- Interview Date: 7/5/2025
- Interview Location: Anime Expo 2025
- Interview Format: One-on-One
Anime Herald: The Sibyl System Zone in Shinjuku was brilliant. Who came up with it and how were you able to create and implement it?
Koji Kubota: First off, I’m very glad you are familiar with this project. It was one of my most memorable experiences. It really was a turning point in my career. I’m happy to talk about it.
Please note that this wasn’t the brainchild of any single person. The client and the entire team worked closely together. My role in the project was as a producer and creative director. To pull that off, we formed a joint task force with several partners, including a sensing technology company and a booth construction firm.
The concept of this was that inside Shinjuku Station, which is one of the world’s busiest transit hubs, we installed a massive digital billboard. When people would step in front of it, a Dominator would appear and scan them, calculating their crime coefficient. The result was fully immersive. It was a novel interactive experience and it created a lot of buzz.
From a marketing perspective, we had two pillars for the communication strategy. We wanted to deliver something very impactful that people would be aware of. The second was to amplify it socially. We encouraged people to share their crime coefficients on social media.
As a result, in one week we had 90,000 people try the booth. A lot of screenshots of people’s crime coefficients flooded X (nee Twitter). It generated a huge buzz on social.
The installation won that year’s digital signage award. That title also became a major hit. It really helped boost Psycho Pass. A lot of people from the industry later commented to us “It was one of the most striking and successful brand marketing executions in anime history.” It remains a great source of pride for our team.
Anime Herald: How did the partners that you worked with to build and implement this react to the initial idea when you pitched it to them?
Koji Kubota: Normally, with these kinds of new challenges, a lot of our partners do tend to be a little bit reluctant and conservative. But, for this project, when we first pitched it, they were really excited. The team was very positive. Everyone was looking forward to it.
Here at 33, we try to pay attention to the fans’ insights. We try to bring the most enjoyment to them through these experiences. We created a team to uphold that vision. We got positive feedback and encouragement to push forward with this project.
Anime Herald: What’s the next big marketing campaign idea that you are working on?
Koji Kubota: For confidentiality reasons, we can’t disclose the specifics. We are working on immersive experiences, not just for current titles, but also re-branding and re-imagining classic titles. Seeing how they relate to people’s current values and the current trends. Also, we’d like to elevate them to an evergreen status, where audiences around the globe can rediscover them and fall in love with them.
Beyond that, we are developing campaigns that spotlight the creators. Showcasing the passion and craftsmanship that goes into creating art. Allowing the fans hands on ways of appreciating the art made by these creators. That would include exclusive merchandise.
Obviously, social media and creating buzz within the community is very important to us. What we’ve heard from our partners is that the fans are hungry for innovative experiences. Anime Expo is a powerful example of an event that resonates globally with anime fans. We’re trying to map out large-scale, intimate spaces where we can create that magic and bring the creators and the content closer to the fans one experience at a time.
Anime Herald: You mentioned you are working on another immersive experience. Do you know when we will be able to see it?
Koji Kubota: We are working on something we’d like to release in 2025. We have some larger campaigns coming up in 2026. Here at 33, we are working on some long term projects that will come out in 2027.
Anime Herald: It’s good that you can plan that far ahead.
Koji Kubota: We have a wide range of short term projects, and a few longer term projects.
Anime Herald: Not every marking campaign goes as planned. What’s an example of a marketing campaign that went horrifically, and perhaps hilariously, wrong?
Koji Kubota: Thankfully, we haven’t experienced a lot of major failures. There have been campaigns that have taught us valuable lessons for the future. I’d like to share some of them.
We can’t share the details of the project or the client, but for one example, we had a native English speaker in our Tokyo branch. They took part in social media content planning. Despite their language fluency, the post didn’t generate the level of engagement we were hoping for. That’s one example.
That was an example from our early days, when we had just started our company. Now, we’ve learned from that. Today, our services are led by the teams that don’t just have language fluency, but also the cultural and social knowledge. They are all based in the United States. Many of them are passionate fans, themselves. That gives them an intuitive sense of what the community wants, what the fans want.
That literacy doesn’t just allow us to create stronger campaigns. It also guides our Japanese clients who don’t have that understanding. It helps them understand how the US fans think, talk, and engage in what they are looking for.
Anime Herald: 33 Inc.’s biggest selling point is that it’s a full-service shop. How were you able to build a team that you trusted that could handle all these different aspects of the business?
Koji Kubota: Our company was founded in 2021. It was formed by a team of eight seasoned professionals from the Japanese film publicity industry. We had the full marketing mix. Since then, we’ve hired new young staff and given them hands-on training.
When we launched the LA branch we placed a strong emphasis on seamless collaboration with the Tokyo branch. We wanted to build a system that allowed both offices to grow together. When we were hiring for the LA branch, we prioritized individuals that have deep expertise in the industry or in a specific area, and combining that with an understanding of marketing in general and good collaboration skills. This approach has allowed us to have an integrated Tokyo-LA structure.
We have people with different areas of expertise from PR and social media share how they see marketing in a different way. That strengthens our full service approach.
Anime Herald: What specifically do you look for in potential applicants who want to join 33 Inc.?
Koji Kubota: I have three points that I focus on. The first is that they must have something that they are passionate about. They have to be a fan of something so they communicate with fans and understand how they feel.
They have to be solutions oriented. We are an agency that provides solutions. Finally, they need to have the professional flexibility to collaborate with others.
Anime Herald: What kind of training does 33 Inc. provide?
Koji Kubota: Within each department, we are building operation manuals. Each department manager trains on-hand with their juniors. It’s not just e-training or “go read this book.” Each person will have someone as an assistant so they can be trained.
Anime Herald: What’s one thing you would like people to know about your job?
Koji Kubota: Part of our core mission is to unite the creator’s passion with our clients’ expectations. Our team is dedicated to bringing that all together. We want to build bridges to different audiences around the world.
We are a neutral independent agency. We aren’t associated with anyone specific. We want to hone our craft so that we can support the anime and manga industry as a whole.
Anime Herald: Why did you choose the name “33”?
Koji Kubota: Both me and my co-founder, Shintaro Tanaka, have “3” as our power number. The number “3” is associated with imagination and creation, which is related to our service. We want to use it as a power source.
There’s another reason for the name as well. As part of our business model, there’s a trinity between the creator, the client, and us. We want to build something together and deliver it to the global audience.
Anime Herald: Do you have any questions for us?
Koji Kubota: While the Japanese anime industry has been growing, I feel we are not mainstream yet. There’s still more potential to grow. What do you think the industry needs to grow globally?
Anime Herald: I’m old. I come from the VHS era, where you had to pay $35 for a VHS tape to watch two episodes. Now, it’s different. We went from the VHS era, to the DVD and television era, to the Blu-ray and streaming era. Streaming is now the dominant form. I was over at Sony Pictures earlier in the week. If you were to watch anime for eight hours a day, it would take you 174 days to watch all of the content Crunchyroll is releasing this year.
Koji Kubota: We believe that we can support different platforms, media, merchandisers, creators, all of the different stakeholders that are involved in this industry. We would like to be the aid that helps this industry grow.
Anime Herald: Thank you very much.
Koji Kubota: Thank you.
33 Inc. President Koji Kubota Talks With Anime Herald – Seth Burn