Latest news with #RinaSawayama
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Anime's big night out is getting bigger — and more surreal
All eyes at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards turn to NFL defensive end Myles Garrett as he begins to sing the theme from 'Pokemon.' There's a lot happening on the 'orange carpet' ahead of the ninth edition of the anime streaming service's awards ceremony, held on May 25 at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo. Musician Rina Sawayama and Maneskin vocalist Damiano David chat with the media about how Japanese animation has inspired them over the years. On the other side of the aisle, 'Stranger Things' stars Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo joke with one another while photographers snap pictures of them. Still, hearing the massive American football all-pro breaking into song while standing next to Olympic gold medalist and snowboarder Chloe Kim for an interview with Teen Vogue grabs the most attention in this surreal scene. This spectacle is exactly what Crunchyroll wants to project about the current global popularity — and continued growth — of anime. An event that started in 2017 as a low-key affair held in San Francisco has evolved into a glamorous ceremony styled after major events like the Academy Awards. 'We've been putting more production value into it,' Travis Page, Crunchyroll's chief financial officer, tells The Japan Times from a conference room in the hotel a day before the event. 'Every year, we've been leveling up.' While the event itself grows in size and cost annually, Page says the central aim remains the same. 'The team is constantly thinking from first principles — how do we want to celebrate anime?' American snowboarder Chloe Kim and NFL star Myles Garrett attend the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. | Courtesy of Crunchyroll The ninth edition of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards did so by leaning further into the prestige associated with traditional awards ceremonies. For the first time, a kind of lifetime achievement award dubbed the Global Impact Award is bestowed upon critically acclaimed action series 'Attack on Titan.' Host Sally Amaki wears an elegant orange dress reflecting the company's colors. The messaging on screen approaches the self-important tone beloved by the American film industry: 'Anime doesn't just tell stories... it shapes our culture. It shapes our world.' Which isn't to say the peculiarities of the anime community have vanished. Virtual avatar Ironmouse interviews celebrities during the preshow. Winners go on stage holding plush dolls of characters from the series they represent. Crunchyroll devotes space to categories both silly (''must protect at all costs' character') and specific ('best isekai anime,' referring to the genre where characters get transported to new worlds). The celebrity fashion references various series, running from Japanese talent Dean Fujioka's nod to 'Spy × Family' to American country artist Kacey Musgraves channeling 'Sailor Moon.' 'My look today is inspired by Zero Two from 'Darling in the Franxx,' but we had to drag it up a little bit,' says drag queen Plastique Tiara from the orange carpet about their get-up for the awards. 'I think most of my looks are very anime inspired,' Plastique Tiara adds. 'I think it's a world of creativity and like a recycling bin of just fab. I always go to anime.' As has become the norm for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in recent years, the ceremony itself allows the Sony-owned streaming service to show just how beloved the medium has become via a plethora of famous guests hailing from a variety of fields. It's also an opportunity for Crunchyroll to flaunt its power in the industry. 'We just announced that we've hit 17 million subscribers, up from 15 million last year,' Page says of Crunchyroll's 'exciting' continued growth. 'The confirmation that we are doing our jobs and we are successfully giving customers and fans what they want is the fact that people keep signing up for us.' J-pop artist Lisa performs 'crossing field' from 'Sword Art Online' at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards on May 25. | Courtesy of Crunchyroll Crunchyroll has come under plenty of scrutiny as it has become the key player in anime streaming, most recently facing criticism for expressing interest in experimenting with artificial intelligence (a plan it backtracked from in April). Still, the data coupled with the soft-power pageantry of its Anime Awards underlines its status as interest in the medium continues to grow. 'Lots of young fans are coming in. Gen Z and Gen Alpha tell us that anime is a huge influence in their lives,' says Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini from the orange carpet. That statement is echoed by the younger stars present at the ceremony. 'Through the storytelling aspect of anime with all the complex characters and themes of like, battling yourself, I use that in my music to process emotions in my own life and how I put that to song,' says 20-year-old artist d4vd, adding that anime helped expose him to Japanese artists such as tricot and Eve, who he 'loves.' 'It's such a magical way to portray human emotions and to kind of exaggerate what we feel every day, and it's very beautiful, because sometimes the emotions we feel are exaggerated compared to the context we're in, and it's something that makes you feel very understood,' says Maneskin's David of anime. 'Sometimes it can also give you the strength to talk about something that you don't really feel ready to.' The Crunchyroll Anime Awards also gives the company an opportunity to highlight the global reach of the industry, underlined by the Association of Japanese Anime reporting in its 2024 industry report that the international market has become bigger than the domestic one. Page says the 2024 ceremony saw a greater push to bring in guests from diverse places, an initiative that has continued in 2025 with attendees hailing from the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. '(Anime) is still a bit underground in Chile, but there's so many people watching it overall,' says Chilean American pop star Paloma Mami. Maneskin vocalist Damiano David says anime is "a magical way to portray human emotions." | Courtesy of Crunchyroll This global reach proves to be one of the most interesting developments for Page. 'One of the exciting things to me is seeing which markets and territories really have fallen in love with the dubs we've been producing for them,' he says of Crunchyroll's efforts to offer programs in local languages. 'In India, for example, we're dubbing into three different languages — Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The passion for which viewers are watching in those dubs rather than the subs makes me think we did something right here.' It applies to the shows being produced, too. Page points to the growing number of series being created from intellectual property outside of the usual manga-to-anime pipeline. His go-to example is 'Solo Leveling,' an action-centric series based on a South Korean webtoon. Crunchyroll recently partnered with entertainment company Aniplex to form Hayate, a joint anime production operation aimed at 'being a little more experimental' in creating new titles geared toward the international market, according to Page. Yet signs of the globalization of anime appear frequently at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. 'Solo Leveling,' directed by Shunsuke Nakashige, ends up being the big winner of the night, taking home the anime of the year trophy. The award for best original anime goes to 'Ninja Kamui,' a series animated by a Japanese studio but directed by a South Korean director and premiered on U.S. entertainment block Adult Swim. 'People in many countries have been watching anime for a long time, but thanks to Crunchyroll distributing it worldwide, I can really feel just how many people are watching it and hearing my work. It's become more tangible for us,' says J-pop artist Lisa, who has enjoyed global success via songs tied to anime and will tour North America this June. While the main goal of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards is to celebrate the industry from its birthplace while also flexing the company's strength, the ceremony also offers a kind of best-case scenario for the spread of pop culture, bringing together people from far-flung places thanks to entertainment. 'The fact that an Italian band can collaborate with a Japanese artist ... that's such a long jump, but it's actually possible,' David says, referencing his group's work with the series 'Beastars.' 'Just look at tonight. There's people from all over the world united by their love of art.'
Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
This Celeb-Approved Convenience Store Hack Is Genius
Spending $1000+ on a plane ticket to Japan and living off $3 convenience store foods when you get there is a tale as old as time. How could you not? You can see why it's possible — the convenience store game is GOD-TIER. From Family Mart fried chicken and assorted 7-Eleven sandwiches — to LAWSON onigiris and packed baked goods, you're spoilt for choice. But what should you actually pick up? After chatting about her music comeback and presenting at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, I needed to ask Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama this very question (along with any tips). Rina strutted onto the Anime Awards stage in a velvety Marc Jacobs dress to present 'Film of the Year'. Before the show, she sat down with us to chat all things new music, anime and film projects — read the full interview here. Her recommendation, which she credits to manager, Chikara Kasahara, is the best way to ensure you get steaming-hot curry buns before you walk through 7-Eleven's doors. Rina says that the secret is to "call [7-Eleven] ahead" of your visit, so you can experience "the freshest" Kare pan. Inspired by the simplicity (and effectiveness) of Rina's advice for a 10/10 eating experience, I've sifted through other viral internet faves and recommended combinations to find the best of the best kombini hacks. Basic I know, but adding a piece of boneless fried chicken into an egg salad sandwich (or, pancakes with syrup and margarine) is A1. Whenever I describe the experience of eating this for the first time, I can only compare it to the moment in Ratatouille when Remy combined strawberry and cheese for the first time, which caused him to shift into another dimension. The salty flavour from the chicken mixed with the sweet, yolk-y flavours of the egg salad sandwich is really, really good. Grab the egg salad sando from the fridge or pancakes from the baked and packaged goods shelf and the fried chicken from the window at the front counter. Mixing coffee jelly to a Royal Milk Tea Frappe is a budget bubble tea alternative with a caffeine hit. No boba stores around? Pull an Afternoon Tea brand milk tea frappe from the fridge and take it to the coffee dispenser. Then add the pre cut coffee jelly to the cup and stir for a creamy, coffee flavoured afternoon treat. Make a chicken parmi sandwich with just two convenience store items — pizza buns and front-counter fried chicken. At your nearest konbini, TikToker, Okinawa RV suggests grabbing two pizza buns and a piece of fried chicken to create a burger. When you bite into the pizza buns you'll get an ooze of marinara sauce with melted cheese that'll give you the parmigiana flavour to pair with the chicken. Have a creamy matcha latte frappe at any time of the day using drinkable ice cream. Three things are needed to pull this off — a 7-Eleven matcha latte from the drinks fridge, an ice cup and Coolish drinkable ice cream. Squeeze a good amount of the ice cream into your ice cup, tip the matcha over the top and stir! Ta-da you have a matcha frappe without the café prices. A well-known hack but one to A FRUIT SMOOTHIE! The food scene in Japan is a goldmine, from mochi and pork katsu to ramens and yakitori — it's sooooo good. However, you might find it's hard to get your fibre in and keep your bowel So, these all fruit smoothie from 7-Eleven are an easy and yummy way to put some fibre back into your indulgent food when it's hot, these icy bevvies will help cool you down. Still feeling a bit blocked up? Grab a yogurt drink of one of these Fibe-Mini drinks that have a healthy amount of dietary fibre. If you're lucky enough to be around a konbini with a hot cookie or baked goods window, grab yourself two pieces and an Ohayou Brulee in the freezer for a DIY ice cream sandwich. Warm, gooey cookies with a crackly, sugar topped ice cream centre? Sign me up. This looks Nikki Eats Japan only picked up one cookie to make her sandwich, which might help if you want to take the sugar content down a notch. Not super sure about this one but it seems easy enough. Grab yourself a duo pack of Yukimi Mochi Ice Cream from the freezer and make sure it's vanilla. Then pull a cup of curry ramen from the shelf and prepare it (at home or in-store). When the noodles are cooked to your desired bite texture, add in the vanilla mochi ball and stir until combined enough. Enjoy, I guess? And finally, when you're feeling sick during your trip and need something lighter on your stomach, grab a plain rice ball and instant miso soup. Broth and soup is a healing combination. Usually, miso soup is used a side dish with a bigger meal but in this case, IT IS THE MEAL. The gentle, salty flavour with the plain rice ball is comforting and easy on the stomach. What are you favourite convenience store hacks in your country?
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Country music star Kacey Musgraves stuns fans after debuting wild anime-inspired look: 'Didn't recognize her!'
Country music darling Kacey Musgraves stunned her fans this week after debuting a wild new look at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo. Instead of one of her usual stylish cowgirl getups, the High Horse hitmaker transformed herself into a character from the iconic Japanese series Sailor Moon. The 36-year-old rocked Sailor Moon's signature 'meatball head' buns and trailing pigtails, which were so long they cascaded down past her waist. She added the Sailor-themed schoolgirl outfit to complete the look, but wore it in black instead of the usual blue and white. Fans online were blown away by the look, with one writing, 'Sailor Moon's got nothing on her!' A second commented, 'Just when I think she couldn't possibly be anymore beautiful, she goes and does this.' Another wrote, 'Country music? That explains why I don't know her,' while a fourth admitted that they didn't recognize her at first. Kacey wasn't the only celebrity at the event, with Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama also attending. Instead of going in cosplay, Rina rocked an extravagant designer ensemble consisting of a puffy red frock from Marc Jacobs and sleek black stilettos from Jimmy Choo. Other stars at the event included boxer Ben Whittaker, Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar, and Chilean singer Paloma Mami. It comes after the eight-time Grammy winner revealed that she has significantly cut back on her marijuana use during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Although she laughed off the notion that she is completely sober, the songstress set the record straight on whether she is still gets high and how often. 'I never said I don't ever partake,' she told the outlet. 'I just don't wake up and hit a gravity bong the size of my face anymore, which is what I did for a long time. But, hey, more power to whatever suits you.' Last year, it was widely reported that Golden Hour hitmaker was done with cannabis after she told The Cut that pot was 'not for this chapter' of her life. 'Maybe later, when I'm a 60-year-old lady with nothing to do and I'm just doing pottery all day, maybe. We'll see,' she said, at the time. Still, she said she wasn't quitting all mind-bending substances. During the 2024 interview, Musgraves also confessed to being a fan of psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi, aka magic mushrooms. 'When used with intention, I think it's a massive dose of compassion and reverence for nature, fellow humans, yourself,' she claimed to the outlet. In the title track to her sixth studio album, Deeper Well, released last year, she admitted that she 'used to wake and bake.' After those eyebrow-raising lyrics, she went on to declare she was 'getting rid of the habits that' she feels are 'real good at wasting' her time. During her chat with THR, Musgraves also reflected on how her 2013 track, Follow Your Arrow, which embraces weed and homosexuality, upset a lot of conservatives. 'Oh my gosh, it was so controversial. I was told not to [release the song] and all these reasons why,' she recalled to THR. 'I was nervous... it ended up tanking — it was banned by country radio.' Still, the singer insists she would never had traded that 'for the love and the people it brought' into her world. 'I'm not going to present a watered-down version of myself to be accepted,' she explained. 'Anyway, it ended up working out.'
Buzz Feed
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
FYI, Rina Sawayama's New Album And Voice Projects OTW
British-Japanese musician and actress, Rina Sawayama has been quietly booked and busy since her acting debut in 2023. In an exclusive chat with BuzzFeed ahead of the 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, where she'll be presenting, the singer-songwriter turned actress expressed her excitement for the incoming projects — including new music. Outside of her presenting gig, diehard Sawayama stans have flooded the feeds with questions of where she's been and what she's been up to and now, we know. *Cue roaring applause*. BFOZ: We've loved seeing you taking on so many different types of role in acting — especially in John Wick 4 and you're starring alongside Ayo Edebiri very soon — what's the transition been like between acting and music? BFOZ: So many fans are yearning for new music. Is there any projects in the works that we can hint to them? Rina: And it is also really nice because you get set in your writing ways after a while, so it's nice to revisit Baby Rina who wasn't thinking about all this other stuff. There is new music coming. BFOZ: You're here in Tokyo to present at this year's Anime Awards, if you could pick one of your tracks to be an anime opening song, which one would it be? BFOZ: Anime feels very influential in your music, what was your earliest memory of it? How did it come into your life? BFOZ: What role does anime play in your life now? BFOZ: You've taken on different roles as an artist from making music to acting, would you ever want to add anime voice actor to that list? BFOZ: What was the process for voicing over that character? BFOZ: And finally, if you could voiceover any existing anime character, who would it be? Watch Rina present at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards on Twitch and YouTube on May 25, 2025 — the pre-show kicks off from 6pm AEST.
Business of Fashion
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business of Fashion
Can Gaming Go Glam?
In a bit of beauty industry news that could read like the result of a very niche Mad Lib: The actress Chloë Grace Moretz and the pop star Rina Sawayama have created a cyberpunk cosmetic line, called Godmode, catered toward female gamers. The label is the first to launch from Closer Brands, the incubator beneath the UK-based Closer Group, The Business of Beauty has learned. Godmode's first collection comprises five products, including a cool-toned highlighter called Genesis Glow that approximates the pallid blue light cast off by screens; it will debut in early June on a direct-to-consumer website. On Tuesday morning, the brand teased an 'unlock' code on its founders' Instagram channels as well as its own, and intends to keep the exact launch date a secret for now. The launch reflects a broader effort on behalf of the beauty and fashion industries to engage female gamers, a growing segment of the population aided by the pandemic. While plenty of beauty brands have collaborated with popular coed games like The Sims or Roblox, Godmode seeks to integrate the two worlds more fully, creating a cast of characters and a universe of lore through marketing and a makeup collection. Godmode, itself, is not an actual video game or affiliated with one. 'Female gamers are everywhere,' said Mark Loy, the founder and executive chairman of Closer Group and the founder of Spring Studios. 'But brands barely speak to them.' Gender parity in the gaming population has narrowed significantly in the past few decades; in the US about 53 percent of gamers identified as male, 46 percent as female and 1 percent as non-binary, according to a 2024 report from the Entertainment Software Association. When it comes to preferences, however, there are some distinctly gendered trends; while about half of men who game play 'live service' titles like Fortnite or Grand Theft Auto, nearly 70 percent of women prefer mobile games, according to a 2024 Deloitte survey. The brand's first drop, Genesis, includes the Genesis Glow Highlighter, which approximates the pallid blue glow of a screen's light. (Godmode) Godmode achieves a more unusual milestone in the beauty industry as the first brand of its era to be fronted by not one but two celebrities, though Loy is reluctant to use the c-word. 'It's important to us that it's not seen as a celebrity brand,' he said. With celebrities or without them, Godmode will need to create something more explorable, more tangible and more playable than gamified product drops paired with hyper-lush marketing imagery to gain and maintain credibility with its gamers. 'Rina and I have the ability to build a new world for beauty that isn't just, 'Oh, you like this product, buy this product,' right?' Moretz said. A Perfect Match The realm of video games, only a handful of decades old, has historically been a place where brands go to meet men: the cult bar arcade game Tapper was a branded effort from Anheiser-Busch, and brands like Mercedes-Benz have more recently sponsored esports leagues and made its S-Class available in Mario Kart. Fashion and beauty companies, by contrast, have only recently entered the category. In 2020, MAC Cosmetics gifted a batch of 12 makeup looks to users of The Sims, which has also offered paid expansion packs sponsored by H&M (in 2007) and Moschino (in 2019). Meanwhile, a number of brands including E.l.f. Cosmetics and Givenchy, and most recently the fragrance and flavors conglomerate Givaudan, have created minigames for Roblox, the online game with 90 million monthly average users. Givaudan's 'The Garden of Memories,' in which players help a cute woodland creature craft perfumes, has logged about 60,000 players since it launched in France in January. Many of these are attempts to hook young consumers, rather than consumers who game, which has required a carefully calibrated approach by Closer. Godmode crystallised in 2023, as the incubator sought out celebrity partners. Moretz and Sawayama were deemed a perfect match for the gaming-inspired brand — the former had expressed interest in working on a beauty label to her agents at CAA, while the latter is an ambassador for Playstation. The two met for the first time in New York when they convened to shoot promo photography. Co-founder Chloë Grace Moretz appears as Chroma, her Godmode alter ego, with makeup by Daniel Sallström. She is partial to the brand's Level Up Lip Liners. The uncommon dual-founder structure was not lost on the greater public when news broke earlier this month that Moretz and Sawayama were collaborating on a beauty line. A representative example, from X: 'I don't think I would have put them together, but hey, good for them!' The co-founders corral audiences from different fields of the entertainment industry, but are also passionate gamers themselves, they told The Business of Beauty. Sawayama is a fan of tycoon-style titles like Two Point Museum, while Moretz enjoys open-world roleplaying games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy XIV. 'Once I realised how much you can customise and go deep into this character lore and create your own story, it's just a whole different form of gameplay,' Moretz said. A promotional still from Godmode's launch film animated by the production company All of Us Here. (Godmode) Loy pointed out that the two are 'emotionally and financially invested' in Godmode, but declined to elaborate on the partnership structure. He also hinted at forthcoming collaborations that could see Godmode entrench itself in the world of gaming beyond a product that is 'rebranded with somebody's IP.' There will also be immersive spaces, similar to the ones Closer has designed for brands like Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. For the brand's debut, the co-founders will reveal their Godmode alter egos, with the brand's product drops — beginning with 'Genesis' in the summer, and another planned for the fall — released as chapters of an intergalactic series. 'If you're not a gamer, it's hard to understand the fantasy,' Sawayama said. Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day's most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.
