With millions of devoted readers worldwide, Leeanne M. Krecic’s hit webtoon series Let’s Play has captured the hearts of fans with its heartfelt storytelling and authentic portrayal of gaming culture. As anticipation builds for its anime adaptation, Anime Trending sat down with the creative team behind the project at Anime Expo 2025: creator Leeanne M. Krecic, director Daiki Tomiyasu, and producers Minaka Sakamoto and Hana Sugawara. Together, they shared their thoughts on the adaptation process, challenges of bridging cultures, and what fans can look forward to when Let’s Play premieres this fall.
The following interview has been edited for clarity.
Anime Trending: Leeanne, what was it like seeing your story and characters brought to life in animation for the first time? Did any moments feel especially surreal or meaningful to you?
Leeanne M. Krecic: It was amazing. It was awesome — a dream come true. Hearing them in Japanese, not English, actually meant more to me because it felt like a legitimate anime that way. What’s also been amazing to me is how much they cared about my feedback. It’s really important to them, and I really appreciate that.
How closely involved were you with the animation production process?
Leeanne M. Krecic: They came to me for a lot of approvals. We worked back and forth on character designs, settings, storyboards, and stuff like that. When it came to the music, it was more like, “Here’s the music,” but it was great to hear it. But it’s been a lot of emails back and forth, just running things by me and getting my blessing on it.
Is there a character moment you especially wanted to see animated or were very excited to see animated?
Leeanne M. Krecic: Sam’s dad crying in front of the portrait of his wife. That was one of my favorite reveals early in the comic. You have this big, tough, burly businessman who’s just going to drop the hammer, and then he turns into a sniveling idiot instantly. He’s my favorite character to draw because he’s so expressive, and I don’t have to worry about making him look attractive in every panel like Charles. I was so looking forward to seeing and hearing that animated and voiced, and when it happened, I giggled like a schoolgirl.
My whole team howled, and I was laughing so hard. He’s my favorite character.
Leeanne M. Krecic: Perfect, because there was an energy to his character that I really wanted to have in the anime, it was really important to me, and they nailed it perfectly.
Tomiyasu-san, how did you collaborate with Leeanne and the production team to adapt the webtoon for anime?
Daiki Tomiyasu: We worked very closely with the original work and their team, and with Leeanne, of course. We also had a lot of stakeholders and team members who also joined the conversation from OLM, Crunchyroll, and Fuji TV. Heather from Crunchyroll helped us a ton, communicating small details back and forth with Leeanne to make sure we really honored the original work. We aren’t very familiar with American culture, so to get the nuance just right, we even looked at details like what an American bus stop would look like in an anime.
Let’s Play is rooted in Western indie game development and streaming culture. Did you notice any big differences in how gaming is portrayed or experienced in the West versus Japan? How did that influence the direction for Let’s Play?
Daiki Tomiyasu: I particularly love to play games, but I’m not too familiar with streaming culture. I think that’s special, or more often seen in American social media and pop culture. I watched a lot of indie game streams to learn what it was like and what the reactions were like in order to bring that into the animation.
Leeanne M. Krecic: We even have Let’s Play characters play Pokémon Go.
Given the importance of online interactions in the story, did you take any special steps or research to reflect current trends in gaming or streaming culture in the anime?
Minaka Sakamoto: It’s the same with American gaming and streaming culture, but Japan also has its own slang and verbal language within niche culture. We studied both Japanese and American cultures — what words they use, what reactions they have. Rui from Crunchyroll helped us a lot with this, as he’s very familiar with streaming and gaming culture.
Sakamoto-san, what do you think is the most charming aspect of Let’s Play, and how is it highlighted in the anime?
Minaka Sakamoto: Sam’s reactions are very charming and cute. I think as the audience, we can really relate to this, especially the female audience — like when she puts her foot down toward her boss, Charles, or how she is very forward with Marshall. We see a lot of different perspectives and sides of Sam and her reactions, which is very charming and something that is enjoyable.
Not just Sam, but a lot of the characters have distinct personalities and diverse backgrounds. How did the team approach casting and voice direction for each individual character?
Minaka Sakamoto: All the characters in Let’s Play have something special they want to portray to the world. There’s a wide range of personalities, but especially with the main character, we thought Hanazawa-san was a perfect fit. She has that main character energy — not holding back, saying what she needs to say, but still being humble. Capturing that energy for Sam was very important and fitting for the character.
The anime adaptation introduces Let’s Play to new viewers who may not be familiar with the webtoon. How did the team make the story accessible and engaging for newcomers while still considering fans of the webtoon?
Hana Sugawara: I usually work as a Japanese TV producer, mainly with anime and films for Japanese audiences. For this particular project with Let’s Play, I wanted to make sure it was relatable to Americans. When it came to character design, we worked closely with Leeanne to fine-tune details and pay respect both cultures, making it more familiar to Japanese viewers as well.
If you could pick one character from Let’s Play to be your gaming partner in real life, who would it be and why?
Daiki Tomiyasu: Umed, He may become a good friend to me.
Leeanne M. Krecic: I was going to say Abe, because he’s a healer. He plays a healer, but he’s also in charge, can lead, and is a great team player. Abe is my husbando.
Minaka Sakamoto: Mine is Lucy. We would have a great, joyful time together gossiping.
Hana Sugawara: My pick is Monica, because I like strong leading women, and I think we would get along well.
Let’s Play explores both the challenges and joys of being a woman in the gaming industry. What do you hope viewers, especially young women and aspiring creators, take away from Sam’s journey?
Leeanne M. Krecic: It may be very hard and difficult, and there might be a lot of challenges, but anything worth having is worth fighting for. You have to prove yourself and not give up. I tell anyone with a comic or game: you have to be your biggest fan, because at the end of the day, all that matters is that you’re happy with yourself. Try to explore and be creative. In the gaming industry right now, there’s a lot of rehashing the same games, like 4, 5, 6, GTA 6, for example. Companies But indie games and especially female creators are bringing a new voice to the scene, and I think we need that voice.
Thank you. Some of the most unique ideas come from 24-hour game jams.
Leeanne M. Krecic: Absolutely. Everyone’s thinking and bouncing ideas around.
My favorite thing was picking apart those single ideas and seeing how they could work as mechanics. I love that this is reflected in the series.
Special thanks to Crunchyroll for the interview opportunity.
Let’s Play is set to premiere on Crunchyroll this October.
