“There’s nothing like being in an old-school Pizza Hut, playing on a Street Fighter machine, waiting on your personal pan. It was just such a moment. And now — this is that moment for fans, for players.”
Evo Las Vegas 2024 drew in crowds from the fighting game community (FGC), including LeAlec Murray and Nicholas Friedman from Crunchyroll's The Anime Effect podcast. They sat down with esports.gg for an interview about what the FGC means to them, the connection between fighting games and anime, plus their podcast wishlist. Check out the full interview below!
The Anime Effect podcast hosts talk Evo 2024 and the FGC
As one of the folks behind Crunchyroll's The Anime Effect podcast, Murray discovered his passion for gaming and anime at the same time. While playing Street Fighter, he also watched the original Dragon Ball show. His dad used to take him to arcades as well. There, he played games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, TEKKEN, and SoulCalibur. After discovering the competitive scene, he started to prefer watching esports over traditional sports, and the rest is history. Some of his favorite characters from the Street Fighter franchise include Sagat, Dudley, and M. Bison.
"I honestly think that a lot of my formative years growing up were built on the fact that I was doing both at the same time," Murray said. "And being able to grow in two different welcoming communities has been so much fun. I'm 30+ and I've never seen it like where it is right now. I didn't imagine either side would get here. But then you get older and you're in it and you're like, 'Oh, I see. I see everything.' It's very breathtaking and exciting."
Friedman talked about his connection with the FGC and anime as well, noting that he used to dabble in fighting games while working at a mom-and-pop video game store at age 14. He started with Street Fighter 4 and BlazBlue. What drew him to video games were the narrative story modes in franchises like Mortal Kombat and Injustice. Meanwhile, his early memories of watching the Naruto anime also aligned with games featuring Kiba and Akamaru.
"And then, of course, the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai," Friedman continued. "I remember Budokai 2 was my favorite because it had all the what-if fusions."
The past and present of anime and the FGC
During their interview with esports.gg, Murray and Friedman shared their thoughts about the past and present of anime and the FGC as well. For example, they noted how both communities started out as grassroots movements with people experiencing video games in everyday places like laundromats and arcades.
Over time, the accessibility and global reach of social media connected and grew these communities. They both reminisced about the arcade experiences from back then and how tournaments like Evo today can be viewed as recreating that atmosphere for newer players.
"It was a grassroots movement of disparate communities in different parts of the world," Friedman explained. "We were all experiencing something similar, which was video games appearing in places where there were kids. If you were in a laundromat, your parents were doing the laundry and you were over there playing Street Fighter and looking under the machine, right? And eventually, people do it enough around the world, you add in the accessibility, you add in things like social media — and those pieces start to connect very rapidly."
"I think I love Evo so much because it reminds me of like, 'Oh, hey, we're gonna crash the arcade. We're going to play Marvel vs. Capcom for the next three hours'" Murray added. "And a lot of fighters have that experience, but a lot of newer fighters really don't. And I believe Evo or Combo Breaker allows them to create definitive moments like that. There's nothing like being in an old-school Pizza Hut, playing on a Street Fighter machine, waiting on your personal pan. It was just such a moment. And now — this is that moment for fans, for players.
"We're now getting the arcade scene in a different kind of way, and I love that. People can pick how they want to play because a fight stick or joystick wasn't really accessible for a lot of people. But now, people could just play how they want — whether they want to use a play pad or Hit Box or a fight stick."
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The Anime Effect podcast on Crunchyroll
To both podcast hosts, The Anime Effect is special because it showcases how anime influences various aspects of culture, including gaming, sports, music, and fashion. Murray explained that attending Evo, in particular, allows his team to connect with prominent FGC members who are also anime fans. Meanwhile, Friedman explained that anime fighters have become a big part of the FGC. This bridges the gap between the communities.
"We can bridge the gap between anime and fighters," Friedman said. "There are probably people who got into the FGC through fighters and haven't watched Dragon Ball. But they probably have now."
The Anime Effect podcast's guest wishlist
In terms of the podcast's guest wishlist, Murray revealed that he wants to chat with Steven "Tasty Steve" Scott, Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, and some fighting game developers. Meanwhile, Friedman told esports.gg that he really wants Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy and Donald Glover to join.
As for parting words, Friedman emphasized the importance of the podcast, highlighting its role in connecting anime's impact on other parts of culture. He added how prominent figures like Megan Thee Stallion and Guillermo del Toro are huge anime fans who are excelling in their respective fields as well.
"At the end of the day, as long as we have a place where we're spotlighting those things and showing fans that they can be seen in the things that they love, the people that they love, then we did our job."
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more interviews, news, and updates across the FGC!
