>Opinions | An Anime Channel: Is It Possible?

Originally Posted by Jeff Harris

When I began CNX back in July 1998, one of the main missions aside from promoting the then-underpromoted Toonami block was to inspire the powers that be at Cartoon Network to create a spinoff network to showcase action-animation. Now, being a naive 20 year old at the time, I figured that there would be fans like myself that would want to see action all the time, regardless of the country of origin from whence they came. I wanted to see a network that could have American shows like Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Exo-Squad, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, 3D shows like ReBoot, Shadow Raiders, and Roughnecks, and anime from DBZ to Kenshin. However, it seems that a majority of the readers of the site would rather see an all anime channel than a diverse action-animation network. I'm puzzled by that, so, I had to ask myself many questions.

Is an all-anime network possible in the United States? Is there enough resources to program an all-anime network? Can anime companies work together instead of against each other? Is there enough support for it, and would the American public be willing to watch? There are so many questions. It's time to have them answered.

Question #1: Are there enough resources to program an all-anime network?
Answer: Yes.

There are more than a dozen distributors of anime series, specials, and movies, including ADV Films, Bandai, Pioneer, Viz, Tokyopop, Urban Vision, Right Stuf, Manga Entertainment, Central Park Media, 4Kids, FUNimation, Cloverway (Toei), Disney, Warner Bros., and Columbia/Tri-Star. Any ambitious cable network owner could easily pair up two or three of these companies to create fine outlets to showcase anime. Studios like ADV and the joint units of Bandai, Pioneer, and Viz could easily partner up with a company capable of creating a cable channel like Liberty Media, Turner Broadcasting, Showtime Networks, MTV Networks, or the ABC Cable Networks group. You should look at two different companies, USA Networks and Cartoon Network, that had different ways of showcasing anime on their established cable networks.

USA and their sister network, the Sci-Fi Channel were the first US cable networks to showcase anime programming in decent timeslots, in addition to traditional action-animation. Over the years, USA Cartoon Express, USA Action Extreme Team, and Sci-Fi Channel's Animation Station block aired anime like Robotech, Gigantor, and Sailor Moon on their networks. Sci-Fi even brought anime films to prime-time like Tenchi Muyo in Love, Robot Carnival, Dominion Tank Police, Roujin Z, Galaxy Express 999, and assorted others, not to mention bringing Akira to cable long before Action Channel was a thought over at STARZ! Encore Media (heck, STARZ! Encore Media didn't exist either back then).

Cartoon Network wasn't the first to air anime, not by a long shot. Anime has been on American television since the 1960s and was part of the consciousness of the youth of the nation during the 60s with Astro Boy, 8Man, Gigantor, and Speed Racer, during the 70s with Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers, and in the 80s with Mighty Orbots, Robotech, Voltron, Tranzor-Z, and assorted others. However, Cartoon Network was the first to create a successful block using anime properties, though it wasn't intended to be that way. The block, known as Toonami, was initially a showcase for "old-school" cartoons like Thundercats, Voltron, and Robotech. With a name like Toonami, you knew it screamed anime, and starting in June 1998, Toonami became a home for recent anime titles like Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z. In September 1999, thanks to the success of the reruns, FUNimation premiered newly dubbed episodes of DBZ, and in June 2000, Cloverway did likewise with their Sailor Moon franchise. 2000 also brought Bandai franchises to weekday television consumption for the first time with Gundam Wing on Toonami, and Pioneer brought their Tenchi Muyo franchise to Toonami.

The partnership between Cartoon Network and Bandai grew, thanks in part to Escaflowne on Fox Kids and that network's lack of faith towards that series. Bandai relied more on Cartoon Network to be the exclusive home for all things Gundam, as well as some shows that would never air elsewhere, like Outlaw Star, The Big O, and Cowboy Bebop. This acquisition was part of Cartoon Network's attempt to reach an older audience, becoming a cornerstone of the Adult Swim block, which premiered in September 2001. Cowboy Bebop also became a cornerstone for Adult Swim's first spinoff, a Toonami-like action block called Adult Swim Action with Bandai shows like Pilot Candidate (which was originally greenlighted for Toonami), UC Gundam shows, and Toonami vet Outlaw Star, as well as non-Bandai shows Tenchi Muyo (another Toonami vet) and FUNimation's Yu Yu Hakusho (which was almost greenlighted for Toonami).

Cartoon Network is also an investor in Bandai programming, helping fund new programs like the second season of The Big O and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. They're also rumored to be trying to coax Sunrise to make a new season of Cowboy Bebop, but considering the ending, one could wonder HOW that would come about. Perhaps the partnership between Cartoon Network and Bandai and their allies will grow even further, as they could prove as a template for how an American broadcaster and an anime distributor could work in the future, broadcasting earlier projects and co-developing future ones.

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