New anime on Super Channel in December (no, this isn't good news)
It looks like Super Channel 2 will be making some controversial additions to its (probably brokered) Manga Entertainment-fueled anime block beginning Monday, December 8. According to their schedule:
November 24 at 9:00PM (EST) - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
December 1 at 9:00PM (EST) - Vampire Wars
December 1 at 10:00PM (EST) - Psychic Wars
December 8 at 9:00PM (EST) - Two episodes of Gurren Lagann
December 8 at 10:00PM (EST) - Now and Then, Here and Now
December 8 at 10:30PM (EST) - Descendants of Darkness
Does this mean Bandai Entertainment sold the Canadian rights to both Gurren Lagann (and in all likelihood Gundam 00) to Manga Entertainment? If so, we can safely place a considerable amount of blame on Bandai for the massive decline of anime on stations people actually get (ie: YTV).
Not only is Super Channel a premium station, but most subscribers aren't even allowed to pay for the service directly. Thanks to the inability for competition between premium stations, you'll need to pay for Super Channel on top of Movie Central or TMC. If you have digital cable through either Shaw or Rogers, Super Channel is offering a free preview of its HD channels throughout December. Anyone without HD is out of luck.
Thank you to doconnor for pointing out this travesty.
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Zannen, Canada webmaster.
The way I read the ExpressVu packages is that you could get Superchannel instead of TMN or MC. But considering what's being offered, it's better to stick with the original stations.
I really don't see Superchannel lasting all that long. Remember First Choice? It started about the same time as TMN and MC but died. The market can't support two different movie providers. That's also why TMN and MC split the market between east and west coast.
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Well, ain't this grand?
Unlike G4TechTV and Razer, which eventually became free for me in one way or another, I don't forsee this happening to Super Channel in the future. And at this point, I'd rather not pester my parents to get a channel simply because it has anime on it, especially if I can't get it directly.
While we should be happy we're getting anime in any sort of broadcasting form in Canada (after all, some anime is better than no anime, which is what I say to those ppl who complain about Adult Swim's anime scheduling), them exclusively airing Gurren Lagann (which seems to be the case) is not good, because Gurren Lagann NEEDS the kind of exposure that YTV can provide.
Another thought just struck me, though: what if YTV simply didn't want it? With them being all "towards the kids/tween" aud such even more than before, they just don't see anime as being profitable. IF that's the case, then Super Channel could quite possibly be the only remaining venue willing to pick it up. Now what I said is rather baseless, but sometimes I just can't help but think as such....
I'm also sort of suspecting that they might even be getting the exact same tapes from Sci Fi. If Gurren Lagann airs with the same edits as done in the USA, that might give us a better idea.
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I really don't see Superchannel lasting all that long. Remember First Choice? It started about the same time as TMN and MC but died. The market can't support two different movie providers. That's also why TMN and MC split the market between east and west coast.
I suspect that the CRTC cracking down on competition had more to do with the regional split. HBO, Showtime and Starz don't seem to have a hard time competing in the States. Probably because you don't have to pay $15 for each service.
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Zannen, Canada webmaster.
HBO Showtime and Starz also have about ten times the audience that Canada has. It has the population size to support multiple companies. It's the difference between trying to run a business in Toronto which has a population of millions and one in Halifax (about four hundred thousand). A larger market can also help reduce the price.
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Another thought just struck me, though: what if YTV simply didn't want it? With them being all "towards the kids/tween" aud such even more than before, they just don't see anime as being profitable. IF that's the case, then Super Channel could quite possibly be the only remaining venue willing to pick it up. Now what I said is rather baseless, but sometimes I just can't help but think as such....
What we suspect though is that Bandai signed the TV Deals to Manga. Manga, and/or Starz Media has ties with Super Channel, and Super Channel alone. It could be that the show was obligated by Manga's contract to air there, or was simply not shopped around in Canada, and if it wasn't shopped around Manga could have went with who they were familiar with, Super Channel.
I wouldn't ever expect YTV to knock on Manga's Door.
This doesn't explain the lack of Geass though. Although, at this point, I don't care about that show.
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Another thought just struck me, though: what if YTV simply didn't want it? With them being all "towards the kids/tween" aud such even more than before, they just don't see anime as being profitable. IF that's the case, then Super Channel could quite possibly be the only remaining venue willing to pick it up. Now what I said is rather baseless, but sometimes I just can't help but think as such....
A similar thought came to me as well regarding this with the same reasons as well. We know YTV is making a current shift to all things hannah montana so perhaps Gurren Lagann just doesn't fit in their plans. I hate to think that since many here wish upon the stars that YTV will get their act together but it's looking more and more like YTV is as dead for new, non-viz anime as teletoon is towards anime in general.
along that line - does anyone know if YTV has an exclusive deal with Viz now? Could that be why all non-viz related anime has seemly vanished?
This all said, it looks like sad times for Gurren Lagann since most of the intended audience will not be able to see it. Shame because from the one episode of the dub I've seen it looks to be one of the best dub jobs to date.
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It was probably a case of Superchannel simply offering more money than YTV. Also, with the demise of Geneon, there just doesn't seem to be as many distributors selling material for TV broadcast. And stations have already experimented with anime. Now they seem only really interested in the popular anime.
There does seem to be some exclusivity, but that might simply be from the lack of distributors. Or it might be like the way Mainfraime Entertainment stuck with Hasbro. Viz and YTV have been working together so long they don't want to try and renegotiate.
Superchannel may have been forced to offer Manga a good deal or run the chance loosing anything that would draw an audience. Remember, while there's a lot of anime produced, only a fraction of it would draw a large NA viewing audience. Gurren Lagann was one of those shows they could expect people to tune in to watch.
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along that line - does anyone know if YTV has an exclusive deal with Viz now? Could that be why all non-viz related anime has seemly vanished?
If they did, why isn't there a Canadian equivalent to Toonami Jetstream? YTV never dealt with Prince Of Tennis, or other various Viz titles. And heck, that might mean one day YTV could air Honey & Clover, NANA (Actually, with the whole Hannah Montana-vibe I could see this working), and Monster. Heck I'm certain Hannah-Montana YTV would die for a show with singing and drama and tween girls.... and let it be a show that is tailored made for a Canadian channel, heck let is be from Viz. What, is that a show Jesse used to champion for? Is that Full Moon I hear?
Honestly, I do believe it's less to do with YTV, and more with Manga and Bandai, more so Manga. YTV and Bandai had a relationship, not exclusive, but still a relationship. Heck, Bionix's original press release states Bandai as a partner... I say we probably would have gotten Gurren on a channel that wasn't Super Channel had Manga not been envolved. I'm sure G4 would love more essentially free TV to fill slots.
I also doubt that Hannah Montana YTV wouldn't try to get simultaneous Gundam 00. Something tells me it will find the same fate as Gurren Laggan.
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...Except that it's licensed by ADV, not Viz.
Except even then it's not, it's licensed by Upper Deck, with the ADR outsourced to Amusement Park Media, ADV's studios.
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At least SuperChannel can air it uncut.YTV would've ended up with, at best, Skiffy's butchered version.
I'm sure Bandai and Gainax would rather the show getting over 10,000 viewers on YTV compared to the likely 15 on Super Channel.* You know since, not everyone has seen Gurren Laggan, and the TV broadcast may encourage them to buy the DVD Packs.
*Both numbers have come from my ass.
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I see that Gintama has been licensed by TV Tokyo. While they are going to be airing it on Crotchroll, YTV has run some of TV Tokyo's stuff in the past. So while it might not appear until at least the fall, there's some chance YTV could air some of the stuff from TV Tokyo including Gintama.
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TheVok wrote:At least SuperChannel can air it uncut.YTV would've ended up with, at best, Skiffy's butchered version.
Why would you say that? SuperChannel is equally likely to end up with Skiffy's version too.
If anything Super Channel is more likely to end up with Skiffy's version since they're getting it from Starz, whereas YTV would be getting it directly from Bandai. But then that just opens the question of whether it's Sci-Fi or Starz doing the time editing for the US broadcast.
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Zannen, Canada webmaster.
I've emailed Super Channel, Bandai, and Manga, so far nada. But considering the inclusion of CPM titles in Descendants of Darkness, Now and Then, Here and Now I think it's safe to say that if a title airs on SciFi it's television deals are likely held by Starz and Manga.
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TheVok wrote:At least SuperChannel can air it uncut.YTV would've ended up with, at best, Skiffy's butchered version.
Why would you say that?
Uh, because it's true. SuperChannel itself wouldn't need to do any censoring, given it's a premium pay channel that has already aired far more explicit anime series in such timeslots.
YTV would NOT be okay with airing this series as-is.
Yeah, but if SC is only provided with a version that has already been edited, they'll have no choice but to air that version. Also, I hadn't heard that the series was edited for content. Where did you hear about that?
Edited or not, the worst part about this is that Canadians who watch anime on TV are basically being forced to pay an extremely high price to watch content that aired on American basic months ago! And Gurren Lagann isn't the type of show that should be dangled on a stick - it's one of the best series' suited for mainstream exposure right now.
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Zannen, Canada webmaster.
Also, I hadn't heard that the series was edited for content. Where did you hear about that?
ANN has a discussion thread specifically for Gurren Lagann's Skiffy airings. It's interesting because many U.S. viewers are discovering the series in two forms simultaneously: (a) sub-only on DVD (or, uh, illegitimately) and (b) dub-only on Skiffy. As such, they're able to compare the two incarnations episode-by-episode, given how both legit runs are unfolding at the same time-ish.
I'm just pissed that it's November and all YTV has to watch are Naruto and Bleach filler episodes.......Wop-dee fricken doo!
I haven't tunned into YTV for like 3-4 weeks and now I could care less what they are airing. It's like when they stopped airing Buffy. I stopped watching YTV for like 2-4 years and then I discovered Bionix one night and Friday nights became one of the few times I would turn on my TV for more than 2 hours. Now they are going to have to pick up a show like Gundam 00, Naruto Shippuden or Soul Reaper before I will think about about tunning in again.
What happened to my favorite station that would play anime like Ghost in the Shell SAC, Full Metal Alchemist or Witch Hunter Robin?
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Pep wrote:Also, I hadn't heard that the series was edited for content. Where did you hear about that?ANN has a discussion thread specifically for Gurren Lagann's Skiffy airings. It's interesting because many U.S. viewers are discovering the series in two forms simultaneously: (a) sub-only on DVD (or, uh, illegitimately) and (b) dub-only on Skiffy. As such, they're able to compare the two incarnations episode-by-episode, given how both legit runs are unfolding at the same time-ish.
We know that the Skiffy broadcasts are edited. For time. The only content "edit", per se, was the airing of the original Japanese broadcast version of one episode. Which was just the version they recieved from Bandai.
If GL were to air on YTV, there wouldn't be any time edits and probably no edits at all besides the airing of that pre-censored episode per Bandai.
I never really found it to be any worse than Bleach in either department. Actually, I don't recall any instances of graphic violence at all in GL. But there's no sense debating that, since YTV's not going to be airing the series anyway.
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Zannen, Canada webmaster.
A couple of examples of Skiffy cuts cited at the ANN thread (both from the same episode, of course):
"Kamina and Simon's asses pixelated"
"No Kamina and Simon being bounced along on a trail of jiggling breasts"
Anyway, don't get me wrong, I wish this and tonnes of other anime series were airing on YTV, Teletoon, Space, etc. But right now anime on Canadian TV is in such death throes, I can't help but thank the stars for SuperChannel (even though I don't get it either).
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