Sci Fi Channel goes Anime
Ani-Mondays starts June 11th with Ghost in the Shell movie
The Sci Fi Channel is getting into the anime game, with its Ani-Mondays programming block. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society will be its debut.
(Source: IcV2)
Anyone who thinks anime is the province of 30-year-old virgins who get off on cartoon nudity is in for a big shock. The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Toonami programming blocks are pulling big enough numbers with an anime-centric format that other broadcasters are beginning to notice.
Last January, I told you about the CRTC approving YTV's application to create The Anime Channel in Canada. That channel will show a minimum of 65% anime content, most of it geared towards the over-18 set.
Now, according to Broadcasting and Cable magazine, The Sci Fi Channel is putting together Ani-Mondays, a late-night block of anime designed to directly compete with The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
If one needs further proof that Ani-Mondays has Adult Swim firmly in its sights, look no further than the anime movie it's showing on its debut: Kenji Kamiyama's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society, which comes out on DVD July 3rd. This movie made its Japanese debut last year, and has a solid 7.9 out of 10 with IMDb voters. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society will air on Monday, June 11th at 11 pm (ET, PT).
Adult Swim has been showing episodes of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex for a while now, with Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig set to debut on the block this May. It remains to be seen how the Cartoon Network reacts to Sci Fi's stunt.
So why is the Sci Fi Channel getting into anime? The biggest reason is probably demographics. The average age of the typical Sci Fi Channel fan is around 44, and the channel would obviously want to drop that by a couple of decades at least. Adult Swim pulls in an average of 281,000 members of the much-desired 18 - 34 demographic every Monday night. Of course, the Sci Fi Channel would want a piece of that.
Right now, Sci Fi only brings in a paltry 44,000 18 - 34's to its Monday night programming.
In order to make Ani-Mondays even more attractive to anime fans, Sci Fi has inked a one-year deal with Ghost in the Shell producers Manga Entertainment. After Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society's debut, Ani-Mondays will start airing the 24-episode Noein - To Your Other Self, directed by Kazuki Akane and Kenji Yasuda. That airs June 18th, at 11 pm.
Following that at 11:30 comes the 13 episodes of police anime TOKKO, directed by Tohru Fujisawa. After that comes the classic 4-episode Macross Plus OVA, which airs at midnight. Macross Plus was the most expensive anime created to date when it came out on August 25, 1994, and was considered the pinnacle of the anime craft.
Manga Entertainment is owned by Starz Media, the guys responsible for Sci Fi Channel mainstay Painkiller Jane. They also put out a little something called 30-Second Bunnies Theatre.
