Forum - View topicU.S. primetime Anime?
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Andy26
Posts: 41 |
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Will U.S. broadcast television ever show prime time Anime?
I am speaking of the big four broadcast networks ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC. Do you think any of them will broadcast a mainstream Anime series? We have several offerings of western cartoons that have been a prime time staple for years. Most notably the Sunday night animation lineup on Fox including the Simpsons, Family Guy, etc... What would you suggest as a series that would be a good representative of the genre? With this hypothetical question I would suggest that it should be a series with a general enough appeal that it would be something many different people would find interest in. Ideally the series would stand strong enough on its own that it would be a door opener for other shows to come. Should the series be serial in nature or one shot episodes that can be viewed without the need for much context? Should it be violent, sexy, or clean for all ages. The content approved for prime time has changed a lot in the past two decades, how far is too far? I will submit "Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood" as my offering. While the serial nature may make it difficult for the casual viewer, it does offer some great storytelling, acting, and animation to keep the focus of our ever shortening attention spans. I'm curious to hear what you would suggest as your candidates. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9854 Location: Virginia |
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Broadcast TV while not actually dying is becoming more and more marginal to community life. The days when half the country tuned in to watch a single hot show on a given day are gone. Like any company that is losing market share they are doubling down on what they think they do best. While not impossible, anime in prime time is rather unlikely.
If it does happen it will not be any thing that isn't full screen and high definition. It will not be anything previously shown anywhere. Most likely any such show will be a coproduction so completely Americanized as to be almost unrecognizable as anime. |
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InfiniteJest
 Posts: 136 |
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Broadcast TV won’t even be the measure for much longer. But Netflix moving into featuring shows like the Dragon Prince makes me think the answer isn”yes”
It won’t happen instantly but globalization of entertainment indicates it will get there. Part of it is anime has to adopt a more global view. The Weeb rage demand that we only consider it anime if it’s from Japan vs multinational companies putting out content that’s written one place, animated in another, and voiced in yet another is the reality. Purity tests aren’t going to last for much longer either. That means evolving content that aligns with broader consumer tastes. It’s a business. It will go wherever there is more money. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
 Posts: 4861 |
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They never will because anime shows cost a lot to license and networks would rather spend their money on their own original projects they can control the IP than something they're paying somebody else just to air. Shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy work on network TV because they're primarily viewed by most Americans as sitcoms first and animation second. Even among live-action TV shows sci-fi and fantasy shows are difficult to get off the ground and expensive to maintain and shows like Game of Thrones and Star Trek are more the expection than the rule.
Anime is also primarily watched by teens and young adults who are more invested in streaming while network TV is primarily by older demographics. If the CW is dumping all their live action comic book shows in favor of reality TV shows, they're definitely not going to invest in anime any time soon. Your best bet would be if someone like Cartoon Network started airing anime during prime time but even Cartoon Network cares more about promoting their own original cartoons (which even that they barely do these days) and anime is regulated to just late night Saturday. But honestly don't see much of the benefit of anime on network TV when everything can be viewed on streaming and I haven't watched regular TV in a decade. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9854 Location: Virginia |
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I think you are partially right in this. There will likely be entertainment with a global view that involves Japanese studios. Heck, they have already tried but with somewhat marginal results. But, I also think you are mostly wrong. The so called "anime industry" is not a single entity. It is not even a handful of dominate studios as it is in the U.S. It is dozens of animation studios, dubbing studios and special effect studios brought together on an ad hock basis by production committees for individual projects. Also there will always be a market for entertainment specific to the Japanese market. While some studios chase after the big global bucks others will be still be doing stuff for the local market because there will be money there as well. What you call "Weeb rage" is just people being upset at the possible loss of something they like. I got into anime because it had "something" that I was missing in U.S. entertainment. After some thought, I feel it is because Japanese culture is different from mine and from anything I've experienced. Also their myths and legends and even the "things that go bump in the night" are vastly different. These differences are all through the writing of anime and that is what attracted me. I can't speak for others but I think that is the basis for the popularity of anime outside Japan. A globalized production would lose that special something. It is not a question of a purity test, it is just that such a show would not have what I'm looking for. I think the relative lack of success of U.S. live action versions of Japanese shows is indicative of what might happen. Another thing to think of is the nature of streaming. Unlike broadcast or cable TV, we no longer have to watch what they are currently pushing or watch on their schedule. This allows the presence of niche communities around specific tastes. As long as there is a market for content made specifically for the Japanese market it will be licensed for English language streaming. There is money there also. Maybe not as much as for the global blockbusters but enough. |
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AsleepBySunset
Posts: 209 |
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Call it "weeb rage" all you want, but the dragon prince isn't anime. It doesn't look like anime, it looks like a how to draw fantasy book I got when I was eight. It isn't written like an anime, it's written like a direct to streaming netflix series. Defining anime as "animation made in japan" isn't a purity test, its a practical definition of the word anime, defining anime as "animation which looks like animation made in japan" is incredibly fuzzy and open to "pushing the border", "maybe this is anime because it has serial elements", "maybe this is anime because it has less cartoony art". What a waste of time. Just say your american cartoon has serial elements. I didn't watch the dragon prince because I wanted a 'faux anime', I watched it because I wanted a western cartoon with serial story telling. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
Posts: 4861 |
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Most people like anime because they find the stories and characters entertaining and most people aren't checking if the latest Shonen Jump or mech anime is made for Japan or "global audiences" to decide if they like it or not. The quality of an anime depends entirely on the staff and production scheduling and not whether it's made for Japanese sensibilities or not. There's a lot of anime made that have reached global success like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell that are beloved classics and plenty of anime made for Japanese audiences that are bad like any of the dozens of isekai power fantasies or ecchi harems people forget about in six months after they air. But it feels like a weird orientalism to argue anime is inherently better because of it's Japaneseness especially when even shows like One Piece are now being made with American animators in high positions. You also nowadays have a lot of anime where maybe the adaptation is made in Japan but the source material is from Korea or China and that's going to happen a lot more frequently down the line and a lot of anime is also being outsourced to those countries. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9854 Location: Virginia |
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@Cardcaptor Takato
I didn't say that anime was better just because it is Japanese. I said it was different and that the difference attracts me. I think that difference attracts a lot of people which is why we have a distinct anime fandom. I also did not even try to suggest that all anime is good simply because it is Japanese. Much of it is mediocre and some is down right awful. However, even some of the mediocre stuff is a lot of fun. Just because an anime is a global success doesn't mean it is not fully Japanese. Ghost in the Shell certainly is. Cowboy Bebop has intentional western elements but those are clearly as seen through Japanese eyes. The ending with its descent to ashes and death is very Japanese. It is right up there with the ending of The End of Evangelion or the end of the manga version of Lone Wolf and Cub as a downer. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
Posts: 4861 |
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My point is anime made for Japan vs global audiences is a false dichotomy as many anime works nowadays are global co-productions and even many anime works that are thought as of for Japan also have a global influence and most anime is made with the understanding it's going to be streamed globally on various platforms and many anime productions have non-Japanese staff members working on them. Anime is already plenty global. But as you say just because anime is global doesn't make it less Japanese and the Japanese culture element is still there even in Western inspired works. But I don't think anime being more global will make it more likely for it to be on primetime TV because the demographic that watches anime is watching streaming or cable networks like Cartoon Network. |
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Andy26
Posts: 41 |
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Well, it appears there are some larger discussions to be had here. My original point was just to speculate about what an Anime on Fox's Sunday night lineup would look like next to our western cartoons. What is or is not "Anime" is a topic that appears to have staunch supporters regardless of where you stand.
I fell in love with Anime first and then Japanese culture from there. I do agree with sentiments in which Anime created from the Japanese mythos if you will is just different. A good example I can point to would be Mushi Shi, I love the fact that some stories don't have happy endings and in fact most don't so let's celebrate the beauty behind the suffering. How many Anime end with the majority of the protagonists suffering a horrible fate, a crippling injury, or just dying? Topics generally avoided in western cartoons. I don't think it matters if the majority of the animators are in Korea or the CGI was handled by a Canadian studio, yes there is clearly a global industry involved in the production. With that acknowledged, Anime is distinctly Japanese in *feel*. I think I fall in line with @Alan45 on this topic in recognizing the fact that the myths, legends, etc. of the Japanese people being so different from our own owe a lot to the differences in our storytelling. The few Anime that I have been exposed to that were clearly western in design and implementation have paled in comparison to most of my favorite Japanese Anime. Castlevania is a recent one they started showing on the prison channel here. As a cartoon it's pretty neat and the characters kinda look right, but its not Anime to me. Will the U.S. ever show an Anime in primetime? I think now that this is unlikely. I can envision something with an Anime skin but soulless underneath, thus likely unsuccessful. |
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