Quality of Anime on American TV: Up or Down?

EmilLang1000 · Post by **EmilLang1000** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:10 pm

While that's true for Gundam (although I'm pretty sure G Gundam and SD Gundam had something to do with Gundam's downfall in general), what about the other series?

Need I remind everyone of four other shows: YuYu Hakusho, Dragonball Z, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun. All four are "old" and, besides Bebop, have relatively poor animation compared to today's anime. Yet every one was a major hit. DBZ was basically CN's first and foremost Anime hit. YuYu Hakusho effectively MADE the Saturday lineup what it is, and the worst thing CN ever did was to put it on Toonami. Bebop was, and to an extent still is, AS' crutch - when ratings dropped, they put Bebop back on and saw immediate results. Trigun became the second-gen Bebop, though with not as strong an impact with review-ability.

If you want to take a stretch here, InuYasha also fits with the previously mentioned four. All of these animes are fairly "old," though Inuyasha is more modern than any of the others, and all of them are regularly mentioned on peoples' favorite anime lists.

So I have to ask: risks? How is airing something like Slayers or Nadesico a risk? True, neo-Otaku may not be familiar with them, but what guarantee is there that they're familiar with newer anime as well? Take Fullmetal Alchemist for instance. I first heard about it at Otakon, though I didn't really have any idea what it was - only tidbits here and there. Not even 3 months later, it was on CN, and I was hooked. Given, this may be peculiar, but the same thing has happened with Kikaider and Eureka Seven - two shows that were news to me, and yet I loved them.

There's no guarantee that neo-Otaku know what the newer stuff is. However, there is a guarantee that veteran Otaku know what older things are, even if they've never seen it, and at least have heard enough from friends and other veterans over the show's merits.

So, I highly doubt that risk is involved. If they were to air Harlock, Slayers, Battle Angel, or any one of dozens of classics, I'm fairly certain they'd get very decent ratings.

What I think the big problem is: Cartoon Network just seems to love to pick trash. Pee Wee's Playhouse? Shin-Chan? Milk-Chan? Squidbillies? 12 Oz. Mouse? Horrible. They've really come a long way from when they loved to push the limits of what they could show on Toonami, and at late night... the glory days of Tenchi, DBZ, Sailor Moon, Big-O, and uncut Gundam Wing at midnight. Cartoon Network itself was an experiment the first few years it existed.

What they've become, though, seems to be a fairly dry-cut, cookie-cutting company headed by managers who try the same thing over and over, expecting different results each time. They figures "since people loved Sea Lab and Aqua Teen, they MUST love things that are 10 times more stupid and random. " And when that show fails: "well, that didn't work... we must need MORE stupid and MORE RANDOM." Repeat et infinum.

older_gohan · Post by **older_gohan** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:52 pm

When some of the top ten comedies are South Park, Simpsons, and family guy you can't expect everyone to enjoy shows that make you think alot. I mean even evangelion was streatching it for audiences.

They are going for what's popular at the moment and what appeals to the people today. I mean true Ghost in the Shell isn't exactly slap stick comedy but look at anime's like Naruto, One Peice, Bobobo, Zatch Bell, Yu-gi-oh, and inuyasha. They aren't exactly brain stretching anime's here.

Could they stand to put something more enlightening on? Of course!

Will they? Unless america decides to drag itself out of the "I want action! I want crude humor! I want midless entertainment!" rut it's put itself in then expect to see the same mindless dribble over and over again.

I think CN just tested pee wee's and saved by the bell to see if something live action yet still mindless would fly. But the users deman cusing squids and perverted fast food items on their screens.

They've decided to play safe until they find an american cartoon that doesn't suck major nutsack.

sprueill · Post by **sprueill** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:58 pm

I know I am going to be hated for saying this but....I perfer that low quality anime be aired on public television in america.

lately I am seeing little kids in suncoast counting their pennies to try and buy titles like akira. while akira is an awesome anime, don't get me wrong, but something fills me when I see kids just two DVDs away from picking up "agent aika" or a hentai series, thinking it is the movie they saw on cartoon network when they snuck out of bed in the middle of the night to watch it, becuase they Can't tell the difference.

also I notice that there are alot of jerks now an' days who think because they watch adult swim they can hold their own at conventions. normally I am filled with joy when I see a budding otaku, and I have even on occasion been known to assist that person in picking titles. but when I see these guys, I feel I have to defend myself for some reason.

and lets not mention all these "imitation japanimations" that are croping up on TV. they take the unique style of true anime and use it because it is popular. do we realy want more of that?

Millenear · Post by **Millenear** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:17 pm

Adult Swim [heehee, remember the Midnight Run??] has changed so much that I only watch Saturday and Sunday. It's sad when you can do a 'remember when', and I'm sorry but PeeWee's Playhouse makes me want to puke; it did when it came out and I was nearly a teen and now... oh, just fucking yuck.. Even my 15 year old is disgusted.

Since I live in the middle of nowhere, I was shocked to actually reach out and find the Anime channel as an *option* today.. Ten minutes later, I had it.

10 Minutes later than that, I was watching Comic Party and then Maburaho. When I was in college, I didn't have cable, never mind anime. Guess I'm glad now.

EmilLang1000 · Post by **EmilLang1000** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:39 pm

Sprueill, I love you. You, my friend, are a true Veteran.

We of the Veteran Otaku demographic live by this creedance:

If it has a shitty dub to end all shitty dubs,
If it's animation is piss poor even comapred to Hanna Barbara,
If the video transfer makes said piss poor animation look even worse,
If it was made in Japan and exported to America all before 1995,
ESPECIALLY by the following companies - VIZ, ADV, Pioneer, or Manga -
Be assured, my friend, and never let those Narutards tell you otherwise,
That you, sir or madam, have got yourself a masterpiece of animation.
(Now drop the tape and step away from the dub... the authorities will arrive shortly to escort you to the nearest fansubber.)

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 3:10 am

I wonder if CN/AS were to do a DBZ and skip a whole chunk of the Gundam UC timeline and start with a latter series with better animation quality, would it be better accepted? Hell, if the entire Patlabor series (TV, OAVs, and movies) were to appear on US TV, I'd probably have to check myself into a mental institution.

About Monster, #1 I'm surprised that no US distributor has picked it up, and #2 if it were, a channel like Bravo would be a better fit than AS/CN. In fact, if US broadcast TV would get out of the mindset that (primetime) animation is for comedies (Simpson, Family Guy, etc.) and market it strictly as a murder/mystery show, it may do well based purely on the storytelling.

EmilLang1000 · Post by **EmilLang1000** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:00 am

Ah, see, I could see Fox picking it up. Why? Because, when you get right down to it, Monster is The Fugitive meets The X-Files meets The Usual Suspects. Fox has been salivating for another Chris Carter show or something like it since The X-Files went off the air, and you know X-Filiacs would LOVE Monster (I know I do).

But, true, I highly doubt that AS would ever show something as mentally deep as Monster ever again. There was a time, way back when, when they DID have good ol' mind-fuck anime, but no longer. Now it can't be any less action-based than Bebop, and no more complex than Paranoia Agent.

Adult Swim: Helping to dumb down America since 2002.

devilmaykickass · Post by **devilmaykickass** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:35 am

There's other ways to see anime without buying DVDs, if you must. I'd go that route rather than watch the cut up crap U.S. television has to offer.

Plus television is just sickening in general.

older_gohan · Post by **older_gohan** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:16 pm

Just so you know I worship the midnight run. That was the first time I saw cowboy bebop. I will forever have memories of the midnight run. Sailor moon in the afternoon with the gay sailormoon says.

8bit_samurai · Post by **8bit_samurai** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:52 pm

older_gohan wrote:Just so you know I worship the midnight run. That was the first time I saw cowboy bebop.

x2

It's probably why I haven't put out another vid in a while. But nonetheless, I watch anime because of em.

As for the quality of anime on TV, to me it seems it gone up, but back then I never had access to very much channels.

I haven't seen as much OVAs and motion pictures and such, it seems everyone wanna make series nowadays. I'd rather watch OVAs and the such, since it has what the series has all in an hour and a half. But then also I haven't been to Blockbuster in a while either.