AnimeNation’s Doujin Dreams

I’ve related my prominent recollections of AN Entertainment’s dabbling in licensing anime. But I forgot to include the anecdote about our aborted work on character merchandising.

I don’t even recollect exactly when – probably in late 2003 or sometime in 2004 – I was inspired by the idea of commissioning a Japanese illustrator to create original character designs for merchandise that AnimeNation could manufacture and sell, such as t-shirts, mugs, posters, and so forth. My goal was to seek an artist whose aesthetic style evoked stylish modernity, bold cuteness, and a distinctively “anime” visual. I was looking for something that would appeal to both hardcore otaku as well as mainstream consumers with a taste for trendy and alternative design. I ended up conducting an email correspondence with doujinshi artist “null500.”

At his own cost, Null500 mailed me copies of his (I presume “he.” Apologies if “Null500” is female.) two self-published art collection comics. I passed the books around the AnimeNation office seeking input and opinion on whether my artist pick seemed viable. Meanwhile I began to negotiate with Null500 regarding what sort of character and image I wanted, and what rights and royalty split we could agree upon. Null500 began sending me rough design sketches which I critiqued and asked for revisions of.

But then the greatest regret of my decade spent as a paid employee of AnimeNation occurred when the AnimeNation owners decided that they didn’t want to invest in either paying a Japanese artist or producing AnimeNation merchandise featuring original characters. After weeks of discussing and collaborating with Null500, I felt very guilty about having to back out of the commission negotiation that I’d initiated. But I didn’t at the time and have never since blamed the AnimeNation owners. I’m confident that they reluctantly made the decision that best served the company interests at the time.

These brief picks and comments from the AnimeNation staff are now over a dozen years old.

In the early 2000s we didn’t even realize that these images were Kizuato fan art.