Sci Fi Channel launches new anime block.

Hyakushiki · Sat May 05, 2007 10:14 pm

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... nime-block

I say it's about time, Sci Fi Channel lost its relevance back in the 90's and this may be step in right direction for them. If they have anything worth watching it will be a welcome change and adult swim needs some competition to light a fire under them, they're already on notice after last week's Eureka Seven fiasco.

Wingnut · Sat May 05, 2007 10:25 pm

Then in two months we'll see just what they can do.
Any ideas as to what they might show?

Hyakushiki · Sat May 05, 2007 10:46 pm

Noein and Tokko seem to be strong contenders, but there's nothing official about the lineup yet. So like you said we'll see in two months.

EZero8 · Sat May 05, 2007 11:06 pm

Darn... I dont have Sci-Fi!

It's pretty interesting to see what they have in mind for their anime block. Hopefully there are actually some good shows in there and none of the trashy stuff that plagues Adult Swim these days.

Toxicity · Sun May 06, 2007 1:11 am

Looks interesting. Eureka Seven...Fiasco....? Never heard those in the same sentence before.

Draco Starcloud · Sun May 06, 2007 1:22 am

Man, I remember visiting my aunt several years ago before our local cable got some of the more popular stations and for the week I was there, the Sci-Fi channel had two or three anime movies on every night.

That week was also my first exposures to Comedy Central and Civilization II. Good week.

Haros_Pet_Kat · Sun May 06, 2007 1:56 am

I'm not sure if I have Sci-Fi, but I'm sure they would go put up some of the anime I would be more interested in.

Newtype87 · Sun May 06, 2007 2:45 am

Toxicity wrote:Looks interesting. Eureka Seven...Fiasco....? Never heard those in the same sentence before.

Yeah, this is the first I've heard of this too. Could you expand on that if possible, Hyakushiki?

Wingnut · Sun May 06, 2007 2:53 am

Newtype87 wrote:
Toxicity wrote:Looks interesting. Eureka Seven...Fiasco....? Never heard those in the same sentence before.
Yeah, this is the first I've heard of this too. Could you expand on that if possible, Hyakushiki?

[AS] clipped off the opening moment, and the epilogue of the final episode last week, and they aired the entire thing this week at the usual time.
This is not the first time they have goobered up like this. The first airing of the last episode of Big O was the biggest mess up I think they have ever had. FYI, they accidentally aired episode 20 instead of 26, and the uproar was massive.

Imperial · Sun May 06, 2007 4:36 am

AS didn't just air the wrong episode on what was supposed to the night of Big O's finale.

The next week, they aired the first five minutes or so of the wrong episode again, only to switch to the proper installment. It was a clever, if mean-spirited, bait and switch.

Duo · Sun May 06, 2007 6:49 am

Whooooo Hooooo!!

My first experience with Anime was from Sci-fi. About 6AM I had woken up went and turned on the TV and Akira was showing on Sci-fi. I instantly fell in love with it and the following week they showed Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture... and that was the end of the Sci-fi Morning Anime Movies...

I hated Sci Fi for so long, but then I got sucked up into DBZ and haven't looked back. I'm so happy they're returning to the good stuff. I hope they do Gundam from start to whatever the last UC series they've released in the states is (Zeta or ZZ??) then start with the other series.

Ravager · Sun May 06, 2007 7:03 am

They'll most probably start with Gundam stuff, since that's one of the more recognizable sci-fi animes in the USA. And besides, they could get tie-in deals with Bandai.

Turinu · Sun May 06, 2007 9:35 am

Fucking FINALLY. I've been waiting for Sci-Fi to re-adopt it's Anime Block for ages. I remember how I would sit down at night and watch various anime shows on Sci-Fi while we had free cable in the old home... those were the good ol' days, D:.

And now that we're moving into a new house this month, I'll have something else to look forward to now as well.

Brave Fencer Kirby · Sun May 06, 2007 3:58 pm

Ravager wrote:They'll most probably start with Gundam stuff, since that's one of the more recognizable sci-fi animes in the USA. And besides, they could get tie-in deals with Bandai.

You think so? I'm not so sure. Gundam is a niche market within a niche market, to be honest -- they might decide to go with it (I certainly wouldn't complain!) but they'd probably be better off with series that are a bit more widely accepted in the American market, like Cowboy Bebop or Trigun... Especially since Adult Swim is no longer player either.

Turinu · Sun May 06, 2007 4:11 pm

Brave Fencer Kirby wrote:
Ravager wrote:They'll most probably start with Gundam stuff, since that's one of the more recognizable sci-fi animes in the USA. And besides, they could get tie-in deals with Bandai.
You think so? I'm not so sure. Gundam is a niche market within a niche market, to be honest -- they might decide to go with it (I certainly wouldn't complain!) but they'd probably be better off with series that are a bit more widely accepted in the American market, like Cowboy Bebop or Trigun... Especially since Adult Swim is no longer player either.

Rather than air ones that've already been aired and Adult Swim has shown over dozens of times in rapid succession, I'm sure they'll be picking up some anime that hasn't been aired on basic cable. If they reuse anime from Adult Swim that'd be kind of pointless as they're trying to out-do Adult Swim's ratings.

Nightwing03 · Sun May 06, 2007 5:03 pm

Well, over here in Australia, they don't really have an anime block...the only Anime they show is Samurai X

Saikuba · Sun May 06, 2007 5:38 pm

I think that the basic rules for SciFi anime will be as follows:

If it has played on Adult Swim, then probably not. No point in trying to beat the competition with shows that they either have or that they can't get good ratings with. Older shows that Cartoon Network has played but hasn't in forever or has lost the rights to play (like Outlaw Star) are more likely, but still doubtful.

Anything liscenced by ADV Flims is pretty much out. They have their own channel and it doesn't seem like they like sharing. I'd give you a list of exactly what this means, but it'd be pretty long. ADV Films has nabbed up a lot of popular and not so popular but still relevent to these forums (like Dunbine) titles, so this is a significant criteria.

Between those two factors I have no idea which shows Sci-Fi will try to air.

Turinu · Sun May 06, 2007 5:51 pm

Oh god I'd love it if they aired Outlaw Star. Sure, I have the Boxset but still, it hasn't been aired in a long time and it's a pretty good anime, it should drew some decent viewers.

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll air some new animes, like Fate/Stay Night or stuff along those lines. :3

Toxicity · Sun May 06, 2007 7:02 pm

What do you mean "lost the rights to air"?

Sun May 06, 2007 7:06 pm

Ravager wrote:They'll most probably start with Gundam stuff, since that's one of the more recognizable sci-fi animes in the USA. And besides, they could get tie-in deals with Bandai.

Not going to happen. This anime block is comprised entirely of stuff from Manga Entertainment. Given Gundam's past failures on CN, I doubt Sci-Fi would want to pick up and show any of it.