to what went wrong or why the movie was ultimately cancelled.
Hideo Katsumata: I can’t talk about the details, as that includes some very private matters. But if you ask whether it’s a creative or business issue, the reasons stem from the creative side. The main reason is that it couldn’t be made due to creative reasons. Since it was an original animation, the people involved—including the creators and the animation studio, MAPPA… among the creators, on the creative side, a situation arose where it just became impossible to proceed with production.
Animehunch Team: To conclude our interview, could you please share a message with all the anime fans in India?
Hideo Katsumata: As Anime Times, we will continue to build a large lineup of interesting animation, including past works and new titles, so I hope everyone will enjoy it. In terms of projects, India and Japan have very long histories, traditions, and cultural backgrounds with many things in common. So, we want to proactively work on more collaborations. In any case, we want to create entertainment that everyone will enjoy, so please look forward to our future work.
