Toonami Revived?! Or is it just Adult Swim Action desperate for attention?!

 

What we wanted.

Back on April 1st, 2012 Adult Swim pulled the ultimate April Fools Day joke by pre-empting their entire Saturday night block (sans Bleach) with Toonami classics like DBZ, YuYu Hakusho, Outlaw Star, and Tenchi OAV (being the only time OAV 3 has ever been on CN). This was a prelude to Cartoon Network's plans to revive the Toonami block replacing Adult Swim Satuday Action block. The weeks leading up to Toonami's premiere was teased with commercial bumps hinting at what may end up on the block. Of course, given Adult Swim's sense of humor this could all be taken with a grain of salt. 

Days before the premiere people made theories on what was going to be on the block. Nostalgia nuts wanted Dragon Ball Z to return to the block (despite CN rerunning that show into the ground), others theorized newer anime like Tiger & Bunny, Panty & Stocking, and Inuyasha:Final Act would premiere on the block. I, personally, saw this as an opportunity for Naruto: Shippuden to air on the block, and possibly a revival of One Piece (since Funimation was about to release the newly dubbed Season Four). Then the block was revealed with two new anime series: Deadman Wonderland and Casshern Sins and the retirement of some of their older shows.

 Many fans had mixed reactions, quite a few people felt that these shows signified a positive change for the block, while other regretted that there wasn't more continuity with the Toonami of old. My reaction, while understanding that Toonami was reviving a "brand name" and not a specific set of shows, is did we really need to add the Toonami name just for CN getting two new anime shows? The last "new shows" on AS were FMA: Brotherhood and Durarara which premiered about a little over a year ago (Durarara coming about a year ago) and both shows had run their course so it makes sense that CN would announce new anime about this time. After seeing the content of these shows I have to wonder if their trying to go for a grittier darker Toonami. Deadman Wonderland alone had so many cussing blips that it was almost laughable.

Now it was revealed that Toonami had a smaller budget hence getting big names like Naruto, One Piece, and Tiger&Bunny were a no,no. Understandable, I guess what I'm getting at does slapping "Toonami" on the Saturday block make that much of a difference than if these shows were just regular AS premiere? AS' reactions to the ratings would suggest not very likely. But I know CN overall likes to operate on a learning curve so we'll see what the block brings in the upcoming weeks.

   

What we got!

The Anime Industry Then and Now Section FINAL: The Anime Recession Part 3: Fast Forward to 2012!!! Online Media, and Potential Resurrection!!!

So here we are in 2012. Here's what has changed; Bandai finally threw in the towel and ended distribution of their titles, Sentai continues to gradually re-build their company into their former glory (ADV) while making far more practical business decisions with their anime licenses. Most anime thrives through online streaming exposure as simulcasting has become the norm.

Currently there are several companies involved in online streaming. We have Crunchyroll, Funimation, AnimeNewsNetwork Video, Viz, Crackle, and Hulu. While all these companies had professional connections to legalized media, Crunchyroll is the real underdog story. The company was founded in 2006 by a group of UC Berkeley undergraduate students which intitially hosted illegal streams from various popular fansub groups without their approval. Then in 2009, they removed all their illegal content and began making deals with the Japanese companies to legally stream their material. It was around this time I discovered Crunhyroll and mainly used it to watch legal streams of Digimon 02, and various older series like Galaxy Express 999. Somewhere down the line they became my prefered website for watching Naruto: Shippuden, Bleach, as well as keeping up with newer series from Japan. Two new series that got me becoming a Crunchyroll regular were Ristorante Paradiso (which currently isn't available) and Natsu no Arashi.

Crunchyroll's Personalized Queue Setup

...and Hulu's "dump any episode here" setup

Sometime around late 2010 I began to pay a subscription charge so I could have access to the latest streams for new shows as well as the best video quality. Not to knock Funimation, Hulu, and Viz whose efforts I also applaud BUT Cruchyroll's set-up is far more fan friendly. For one thing, if you're a subscriber they give you an extremly user-friendly interface for choosing what video quality you want. Also, if you make a queue of the shows you watch, Cruchyroll will list the last episode you watched as well as the option to take off wherever you left off on your stream. This is much more welcoming compared to Hulu's method which doesn't have the same linear organization (it pretty much just dumps new episodes into your queue despite what you actually watched) and Funimation's set-up which suffers from long loading times and constant streaming hiccups. The other issue is Funimation doesn't offer the highest quality video for a lot of their simulcast options. It's just kind of embarrasing when the likes of Toei hits like Saint Seiya Omega and One Piece have different streaming rules. The reason why I use these two series as an example is because both franchises have made a lot of money for Toei yet why is it I have the option of streaming Saint Seiya Omega (Crunchyroll) at 1080p quality yet One Piece (Funimation) I have to "tolerate" at 480 p quality? This is also the reason that led me to watch Naruto: Shippuden's streams on Crunchyroll vs. Viz's site but there at least I have an option.

Speaking of Naruto:Shippuden unfortunately Crunchyroll, Hulu, iTunes, and Viz Anime's streams are now the only way to watch the show as DisneyXD silently removed it from their schedule before the end of 2011. I was hoping the revived Toonami would pick it up but after seeing the content of their new line-up (which I'll discuss in another article) it doesn't seem likely. CN producers even went as far to say the new Toonami doesn't have the expansive budget to get shows like Naruto and One Piece for the time being. This is just a small example of how there are limited venues for anime on television BUT what is able to be aired does get strong exposure. 

In the end anime has been through a strange cycle over the last two decades, and while it may seem like we're returning to the days of old, we're not. If anything, the anime industry has normalized itself and instead of the type of overexposure we had during the Anime Boom there is a lot more thought put into how shows are promoted and which ones should be considered for broadcast television. On the other end of the spectrum fansubs have been rendered mostly obsolete. For example this anime season I was planning to keep up with Kids on the Slope, Lupin III: Fujiko's Tits (^_^), and Eureka Seven AO and surprisingly ALL these shows got legally picked up either before or shortly after their airings in Japan. I still use fansubs to keep up my newly acquired love of Sentai (I think I may blog Akibaranger just for kicks) but otherwise Cruchyroll is my primary anime fix (even though I do also regularly go to onepieceofficial.com to legally watch One Piece on a weekly basis). Also attendance at anime conventions continues to grow, but based off a few discussions with some anime fan co-workers it seems these have turned more into cosplay conventions as I find that many of the people I work with focus more on that than the latest anime streams and CN airings. Which ever way you look on it anime still has an active presence in American media and it's just wonderful I can go to my local theater and see Ghibli's The Secret of Arriety (now on Blu-ray/DVD) with my mother and she can leave the film not feeling she saw an "anime" movie but a nicely animated story.

THE REBIRTH OF TOONAMI IS THE REBIRTH OF MY BLOGGING

Okay so about two years ago I was pretty green. Coming fresh off of DVD reveiws from Mania.com I thought I could give anime blogging a shot. Boy, was I in over my head. Only having covered one anime (Macross:Do You Rememver Love?) I switched gears and gave my own kind of oral history on the anime industry leaving off with the beginning of the anime recession. This was Summer 2010 and here it is Summer 2012 where I'm using the return of the "Toonami" brand to spearhead a return to my own blogging.

Firstly I'm to explain how this works. My personal life I have to juggle a lot of stuff so I can't be consistent as say the likes of Astronerdboy but since I have time off for Memorial Day weekend I'm going to do several things.

1. Finish my article on the anime industry with the phenomenon of how internet streaming has affected the industry.

2. Start another article commenting on Toonami's rebirth and come up on theories on what this could mean for the industry.

3. Actually blog reviews on the two new Toonami shows: Casshern Sins and Deadman Wonderland. Giving synopsis' and opinions.

You guys can expect the these things to be posted sometime between Sunday evening to Monday evening. Hopefully if all goes well I can keep this up at a weekly pace.

Satoshi Kon 1963-2010

FUCK!

Neil Gaiman once said that there are times and situations that cussing are perfectly appropriate to convey one's feelings about a situation. When I heard that Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika) passed away this is the first word that shot to my mind.

No details on what caused his passing have been revealed but they guy was 47. That's pretty freaking not old. I'm pretty pissed off that he had to die (hence the more stronger language in my writing) as he was one of the more visionary anime directors of our time.

In other news, the reasons why I have been on a sort of hiatus has more to do with life stuff and planning things for the next year. I'll return to blogging when more time has opened up on my busy schedule.

O-chan

The Anime Industry Then and Now Section 4: The Anime Recession Part 2: The Closing Doors and Changing Times

As I sit here comfortably catching up on a week’s worth of anime programming taped on my DVR (Kekkashi, Naruto: Shippuden, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and Monster for those who must know) I decided to wrap up my commentary on how the anime bubble broke. This section required a little more research on my part since I had to make sure I got my facts straight on a few things.

Now I’m not sure how many people remember Media Play? Well, the anime bubble beginning to break did not cause their chain of stores to close down (even during the Anime Boom they suffered staffing problems and their prices were often stifling) but it did limit options for the non-online buyer to get their anime. A few years after Media Play closed down Best Buy started the cut back on their own anime supply but this was more of a result of the industry becoming less profitable.

As stated in previous articles the main reason the bubble was beginning to break was THE ANIME MARKET WAS OVERSATURATED WITH CRAP AND EVERYONE WAS GETTING OVER THEIR ANIME HIGH! Cartoon Network began shifting their priorities to more original programming and live-action serials. Toonami was officially retired in 2008 leaving the only anime properties on their channel Pokemon and any other show that had a direct toy tie in. On their sister channel, Adult Swim, anime has continued to thrive in present day (with Kekkashi and FMA:Brotherhood being the newest shows) but is limited to only the Saturday night “action” block. With these changes, surprisingly, three channels have picked up CN’s slack. Sci Fi Channel (now called SyFy) reinstated their anime block on Monday nights premiering fan favorites such as Gurren Laggan and Monster. Both Disney XD and Nicktoons (both spin-off networks from the Disney Channel and Nicklelodeon) acquired the rights to air Naruto: Shippuden (Naruto’s sequel series) and Dragonball Kai (a remastered shortened version of the original DBZ) respectively.

The DVD companies themselves ran into their own serious issues. First there was Geneon, who in 2007-08, had to close its doors with most of their newer acquisitions remaining in limbo. Each year since then Funimation has gradually been licensing some of their more profitable properties, most recently resuscitating the remainder of the Tenchi franchise and quite a few of Yoshitoshi ABe’s works including Lain. ADV also finally hit their limit after trying to promote every generic show out there and once again it was Funimation who came in a took the better half of their company and had several licenses transferred. ADV reincarnated into Sentai Filmworks where they have become sub-only and selectively dubbing specific titles but I’m happy with this change as I finally got to get Season Two of You’re Under Arrest. Bandai, while still active, has been forced to finally catch up with the rest of the industry and start releasing series in more profitable collections even though they announced they may become a sub-only company in 2011. Viz has taken a very unique turn as they seem to have a more primary focus on their major Shonen Jump properties and their still growing and diverse manga line. They still dabble in releasing other anime properties as their releases of Honey and Clover, Nana, and Monster show but these days I’m more hesitant to buy anime DVDs from them until a series is released in it’s entirety since they have been known to have slow release schedules (how long has Boxset 1 of Monster been out now?) or they cancel titles completely (I’m thinking of Hikaru no Go and MaR specifically). Amazingly they have a very good line of live-action Japanese movies that seems to be thriving and I am very pleased that this has been continuing.
Most of the remaining companies have gone the sub only route while occasionally license rescuing an old favorite or two (Nozomi/Right Stuf recently did this with both The Wanderes TV Series and Utena).

Going back to Best Buy, all of the above, is what led them to make their own cutbacks with their anime selection. These days only a few backlog titles and some of the more popular properties remain on their shelves and usually it depends on location. For example, where I live my nearest Best Buy still has a decent selection but in the next town over the Best Buy has only a sliver of anime stocked on their shelves. Still, my Best Buy doesn’t stock every title when it’s supposed to be released. I’ve had to rely on online retailers just to get all of Sgt. Frog and One Piece, and while they are currently having a great anime sale where I’m picking up a lot of titles I’ve been hesitating to buy they still haven’t gotten in any of the Gurren Laggan Complete Collection sets.

So in the end this is where we are at today anime fans. Next up I’ll discuss to phenomenon on how the internet both hurt and helped the anime industry.

The Anime Industry Then and Now Section 4: The Anime Recession Part 1: The Abridging Phenomenon

Alas we have entered the dark times!

Well I figured I would start the beginning of the “Dark Ages” on a lighter note with the BIRTH OF ABRIDGED SERIES. Now, let’s rewind the clock to 2006. YouTube was just another new internet thing, people could put up personal videos and get some form of attention. Over time, YouTube became a haven for anime fans to watch anime illegally without going through the whole irc, torrents, blah blah blah deal. On the more legal side of things it also gave a consistent place where anime fans could upload AMVs (Anime Music Videos) and get a lot of exposure. Then something unique happened, one day three years ago a YouTuber by the name of “Little Kuriboh” decided it would be a good idea to make a fandub parody of the 4Kids series Yu-gi-oh. The little parody was called “Yu-gi-oh: The Abridged Series” and like most stuff on YouTube it was a nice little distraction from the ho-hum of our everyday lives. THEN a phenomenon occurred, more and more people started to watch this Yu-gi-oh: Abridged and liked it. It made fun of the source material (both the dub and the actual plot to the series) and had some pretty witty references. Little Kuriboh treaded on and continued to put out episode after episode whenever it seemed possible gaining a gradual “internet popularity“ which then led to convention appearances (I personally met him and other abridgers at last years Youmacon in Detroit). Thus, the Abridging Movement was born and became the anime fans form of stand-up comedy of sorts.

Before I talk about some of the more “well-known” abridgers let me describe what the abridging process involves for the uninitiated. Usually either a solo individual or a group of close friends pick an anime series and using whatever video editing resources they have on hand to record they’re own parody dub of the series thus “abridging” it. They then post it on YouTube where they are met with varying degrees of success. Often times there is no consistent schedule for when new episodes come out because these people do have lives but some of the more dedicated ones tend to not completely disappear off the face of the Earth (much like my blogging ^_^;). Because of various vague copyright laws You Tube tends to delete episodes and sometimes suspend entire accounts if a series gets enough attention. In some cases some of the more internet savvy abridgers then go on to open their own websites. Now in the more recent years we’ve seen abridgers collaborate on projects, one of the biggest ones being Dragon Ball Z abridged which seems to include every major abridged personality out there. But before we go into THAT let me pimp a few of the people who followed Little Kuriboh’s inspiration and went on to be their own “internet celebrities”:

Naruto Abridged by Masako X and Vegeta8639
I believe Masako was the first to really follow in the footsteps of Little Kuriboh. Now I do have to admit that while YGOAbridged had a quick witted sense of humor, NTAS went for a different type of humor. The series created a cadre of in-jokes specific to the series such as “The Log”, “Clucky”, and “Moo”. Yeah…you wouldn’t get any of this unless you watched the series. I honestly don’t know what about the series I found appealing but much like many stand up comics each have their own style and as long as they make it work within their own presentation then it’s all good. For the last few years both guys have worked on and off NTAS and within 26 installments they are right before the Sasuke Retrival arc.

Lupin III Abridged by KaiserNeko
You would think an old series that already had a “punched-up” dub wouldn’t have much to offer as an abridged series. KaiserNeko has proven us wrong. I admit, outside of some AdultSwim Promos I actually prefer his take on the characters and their situations. The one defining episode for me would be the “Banana Phone” episode. Now here’s where you take a weird ass episode and make it into something that’s actually funny.

Berserk Abridged/Gantz Abridged/Escaflowne Abridged by Hbi2k
Even though he’s gone mostly solo, I love his sense of humor. But what makes Hbi2k stand out is the fact that instead of doing one loooooooong series he rotates his queue by doing most 26 episode fares (and in the case of Gantz Abridged he cut it off as soon as the filler arc reared it’s ugly head). He also tends to reference the “manga” in cases where if something more interested occurred in the source material it was worth bringing up. Still, hats off to ya mate!

Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged by Lanipator
I’ll just start this by saying if anything unfortunate were to happen to either Justin Cook, John Burgermier, or Chris Sabat (I am NOT wishing for this to happen, ever) then Funi would look no further than THIS guy for their replacement. Lanipator has the amazing ability to vocally copy many of Funi’s leading voice actors (well, granted he has never touched Vic Micnogna…lest the rabid fan girls beat him to a bloody pulp) and it really shows in his YYH Abridged series. Outside of creating the “Neighborhood Watch Committee” Lanipator has shown how to take things that were already “hinted at” *coughkuwabarasgaycough* in the Funi dub and bring them to the next level. Unfortunately, between his school/professional life and working on DBZA Lani hasn’t put too much time into YYHA still meandering through the Four Beasts arc, but what is there is golden.


Sailor Moon Abridged by Megami33
What makes Megami stand out is the fact that her abridged series is very bare bones yet it works. Let me expand upon this, a lot of the other abridgers while generally starting off from not very much began to incorporate many video editing techniques that seemed daunting to newcomers. What I like about SMA is that it brings things back to basics which is getting a cool group of friends together and just having fun making fun of a show (and there is a LOT to make fun of in Sailor Moon). I do admit the “Serena is a fat-ass who throws up to be skinny” joke didn’t appeal to me at first but then when we got mousey voiced Amy, satanic Raye (best-character-in-the-series), transvestite Lita, and Paris Hilton Mina (with drunken Aussie Artemis) the series came around to becoming a guilty pleasure. Megami and her group covered the entire first season, the first movie, and have just started Season Two so it’s worth a look.

Dragon Ball Z Abridged by All of the above (plus Takahata101 ^_^)
DBZA is the culmination of all the individual abridgers efforts. As each person or group put themselves out there they formed a community of sorts. As a result (and thanks to the wonders of online communication) a lot of these abridgers got together to tackle one of the most influential anime/manga series around: Dragon Ball Z. The end result is pure genius. But instead of going on and on about how it works I feel it’s better just to let you guys just take it in for yourselves…

Special Mention: Rose of Versailles Abridged by Cassius614
She may not have come off as well-known as the above abridgers but Cassius614 deserves a special mention as she is VERY involved with all of the above and she also has her own abridged series, Rose of Versailles. Anybody who had been keeping up with my blogs know I am very much the old school anime fan so, outside of Lupin III, it was nice to see this series get abridged. What is really amazing is that it was THIS abridged series that finally encouraged me to watch the proper original series (mind you I was already an Utena fan long before this). As such, I actually get many of the in-jokes and political humor sprinkled throughout the series. Hats off to Cassisus614 for such a “sophisticated” abridged series.

In the end, for those of you hardcore fans who are wondering WHY am I bothering to cover abridged series it comes down to they are a significant part of contributing to the reflection of how the anime industry has changed. These days with online streaming, as well as the presence of such open media sites like You Tube these abridged series act as a podium for talented fans to express their own personal “love letter” to the industry. I can also understand why some of the more “serious” anime/manga fans may find abridged series sophomoric but from where I stand they are a validated resource in the anime community and one of the few things (outside of conventions) that bring fans together and inspire creativity.

O-chan

Genma Saotome (Ranma 1/2) voice actor Passes Away and other stuff...

Sorry guys I know it's been practically a month. I've been rearranging some things in my life post Acen and so a lot of projects (including this page) got sidelined.
To start it appears that we lost another figure in the anime industry as Genma Saotome's (the huge Panda) voice actor, Robert O. Smith, in Ranma 1/2 passed away last week. He was 67.

A moment of silence....














Alright, I will begin my next set of articles sometime this week, it may be tonight it maybe later but it will get done before week's end.

O-chan