Noir Caesar Entertainment: Are They Still a Viable Black Manga and Anime’ Resource?
Noir Caesar Logo
On November 18, 2017, I ventured to Anime NYC to see the best and brightest in anime and manga at the Jacob Javitz Center and while I was there, I saw, for the first time, a Black owned manga company named Noir Caesar Entertainment. One of the major features, the company mentioned, was the release of Primus 7; An anime’ based on the company’s manga that highlights African American brothers, Silva and Seven, that are trying to navigate a post-apocalyptic world in which megalomaniac, Arthur Grove, desperately wants to take over….
When I first saw this, it was in the form of a short anime’ clip in which both brothers were fighting against each other. Proof of this was when we took a shot of the video at the AnimeNYC convention of 2017 and posted it on our Instagram. After we saw that clip, I was like, ‘yeah, sign me up’. Little did I know that I would be following the company for Region 99 for years……
When AnimeNYC first premiered at NYC, it was the same time that Noir Caesar had its premier, displaying their brand with ferocity as they had an immense area showcasing over 1000 square feet of space. As their space competed with other anime’ greats such as Viz Media, Crunchyroll, Saturday AM and Funimation, they, to me, were Gods in an arena that was predominately occupied by other nationalities and cultures and after looking at their brand, they developed an immense following over all forms of social media as they were showcasing their company nationally.
Johnny Lee O’ Bryant
Johnny Lee O’ Bryant, creator of the brand, created a lane that others weren’t familiar with or tying to get into; multiple Black characters in Anime’ starring as the protagonist? Unheard of…. EVER!!!
In my time Mr. Popo was all that we had, and we hated it….
With Noir Caesar, the revolutionary Black manga movement begun. Harboring a series of characters in the company’s arsenal, Noir Caesar has made itself a powerful Black manga publishing company incorporating artists from all over the world to turn their vision of stories into viewable content.
Fast forward to 2020, now a staple in the anime’ community, Johnny Lee O’ Bryant, the company’s CEO and founder discussed how Primus 7 was going to be the company’s first anime’ via kickstarter. As Kickstarter represented this, it received a limited response. As YouTube circulated Noir Caesar that Primus 7 was still happening with an update from the company on 1/28/2020….. the video’s launch date was from 2017.
As questions from this update came from hardcore dedicated fans with people like, Kem Muts saying, ‘This was over 2 years ago....is there any recent update on Primus 7 from the last 4 months?’ and Admire Kashiri providing a statement that many people were actually thinking:
and as these questions continued, the topic of conversation became whether Primus 7 or EXOGENASYS would be the premiere? Two Black anime’ in production? Are they actually happening and who will be producing them?
While everyone was searching for the answer to those questions, We decided to look at some of the facts:
1. Primus 7’s backing didn’t work out. It wasn’t funded.
2. Reports from Noir said that Primus 7 is now on ‘Hold’ as stated from Lauren Orsini from Forbes magazine. It has been shelved….. (backburned) by the company. The proof is below.
3. EXOGENASYS at the moment has no Kickstarter and its pilot was shown at Anime Expo 2018 with great success. The Black owned anime production company in Japan, D’Art Shtajio assisted in the creation of the pilot for the manga.
So, based on this information, here is what is now known by us:
1.Primus 7 is shelved….for now.
2. The EXOGENASYS’ 17-minute pilot episode was created prior to the Anime Expo 2018 by D’Art Shtaijo. The process took five months, with a team of 30 animators and 20 background artists, led by D’Art Shtaijo animation director, Henry Thurlow.
3.D’Art Shtaijo, only worked with them for the Pilot episode as of now.
4. And now there is a ‘DegenerateZ’ promo anime’ clip, that’s hot, and currently showing on the net to promote the new manga with a different production company.
So, with these promotional anime’ in circulation, a few questions that Region 99 is asking is this:
1. Did EXOGENASYS land a production deal with any major media companies during the 2018 Anime Expo Premiere?
2. Is DegenerateZ the new promotional Anime’ being scouted to companies?
These are the questions that should be on everyone’s mind.
Based on our research, we concluded that EXOGENASYS or DENEGRATEZ has not been accepted or received by any production company and as of now, they are either still promoting both of them to major media brands or they are trying to raise the funds to do the series themselves. if they are, an additional question would be how are they are going to do that?
As of now, streaming services like Amazon, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, and Hulu have inked their anime’ production deals for the 2019 – 2020 season; with some of the companies having exclusive partnerships to certain anime’ content.
For Noir Caesar Entertainment, they have a battle ahead of them as they are pioneering their brand through a forest deep with critics who are skeptical about Black anime’ content. As they are creating their own lane with great story work and fantastic characters, fans are noticing and are hungering for their first anime’ premiere.
As they do this, a little more clarity needs to be demonstrated as to which anime is going to get produced; Primus 7, EXOGENASYS, or DegenerateZ? Examples of this ambiguity are leading people to forget about them:
One issue we noticed was the Primus 7 production on YouTube, which mentioned that it’s still happening. This video is dated from Nov 9, 2017, with a title page indicating that it was updated ‘1/28/2020’ to show that it’s still in the works. This updated version leads us to the Forbes article highlighting Noir’s work, the shelving of Primus 7 and the transition to EXOGENAYSYS. This is leading readers to confusing views as the Forbes article informs us of one situation and Noir Caesar’s spokesperson tells us another.
Also, the other YouTube video, dated Nov 9, 2017 with the title ‘Noir Caesar at Crunchyroll Expo 2018!’ is under scrutiny. The date the video was created doesn’t match the date of the event. Furthermore, the video below highlights the following with the key terms ‘Inaugural Event’. Crunchyroll’s Expo Inauguration was on August 25th, 2017. The date the video came out was after the event which was on November 9th, 2017. I’m sure the company wouldn’t of waited a year to promote their own work, especially if…..Johnny Lee O’ Bryant’s promotion in the Nov 9, 2017 (titled for 2018) video had people with the same outfits on for the panel at the Crunchyroll Expo 2017 dated on Sept 23, 2017.
The Noir Caesar Entertainment company is working hard to provide the Black Diaspora an opportunity to imagine themselves as black superheroes with the power to create content with black manga that’s superior to other companies. With people like Johnny Lee O’ Bryant at the helm, this company will definitely go in the right direction following the lanes of other anime’ G.O.A.T.s as LeSean Thomas and D’Art Shtaijo.
As they achieve greatness however, they must also provide great care as to how they are leading us, the fans, on their journey. Mixed messages of their anime’ premieres and production on Youtube with articles from reputable sources stating the opposite will start to make them questionable as their videos on the matter are misleading viewers. This could question their credibility as they are in, my opinion, the foundational company for all things Black manga and anime’.
Another example to back up my view is the pilot for EXOGENASYS. As Region 99 was searching for the EXOGENASYS promo clip on Noir’s Caesar’s Youtube channel, we were able to find it on Dumisa Moyo’s (Video Producer for Noir Caesar Entertainment) Youtube channel rather than the main site (The mini-promo was fire by the way). This could lead to additional questioning as to the viability of the production:
Preview of EXOGENASYS from the Pilot presented @ Anime’ EXPO. From Dumisa Moyo.
We know that creating dope work takes time, we just want more clarity on the matter as to when it will happen with an updated timeline. Will Primus 7, EXOGENASYS, or DEGENRATEZ be the premiere anime’ for the company? or are all in danger?
I still believe Noir Caesar Entertainment is a viable anime’ and Black manga resource. After all…..greatness, as they said, takes time. I just don’t want to be lead in the wrong direction during this journey…
