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GeekNights Special 014 - This is Not a Charity!

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  • It would be awesome, but the networks would cut out stuff because it was deemed "controversial" or "violent" or "illicit sexual content". >.<</p>
    Umm, wtf? Even Heroes is more violent and sexually explicit than Cowboy Bebop.
  • Yeah, I agree, but I just have a feeling they would find that one scene where Faye Valentine looking for a bounty, and she stumbles upon the two guys in bed together. I was thinking that scene in specific.
  • I am sorry but I am with her. I am a college student paying his own tuition, working as a part-timer and fully enrolled, and I can still affor the stuff that I like without hurt my wallet. You just need to budget yourself and get priorities.
    I will say that podcasting make it a lot easier for me to enjoy stuff and find the good stuff. I have not time to watch anime or download anything, but then again there not much good out there most of the awesome stuff is old anywas. I mean Tekkaman Blade that comes with 3 DVD for 19.99 is a steal and that series is awesome.
    I downloaded the first 25 ep. of Monster but at the end I erased tham after watching 4 because I can buy the manga. I used to watch Kotetsushin Jeeg raw but I stopped at episode 4 because I want to wait for someone to pick it up and buy it, because that anime was awesome.
    I know Geneon had some pretty cool titles, heck I even bought New Getter Robo because Daryl Surat told me so and I thank him for it because that anime is awesome. But it also had some pretty horrible titles that did not deserved to be bought (ex. Koi Kaze) That company was for the super hard core anime fans. It is kind of sad to see them go just when the were starting to get a old of the business ( I mean Black lagoon was going for less than 24$ in the internet).
    I applaud Tezuka Productions because they are doing the right thing, selling the ep cheap in iTunes, I really do not care is they have DRM. I would buy it cuz it is from Tezuka and he can't do not wrong (call me a Tezuka fanboy, I do not care cuz is an honor :) I hope Geneon learn from this little "big" company and maybe put some of it licenses online it is not late for them.
    If you like what you watch and you have watch all of it buy it once is release here (even if it is a thinpack). If you watch part of it as a preview and liked get it from Netflix. If you have watched all the episodes of  a horrible anime then don't buy it and I am sorry you wasted your time. 
    Buy the good stuff, but at the same time be a smart buyer and get informed before buying. 
    Thank you Rym, Scott, Daryl, Clarissa, Gerald, Dave and Joel for not making me waste money on bad anime. You guys are definately that 1% of the internet that does not suck.  
  • Yeah, I agree, but I just have a feeling they would find that one scene where Faye Valentine looking for a bounty, and she stumbles upon the two guys in bed together. I was thinking that scene in specific.I was thinking of when Faye walked in on that dude (that looked like a lady) while he was showering.
  • Ooh yeah that one too. I forgot about that episode. My point is that networks might find that too controversial even though they already do show stuff that I would say is similar if not worse.
  • My point is that networks might find that too controversial even though they already do show stuff that I would say is similar if not worse.Yeah, it seems there are too many decision-makers who don't understand that cartoons aren't just for the kids.
  • I submit that anime is not as popular as major network TV showsbecauseit is on Cartoon Network instead of NBC.
    Bull. If the market was there, NBC would air anime. After all, FOX has very successful cartoons - so it's not like a major network would be blazing new territory. Sorry... but you've lost some perspective here.
  • I think part of the reason is that there is a stigma attached to anime. Most "normal" people see all of those "weird" geeks talking about anime and think that it must be some avant garde/ insane Japanese thing. It's almost as if there is a sense of xenophobia surrounding it.
  • Bull. If the market was there, NBC would air anime. After all, FOX has very successful cartoons - so it's not like a major network would be blazing new territory. Sorry... but you've lost some perspective here.
    All the animation that FOX shows are sitcoms that lampoon pop culture. An anime like Cowboy Bebop is a totally different animal. It's just one of those chicken and egg problems.

    Anyway, I think a more realistic approach would not be for prime time network, but for HBO. If HBO put Cowboy Bebop, or a similarly awesome show, and pushed it like they pushed The Sopranos, that would rock the nation. It's basically a chicken and egg problem. There's no market because nobody has tried to make it. And since there's no market, nobody will take the risk of trying to make it happen.
  • It's just one of those chicken and egg problems.
    Egg was first. Unless you wish to specify exactly what kind of egg you mean. And if you mean a chicken egg, what's a chicken egg? One which is laid by a chicken? One which will result in a chicken? One laid by a chicken and resulting in a chicken? First case, chicken first to lay said egg, second case egg due to evolution, third case, God, to make a chicken to lay an egg which will hatch a chicken.

    But I agree that more major networks should expand their audience. I mean, there's absolutely nothing but garbage (not counting the A-team) here on the major networks. MTV once broadcasted anime and japanese movies near midnight. Asian screen. Was awesome... is no more.
  • MTV once broadcasted anime and japanese movies near midnight. Asian screen. Was awesome... is no more.
    I hate to keep saying this, but don't you realize why it is no more? They didn't get ratings!

    This isn't a knock against Anime - it has nothing to do with the quality of the product. It's just that you folks think that since you like it, everyone will like it if exposed to it. This just isn't the case.
  • I hate to keep saying this, but don't you realize why it is no more? They didn't get ratings!
    Neither did the shows that replaced it, or the shows that replaced them, or the shows that replaced them. True, they didn't get ratings. But there are other factors contributing to the low ratings besides content, like time slot and marketing. MTV didn't exactly push its anime lineup very hard, and few people watching TV late at night turned to MTV.
  • Anyway, I think a more realistic approach would not be for prime time network, but for HBO. If HBO put Cowboy Bebop, or a similarly awesome show, and pushed it like they pushed The Sopranos, that would rock the nation. It's basically a chicken and egg problem. There's no market because nobody has tried to make it. And since there's no market, nobody will take the risk of trying to make it happen.
    For an anime on HBO to even be remotely successful, it would have to be created in Japan specificity for US consumption, appeal to both the niche and the mainstream US audience and be released in the US first and have a significantly larger animation budget then current anime that shows on Japanese TV. Then it's only about a 50/50 chance of it even being a marginal success. You have to remember the shows on HBO that actually succeed are ones about a family of mobsters or a group of middle age women talking about relationships. Shows on HBO that are good but do not appeal to the mainstream don't even find their audiences on HBO like "Carnivale" (lasted two seasons because the critics liked it), "Deadwood" (same), "Rome" (they had invested so much money on this and it didn't get great ratings, so they hoped a second season would find an audience), "Dead like me" (was on Show time). The only reason shows work on channels like HBO is that they can show mature content but they still have to appeal to a segment of the mainstream that are looking for mature content that still appeals to the mainstream or are extremely cheap to make (like Bullshit) or appeal to a very broad niche audience like Weeds (stoners).

    I would be hard pressed to find anything Anime related that could even attempt to appeal to an US audience on anything but late night Cartoon network. Other then shows that appeal to kids on a broad level like Pokemon. Space Cowboys are niche even on Cable channels. British Sensibilities don't even appeal to a prime time audience here, the Japanese don't stand a chance!
  • I'm not making a field of dreams argument here. It's not like if you put the show on at the right time and spend the money on it, it's a guaranteed hit. What I'm saying is that there is basically a 0% chance of it being a hit if you keep it on the down low. If you actually try to go large, you've got maybe a 25% chance of making it, but at least you tried. There's no way to make it big if you don't go for it.
  • I could see Baccano! being on HBO and doing well. It's just too violent enough to not be on regular TV, and its about 1930's gangsters in the US, and we already know HBO viewers like gangsters.
  • I could see Baccano! being on HBO and doing well.
    That's what I thought when I read:
    You have to remember the shows on HBO that actually succeed are ones about a family of mobsters
    !!!

    @ Kilarney: Yes, I know why it is no more. Don't sound so horribly condescending. And besides, afaik, I'm the only Dutch person on the board here. And Dutch MTV != your MTV. Anyways, Scott is right. Stuff like being broad casted at midnight. When most normal people sleep for they have to get up early for whatever. Heck, I only saw the end of Jin-Roh and a few movies on there. I heard that they had broad casted some Cowboy Bebop. But I did not know that MTV was doing that. Anything that gets decent ratings at midnight is either porn or very very advertised and made of true awesome.
  • Anything that gets decent ratings at midnight is either porn or very very advertised and made of true awesome.
    Or stars David Letterman or Jay Leno.
    Unless those shows are doing worse than I thought...
  • There's this show on Fox late Saturday night after Mad TV called Talkshow with Spike Feresten. It's at a horrible time slot, but it's actually a pretty good show (e.g. - Comedy for Stoners). Because it's in a horrible time slot, barely anyone (at least barely anyone I've met) knows anything about it.
  • I think you guys forget that most of the anime you know and love from Japan, actually plays at midnight there..
  • I think you guys forget that most of the anime you know and love from Japan, actually plays at midnight there..
    Yes, but that is Japan. People don't get home from work until like 10pm because they are crazy.
  • I think you guys forget that most of the anime you know and love from Japan, actually plays at midnight there..
    Yup, at 25:00. I still don't clearly understand why they use those times. Isn't 01:00 enough?
  • I think you guys forget that most of the anime you know and love from Japan, actually plays at midnight there..
    Yup, at 25:00. I still don't clearly understand why they use those times. Isn't 01:00 enough?
    I don't think anyone who uses 24 hour time says 25:00, do they? If they have, it's news to me...
  • I thought it was 0:00.
  • I don't think anyone who uses 24 hour time says 25:00, do they? If they have, it's news to me...
    I saw it in an online tv-guide. All I remember is that someone was explaining to me the times they use in Japan.
  • Apparently Japan is superior to all other cultures, including in the number of hours they have in their day.
  • Can anyone imagine the field day the "modern culture is bad for children" evangelists would have even with something as tame as Cowboy Bebop?
  • Can anyone imagine the field day the "modern culture is bad for children" evangelists would have even with something as tame as Cowboy Bebop?I don't really think that it would be a big issue. They mumbled a little bit about South Park way back when but then let it be. Since then, South Park has been a lot raunchier, and they've just left it alone.
  • Or stars David Letterman or Jay Leno.
    Unless those shows are doing worse than I thought...
    Letterman only gets about 4 million viewers a night, with Leno taking in close to 6 million. Those are fairly mediocre numbers.
  • Can anyone imagine the field day the "modern culture is bad for children" evangelists would have even with something as tame as Cowboy Bebop?
    Good. That sort of "negative" publicity would help the show get popular.
  • You guys are missing the obvious - if it can't make it at midnight, it aint ever going to make it. Think about it... when are college kids and younger folks watching TV in disproportionate numbers? Midnight would be as prime as it gets for an audience that is skewed towards the anime demographic. And yet it didn't make it in that time slot - where only small numbers are needed to keep a show afloat. If that's the case, then it certainly won't make it in a time slot with a lower proportion of young folks.

    While numerically more people may watch anime at 7pm, it would get trounced by the competition if the college kids couldn't even keep going at midnight. TV is not a charity. If something is going to get better ratings, that's what they are going to air.

    I'm not saying that anime audiences can't grow, I'm just pointing out that it will never have the same audience as mainstream television - and that's why there will never be the same economy of scale.
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