Interest
TV Tokyo Head Praises Kemono Friends as Series Concludes
posted on by Eric Stimson
At a regular press conference on March 30, the CEO of TV Tokyo, Yūichi Takahashi, gushed about the smash hit anime Kemono Friends, which had aired on his channel until concluding on March 28.
I thought that it was more popular than I had assumed, and I felt a peculiar "depth" to it... I also saw the comments about it online, and it's great that anime now gets that kind of big discussion and excitement. I thought it was an interesting phenomenon, and I was surprised that fans were so affected by it that they came up with theories about its setting... Even considering modern anime culture, it's a fascinating work.
Takahashi's comments were noteworthy in part because at a press conference in February, he had demurred when he was asked about Kemono Friends since he hadn't seen it yet.
Kemono Friends' popularity has taken many observers by surprise. This popularity has manifested itself in all kinds of ways, from increased interest in real serval cats to fan-made VR videos and covers of its theme song. Although the smartphone game that preceded the anime will not return, Kemono Friends will get original content on TV Tokyo's new AniTele service, and the anime staff have teased a new video project as well.
Source: Sankei News
