Exclusive Interview: Sofia Alexander On Crunchyroll’s New Original Series “Onyx Equinox”

Courtesy: Crunchyroll

It’s incredible to see anime’s influence on not just America, but the world. Proof of this could certainly be seen by the various streaming services that feature different language-dubbed adaptations of anime franchises in languages like English, Russian, Spanish, and German so the popularity of the Japanese art form is there, but it’s the fruits of that popularity that is most exciting as we’ve seen examples of these influences from America, China, Vietnam, France, the Philippines, and elsewhere. Like the British music invasion of the 1970s, America is well-positioned to respond with a bunch of action-oriented adult animation that should find fandom not just in the United States, but globally.

Crunchyroll is a big part of this movement. Founded in 2006 as a borderline illegal file-sharing hub of fan-produced English anime, 2020 saw the now-legit anime company’s biggest year yet counting three million paid subscribers to go along with 70 million users which has given cause for Crunchyroll to re-invest in a number of different areas. Along with an increasing number of English dubbed anime titles coming to the service, Crunchyroll has diverted some of its resources into other streaming services like VRV, strategic investing in Youtube series like Meta Runner, and now they have successfully launched an “Originals” line of programming including The God of High School, In/Spectre, and introducing Onyx Equinox, a new franchise from creator Sofia Alexander. The Quintana Roo-born creator cut her chops being a longtime producer for such kids series as Cartoon Network’s Infinity Train, The Powerpuff Girls, and Stretch Armstrong, now Sofia is ready to break out and establish herself as an exciting player in adult animation.

After hearing from the up-and-coming show creator/producer, Sofia sounds more than up for the task, taking on themes and ideas that maybe she didn’t have a chance to explore producing for kids television, but will be seen right at home in her own franchise, “For “Onyx Equinox” I felt that I had a responsibility to dive into some of the “uglier details” of the human condition to coincide with our current social and political climate.“ To help accentuate the “ulgier details”, Onyx Equinox is set to a Mesoamerican setting starring Izel, young teen who’s experienced extreme loss and trauma after having been saved from death by the gods and chosen to act as ‘humanity’s champion’.       “I fought with myself at the idea of using such a young character under these circumstances, but Izel’s character was a metaphor for the heart and mind coming together. More often than not themes of trauma and mental illness are skimmed over, and I wanted to highlight this journey with someone who will come out the other side stronger – even though they may not be healed completely.“

Having been raised in Mexico on a steady diet of anime series like the “Dragon Ball” series, “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” “Gundam,” “Wolf’s Rain,” “Attack on Titan” and “Seirei No Moribito”, it’s no surprise to see Onyx Equinox’s Americanime-influenced aesthetic, not unlike what you see in franchises like The Legend of Korra, Seis Manos, and Castlevania, “it was obvious my drawing style was heavily influenced by the stories I enjoyed most. My art style was challenged in college and one of my professors asked me to draw in a more “western” style, more specifically, “American.” It was confusing to me because I wasn’t born in the U.S. and there’s no such thing as an established ‘Mexican’ style.”

Sofia’s love of Mexican culture started at a very early age, “I grew up around some of the pyramids, and I’ve been visiting them from an early age.  My grandfather used to share myths and history with me as a kid and taught me to love that part of myself. This made it an obvious choice for me to root my story in Mesoamerican culture.”

When she became a teenager, Sofia moved to the United States, “I began to have an identity crisis because I was a white-passing Mexican immigrant. I fell in this strange limbo where I felt like I didn’t belong or fit in, creating an immense amount of culture shock. My professors always told us to “tell the story we knew” and my story is about finding my place in the world.

The story of “Onyx Equinox” became my love letter to Mexico.”

Despite the awkward high school experience, Sofa did get to go to college where she began envisioning Onyx Equinox as a graphic novel series, “I got into animation and storyboarding later in my college career when I saw that I had the opportunity to reach a broader audience.” Being a first-time showrunner on Onyx Equinox, Sofia made sure to surround herself with talent to the nth degree. Supervising director Kuni Tomita was brought on board where she acted as both a mentor and a producer for Sofia’s first go in her new position.

“Although I knew generally what I wanted to include, it was important to me that everything was authentic and accurate, so we brought in an archaeologist and anthropologist who were experts in the subject matter. The entire crew was eager to learn and ask questions too. It would’ve been difficult to rely only on the Internet because it’s very easy to mistake something for a different region, culture, and era – we weren’t willing to take that risk.”

When casting for her new series, Sofia wanted to pull from a diverse pool of auditions for this cast and soon landed Olivia Brown as the voice of “Izel”. “Izel isn’t a warrior. He’s a young boy who was forced, during a very vulnerable and impressionable moment in his life, to take on a near-impossible challenge. Izel’s story will be turbulent and explore some ugly parts of him. His growth and healing won’t be linear, and his grief and apathy will stay with him and determine his relationships throughout the series. It won’t be easy to see him go through it, but I’m hoping the audience will relate to his struggles and root for him.”

Also slated to star in the series are the following

  • Yaotl will be voiced by Alejandro Vargas-Lugo
  • Tezcatlipoca will be voiced by Arin Hanson
  • Zyanya will be voiced by Carolina Ravassa
  • Mictecacihuatl will be voiced by Fayna Sanchez
  • K’in will be voiced by Juan Arturo Maldonado
  • Xanastaku will be voiced by Kimberly Woods
  • Yun will be voiced by Patrick Pedrazza
  • Nelli, K’i’ik, and Meque will all be voiced by Sofia Alexander
  • Quetzalcoatl will be voiced by Zeus Mendoza

““Onyx Equinox” is an adult action series and these voice actors are tasked with going to some dark places emotionally to achieve that authenticity we envisioned. I was so proud of the cast for truly delivering their best work for this show and finding ways to relate to their characters on such a deep level. “


Onyx Equinox is inspired by many different cultures throughout MesoAmerican Mexico, but don’t expect TOO much of a documentary for a multitude of reasons including the fact that Spanish Conquistadors removed a lot of history in the 16th Century during their takeover of Mexico and Latin America, however, this is show business and like most of what comes out of Hollywood, creative liberties have been taken to make sure we have a cohesive plot over the course of 12 episodes which isn’t nearly enough time get to the millions of stories that could potentially come out of Mexican culture, and though Sofia notes that the show is set up to go for multiple seasons, she wants to be sure that Onyx Equinox strays away from the cliches found in other Latinx-influenced programming produced in America and instead focus on painting Mexico in a fantastical and awe-inspiring fashion, “In other media, it’s common for the region to be stereotyped with bloody and violent images, and I wanted my story to change this narrative. Granted, “Onyx Equinox” does have violence, but in the same vein as any other high-stakes storyline.”


In terms of her “brush”, Sofia Alexander is just getting started with Onyx Equinox, “I believe that art styles constantly evolve and borrow from one another. As I grew as an artist, I continued taking inspiration from my favorite artists from all over the world. I believe my own art style will evolve as I continue to hone my skills and I’m excited to see what will come from it! “