Point - E.W.C.
As a rule I do not watch imported anime on American television. Why? There are a couple of good reasons. One is I am a snob - an
elitist otaku with a voracious appetite for new, groundbreaking material. I am ever searching for that unique anime or manga
series that will pique and sustain my interest. By the time the networks get the cajones to broadcast an anime title, I've seen it
months, sometimes years, ago. So when my editor asked me to throw in my two cents on Cartoon Network's Toonami segment I was less
than enthusiastic about the assignment. I don't watch Toonami or anything remotely like it on television. If I want to watch anime
I'm going to go out and get some. I'm not going to wait for some nudnik T.V. execs to "discover" the hottest thing coming out of
Japan and force-feed me their version of animation extreme. But for the interest of this column I yielded to the pressure of
watching the Toonami segment.
I grasp that the network is trying to approach anime from a different angle, which is a good thing, I guess. If that sounds too
vague, you're right - Cartoon Network is a queer entity. Given the popularity of its real winners like "Dexter's Laboratory," "The
Powerpuff Girls," and "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" why does Cartoon Network insist upon pushing three-hour blocks of "Scooby Doo,"
"The Flintstones" and other bargain basement Hanna Barbara cartoons of which few are even funny?
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While that question stews, let's move on. Did you ever wonder why American networks bother to import so many Japanese cartoons in
the first place? For the money, of course! Sure, some PR proxy will tell you it's to diversify children's programming, introduce
something fresh and bold and new to the weekend and after school line-up - but that's a load of bull. American networks buy up
these little gems to market them to the young tikes here where public opinion decrees all cartoons cater to immature minds.
(Grown-ups, on the other hand, reserve their attention to more mature forms of entertainment such as daytime talk shows, Nascar
racing, professional wrestling, and 'reality-based' television). Until the 18-35 crowd is ready to abandon its prejudices against
animation in general, anime fans will not be witnessing a mass-media revolution for quite some time. The most clueless members of
the entertainment industry's think tank will continue to mishandle some of the best and most provocative anime Japan has to offer
by either butchering it for commercial incentives or ignoring it completely, the latter of which would be a blessing.
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Rehashing an anime series for either censoring or marketing purposes cuts into the quality of the story. If you don't agree just
take a good look at "Card Captor Sakura." "Sakura" suffered a major restructuring thanks to the quacks at Warner Brothers who
removed the first several episodes and supplanted the central heroine with a supporting male character. Why? To rake up the little
lads. "Sakura" is bona-fide shoujo (girl) material. Warner Brothers, however, in an attempt to replicate the success of "Pokemon,"
tailored it to appeal to "Pokemon's" target audience - young boys.
So, network heavies ousted "Sakura" from the title, expanded the unisex "Card Captor" into the plural and slapped on some generic
studio opening music that bears a striking resemblance to the theme for "Pokemon." While not one of the best of the magical girl
genre, "Sakura's" redeeming quality is the oh-so veiled and subliminal homoerotic proclivities among the lead characters, which
Warner Brothers thoroughly cleansed and purified for American television ... whether it was actually there or not.
Need more convincing? How about the "Escaflowne" disaster on the Fox Kids Network? For some strange reason, Fox also thought it
best to chop off the first several episodes of the series. Then it got rid of all the cool dying and killing scenes, but added some
watered down techno music in the promotion shots to give the series an edge. If that wasn't humiliating enough Fox campaigned their
new series with one of the cheesiest tag lines in the history of kids' programming: "Go With the Flow" - get it? As in "Esca 'FLOW'
ne."
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Out of all the networks on American television that feature cartoons imported from Japan at least Cartoon Network tries to be a
little more democratic. Toonami targets the crowd who enjoys the camp and flair of the anime inspired "Powerpuff Girls" but could
also go for more bellicose material. It features such battle intensive series as "Outlaw Star," "Sailor Moon," "Dragon Ball Z,"
"Ronin Warriors" and "Gundam Wing." Sorry to all of you "Wedding Peach" fans who are not going to catch any of that kind of stuff
here. Cartoon Network still aims anime towards kids - airing a lot of the shows in the afternoon - but it also demonstrates an
awareness of the anime fan community. The network aired an uncensored version of "Gundam Wing" at a later time slot. This was a
breakthrough for anime on American television, a company that was willing to broadcast authentic and nearly unadulterated
trans-cultural animation even if they had to screen two versions of the same show. Granted, being a cable station, Cartoon Network
can afford to do this, but hopefully their example will establish a precedent in American television.
One more thing: I just want to reiterate that this is not a researched feature. I do not have any facts or statistics to back
up my claims - this is all my opinion. You are more than welcome to tell me to go stuff myself. (E.W.C.)