Biggest Bombs for AS Anime

[Master Moron]

And the character designs were unique, it felt naturalsitic and subtle. They looked like inviduals, a look that they and only they could be recongized by.

So, which character design did you like? Phallus hair, mullet nerd, or bald Hitler?

Code Geass over Gurren Lagann or even Gundam 00 was a TERRIBLE choice. Don't get me wrong I liked the show (in Japanese) but it did horribly and 00 might have done better and TTGL absolutely would have.

I still don't understand why people say this. Neither Gurren Lagann or Gundam 00 seem very good to me, and despite claims that they got good ratings on SyFy, no one has ever provided any evidence. I believe both Gurren Lagann and Gundam 00 would bomb if aired on Adult Swim.

 

[Beefy]

Probably because the "Bland Shat 101" is much more profitable than ASA. Generally speaking, AS's comedies are cheap to produce and bring in much higher ratings. Remember how much their numbers went up when they replaced the anime with comedy on weekdays?

I also remember how much Saturday's ratings went down when they replaced the anime with comedy reruns in the later hours of the night. They already tried a Saturday lineup with mostly comedy reruns and 1.5-2 hours of anime and it didn't work. That's about the only reason the anime is still there now.

Saturday is the least watched day of the week anyway, and it's all we have left for anime. If AS can't even throw us a bone and give us just this one night then that's a shame.

 

[Sketch]

So, which character design did you like? Phallus hair, mullet nerd, or bald Hitler?



I still don't understand why people say this. Neither Gurren Lagann or Gundam 00 seem very good to me, and despite claims that they got good ratings on SyFy, no one has ever provided any evidence. I believe both Gurren Lagann and Gundam 00 would bomb if aired on Adult Swim.

Gundam 00 I'll give ya. It probably wouldn't have done better than Geass. Potentially could have done worse.

Gurren Lagann on the other hand while not a revolutionary show or anything all that impressive is FUN and entertaining. Full of action, comedy and just the right amount of drama. I'd say there's every reason to believe it would have done well on Adult Swim for an anime. Probably beat everything except Bleach easily.

 

[Djm912]

I hate to say it, but looking at this thread makes me believe that anime as a whole was a bomb for Adult Swim.

Pretty much every show but Cowboy Bebop has been mentioned.

 

[Taekmkm]

No, it's more like how Kim Manning fails as much as the head of CW.

 

[GWOtaku]

I still don't understand why people say this. Neither Gurren Lagann or Gundam 00 seem very good to me, and despite claims that they got good ratings on SyFy, no one has ever provided any evidence.

I don't think Geass was a bad attempt, but that's simply not true.

NYAF 2008 Gurren Lagann/Bandai/Aniplex panel:

[Bandai Producer Toshifumi] Yoshida said that all 27 episodes of the show will air on SciFi's AniMondays block, and that a Starz representative told him that Gurren Lagann is the most popular anime show ever aired in the block

Obviously 00 and Monster have aired since then (and there is nothing on record about either of those), but opinion on GL didn't come from nowhere.

I hate to say it, but looking at this thread makes me believe that anime as a whole was a bomb for Adult Swim.

Pretty much every show but Cowboy Bebop has been mentioned.

Uh, they really haven't been, not even if you were to include my joke list.

 

[Gatomon41]

So, which character design did you like? Phallus hair, mullet nerd, or bald Hitler?

You do got to admit, those were rather unique and memorable designs. (If for the wrong reasons)

And Bald Hitler was awesome.

 

[Taekmkm]

See, Hitler should only be on a show if he's commanding a legion of monsters.

And then getting destroyed by giant mecha.

 

[Beat]

What about a Hitler expy?

Still, doesn't excuse WHR's ugly character designs.

 

[Taekmkm]

I still give the advantage to an organization so evil, Hilter's only a captain.

 

[Beat]

I still give the advantage to an organization so evil, Hilter's only a captain.

Damn, imagine that job interview.

"Well Mr. Hitler, we. Think your resume is adequate but it lacks that punch we really need for top level executive. We can start you mid-level, see how it works out."

"Nyet."

I don't suppose there's anyone willing to defend Kim's choices, is there?

 

[soundmonkey44]

well my view on ASA is to paraphrase Linus from the charlie brown christmas special... "It's not such a Bad littl block Beat, not a bad Block at all, it just needs some love!"

 

[Eleanor Hugbees]

This is purely about worthiness, incidentally, not ratings, which I agree are a crappy metric to judge on for reasons already said.

Why?
How are ratings, that show what failed to capture an audiences interest regardless of quality, a worse metric than lists and circular arguments of what people think should have failed?

 

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

While I don't complete agree with Beat's arguments and examples, I do agree with the sole thrust of his argument. AS needed to take their biggest early hits and stick with that kind of audience. It's about building a direction. If your hits are shows like Cowboy Bebop and FMA, you don't follow them up with something like Wolf's Rain or Witch Hunter Robin. I'm not saying you shouldn't try throwing in a "different" show once in a while, but you need to stick with the genre/direction that brings in numbers. This is why there are so many police procedurals, so many reality shows that do well. You take your hits and amplify them.

It's a specific kind of audience you're building and you have to choose shows carefully.

Mind you , this is purely a ratings argument. I'm not saying I approve of such a landscape personally.

 

[TheVileOne]

Whatever. Not all shows are hits. Even great shows do bad in the ratings.

And you know what? That's fine with me. I feel more rewarded for having watched these shows that apparently BOMBED on Adult Swim.

What annoys me the most is the way people act like Adult Swim should've never have picked up certain shows. Sorry, I watched them and I liked them. I was giddy over getting to see Milk Chan, Samurai Champloo, and yes even EVA on TV. I thought Blue Gender was great all the way up until the end.

Also TRIGUN, a show I'd been wanting to watch for years.

Though again, they missed out big time in not picking up types like GunXSword and Black Lagoon.

GunXSword is epic and one of the most slept upon and underrated anime of this decade. I think mainly because it wasn't a freaking mind violation and the ending was perfect. In other words, it didn't garner much controversy like *coughevacough*.

 

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Whatever. Not all shows are hits. Even great shows do bad in the ratings.

And you know what? That's fine with me. I feel more rewarded for having watched these shows that apparently BOMBED on Adult Swim.

What annoys me the most is the way people act like Adult Swim should've never have picked up certain shows. Sorry, I watched them and I liked them. I was giddy over getting to see Milk Chan, Samurai Champloo, and yes even EVA on TV. I thought Blue Gender was great all the way up until the end.

Also TRIGUN, a show I'd been wanting to watch for years.

Though again, they missed out big time in not picking up types like GunXSword and Black Lagoon.

GunXSword is epic and one of the most slept upon and underrated anime of this decade. I think mainly because it wasn't a freaking mind violation and the ending was perfect. In other words, it didn't garner much controversy like *coughevacough*.

Personally, I agree with you. I think the shows they picked were, taken as a whole, interesting and eclectic examples of what anime is capable of as a medium. It's just that their audience wasn't interested in the capabilities of anime--they just wanted simple gratification with a linear storyline full of linear character development and stylish action.

Anime fans, in general, aren't fans of arthouse theatre. They're the same people as those who watch ONLY Hollywood movies and some of them ONLY Hollywood blockbusters. Most of them don't know the difference between a Bergman and Bresson, nor would they care to. They'd rather see something that brings the easy pleasures of Harry Potter rather than, say, Death by Hanging or Last Year at Marienbad. I'm not blaming the audience here though. This is Cartoon Network after all. If you want arthouse you go to the Turner Classic Movies channel, not Cartoon Network. This is about knowing your audience.

So when you throw in a show like Paranoia Agent that owes more to 60s Japanese and European New Wave cinema than, say, Law and Order or CSI, you're bound to get negative reactions at best, disinterest at worst.

 

[TheVileOne]

Exactly Jojo. But I still appreciate the attempt at broadcasting it.

also its not like Paranoia Agent is some 100 episode epic show. It was like a 13 episode series. They aired the whole thing. The show was done after that. So I mean . . . what's the big deal? We aren't talking about a show that was canceled in mid-season or mid-production of a season.

 

[Taekmkm]

What annoys me the most is the way people act like Adult Swim should've never have picked up certain shows. Sorry, I watched them and I liked them. I was giddy over getting to see Milk Chan, Samurai Champloo, and yes even EVA on TV. I thought Blue Gender was great all the way up until the end.

Also TRIGUN, a show I'd been wanting to watch for years.

No one complained about Samurai or Trigun. Are people not reading the posts right?

Secondly, people are knocking on the shows like Paranoia Agent because it's out of place in a specific demographic. It's like putting a kiddie show like Arthur on Spike TV, or taking out wresting which was your biggest rating grabber and replacing it with failing chick shows *glares at CW*

 

[GWOtaku]

Why?
How are ratings, that show what failed to capture an audiences interest regardless of quality, a worse metric than lists and circular arguments of what people think should have failed?

To borrow an argument made oft before: Because if you judge only on popularity, Transformers II is the best movie ever. And because I think there is only so much you can accomplish when you're premiering a new, low-profile show at 1:30 AM on a Saturday evening.

 

[Beat]

No one complained about Samurai or Trigun. Are people not reading the posts right?

Secondly, people are knocking on the shows like Paranoia Agent because it's out of place in a specific demographic. It's like putting a kiddie show like Arthur on Spike TV, or taking out wresting which was your biggest rating grabber and replacing it with failing chick shows *glares at CW*

Exactly. I love Champloo, so much so that I bought the entire series on DVD. And apparently the audience did to. So why abandon that type of show? Trigun, EVA, all great shows. (BG was hacked up to the point of being nonsensical, plus ending, but it's not a bad show). None of them would air on Kim Manning's new Adult Swim Action had they debuted today. Kim's the type of executive that would snub her nose at wrestling or MMA because of a belief they're not cultured enough, and watch as the ratings hole they left becomes unfillable.

I never said "don't air this type of show ever for no reason." I'm saying "this type of show failed ad naseum but yet Kim is driving the ASA train all the way to failville with them in the front seat."

If I'm not being clear on any point, please tell me.