{"rewrite":{"id":"r_2be13d0fae65436e438fe837","clusterId":"c_43d331252845b13fd01273eb","slug":"mike-melby-talks-opanchu-usagi-s-call-of-duty-luck-and-her-anime-roots","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Mike Melby Talks Opanchu Usagi's Call of Duty Luck and Her Anime Roots","summary":"Mike Melby, who leads licensing at Octas, discussed Opanchu Usagi at Anime Expo. He called the character's Call of Duty crossover brilliant and fun, noting most of the shooter's audience probably does not know her. He described her misfortune as a gravitational pull rather than a curse, and joked about her large head making her easy to scope. He also traced his career from Viz Media to Crunchyroll to Octas.","whyItMatters":"Melby, who now leads licensing at Octas, frames Opanchu Usagi's Call of Duty crossover as fun precisely because most of the shooter's audience does not know her, and his own path from Viz to Crunchyroll tracks how anime licensing went mainstream.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eMelby pushed back on a comparison between Opanchu Usagi and Pop Team Epic, saying those two girls are \u0026#34;shitlords\u0026#34; and Opanchu has no mean bone in her. They could be friends, he said, but not on the same spectrum.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe called the Call of Duty crossover brilliant and fun, noting most of the shooter\u0026#39;s audience probably does not know her. He liked the skins and DLC, and joked that downloading the character means accepting second place: revive a teammate, extract, then hit a mine while everyone else survives. He worried her large head makes her easy to scope, though opponents might spare her because she is too cute.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMelby grew up in Korea and Japan for eleven years on Captain Tsubasa, Doraemon, Anpanman, Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk. He spent about six years at Viz Media, was poached by Crunchyroll to form its consumer products team, and about three years ago joined Octas, where James Shortino, former president of Crunchyroll Japan, is CEO. He recalled early Viz trade shows where people would say \u0026#34;It\u0026#39;s those anime and manga people\u0026#34; and keep walking.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Mike Melby, who leads licensing at Octas, talked Opanchu Usagi at Anime Expo. He called her Call of Duty crossover brilliant and fun, said her bad luck is a gravitational pull not a curse, and joked her big head makes her easy to scope. He also traced his path from Viz to Crunchyroll to Octas.","twitterPost":"Mike Melby on Opanchu Usagi: the Call of Duty crossover is brilliant and fun, her bad luck is a gravitational pull, and her big head makes her easy to scope. He also traced his career from Viz to Crunchyroll to Octas.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"Mike Melby, who leads licensing at Octas, discussed Opanchu Usagi at Anime Expo. He called her Call of Duty crossover brilliant and fun, described her misfortune as a gravitational pull rather than a curse, and joked that her large head makes her easy to scope. He also traced his career from Viz Media to Crunchyroll to Octas, where James Shortino, former president of Crunchyroll Japan, is CEO.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Anime Herald\",\"url\":\"https://animeherald.com/2026/09/01/mike-melby-discusses-opanchu-usagi-at-anime-expo/?utm_source=rss\\u0026utm_medium=rss\\u0026utm_campaign=mike-melby-discusses-opanchu-usagi-at-anime-expo\",\"title\":\"Mike Melby Discusses Opanchu Usagi At Anime Expo\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4786,"outputTokens":7430,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1788309817,"createdAt":"2026-09-02T00:40:20.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-09-02T00:42:25.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-02T00:42:25.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_43d331252845b13fd01273eb","canonicalTitle":"Mike Melby Discusses Opanchu Usagi At Anime Expo","representativeArticleId":"a_c47ba6c178ea05ea852e70a3","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[\"Opanchu Usagi\"],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Mike Melby\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"manga\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-09-01T23:52:55.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-09-01T23:52:55.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-02T00:42:24.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Anime Herald","url":"https://animeherald.com/2026/09/01/mike-melby-discusses-opanchu-usagi-at-anime-expo/?utm_source=rss\u0026utm_medium=rss\u0026utm_campaign=mike-melby-discusses-opanchu-usagi-at-anime-expo","title":"Mike Melby Discusses Opanchu Usagi At Anime Expo"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":["Opanchu Usagi"],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":["Mike Melby"],"type":"news","domain":"manga","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}