Slashdot Mirror
Adult Swim Revamps; Removes Most Anime
E. Megas writes "According to a Collegiate Presswire story, Cartoon Network (Probably due to its recent acquisition of Futurama) is expanding its Adult Swim schedule to Monday through Thursday starting January 12th. The "Comedy" block on Sundays will stay, but except for Inu-Yasha and Cowboy Bebop (Which will replace the Toonami Midnight Run block on the weekday slots) the Saturday "Action" block will be gone. This means that the legendary series Mobile Suit Gundam will not be aired in full for the second time in a row on CN. Future airings of Yuu Yuu Hakusho and Outlaw Star-And the planned re-airing of Gundam 0080: War In the Pocket-Are thrown into doubt by this decision as well. More schedule details in the article. (Anyone else as frustrated by this as I am?)"
To be honest, I'd take Futurama over Anime any day of the week. Openly, and readily. Without question. Yes.
I've learned recently that Anime rather annoys me. It's all too cliched these days, what with seeing it every which way you look in some way shape or form.
And then you have the people who know the names of every character from every series and can link every relationship in every way shape or form. And... yeah, that's migrane-inducing after about 10 minutes.
Informatus Technologicus
Cartoon Network may be one of the only places where you can get your anime fix on cable, but their overediting and bad dub jobs are notorious among hardcore fans. I'd much rather watch Futurama than that terrible edited version of Outlaw Star they air, or god forbid, more photoshopped Tenchi.
Maybe they could add a Saturday Action block that was subtitled. Adults can read, right?
If there is a God, you are an authorized representative. - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
The reason the action block is being removed is that Cartoon Network found that a large number of kids were watching the block. The purpose of 'Adult Swim' was to have animated programming on the air that was aimed at adults. The ratings they were getting said that a lot larger block of kids were watching the Saturday night programming, thus the change to the 'school night' lineup. Granted, they have those unnecessarily long warning, but they have to show this because otherwise stupid parents would complain (and probably did anyway), and because Cartoon Network is still filed under a kids programming station.
The purpose of Adult Swim is to help Cartoon Network transition from kid's programming to an over-all entertainment network. The expansion of the Adult Swim franchise should be seen as a good thing, especially seeing that Futurama will be added to the weekly block. I think there's a lot more of us that will appreciate Futurama having a regular home than those who cared about the animes listed above.
I know I'll sure enjoy seeing Futurama every weeknight, and as long as the Sunday block is left alone, I'll be alright. The real issue with the new schedule that I have is whether Space Ghost is still on the Sunday block or not.
You're only as smart as your brain.
Can anyone find an email address to contact these people at? I can't seem to find one on their web site.
Not that I'm deluded enough to think that they'll actually care about what I have to say, but the anime geeks at my college were the ones largely responsible for having the campus subscribe to CN, and I have a funny feeling that then the next channel survey comes up, I'm guessing they're going to be rated rather lowly.
And yeah, American cartoons are so much better: Filled with ego-maniacs, stuttering pigs, slurring cats, gender-ambiguous birds, etc., etc. I'm really not a wannabe asian, and saying that anime is a gateway to pedophilia is a little like saying drinking mountain dew is a gateway to cocaine; I do however appreciate a good story ark, and producing shows that are more than degenerate collections of insipid one-liners is something that Americans absolutely suck at.
So anyway, does anyone actually have a contact email address for these guys?
Like calling every woman entertainer a "diva". No, Britney Spears is not a "diva".
I was unfamiliar with anime, and jumped at the oportunity to use Adult Swim as a starting point. Taped and watched it for a month or so.
And -- it sucks! Why do people love this stuff? With the exception of Cowboy Bebop, which has a nice style and tone, I can't for the life of me see the appeal of it.
And a couple of nights ago, DragonballZ turned up on Cartoon Network. And that's even worse!
I'm a Japanophile, taught English there for a while, still love Godzilla, Ultraman and Shonen Knife and still cook Japanese food. But anime? Just not for me, I guess.
Maybe some network will pick up Nelton Club or Gilgamesh...
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Please don't judge anime by what gets shown on Cartoon Network! While I enjoy watching DBZ for comic relief, it's not quality anything.
/. and AnimeFu.
For good anime watch Cowboy Bebop (space/western/music), Trigun (space/western), Kenshin (samurai/swordfighting), Macross Plus (space/music), Slayers (fantasy/humor), Love Hina (romance), Spirited Away (in theaters now!), or others advocated on
Also, watch shows that are subtitled. I'm no purest (I already said that I watch DBZ!), but (a) it sounds like you already know Japanese, and (b) american voice acting sounds fake. Maybe Japanese voices sound fake to Japanese audiences, but the emotions conveyed by the original voice actors are infinitely more believable than their low-cost dubbing counterparts.
Finally, be willing to accept a little weirdness. Anime has a rich visual lexicon, and it takes a while to get used to the conventions (especially the tendency switch between high- and low-quality drawing styles).
Also, and I say this in all seriousness, a lot of anime contains suggestive humor or situations. Be prepared for panty flashes and that sort of thing, and don't let it ruin the show for you. It sort of goes with the territory. ^_^;
(You forgot to mention transgenderism!)
Sailor Moon will always be a kid's show. The uncensored version had some occasional bits that conventional American families found objectionable- their loss.
Nudity and sexuality aren't evil, twisting choice pieces of a religion into entertainment is commonplace, and large scale violence (99% consequence free!) is an accepted staple of Saturday morning cartoons. Adult fans like to cling to those elements as proof that they're not really watching 24 minutes of commericals for pink plastic jewlery, but they're in denial.
The only part of Sailor Moon that I would hesitate to show to American youngsters is something you didn't mention- because of drastically different firearms ownership laws in Japan and the US, portrayl of kids playing with a real-looking toy gun might be a safety-hazard in America. (Or an invitation for a lawsuit)