Zannen, Canada - Five Years Later: An unfortunate coincidence - Comments

Hey writerpatrick! Nice to

flameofrecca — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:21:31 -0800

Hey writerpatrick! Nice to meet you. I hear what you said about the avi thing and I know exactly what you mean. Heck, I watch all of my anime now on my ps2, which is only able to play avi files. Anything using the h264 codec is unplayable. I heard EVEN people in the wii homebrew community have trouble getting those files to play, without any lag.

Regarding YTV, so I guess it was simply a loss of ratings, if I'm correct? For what's it worth though, I know people who were willing to wait for Ytv's Naruto airings, despite the constant repeats, and I could kinda understand.

It was kind of nice, after a hard week of school, to come home on Friday, or Saturday(as they changed it) and just turn on the Tv and watch anime well into the night. It actually gives you something to look forward to every week.

I'm not saying your wrong, of course, as internet is CLEARLY the easiest way for anyone to watch anime with the simple click of a button. Youtube is an absolute behemoth for unlicensed anime. It's just sad to see the next generation missing out on what made YTV's friday nights such an anime powerhouse, just a few years back...

The reason AVI is preferred

writerpatrick — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:21:38 -0800

The reason AVI is preferred is simply because it plays in some devices that won't handle the other formats like Divx DVD players (which also seem to handle Xvid) and X-Box machines (although I can't attest for that first hand).

YTV lost a lot of it's Naruto and Bleach fans simply because it kept delaying and repeating episodes until the show fell far behind even the US releases. Why wait six months to see a dubbed episode available online?

Given the current situation, online access seems to be the future of anime for at least the next five years. With the exception of maybe a handful of shows, anime is gone from TV for the near future.

Hi everyone, I'm new to this

flameofrecca — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:15:01 -0800

Hi everyone, I'm new to this site, but I've stumbled unto this site, years ago, and never joined, but always kept up to date as to see whether Ytv would ever change. It was nice to know that there ARE other canadians out there who enjoyed watching Ytv as a kid

Anyway, I also wanted to add my congratulations to the five year anniversary of this site. I couldn't agree more with your definition what real anime is and that Bionix definitely NEEDS to be restored. It isn't much, but it meant a lot to all us canadian anime fans out there.

Regarding the topic before me, while I agree that combining television and computers could definitely be possible, it's just not the same. I think it also stems back to that whole nostalgia thing. It could certainly be possible to implement other features into television, but people seem to like things the way they are.

If I could give an example, I think it's the same reason why people still want anime releases in .avi quality eventhough mkv, and h264 is clearly much better. And also why gamers out there prefer actually buying games at stores rather than having everything become a DLC future.

Or just plug an external,

CyberDramon — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:37:53 -0700

Or just plug an external, big-screen tv/monitor into the laptop for special tv viewing, like the Superbowl (for whichever people watch that).

That should be possible, and combines the experience of a big-screen tv with the flexible uses and portability of a laptop.

So really, in essence, computers and television have already become one, for most practical purposes.

There are setups with both

TheVok — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:49:17 -0700

There are setups with both options, where you sit at your couch facing a big monitor and can either use a typical remote control or a full keyboard, depending on the application.

The thing is, it's the number of screens that's increasing. One of the main reasons notebook (aka laptop) computers are selling so well in the consumer market right now is not so much mobility as size; they're being used throughout families' homes as secondary personal computers.

So I think it would make a lot of sense for these notebook computers to have 'docking stations' where they can be set down for TV viewing. And then yes, the same computer can go back on your lap for reading message boards, etc.

To me it always seemed that

Lanisatu — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:25:49 -0700

To me it always seemed that there would be a problem with using a television for browsing the Internet because you need a keyboard to type with. (it's quite simple to use a monitor as a television though)

A remote control is much simpler, for the way that most people watch television.

With Tivo, when you search for programs by title, you need to use the remote to select characters, and it's more time-consuming. This is fine if you're making a season pass or planning to record something special, but I wouldn't want to watch everything by having to spell out titles.

I think that if you could set up bookmarks as "channels" it could work better to watch certain Internet content through your television. But, I don't think I'd want to read blogs and message boards on a large TV.

The Internet through TV

writerpatrick — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:57:27 -0700

The Internet through TV doesn't work but TV through the Internet does. The main reason using the TV for Internet didn't work is that the resolution of TVs was too low. But with LCD and plasma TVs giving the same resolution as a computer monitor, there's no problem. And with cable Internet, the Internet signal goes through the same wire as the cable TV. It is also possible to get some form of satellite Internet but one still needs a phone line for uploads.

What's going to happen is that TVs will eventually have built in computers. Right now it seems most new computers come with a TV tuner card, although they're only about $100 separately.

I am currently using my computer as my TV, and I've been able to do it for years. I was using an All-In-Wonder card but replaced that to enchance the graphics. I have an 22-inch widescreen LCD display and use a program called DScaler to watch TV with. (Default TV software is always lousy.) If I was using a faster computer I would have HDTV, although I'm limited because of the old processor. Naturally, this gives me the flexibility of getting video from either TV, a file or the Internet (including streaming video) and watching it like TV. So it is very much possible that computers and TVs will become one.

I've heard of the Internet

Lanisatu — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:15:05 -0700

I've heard of the Internet through the TV idea before as well, and not just from Microsoft. It usually fails. I don't think people actually want to browse the Internet through their TV.

However, I do know that Tivo will allow you to download some things to watch on your TV. Pay services like Amazon unbox work with this, but there's also free content that you can download (e.g. from Cnet). You need to have your TV connected to your broadband Internet connection for this to work. And there is certain content that you can't then save to your computer (like Amazon unbox content). I'm sure other DVRs/ PVRs could do this type of thing as well.

I believe Microsoft once

CyberDramon — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:11:38 -0700

I believe Microsoft once said that an aim of theirs is to unite tv and internet as a single entertainment source in the home. Watch movies from the computer; use the tv as a computer screen; have a personal 'channel' from your home through the internet on which you can show a streaming broadcast of live video, etc.

So a possible future is where there's a streaming 'channel', shown through the internet and available to watch through a tv, which shows free episodes with ads, and a link (for people watching through a computer) that allows them to watch more episodes of that series (either for free with ads, or for a subscription without ads), and possibly a pay service with download-to-own links for the episodes, for dvd-set versions with subtitles and extra features.

Sounds plausible?

The internet would have to be able to handle the viewing load, though (HD and streaming channels, and all), but then again we *do* have 64-bit processors now...

A lot of anime DVDs that

writerpatrick — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:51:28 -0700

A lot of anime DVDs that sell in Canada are shows that air not just on Canadian TV but US TV as well. It suggests that the DVD titles we get may be more influenced by what DVDs the US gets rather than what airs here. (Although, even though Blood+ didn't air, Blood:The Last Vampire did.)

Maybe this is the solution:
http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/07/25/new-study-proves-the-obvious-people-will-sit-through-ads-to-get-free-internet-tv/

Free anime with ads would satisfy the fans and eliminate the need for fansubs. Besides, TV is becoming obsolete and the Internet is taking over. It might take ten years though for the change to fully occur but it's headed in that direction. The Internet has too many advantages over TV.

It's like when a typical

TheVok — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:06:15 -0700

It's like when a typical movie plays in theatres ... it might not actually be the most profitable market for it, it might go on to make way more money on DVD, but that initial release is very important for visibility's sake.

TV achieves a very high level of visibility compared to almost any other medium. I'm sure some anime series like Death Note are selling and renting better on DVD because of it. But there can also be 'hits' within the DVD market alone, particularly if they're well-publicized (e.g. Blood+ in Canada) and/or have established brands (e.g. Witchblade).

I have noticed physical

Lanisatu — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:18:14 -0700

I have noticed physical video stores only start carrying particular series if they've aired on TV. Otherwise, I think it depends mainly on if their staff likes anime.

For a service like Zip or Netflix, you're naturally going to have a larger variety due to a larger market. So you might not see fluctuations like that.

I do agree that TV is one of several areas that can support the industry. I've yet to see something else reach as large a variety of people; but I think it's possible to surpass TV in that way, I just have no idea when that will happen.

I haven't seen the wide

TheVok — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:49:37 -0700

I haven't seen the wide availability of dubbed anime on TV (which peaked in recent years) lead to any price drops for DVDs, etc. Nor have I found it any easier to rent or buy DVDs of shows airing on TV versus shows not airing on TV; indeed, pretty much everything I've rented lately has not aired on TV.

But don't get me wrong, we're in agreement on the issue of anime on TV; I think there needs to be a lot of it, whether it's dubbed or subtitled, and I do think it helps the 'industry' overall (though anime in North America isn't an industry at all, just an ancillary market to an industry in Japan).

It's just that that doesn't make TV "the best" for the fans. It's only one of several media pillars that's needed to prop up the market. Another is legit downloading, an area where supply really needs to catch up with demand.

logos: Amazon accepts more

Lanisatu — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:57:20 -0700

logos: Amazon accepts more methods of payment in the U.S. But only credit cards and gift certificates in Canada.

TheVok: IFC, SuperChannel, TMN, Movie Central and the like can air subtitled anime without issue. But it's not that common. I've rarely found subtitled content on TMN, for one.

YTV, SPACE, Teletoon, and G4 shouldn't air subtitles though, it won't work for them. (when I said mainstream, I meant stations that are more commonly a part of TV packages; G4 and movie channels aren't as common as SPACE, Teletoon, and YTV)

Subtitled anything doesn't have as wide an appeal. I think that we'd see more subtitled content in movie theatres and on TV if it were more popular.

I'm sorry, but the preference for subs is far lower than the acceptance of dubs. And dubbed content on television will promote a property to the point that availability increases and prices can drop -- which is good for all fans.

While dubs won't directly appeal to all fans, they will be acceptable to a large number. And those who dislike them have the option to rent or buy instead. (and it will be easier to rent or buy a property airing on TV)

Lanisatu wrote:TheVok: We're

TheVok — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:30:39 -0700

Lanisatu wrote:

TheVok: We're talking about mainstream television here. Dubs are attractive to a larger number of people and subtitles don't generally work on mainstream stations. You do not have to watch dubbed anime on TV if you hate it so much, but plenty of other people will.

I don't hate dubbed anime. I just said that the lack of choice means TV is not the best option for fans overall.

And no, we're not talking about mainstream television ... I think we'd all be happy if in addition to YTV, there was more anime on Teletoon, IFC Canada, G4, SuperChannel, etc. ... whereas none of us expect it to show up on free, over-the-air broadcast networks.

Five Years Later: An unfortunate coincidence

Pep — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:53:29 -0700

Because most of us are going to be watching The Dark Knight in theatres tonight, there's a good chance that you won't notice that Bionix isn’t airing in its regular timeslot. But if you tune in next Friday night, you'll notice that Bionix is once again not airing. It also won’t be airing the week after or... pretty much any week after that. It is actually entirely possible that you will never see Bionix air in that golden timeslot ever again. Tonight, YTV viewers will be treated to "Big Fun Fridays", a heavily tween-oriented line-up that consists of YTV's American Idol knock-off and a series of tween movies that scream "we want to be the Disney Channel!".

YTV has clearly already received a number of fan complaints, because despite what TV listings are saying, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, and Eureka seveN reruns will still remain late at night, starting at 1:15am. Apart from that, all of the remaining anime on the station has been tossed aside to Bionix's needlessly crippled, obscured, and encore-free timeslot on the one night of the week that Neilsen analysts are doomed never to enjoy again throughout the entirety of their careers: Saturday. This massive fragmentation will be the most drastic change that the block has undergone in its four year history, and is most certainly the worst one to happen yet. It may seem like an innocuous change, but it certainly doesn't resonate well with our previous abundance of anime on Canadian TV rapidly toppling over as if the last two years never happened.

The truly hilarious irony: this unfortunate move just happened to exactly coincide with the fifth anniversary of this website.

That's right. The better half of a decade ago on July 18, 2003 (yes, I intentionally launched it a day after my birthday so that I'd remember), Zannen, Canada was launched. Being comprised of little more than some questionable rants written by a bored 16 year old over the summer and scraps leftover from my initial experiments with Dreamweaver, what started as a spin-off of the now defunct Pathea.com (remember THAT joke of a website?) wasn’t much to behold. But no one can really deny that as flawed as the content may have been, it got people talking. I'm not sure whether this day is better reserved for reflecting on this site, or breaking out of my current state of passive observation and bitching about how everything we’ve rallied for is facing oblivion. But come on, when’s the next time I’ll have a chance to do both?

My site was launched with the sole intention of getting what we would call “real” anime on TV. It’s hard to define that these days, especially with the way Viz is handling its properties, but it basically amounted to anime that hadn’t been heavily localized for television; closer to the types of shows that Toonami and Adult Swim had been picking up in the US for years. Two weeks later, by total coincidence, Inuyasha was announced for YTV. This was basically a cold shower for my amorous new cause, but I decided to keep things going anyway, just so people would have one place they could come and keep track of just where anime in Canada would go from there. And what a great direction it went - Bionix was formed a year later and developed a significant mainstream audience that expanded well beyond hardcore anime fandom. Its following was not quite like that of Cartoon Network’s Toonami, where fans would be willing to skip their best friend's wedding reception in order to catch that eleventh anniversary extravaganza and simultaneously complain online about what a letdown it is, but it didn’t take long for the block to make up for lost time and make a name for itself.

Delivering news and information on the block involved little more than checking a few key resources that nobody ever bothered to keep an eye on, and deliver it under the thin guise of Canadian animation news. These days, this site's community has burgeoned to the point where certain individuals are more than happy to take care of all the grunt work themselves, which I’ve certainly come to appreciate. Not to mention our trolls, resident critics, and those few veterans who always make sure to pop out of the woodwork every so often to remind me about who pointless my site has become. Thanks guys! We’ve certainly come a long way from the days when I refused to keep the forum up due to a lack of activity. But no, things are different now in the modern era of Wednesday, December 31, 1969.

I’ll admit that this website isn’t at the top of its game. While Zannen began by provoking that hidden, salacious desire of the masses to read giant blocks of text,what little writing is left has gone a bit downhill, and updates are a lot less frequent. But in a similar way, Bionix has rapidly fallen from grace. It had always been a stand-out block of programming on YTV in the sense that, for at least an hour-and-a-half a week (usually two hours), it was the only programming on the station completely immune to what we now like to call the annual “CanCon Purges”. Despite this obvious sign of success, and constant allusions to its popularity with the 12-17 demographic (funny that we keep harping on that, considering that I don’t think anybody who actually visits this website falls into that age group), it is now being cast away to the dead zone of Saturday nights, almost as if to imitate Cartoon Network. And we all know what a sorry state anime is in on that station.

At least with G4TechTV, Razer, and Much we could see logical reasons for anime being nixed. With TechTV, the affordable exclusivity deal they had with Geneon fell through after the latter company bowed out of the anime market earlier this year, Razer’s conversion to MTV2 leaves little room for crazy Asian drawings, and BECK had always been an isolated incident on Much. And there was also IFC Canada, but going exclusive with Manga Entertainment obviously didn't work out there. For a while we were ahead of the States for the first time… well, ever. But while anime is still in fairly bad shape on American TV, they still have a remarkable number of new shows coming this fall, especially on Sci-Fi. Now, YTV may still air some of that. And that would be just dandy. But even if the block does grow back the additional girth that it righteously gained throughout its run, the fact that it has been moved to Saturday is an enormous set-back, especially since the move may have more to do with a change of focus than an actual problem with ratings. (But don’t quote me on that – as usual, I don’t actually know.) Friday has generally been one of YTV’s red carpet nights, and with that timeslot gone due to a desire to shift focus over to tweens, anime is just… there… And with all of the other problems going on in the anime industry, it doesn’t exactly inspire much hope.

If what we’re seeing now is the track YTV is setting its sights on, we'll soon be back to where we were five years ago, only with Naruto and Bleach as the perennial exceptions to an otherwise dry anime landscape rather than Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon. If Blue Dragon hits Bionix this September (what a dire move that would be), the block will consist of nothing but kid’s shows from Viz. Yes, they may wind up launching that all-anime digital specialty station, but moving all of their major premieres there will mark the final, true death of anime on conventional television. Bionix made “real” anime into something for the masses, not just for a few rabid fans willing to pay extra for what will likely be a very limited service. For the sake of diversifying the mainstream Canadian television landscape with a much needed international flavour, Bionix needs to be restored. It may not represent the full potential anime carries on Canadian TV, but for now it's pretty much all we have.