Anime Producer Takahiro Katō Explains the Job in New Interview
The interview provides a rare, firsthand look at the practical responsibilities and decision-making of a young anime producer, a role often misunderstood by Western fans.
Reporting from 1 sources: Anime By The Numbers.
Anime producer Takahiro Katō, currently working on the *Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube* reboot, gave a detailed interview to the newsletter Anime By The Numbers about what the job actually entails. Katō, who started producing in his mid-20s, described the role as a bridge between the publisher, the original author, and the anime studio, contrasting it with the more glamorous Hollywood producer image. He discussed his early career learning under veteran producer Eiji Maesaka on titles like *Comic Girls* and *Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer*, and how he earned respect on *Migi & Dali* by studying the source material extensively after the mangaka's death. For the *Nube* remake, Katō said he prioritized modernizing the setting for the 2020s, including the presence of cell phones and social media, with the blessing of the original creators. He also noted that he considers both his personal passion for a title and its potential to make money abroad when deciding what to produce, and advocated for streaming platforms to take more chances on titles popular in Japan but less known overseas.
In the interview, Katō detailed how he navigated the death of *Migi & Dali* mangaka Nami Sano during production, saying that because he had read the manga more than ten times, the studio relied on him to guide the adaptation to completion. He described the experience as bittersweet but ultimately rewarding. For the *Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube* remake, he explained that he deliberately sought to differentiate it from other recent anime remakes by altering the story rather than sticking rigidly to the original, a decision he made in consultation with the original writer Shō Makura and illustrator Takeshi Okano. Katō also discussed REMOW's philosophy of non-exclusive distribution, which he believes helps smaller titles succeed when larger platforms are hesitant. The interview was conducted through a translator and edited for clarity, and was accompanied by a chart analyzing the North American box office performance of *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle*.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime By The Numbers What do anime producers actually do?