Since I have stated that I will be rating these shows based on the quality of their English language tracks, I would like to take this post to relay concerns as to the quality of their television airing. Setting aside the work of the voice actors and script writers, I would like to take this time to turn my attention to the stations hosting these works.
I will start with Gurren Lagann, as it is the only one not being shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
Gurren Lagann is being aired by the Sci-Fi channel in a block of programming they like to call AniMonday. The time slot is reasonable, at 11:00 PM, and they air a full hour of the show as opposed to singular episodes, allowing for a more fulfilling experience and letting them cycle through shows more quickly.
However, this is all the praise I feel I can give them. The episodes themselves are interrupted wherever is convenient for the channel, slamming commercials where they please. This tends to ruin the mood that the episode had taken great pains to establish. There is a clear mark in each episode for a commercial break, indicated with stunning eye catches. These flash both before and after commercial breaks, separating the rest of the show from the products being advertised. It also helps alert the viewer that the show is about to air again, so that they can finish anything they were doing during the commercials (such as chatting with friends or getting a snack) and will not miss the upcoming dialogue. Sci-Fi network offers no such warning, so it is unexpected when the show returns.
Also, the channel often runs banners for their own shows at the bottom of the screen, and does so in a way so that covers up and hides the bottom of the episode. Rather than lift the screen up so that we can continue to watch the episode, we are forced to watch without being able to see what is happening. In most cases this is trivial (albeit annoying), while in others it blocks important scenes or ruins any tension the viewer might have been experiencing during a particularly meaningful battle.
Lastly, the episodes themselves are edited to make room for these extra commercial breaks. Most times these are small details, but I personally find it inexcusable to tamper with an already completed show. Also, there are times where these cuts leave the viewer confused and change the flow of the story.
In one particularly bad case, an entire scene is deleted that changes the main character's intentions entirely. In the unedited episode, Simon had witnessed a stranger throwing away a box, and his curiosity as to what it was lead to him finding Nia. In the Sci-Fi version of this scene, he does not view the man's actions and instead luckily happens upon the box in which she is sleeping.
Code Geass and Moribito are being aired by Cartoon Network on Adult Swim. This runs every night from 11:00 PM - 6:00 AM the following day. Until recently, two thirds of their Saturday night block was anime, but it has now been reduced to a mere one third. Having shown so much anime, they have proven they know how it works. They break only once for commercials, leaving the eye catches in. They do not cut apart the episodes, only making edits where deemed necessary, such as to cover nudity (although I do find this a little ridiculous, as the shows air late at night and include with them a parental warning).
While most of their anime occupies a well-timed, repeating time slot, Code Geass and Moribito have been pushed to the tail end of the schedule, airing at 5:00 AM and never repeating. Why they have done this is beyond me. This is an awkward time to air anything, as it is too late for the average person to stay awake for, and yet is also too early for a person to wake up. This is a large problem for these shows, as people are likely to miss them. Adult Swim seems to rely too heavily on the assumption that everyone has a means of recording these shows for later viewing, or can catch them on their website.
I will start with Gurren Lagann, as it is the only one not being shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
Gurren Lagann is being aired by the Sci-Fi channel in a block of programming they like to call AniMonday. The time slot is reasonable, at 11:00 PM, and they air a full hour of the show as opposed to singular episodes, allowing for a more fulfilling experience and letting them cycle through shows more quickly.
However, this is all the praise I feel I can give them. The episodes themselves are interrupted wherever is convenient for the channel, slamming commercials where they please. This tends to ruin the mood that the episode had taken great pains to establish. There is a clear mark in each episode for a commercial break, indicated with stunning eye catches. These flash both before and after commercial breaks, separating the rest of the show from the products being advertised. It also helps alert the viewer that the show is about to air again, so that they can finish anything they were doing during the commercials (such as chatting with friends or getting a snack) and will not miss the upcoming dialogue. Sci-Fi network offers no such warning, so it is unexpected when the show returns.
Also, the channel often runs banners for their own shows at the bottom of the screen, and does so in a way so that covers up and hides the bottom of the episode. Rather than lift the screen up so that we can continue to watch the episode, we are forced to watch without being able to see what is happening. In most cases this is trivial (albeit annoying), while in others it blocks important scenes or ruins any tension the viewer might have been experiencing during a particularly meaningful battle.
Lastly, the episodes themselves are edited to make room for these extra commercial breaks. Most times these are small details, but I personally find it inexcusable to tamper with an already completed show. Also, there are times where these cuts leave the viewer confused and change the flow of the story.
In one particularly bad case, an entire scene is deleted that changes the main character's intentions entirely. In the unedited episode, Simon had witnessed a stranger throwing away a box, and his curiosity as to what it was lead to him finding Nia. In the Sci-Fi version of this scene, he does not view the man's actions and instead luckily happens upon the box in which she is sleeping.
Code Geass and Moribito are being aired by Cartoon Network on Adult Swim. This runs every night from 11:00 PM - 6:00 AM the following day. Until recently, two thirds of their Saturday night block was anime, but it has now been reduced to a mere one third. Having shown so much anime, they have proven they know how it works. They break only once for commercials, leaving the eye catches in. They do not cut apart the episodes, only making edits where deemed necessary, such as to cover nudity (although I do find this a little ridiculous, as the shows air late at night and include with them a parental warning).
While most of their anime occupies a well-timed, repeating time slot, Code Geass and Moribito have been pushed to the tail end of the schedule, airing at 5:00 AM and never repeating. Why they have done this is beyond me. This is an awkward time to air anything, as it is too late for the average person to stay awake for, and yet is also too early for a person to wake up. This is a large problem for these shows, as people are likely to miss them. Adult Swim seems to rely too heavily on the assumption that everyone has a means of recording these shows for later viewing, or can catch them on their website.
1 comment:
Awesome, I love the background for your blog -- can't beat Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Of course, you're not the only person that seems to be in love with the show -- Alex and I joke about it all the time. He says it's better than FLCL... I don't see how that's possible (as far as perversion goes, FLCL blows TTGL out of the water).
Don't believe in the you that believes in you...
Believe in the me that believes in you... or something like that.
Post a Comment