Anime News

Right Stuf President Shawne Kleckner Is Leaving the Company

Many people in the anime world know—or at least know of—Shawne Kleckner, the president and co-founder of anime retailer Right Stuf. Kleckner was there when Right Stuf officially launched in 1987, was part of the 2007 creation of its Nozomi Entertainment production label, and is closely associated with the company. However, he’s announced that he’s departing on December 14.

This comes a few months after Crunchyroll bought Right Stuf in August. Kleckner sent an email to Crunchyroll employees to let them know what’s going on. According to Anime News Network, which has seen the non-public email, Kleckner feels good about the Right Stuf management team at Crunchyroll.

Kleckner also talked about “Super Service,” which is what he calls Right Stuf’s commitment to its customers.

Apparently Kleckner did not say what his plans are going forward. It’s also not clear why he’s leaving the company at this point.

When Crunchyroll bought Right Stuf, it made the point of stressing the ways in which Right Stuf will remain the same. However, changes have been made. The most prominent with Crunchyroll’s purchase of Right Stuf was the decision to get rid of erotica on the site. Right Stuf used to offer anime and manga for all ages. Erotic anime and manga are still available through the company, but instead of being on the Right Stuf site, it’s been shifted over to EroAnimeStore.com.

As of now Kleckner is still in the “Meet Our Leaders” section of Right Stuf’s website, and here is his whimsical bio:

“Shawne K, a.k.a. The Dark Lord

Is our President and the evil (disturbed) genius behind RightStufAnime.com. The Dark Lord wishes he could be a time traveler so he could go back in time and cut himself off that last glass of wine to prevent hangovers. Seems like a talent he should be able to master without time travel, but we’re not judging. The Dark Lord plans on visiting Saturn as soon as humanly possible, because, ‘he likes pretty rings’. Actually, he loves shiny things, and can be found staring at the disco ball in his office. He claims it helps him concentrate (plot) better, but occasionally we can hear the sounds of the 70’s coming out of his office. So he might just be stuck in a time warp, but don’t say that to him as he will full on perform the Time Warp for you. Unless of course you want to see that sort of thing, then you should start a social media campaign, but you can’t say we didn’t warn you.”

Source: ANN

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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.