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ADV Confirms Cable Anime Channel
Juanvaldes writes "ADV Films has confirmed reports that they are working to create a cable television channel dedicated to Anime. Currently they are releasing very few details about the channel itself. All that has been publicized at this time is that the channel will run 24 hours a day and will break its content into four categories, Action Zone, Sci-Fi, Comedy Incorrect, and Horror/Martial Arts." Hope I can get access to this one as soon as it comes out.
Hundreds of geeks have been confirmed missing. The last statement heard was "Anime channel you say?"
If you get an error, type "OVERRIDE" or "SECURITY OVERRIDE" and then try the optimize command again.
I think they need two channels... one in original Japanese + subtitles, and one in crummy dubbed format. Otherwise there's gonna be riots and killing in the streets, meteors will fall from the sky, Linux will finally replace Windows on the desktop, and other crazy stuff. Mostly by my hand.
-If
Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
I'm talking Transformers, GI Joe, Voltron, Looney Tunes, Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, etc.? I try to watch saturday morning cartoons these days (yes, I'm 26), but they lack the magic of yore.
Question: Is Transformers considered Anime? If not, why not? What exactly qualifies a cartoon as Anime?
smd4985
...it's one of those things you can guage how truly geeky a person is...
Score points for:
1. They watch anime.
2. They correct you if you call it something other than their preffered name (japanimation, manga, whatever)
3. Two words: "Anime Hentai"... (score triple points on this one - add one to that if they try to correct my usage of the words in this question)
4. They learned japanese so they could watch original anime without dubbing or subtitles.
BlackNova Traders
The article doesn't go into much details about this, but will this channel run non-ADV licenced anime? They have a pretty good lineup I'll admit, but then so does Manga and other companies.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Trolllll.... Anime isn't all the same. A lot of mass produced anime is, just like our movie industry. But compare two good works, Furi Kuri and Ranma. VERY different. Or even better, compare two that lie in the same genre. Evangelion and Gundam W are two extremely different animes. If you're interested check out some GAINAX stuff, most of their work is unique in the macrocosm of Japanese animation.
If yours doesn't, then might I suggest educating your kids as to why the sexually explicit or violent cartoons are bad, or just buy a new TV that allows you to do so.
It is your job as a parent to raise your kids. It is not the cable companies responsability to monitor what they watch, it's yours.
Xaotik Designs
Daffy Duck has left Warner Bros. and joined the Dark Side of Disney!?! Will Elmer Fudd be next?
The chances are that if you bought your TV after 1998 it will come with a V-Chip, which allows you to set a password on all the "restricted" channels, unless of course it is on digital cable, in which case the box will probably come with some sort of lockout as well.
Live for the present, learn from the past, and dream of the future!
At this point we have, lets say, a billion channels available.
Unlike broadcast TV, setting up a new channel doesn't require millions of dollars for local, bazillions for national viewing - it takes provisioning a new channel.
However, the cable folks seem mired in this 1948 model where you have to have a channel setup for years and years rather than realizing that if you want to tack a new channel on for a couple weeks/months you can.
I thought about this during the OJ trial and the Olympics. If people WANT to watch something that's a limited time thing, then hell, create a channel for it for the duration.
OJ? Fine, the "OJ trial channel" is #58 until it's over. Then 58 is back in the pool of available channels. (disclaimer, I didn't own a TV during that whole thing, I just mocked my coworkers who were watching the blow by blow)
Olympics are 24x7 on channel whatever (or 4 channels if you want), with FULL RUNS of the events, not this highlights crap of things the networks deem popular. Want to watch the Finns battle the Algerians in the Biatholon/Luge/Nintendo event? You can.
Costs are minimum.
On topic: So set up an Anime channel.
It runs from 8PM EST until 4AM PST.
Want cartoon boobies? Well, at 11PM PST, the children should be asleep. we can get over our puritan heritage that says naked is bad (even cartoon naked) but watching a guys head get splattered against a wall in a faux gunshot is ok.
I was hoping for the Tentacle Rape Hour, perhaps around dinner time.
Wow. Guess I should update my web site. I've got plenty more to add. My mind is a raging torrent of possibilities and perils. And suggestions.
- Even the most sweaty-toothed otaku can't watch anime all day every day. Consider the case of the incredible self-destructing sci-fi channel - everyone thought it's success was a no-brainer. But fans of the sci-fi genre only watch so much sci-fi (and prefer the good stuff too). Fortunately, anime isn't really a genre, it's a medium. I humbly suggest ADV consider what makes a channel successful (particularly the regular network channels) and take a long hard look at how they're targeting different demographics, because an anime channel for existing anime fans alone won't get far.
- Speaking of which, ADV is completely missing a key genre of anime here, and it ought to be their most important for picking up new viewers -Sports. It's good for many subtle reasons I don't want to go into here - suffice to say that Hajime no Ippo and Initial D, properly handled, could get solid ratings.
- Certain Japanese moral standards and levels of censorship are a bit more... open than those in America. Nudity in particular is a big issue even for TV, and certain excellent shows (like Berserk) are controversial and violent. How does ADV intend to handle it? Dumb it down for America, make it a premium channel, or just push the envelope?
- ADV is one of the biggest names in american anime distribution, but there are several others with many good series. Getting them on board would be essential. Bandai in particular might be difficult since they have strong ties to Cartoon Network.
- One of the biggest obstacles to anime on TV is the high cost of licensing the TV rights from Japan. Considering just how much anime we're talking about, that could be quite a lot of cash. Perhaps the downward spiral of the Japanese economy will help bring the terms down to a sustainable level. Still, promising a percentage of the profits rather than blanket licensing seems like the only way this could happen.
- They're going to have to compete with other channels snapping up some of the better series, particularly if they are popular. Disney already has the rights all things Ghibli.
- Since so many dubs are so poor, and since they'll be showing so much anime (and no doubt rerunning a LOT of it), is there an actual possibility we could get subbed anime on TV?
- I love animation, period. Any chance that this channel would show any of the (lamentably small) body of less kid-oriented animation from america and around the world? Likewise, I hope that this channel could stimulate the production of more mature animated titles in america.
- Like I said before, just anime might be hard. Why not branch out into other neglected forms of entertainment, particularly those which would appeal to the core demographic? Kung-fu, wierd film, and now (unfortunately) Sci-fi. Say, doesn't ADV do Farscape on video?
Well, that's a start... Hey ADV - call me.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
The single thing which makes anime better than other cartoon styles is their constant willingness to treat it's viewers like adults. There have been other examples of this, such as Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal 2000, but they are rare. The movies which treat their audiences like adults *and* are good generally get a following of fans. Cartoons tend to have a stigma for this very reason -- most people associate them with childrens shows. When a very mature and adult movie(or TV show) comes out, most people scoff at it as "those damn kids shows". :)
Second, Anime tends to be able to beter portray emotion, action, and other concepts than traditional animation. I've yet to see a more subtle, or more recognisable depicion of emotion than the simple "pulsating eyes" trick done in anime to show sadness. In regular animation, the laws of physics are generally followed, but in anime, they are usually willing to drop such laws if it makes the action seem faster, or if it helps a joke play out better.
Plotlines in Anime movies and TV shows, are for the most part, very in-depth. Most characters have a history beyond the story, or in the case of a show like Dragonball Z, you get to see the story progressing, and in the case of DBZ, you get to see the characters change and grow. It shows a depth to the writing that simply doesn't exist in Other cartoons, or indeed, other TV shows and movies in general.
In other words, the art form is just the receptical. If someone wrote a movie which had such literary elements it would likely be immensely popular(like, oh, I don't know... the anime-inspired The Matrix?)
It's been a long time.
The main problem with anime in North America, and especially on cable:
Baaad dubbing. For example, princess mononoke. The dubbing on the wolf gods was horrible. Part of what makes anime good (in it's pure undubbed form) is the emotion etc portrayed by good voice actors.
A real Japanese adult voice sounds pissed off sounds way better than when they hire some famous actor (or even worse, some off-the-street voice who hasn't even hit vocal puberty yet).
American female voices are also fricking annoying.
Subtitles have always been the way for me, even bad fansubs aren't as bad as bad dubs (and sometimes the mistakes are pretty hilarious too... Boy who sealed to tree. Girl who fall down well into past). Too bad standard cable doesn't offer voice-selection with the subtitle option (does digital? If I can get my anime channel in a semi-pure form I'd pay for that).
Been beating about the idea for a dedicated anime network for about 4 years now, but lacked the resources (legal, monetary) to forge into it.
The idea was similar, but had an added bonus whereas in the event you had a TV with SAP and CC (most do, nowadays), a secondary audio program in Japanese would be added, with the CC doing it's bit for subtitling in English. I also planned an "adult" segment that would broadcast at the wee hours, with full V-chip compliance (in which, nobody could sue in case their kids were watching Ghost in the Shell and ogling Kusanagi's breasts)...
Ahwell, I have enough ideas on the backburner as it is, it's good to see someone fleshing it out...
Pity it's ADV, however, because I can guarantee the anime shown will have horrible English dubbing, and as they have a pretty limited stock, chances are all they'll prodcast for the first half year is what currently exists within their video catalog...
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!