Kari’s Corner Interviews: Neon Alley Program Manager Kevin Kleinrock

Fall is in full swing and you know what that means? New fall shows! VIZ Media is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its 24/7 Neon Alley anime channel this month! Neon Alley is a service that is available to fans across North America via the PlayStation®3 (PS3™) and PlayStation®Network, the Xbox 360® and Xbox LIVE® and via PC/Mac web access. They also announced the launch of the new “Catch Up” feature for Xbox and PS3.

The Neon Alley fall season starts THIS Friday, October 18th and includes the highly anticipated high definition return of Ranma ½ to North America along with the exclusive dub premiere of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. Additional premieres this season include Gurren Lagaan, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Revolutionary Girl Utena, along with the latest episodes of ongoing favorites Bleach, Naruto Shippuden, and One Piece.

To learn more about this cool site we interviewed Program Manager Kevin Kleinrock!

What is your involvement with Neon Alley?

I was brought in originally as the Program Manager.  VIZ had been working on the idea of Neon Alley for quite some time and then decided to bring in someone to tie all of the pieces together and get the channel launched.  That was when I joined the company in Spring of last year. 

Once the channel launched in the Fall, I transitioned into the role of Program Director and moved from the mostly project management side into managing the day to day of the network overall.  Throughout the day I’ll be involved with the technical side of things, marketing, production, business development – my involvement is rather widespread at this point.

What is so special Neon Alley?

Neon Alley is a truly unique and amazing platform in the awesome anime space.  First, we are the only linear 24/7 all English dubbed, all uncut and uncensored anime experience.  While there are a plethora of on-demand services out there for subtitled and dubbed content, we have built a unique anime lifestyle channel.  Not only can you sit back and have the programming delivered to you without having to know what’s hot, but you can be exposed to both classic anime you may not have seen and new series that being a member of the channel will give you a first chance to see. 

Beyond the top notch programming itself, every minute of the channel is designed for the anime lifestyle.  Every commercial is for something anime or entertainment-related.  We bring you convention information and coverage.  We bring you weekly news on new releases and top 10 lists for anime, manga, digital manga and video games.  We have trivia interstitials and weekly sweepstakes and prize giveaways.  And even with our implementation of our new Catch Up feature, our linear stream delivers an extremely special experience unlike anything else available to anime fans. 

What is the Catch Up feature and why did you implement it?

The Catch Up feature is to allow members to do just that – catch up!  As I was just talking about, the only thing missing from Neon Alley was a way for our members to easily catch up on a show they may have missed due to not being in front of their screen when a particular episode was on.  Now, with Catch Up, episodes are available on demand the day after they debut on the channel for at least one week.  This includes our movies as well.  So now, members can choose to watch the live stream on our schedule, or Catch Up on their schedule. 

 Why does Neon Alley not include all past episodes?

Neon Alley is not an on-demand platform.  We’re a linear platform that now brings our members a chance to catch up on anything they may have missed.  If you look at other services, like say Hulu Plus, most series there feature a rolling number of episodes as well.  And they ARE an on-demand platform.  The feature is meant to be a compliment to the linear channel which remains our primary service. 

 How do you go about selecting your fall line-up?

As with every lineup, we aim to bring the best in uncut and uncensored English anime from across the spectrum of genres and studios.  Our Fall lineup includes series and movies from VIZ, FUNimation, Aniplex, Sentai, Nozomi.  It includes the world premiere of the English dub of MAGI: THE LABYRINTH OF MAGIC, two popular series in PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA and GURREN LAGAAN, and two classic series in REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA and RANMA ½.  This will be the first time RANMA  ½ is available in English in HD.  Plus, Neon Alley remains the only place to see a world premiere dub episode of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN every week!  We’re also adding a brand new live action show to our Sundays, which have featured anime and kung fu movies, as sci-fi and comic book influenced pro wrestling brand CHIKARA debuts on the network.  And these are just our premieres.  Our full fall lineup includes over three dozen more series and movies.  It’s a veritable buffet of anime – but we’re talking all killer, no filler anime.  Series like BLEACH, ONE PIECE, INUYASHA, DEATH NOTE, BLUE EXORCIST and movies like the NARUTO SHIPPUDEN films, the BERSERK: THE GOLDEN AGE ARC film series, and so much more.  Everything available as part of our 24/7 live stream and in Catch Up. 

Which show in the fall line-up are you most excited about and why?

That’s way too hard of a question to answer!  We only select shows for the network that WE would watch ourselves so each series has a special place in our hearts.  I’m excited to finally have an English dub of MAGI: THE LABYRINTH OF MAGIC.  And, from what I have seen – and heard – it’s a great dub!  I’m excited that we are bringing fan favorites PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA and GURREN LAGAAN to the channel.  And, I’m really excited that we are starting to bring the classics to Neon Alley with the addition of REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA and RANMA ½ – especially with RANMA now in HD!  So truthfully, I’m excited about the entire line up! 

I noticed you included some older shows like Utena. What made you go with including new and old shows in your fall line-up?

Neon Alley is about bringing the best in anime, whether it’s a world premiere or if it’s a classic.   Great anime stories are timeless and series like REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA and RANMA ½ will never be out of style.  It gives us a chance to see these series again and fondly remember the first time we saw them, but it also enables us to expose these series to a whole new generation of anime fan who were not following the genre when RANMA ½ debuted in the late 80s or UTENA came out in the late 90s.  That’s what is so great about having full control of our own network and programming – great shows will find their way to Neon Alley regardless of studio, genre or how old a particular title may be.  We bring our members the newest of the new and the classics all at the same time. 

Besides the new fall line-up, what is next for Neon Alley?

Our focus will always remain bringing the best in 24/7 English dubbed uncut and uncensored anime.  So we will continue to work to acquire the best series, and while doing so, we’ll also be working to expand the lifestyle experience that is Neon Alley.  Neon Alley truly is an anime experience like no other and continuing to develop the pieces that make the channel exactly that remain a focus of ours.  Aside from that, we will continue to focus on expanding awareness of the channel and our one week free trial that is available at NeonAlley.com.  Anyone in the U.S. or Canada with a computer, PlayStation 3 or XBOX 360 can try the channel out for themselves and get immersed in the unique anime lifestyle experience of Neon Alley. 

To check out Neon Alley click here! Be sure to tune in for the exciting fall lineup starting Friday October 18th!