The Detour website has an online survey up asking for viewer opinions on On-Demand services. If you'€™re at all interested, I recommend taking the survey, but if you do be sure to indicate that the service should be free and that they should not charge extra for it. Corus already has us strung up by the toes with their other On-Demand services which maliciously charge for each program, and they shouldn'€™t be getting the impression that this is OK.

It also states that there will be another survey next week for a new Teletoon digital channel. Gee, I wonder what that might be about?

(EDIT: It looks like they've already launched the Retro survey. Say YES.)

Coincidentally, I launched my own new poll just now that you guys may want to take a look at. While the uncut dubs of classic anime like Gatchaman and Macross would be really cool to see on RETRO, I excluded that option to make the results a little more realistic. But just let me point out that many of the HB classics have never seen a national broadcast in Canada.

Oh, and the results of the last poll:

Should Naruto leave Bionix at some point?

Yes, it should probably air earlier. --> 60.56%

Doesn'€™t matter - just as long as they air it --> 22.71%

No, it's fine where it is. --> 16.73%

The viewers have spoken.

Holy distribution right upheaval, Batman! ICv2 is currently saying that Turner Classic movies is planning to air Studio Ghibli films! The nine currently listed are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Porco Rosso, Castle in the Sky, and Whisper of the Heart, which isn’t even slated for a DVD release yet! If this does turn out to be accurate, then it'€™s a big surprise since it has always been assumed that Disney was making the television rights to these films very prohibitive to obtain.

Does this mean the door is finally opened for Canadian stations to also get their hands on the films as well?

Yesterday morning (ironically the one morning I forgot to check the CRTC website), it was confirmed that the CRTC has approved licenses for both French and English versions of the digital station, Teletoon Retro. The fact that they only renewed Retro and not the other four that they obtained licenses for back in 2000, along with the fact that the Retro block on Teletoon has been done away with makes it pretty clear that they may have plans to actually launch this service soon.

Although Nelvana backstock is inevitable, I seriously hope we'€™ll also be treated to some classic HB cartoons that have never seen national broadcast in Canada. Or maybe even Rock and Rule?

Also approved, licenses for Girls TV and ZTV, two new youth and young adult services from Showcase. Could there be potential for anime in either of these stations? There'€™s a good chance that both of them won't even get off the ground to begin with, but here'€™s hoping!

And be sure to keep an eye out for The Cricket Channel.

Quite likely due to reader feedback, the Edmonton Journal released this statement a few days ago pointing out the error in the first article released. While it can'€™t currently be accessed through the website, a second version of the article was published clarifying that anime wasn't pornography, and this was apparently the only version actually printed in the Edmonton Journal paper. (The first article was only seen in the Edmonton Sun section of Canada.com.) However, it still isn’t as appropriate as a similar article released by the Edmonton Sun which saw no need to make any unnecessary or sensationalist use of the word "anime" at all.

I was very happy to see a response made to this controversy by ANN's own Christopher MacDonald, who puts it quite eloquently. This entire issue disgusts me on so many levels that I'€™m not even sure if I could articulate a proper response on this one glaring problem.

Many of you may remember the incident from earlier this year in which an Edmonton man was slapped with charges of importing child pornography. Well, it looks like there'€™s finally a verdict.

While I see no need to argue with the fact that this guy is a sick freak at what should be considered a subhuman level and shouldn'€™t really be defended for what he did, the fact that this is even being made into an issue doesn'€™t really reflect well on Canada'€™s innane censorship laws or tolerance of fictional material. Not to mention that this article inhibits precisely two seconds of research and reflects very grossly on anime fans.

If you do have a problem with that (which you all should), I recommend contacting the editor and setting them straight on their story. It’s kind of insulting as it is now.

Someone please remind me why we have to be associated with these people at all?
__________________________
Zannen, Canada webmaster.

Starting on October 21st (or 22nd, depending on how you look at it), Gundam SEED will be removed from its current 5am timeslot on Cartoon Network to make way for the remaining episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho, meaning that SEED will officially be dropped from CN'€™s schedule.

The fact that SEED is being removed while .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet still remains on their schedule means that the chances of Destiny airing on the States seem to be pretty much zero now¦ hopefully YTV won'€™t let that dictate whether or not they get the show ASAP. (It would also be great if they got .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet soon since, unless there'€™s some kind of change in November, SIGN will simply be going into reruns starting next Friday.)

Also, Neon Genesis Evangelion begins airing this Thursday night on Adult Swim. I guess it would be cool if YTV eventually picked that up for a midnight airing, but the fact that GitS isn'€™t immune to editing even at that timeslot makes me not so sure. Not to mention that they'd never play the movie.

Well, as those of you who don'€™t just turn the TV off after ReBoot know (and if you are, I suggest switching the channel to Teletoon to watch the AS comedies from 11pm-12am, and then e-mailing them to tell them how much you love them so that they actually bother to pick up Robot Chicken and more than twenty-six episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force) YTV has finally done the predictably unthinkable and made a visual edit to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. And on an otherwise delightful Thanksgiving long weekend, no less!

There was a brief scene midway into the episode in which we could see an obscured scene from a porn film reflecting into the yakuza'€™s glasses from his computer as he was being interrogated. What makes this cut truly outrageous was the fact that important dialogue was sacrificed in the process of making a show intended specifically for adults appropriate for children.

It really isn't much use ranting about this on the front page of my website, so I'™ll be blunt. Yes, they could (and probably will) do worse, but this move alone has made me lose faith in their ability to respectfully handle their properties. Meanwhile, Cartoon Network is actually trying to actively push the boundaries as much as possible by airing the TV-PG version of Naruto at 12pm, and the uncut version of Dragonball Z at 7:30pm on Saturdays. YTV needs to start taking notes.

Or better yet, maybe Corus should just find a way to force Teletoon to air the second season, or perhaps even the remainder of this season, rather than have YTV insult its audience by continuing to hack apart the show in favour of protecting little kids who likely wouldn'€™t even be interested in the show enough to get to the "œinappropriate"€ parts? That'€™s something I think most of us would appreciate. Seriously, what were they thinking when they licensed this show? What, I ask?

Also, just a reminder that YTV currently has both of the .hack//SIGN bonus episodes scheduled to air for the following two weeks, so you can all get your one last fix. And no, they don't explain the ending of the main series. You have to play the games.

Sorry.

According to Teletoon's November schedule, Clone High returns to television Fridays at 10:30pm starting November 4th. Still no sign of Robot Chicken, though.

Now if only we knew what will be running on YTV at the same time!