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Anime Industry Veteran Jan Scott-Frazier Dies at 59

Frazier has worked in the anime industry in Japan for 13 years in a number of different positions, including as a producer. She joined Artland's production department in 1989, making her the first foreigner to work in the production department of a Japanese animation studio. In 1992, she founded her own full production company, TAO Corporation Ltd., in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1994, she co-founded GENESIS Digital Publishing Company with Izumi Matsumoto (Kimagure Orange Road) where they created Comic ON, the first digital manga.

She became the president of Production I.G. USA in 1995 and worked as a producer and technical director on the Japanese side. She was technical director of the animation for the Grandstream Saga, Madou Monogatari, and Kyoushin Senki games as well as working on the Panzer Dragoon OAV. As a freelance director, Frazier directed episodes of Susie-chan & Marvy and worked on the development of original TV series projects. After returning to the United States, she founded the non-profit voice actor project Voices For.

Other credits include background artist for Doomed Megalopolis and Genocyber, production assistant for Koiko no Mainichi and Riki-Oh 2: Horobi no Ko, in-between checker for Transformers: Victory and Bio Armor Ryger, and 3D animator for Lost Universe. She was also the English translator for the Dead Leaves anime, and the Psychic Academy and Scryed manga.

Frazier started a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign in October to help her pay for her assisted living costs, following an incident when someone stole her remaining cash. The robbery put her US$6,000 in debt, when her rent was US$4,000. At the same time, she had also entered intensive care due to her health, and was stuck in the hospital for a month. The campaign raised US$7,505 of its US$6,000 goal, and she put the money into rent.

Frazier previously ran a GoFundMe campaign in August to help her move into assisted living, as she required round-the-clock nursing and staff support. She had been in the hospital for the entire summer. As she could no longer live in her townhome, she had to move into assisted living and needed help moving in, getting a truck and movers, and setting herself up to live alone. The campaign raised US$15,003 of its US$12,000 goal. She posted an update stating, "Wow! A huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far. You're making my life possible."

Voice actress Amanda Winn Lee (Neon Genesis Evangelion's Rei, Persona 4's Yukiko) previously launched a crowdfunding campaign in January 2022 on behalf of Frazier. On the GoFundMe page, Winn Lee wrote that Frazier had been experiencing medical problems, noting that she was ejected from the kidney donor list. Because of this, she was depending on her oxygen concentrator and needed the money to fix or replace it. She was also the caretaker for her elderly mother and needed help dealing with other miscellaneous expenses. "Please help someone who has helped so many," Winn Lee wrote. The campaign raised US$14,130 of its US$10,000 goal. Frazier later posted an update to thank donors and announce that she had purchased the new oxygen concentrator.

Source: Helen McCarthy's Bluesky account