It has certainly been a good amount of time since my last blog post, but a lot of things have happened during my absence. High Guardian Spice was finally released on October 26th, 2021. I could celebrate the series stepping out of the Crunchyroll vaults (a mighty achievement after almost 2 years of collecting dust on their shelf).
Instead, I returned to answer a few questions. What happened during the production of High Guardian Spice? Why was it shelved for almost two years? And what had occured internally at Crunchyroll during the long waiting period between High Guardian Spice's announcement and its release? While I may not have concrete answers to these questions, the information I was provided does help contextualize what happened behind the scenes before and after the series' tumultuous reveal.
I was able to speak with someone who has close ties to High Guardian Spice and Crunchyroll. Although I cannot reveal their identity for the sake of anonymity, I can confirm they have the right credentials to speak on the matter. Without further ado, here are my findings.
NOTE: This article was written before Raye Rodriguez released a thread about High Guardian Spice’s troubled production and DaftPina’s own video on the subject, where he detailed the series’ problems after speaking to anonymous crewmembers. You can find those HERE and HERE. These will be addressed in the addendum.
The Beginning
Our story begins in 2014, where AT&T and The Chernin Group announced a joint venture to launch over-the-top streaming services. The Chernin Group had previously purchased a majority stake in Crunchyroll back in 2013, but this new joint venture would establish the company known as Otter Media. In 2015, Otter Media unveiled a new branding that served as an umbrella for networks such as Fullscreen (which would have its own problems down the road) and the one most important to our story, Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll wasn't Ellation's main focus at the time. Instead, Ellation's attention was directed at the up and coming streaming service VRV. Ellation wanted to create content that appealed to non-anime audiences; audiences who knew what anime was, but were still on the fence about the medium. Or, in simpler terms, audiences who might have tuned into one or two Miyazaki movies, but did not have much interest or knowledge of anime outside of spiky-haired super warriors and cute high school girls.
When Ellation began this initiative, they took in a wide variety of pitches from creators out of Burbank. As we all know, the two pitches that were accepted were Onyx Equinox and the subject of this whole blog, High Guardian Spice (you can read more about High Guardian Spice's origins prior to Crunchyroll's involvement here). The head of Ellation Studios, Margaret Dean, and former Content Executive of Crunchyroll, Marisa Balkus adored the cast of colorful characters created by Raye Rodriguez. High Guardian Spice even got positive reception from internal employees at Crunchyroll. Yet, the show was not labeled as a Crunchyroll Original at this time, as Ellation had shifted all their attention to VRV.
Initial production began sometime in the Fall of 2017 on High Guardian Spice (although it is unknown when the series was formally picked up). Raye Rodriguez had not been a showrunner before, so he received help from Margaret Dean and Audu Paden, a famous director in the animation industry with multiple big name shows under his belt (Animaniacs and Monster High to name a few). From the looks of it, things were going along smoothly.
That is, until High Guardian Spice was revealed to the public.
"Crunchyroll wasn't really a thing at the time, the focus of the company was VRV, and the parent brand, Ellation, was the one interested in [High Guardian Spice] as excellent bridge content for non anime fans who may be anime inclined but hadn't jumped in that world of content yet. . . . But it wasn't framed as a Crunchyroll original at the time, because there was not much focus on [Crunchyroll] in the company as mentioned before." - Anonymous Source
The Reveal Trailer
High Guardian Spice's positive streak was about to end, and it was all thanks to one reveal trailer, posted on the official Crunchyroll YouTube account on August 22nd, 2018. This trailer is what single handedly caused the negative reputation that would be saddled onto High Guardian Spice.
Up until now, many wondered why the trailer was handled in such a way. Why it focused on the diversity of the crew rather than the series itself (a remarkable point given the gender gap in the animation industry, but did not help explain what High Guardian Spice really was or why viewers should be excited for it), and why such a trailer that failed to market the series properly was even approved in the first place.
The trailer, as my source puts it, was an all around rushed effort. It was made by one person from a small crew of Crunchyroll employees. There were complaints from other employees about the trailer's poor format, while one boss had issues with it as well. However, because Ellation leadership wanted some form of High Guardian Spice material out, it was released as is. Online users suspected the trailer was the idea of the High Guardian Spice crew, but crew members have spoken out and said they had zero say in marketing. Instead, everything was Ellation's call. Due to this mad dash to get a promotional trailer out, and no system of checks and balances in place to stop it, the trailer was sent out in its current state despite employee’s concerns.
And the infamous High Guardian Spice trailer was uploaded on Crunchyroll's YouTube channel. Whether or not you liked High Guardian Spice when it was announced, it caused quite a stir in the animation community. In fact, one could argue this was Crunchyroll's biggest PR meltdown in its history. So bad that the company put out a statement to calm users, but to no avail. Crunchyroll and Ellation leadership were surprised about the backlash they were receiving, but employees could see it all coming from a mile away. Everyone involved in the series, from production workers to Crunchyroll workers, felt dismayed after negative online reactions.
To onlookers, almost all of the criticism came from anime fans who hate diverse themes in media, and deemed the crew behind High Guardian Spice as "social justice warriors". My source however saw things differently, as there were fair points people made under the heaps of hate and misogyny. Particularly, one of the most common complaints was "Why is Crunchyroll spending my anime money on American stuff". Other points, such as the trailer only depicting white people despite the trailer championing a diverse team, were also brought up. Even with fair criticism, much of the hate was too much to handle, and many people from the High Guardian Spice and Crunchyroll team were on the receiving end of online harassment.
The trailer could have avoided all of this. Had it not been rushed and properly advertised High Guardian Spice's plot and characters, then maybe it wouldn't have received so much backlash. Maybe have the diverse crew showcase their accomplishments when the show is released. The trailer released in August of 2021 during Crunchyroll Expo that year to many felt like an actual trailer, and onlookers wondered why High Guardian Spice was advertised so poorly in its initial announcement. Looking back, my source wished that the trailer showed off more than one series and the staff behind them; a showcase as to what Crunchyroll Originals produced in Burbank were. Instead, we ended up with a trailer that was unclear as to what it was advertising. Was it a trailer for the Crunchyroll Originals lineup? Ellation Studios? High Guardian Spice? Nobody could tell, and that confusion, combined with the hostile reaction from Crunchyroll's viewerbase, made High Guardian Spice's announcement a total disaster.
"[The trailer] was a rushed effort that got signed off by folks who didn't understand the audience. I personally don't think you should promote a show by simply explaining its diversity bonafides, but rather having diversity demonstrated in the media."- Anonymous Source
The Silence
The roughly two year delay of High Guardian Spice made it notorious in the animation community. There were rumors that the show was stuck in development hell, or even quietly canceled due to the negative attention. There was never an exact reason as to why High Guardian Spice was delayed for so long. Internally, employees from all parts of the company questioned why the series had not been released. Given the lengthy delay of the series, we can assume that most of these inquiries fell onto deaf ears of Crunchyroll higher-ups. Despite this, episodes of High Guardian Spice were in fact shown off to employees and studio leadership; episodes 1 and 2 were screened internally, while episodes 8 and 9 (my source could not remember exact episode numbers) were sent out company-wide. It should be noted that the latter two episodes were sent out when the series was still not finished.
And speaking of completion, my source said that the first time they had heard the series was finished was when Raye tweeted about the series wrapping up production in early November of 2019. They explained to me that even though the series was finished, it did not exactly mean it was ready to air. For example, dubs in multiple languages needed to be prepared. They assumed that if Onyx Equinox received multiple dubs, then High Guardian Spice would as well. However, as of this writing, Crunchyroll has not uploaded any dubs of the series, and High Guardian Spice is only available in English audio along with subtitles in other languages.
To many, the delay of High Guardian Spice was ridiculous, with some going as far as to petition Crunchyroll to release it. What was even more questionable was the content Crunchyroll was releasing during High Guardian Spice’s absence. In November of 2020, Crunchyroll announced the next addition to the Crunchyroll Originals lineup, EX-ARM. The CGI anime, based on the manga of the same name, was unanimously mocked by the anime community, even getting over 15,000 dislikes on its initial reveal trailer. When it aired in January of 2021, the show became the laughingstock of the Winter 2021 season, with abysmal visuals (some even accused the series of homophobia) and lackluster plot being criticized. To put things into perspective, EX-ARM is currently the second lowest rated anime on MyAnimeList at a score of 2.95 out of 10, only beaten out by the 2009 CGI anime series Abunai Sisters: Koko and Mika. The negative reception might be why Crunchyroll hardly advertised the series, outside of weekly tweets for new episodes.
While there are plenty of videos and articles explaining where EX-ARM went wrong, I am only mentioning the show here because of its relation to High Guardian Spice. Onlookers could not help but ask why Crunchyroll released EX-ARM despite its middling quality, yet the company refused to do anything with High Guardian Spice. To many, it was a slap in the face to High Guardian Spice, especially since many agreed it was nowhere near as bad as EX-ARM. There was also a noticeable double standard; High Guardian Spice received much of the ire from users despite the team’s best efforts, while EX-ARM received little vitriol despite its questionable crew.
When I talked about this with my source, they were a bit perplexed. In their eyes, the higher-ups who decide what gets released do not look at content the same way we do on the outside. As they explained, High Guardian Spice was fully funded by Crunchyroll, so they could handle it however they wanted to. EX-ARM on the other hand had Crunchyroll near the bottom of the production committee totem pole. No matter how bad it looked to viewers, they could not delay it. My source also noted the lack of foul play; Crunchyroll never "hid" High Guardian Spice, but other complications behind the scenes likely hindered its release.
On a final note, a few months back there was a leak posted in the Anime News Network forums with insider information pertaining to High Guardian Spice (linked here for your convenience). After examination, my source remains dubious to it all. Some things rang true to what they remembered (what rang true was not specifically stated), but did not believe that Raye Rodriguez's legal team threatened Crunchyroll. It may have happened, but it might have had little impact in their decision to release High Guardian Spice.
The main takeaway from all of this is how many misconceptions proliferated during High Guardian Spice's long stretch of silence. What Crunchyroll should have done was give occasional updates on High Guardian Spice as to avoid uneccessary drama, but this could all just be wishful thinking.
"I was never told why it was being pushed back, and Raye's tweet about the show's main production being done at the end of 2019 was the first I heard of it." - Anonymous Source
The Future
High Guardian Spice made its debut on October 26th, 2021. Even though initial reports showed strong potential for the series (some speculated Crunchyroll servers crashed because of High Guardian Spice's release), it has not proven to be the mega hit Crunchyroll might have hoped for. Despite High Guardian Spice developing a small but vocal fanbase, discussion for the series has slowed to a trickle. Based on my speculation, High Guardian Spice airing around the same time as Netflix's Inside Job and Maya and the Three might have cost the series some viewership and attention. Not only that, but the week after saw the release of high profile animated series such as Arcane and season two of Hulu's Animaniacs revival (coincidentally, its first season aired the same weekend as sister Crunchyroll Studios Burbank series Onyx Equinox back in November of 2020). And finally, the already packed Fall 2021 lineup of Crunchyroll also may have played a hand in overshadowing the release of High Guardian Spice.
As for reviews, they range from positive to mixed. Ignoring the review bombing, Chiaki Hirai of Anime Feminist said the show is very charming and enjoyable, but was not fond of the unnecessary adult disclaimer and the lack of English subtitles. In contrast, David Kaldor of Bubble Blabber was more critical of the show's story and animation. On a more positive note, many praised the series' LGBTQ+ representation, specifically for transgender character Professor Caraway and the lesbian couple Anise and Aloe.
While the High Guardian Spice Twitter page is still chugging along, and Crunchyroll releasing things such as pins and recipes, the mixed reception and little fanfare does not bode well to the longevity of it. In fact, onlookers noted the limited timeframe Crunchyroll promoted the series on its website; High Guardian Spice was on the front page for the week of October 26th, but just days later it was removed to make way for Crunchyroll's other fall offerings.
Putting aside the reception and Crunchyroll's odd attempts at marketing, the current media landscape also points to a bleak future for High Guardian Spice. Back in August of 2021, Crunchyroll was fully acquired by Funimation Global Group (subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television), and as of right now Funimation has shown little interest in producing Western-based content for their streaming service. To make matters worse, many of the studio heads who championed High Guardian Spice have all left Crunchyroll (Marisa Balkus being one of them).
My source is also indifferent about High Guardian Spice's future. In their eyes, the aforementioned Sony merger combined with the loss of key executives means that everything is up in the air for future plans. However, they still hold out hope to see both Onyx Equinox and High Guardian Spice continue in some capacity, with the latter having more ideas for future seasons. In my opinion, I agree. While it is easy to deride both shows (especially from bad faith actors in the community), there was heart and passion put into them. Whether or not that translates into quality is for one to decide, but the crew behind the shows put their all into making them despite mismanagement from Ellation higher-ups. Hopefully if another season does happen, Raye Rodriguez and Sofia Alexander get a chance to improve and continue their respective stories.
I may sound doom and gloom about the series' future. However, there are very mixed signals for High Guardian Spice getting another season, regardless of fans asking Raye Rodriguez and Crunchyroll for more.
Whatever the future holds for High Guardian Spice is unknown at this point. Still, High Guardian Spice will forever remain an anomaly in Crunchyroll's history. A show that had potential to be something bigger and stand toe to toe with its contemporaries, but ultimately fell due to messy internal politics and poor marketing. While Raye Rodriguez has moved onto bigger projects over at Legendary Television and Warner Bros., it is sad to see his college passion project go from a small cartoon by a fledgling studio to a punchline among anime fans. In retrospect, my source describes the whole ordeal in one word: "sad".
"Sad that so many people were subject to such terrible hate without due diligence or proper protection from a big company. Sad that it was so messy internally. Sad that talented people felt neglected." - Anonymous Source
And that concludes the interview. A special thank you to my source who was willing to talk about High Guardian Spice, and thank you all for reading until the end. If you know anyone who worked on High Guardian Spice or Crunchyroll, please reach out to me through Twitter or email.
An Addendum
This article was first written in November of 2021. I was not able to release this until now for a few reasons. Besides my busy personal life, my source and I were going back and forth about what information I could present. Even though I did my best to establish anonymity throughout this article, my source was worried about their identity being exposed. I gave them multiple chances to reread my article to make sure it was up to their standards. However, after a long period of silence, I decided to release the information as is. If my source reads this article and wants it removed, I am more than happy to. I am only releasing it because it is my duty to understand what happened to High Guardian Spice. I would like to add that I do not make any money or desire to gain any attention from this blog.
I am also aware of new information revealed during my time away. On his Twitter, Raye Rodriguez explained in a thread the production woes of High Guardian Spice. The series suffered from no union and a low budget that was close to an 11-minute comedy Cartoon Network show, and because of it, High Guardian Spice faced issues in writing and art. Due to the low budget, there was no time to fix any of these problems. To put things into perspective, production was so bad the first episode was being storyboarded as it was being written.
Sofia Alexander, the creator of Onyx Equinox, also responded to Raye’s thread by detailing the improved but unfortunately similar production cycle. Onyx Equinox was also given a slightly bigger albeit still low budget, and Sofia even threatened to walk out entirely in order for the studio to be unionized. All of this is significant since it was the first time onlookers heard anything about the show’s production, straight from the horse’s mouth even. This information also aligns with the Anime News Network leak posted months earlier.
Moreover, there has been another insight into High Guardian Spice’s production. On February 13th, 2021, YouTuber DaftPina uploaded a video titled “High Guardian Spice: Production Nightmare”. The video provides more details about what occured behind the scenes. Some of these details include Crunchyroll demanding the writers to make the series more “adult”, an inability to decide on the release date, and an overall crunch-filled production with very little breathing room to polish the series.
Both these revelations are not too shocking, but they do confirm many of the suspicions onlookers had. High Guardian Spice suffered from a horrid production cycle brought on by studio executives who lacked confidence in the overall product.
Some may say there is hope for High Guardian Spice season 2. Maybe, just maybe, Crunchyroll can listen to the fan outcry, get the team back together and make another season with improved working conditions. Yet, a chance of renewal has gotten even muddier. During my absence, Sony has started restructuring Crunchyroll and FUNimation. On March 1st, 2022, Sony Pictures announced FUNimation content would be moving over to Crunchyroll as part of advancements to merge the two together. This merger has been met with great criticism that is only exacerbated as onlookers have been vocal about Crunchyroll’s poor business practices. Despite the anime industry’s growth and high revenue and Crunchyroll’s large subscriber count, workers involved in the industry are still working for low wages and little to no benefits. From translators to voice actors, many have expressed the need for change in an industry that is currently booming as two big anime streaming services combine under one mega corporation.
Most importantly to this story, the production of Crunchyroll Originals has been silent. While Crunchyroll has released FreakAngels and Shenmue the Animation (in conjunction with Adult Swim, making this their last original co-production), there have been no announcements from Sony or Crunchyroll regarding original content. In a FAQ article written by Anime News Network, a Crunchyroll spokesman did not “address the future of the ‘Crunchyroll Originals’ brand specifically” but did state the company will “continue to invest in co-productions”.
In the end, we are at the same point that I ended my original article on: uncertainty. As much as I want to cheer for High Guardian Spice, current events are still not looking good for its future. The only thing we can do is wait to see what Sony does with the property and the rest of the Crunchyroll Originals. As of now however, Sony seems to be about as silent as the High Guardian Spice Twitter page.
That is all I have. Thank you for reading, and see you all next time.
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