Japan’s First Black-Owned Anime Studio

Arthell Isom is the CEO and art director of D’ART Shtajio, Japan’s first Black-owned anime studio. Bloomberg’s Kurumi Mori sits down with Isom in his Tokyo studio. His studio has worked on popular shows including ONE PIECE, Attack on Titan, and Netflix original anime film “Sound and Fury.” Isom is an American who grew up in New Jersey, but has lived in Japan for 15 years to pursue his love of animation. “So I guess I really am just like an artist at heart. I love the different styles both realism and everything, the use of shadow and light, color. I think the artists in Japan really explore all the different aspects of art in general. And you really see it in the art. It’s so detailed and so well thought out and so crafted,” he said. Isom faced new challenges when he moved to Japan, but he says fearing the police was not one of them. “When I’m approached by police here, that fear never runs through my mind. Like I never ever think that they will shoot