The Anime Effect: A Crunchyroll Podcast is the premier hangout show highlighting anime’s influence on the broader cultural zeitgeist. The Anime Effect is a twice-weekly news and discussion podcast with Crunchyroll hosts and special guests that spotlight anime's influence on pop culture. The show provides a gateway for the anime-curious to enter the wide world of the medium while providing a new perspective for existing fans. It shows that anime is already a part of the lives of fans, even if they haven't realized it.
By focusing on the multitude of pop culture touchstones that have been influenced by anime, the show is able to warmly welcome potential new anime fans into the fold who have asked themselves, for example, “Who is Megan Thee Stallion cosplaying as on Instagram this week?”
Twice a week, The Anime Effect: A Crunchyroll Podcast, engages with its audience of anime fans by doing exactly what they love to do: talk about anime.
On the first episode of the week, hosts Nicholas Friedman, LeAlec Murray, and Leah President come together to talk about the latest anime news bringing their unique takes, expertise on the subjects, and personable flair to the conversation. Whether it’s Nicholas’ deep knowledge about anime itself, LeAlec’s love of professional wrestling, or Leah’s mastery of music and pop culture, the trio is able to bring fresh perspectives and unique takes to the world of anime news.
The second episode every week features an interview with a special guest, ranging from voice actors to producers to musicians to professional athletes. Many episodes feature the minds behind some of the most popular anime in the world, from the creators of fan-favorite anime Gachiakuta, to the voices of the protagonists from the 2025 box office smash Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and the iconic My Dress-Up Darling, to the creator of Fairy Tail. Past notable guests have included acclaimed rapper Denzel Curry, voice actor and Dungeons & Dragons superstar Matthew Mercer, and one of the biggest stars in the VTuber world Mori Calliope.
The goal of The Anime Effect is to celebrate anime and how it affects worldwide culture, whether or not the shows discussed appear on Crunchyroll itself. The show is all about how anime has affected the broader cultural landscape, and discussing the medium as a whole, regardless of streaming platform, paired with compelling conversations with tastemakers across pop culture, allows the show to explore anime in a fresh new way.
Combined with a robust social media strategy that brings highlights of the interviews to a wide variety of audiences across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, The Anime Effect is able to provide the premier anime podcast experience to a variety of audiences across many platforms.
When The Anime Effect: A Crunchyroll Podcast launched in February 2024, it was an immediate success, shooting to the No. 1 slot of the US Animation Charts in its first week.
Since then, the show has only grown in listenership and reputation. Garnering millions of listens, views, and downloads across podcast platforms and YouTube, the show has gained both a loyal following thanks to its unique take on discussing the anime world, and has shed a spotlight on the crossover between anime and culture at large
In 2025 alone, The Anime Effect soared to new heights, bringing home a second consecutive placement at the Signal Awards and launching its first spin-off series, The Gachiakuta After Show, while clips from its video episodes went viral, driving 40M+ views across Crunchyroll’s social platforms.
Key moments included the show’s first international recording at CCXP Mexico with talent from Solo Leveling, an interview with Olympian Amber Glenn (the same week she broke a figure skating world record), and the return of friend of the show and actor David Dastmalchian (who manifested his One Piece role the first time he guested).
