Hollywood's Misconceptions About Anime: Producer Marisa Balkus Speaks Out
'Just Shonen or Porn': Producer Slams Hollywood's Narrow View of Anime
'Hollywood views anime as pornography'
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Marisa Balkus , veteran producer and executive specialising in anime, adult animation and IP adaptations, was recently hosted by screenwriter Brandon Violette on The Story Series Podcast. On the podcast, among other things, Marisa talked about the misconceptions Hollywood has about anime.Marisa has been in this industry for a long time. In 2017, she joined Crunchyroll, where she helped lead original productions and co-productions made in both Japan and the U.S. She has also worked as a content executive in the Adult Animation team at Netflix. There, she focused on popular gaming-based adaptations like Arcane: League of Legends, Devil May Cry, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. She has closely worked with studios from East Asia, Europe, and the U.S., helping bridge the cultural gap between Western animation and Japanese anime.Marisa Balkus believes that many people in Hollywood still hold outdated ideas about anime. 'I think that there are still some generations within our industry that view anime as pornography or something weird,' she said, calling this view unfortunate.She also mentioned how many people limit anime to just shonen content — shows for boys like those from Shonen Jump. 'There are people who just associate anime with shonen anime and nothing else… which is really unfortunate because obviously there's every medium under the sun that anime offers.'Balkus also talked about the stereotype that anime aimed at women must always include magical girl content. 'That's a cliche,' she said, highlighting how such ideas ignore the diverse stories women actually enjoy in anime.You can watch the full interview at Brandon Violette's YouTube channel, where Marisa talks more about her experience in the industry.
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