It's Back - Akihabara Renditions

[Drew_Sutton]

Something like 10 years ago... a couple of anime fans used to gather in an apartment north of Atlanta and on the second-hand furniture therein, would talk about Japanese cartoons. These talks were recorded and released to the Internet. And they broke probably every rule when it came to podcasting, even then. They were Akihabara Renditions.

After a couple of years, the show fell to the wayside but now it has been resurrected for Series 2!

... There's probably some dramatic theme music that should play here ...

Anyway, while that's the 90% Accurate story of the genesis of the Akihabara Renditions podcast, the most important part is that we're back! Myself and good friend Richard are going to be periodically discussing some topic relevant to our fandom, which is usually the type of cartoons that people on this very same forum. There will probably be some blogging component to it as well.

I'd appreciate it if some folks here would check out the Season 2 episodes (just a couple up now) and leave us some feedback, follow on Twitter/FB. We're now over at https://akibaren.net

[DKop]

I'll give it a listen for sure!!

[Drew_Sutton]

New episode went live tonight. On this episode, Richard and I talk about some of our first series and experiences diving deep into anime fandom. The shows we love and how they drove us over the edge! Give us a listen!

[DKop]

Since you mentioned about fandom backstories, theres someone wanting to do a collective of writings from fans on how they got into anime fandom, which ill be working on mine shortly.

http://www.otakujournalist.com/whats-yo ... gin-story/

[SteveH]

Since you mentioned about fandom backstories, theres someone wanting to do a collective of writings from fans on how they got into anime fandom, which ill be working on mine shortly.

http://www.otakujournalist.com/whats-yo ... gin-story/

Gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the majority of respondents will cite the late '90s Toonami afternoon kidvid block as their entry, with demographic split between Gundam Wing and Dragonball Z, with Sailor Moon being of third significance.

Call it an informed hunch.

(which means I should probably write mine up just to mess up the curve. )

[DKop]

Gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the majority of respondents will cite the late '90s Toonami afternoon kidvid block as their entry, with demographic split between Gundam Wing and Dragonball Z, with Sailor Moon being of third significance.

Call it an informed hunch.

(which means I should probably write mine up just to mess up the curve. )

Please do Steve, because I'm gonna be one of those Toonami fan fools. Let's be real, a lot of todays fandom is from Toonami, or at least the ones that are still vocal about it. It's good to have old guys in the mix, with Tim Eldred, Dave Merrill, you, Usamimi, Kame and more.

[SteveH]

Gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the majority of respondents will cite the late '90s Toonami afternoon kidvid block as their entry, with demographic split between Gundam Wing and Dragonball Z, with Sailor Moon being of third significance.

Call it an informed hunch.

(which means I should probably write mine up just to mess up the curve. )

Please do Steve, because I'm gonna be one of those Toonami fan fools. Let's be real, a lot of todays fandom is from Toonami, or at least the ones that are still vocal about it. It's good to have old guys in the mix, with Tim Eldred, Dave Merrill, you, Usamimi, Kame and more.

Well, let's see if we're all on the same page, conceptually.

What I often talk about is what I call 'Catalyst anime'. Not just what you watch, but the one show that takes over your mind, that you end up obsessing over, that makes you do more than just watch the TV but seek out goods, products because you want to know more, learn more, experience more of that one show.

See, I think there's a difference between just turning on the TV and watching something, and making damn sure you're home at that time every day to watch. Nothing happens until you've watched that show and once you learn that there are others like you, you want to talk about that show.

Catalyst Anime is the show that turns you from a passive consumer into an active one.

Blah blah blah.

Toonami is important, I don't dismiss it, when it was the point source for anime as afternoon kidvid programming. One cannot dismiss how important that M-F 3 to 5 PM programming block was because that kidvid time block is how you get people hooked. It becomes destination viewing as the industry calls it. Routine is an important part of it.

That's why BotP hooked people, Star Blazers, Robotech, Pokemon. Weekday strip syndication. Once the UHF stations gave up their kidvid blocks (a combo of advertising restrictions and the lure of sweet, sweet paydays due to informercials and other full barter syndication deals like all those 'judge' shows) Afternoon Toonami was the only recourse, for a few years. Then Cartoon Network killed THAT. Now it's endless reruns of Teen Titans Go!, We Bear Bears and horrible CGI kid movies in the afternoon. Once in a great while they'll sneak in some new Steven Universe or Adventure Time in the early evening. Bah.

So, does that match up with your experience? Does it sound familiar?

[DKop]

Well, let's see if we're all on the same page, conceptually.

What I often talk about is what I call 'Catalyst anime'. Not just what you watch, but the one show that takes over your mind, that you end up obsessing over, that makes you do more than just watch the TV but seek out goods, products because you want to know more, learn more, experience more of that one show.

See, I think there's a difference between just turning on the TV and watching something, and making damn sure you're home at that time every day to watch. Nothing happens until you've watched that show and once you learn that there are others like you, you want to talk about that show.

Catalyst Anime is the show that turns you from a passive consumer into an active one.

Blah blah blah.

Toonami is important, I don't dismiss it, when it was the point source for anime as afternoon kidvid programming. One cannot dismiss how important that M-F 3 to 5 PM programming block was because that kidvid time block is how you get people hooked. It becomes destination viewing as the industry calls it. Routine is an important part of it.

That's why BotP hooked people, Star Blazers, Robotech, Pokemon. Weekday strip syndication. Once the UHF stations gave up their kidvid blocks (a combo of advertising restrictions and the lure of sweet, sweet paydays due to informercials and other full barter syndication deals like all those 'judge' shows) Afternoon Toonami was the only recourse, for a few years. Then Cartoon Network killed THAT. Now it's endless reruns of Teen Titans Go!, We Bear Bears and horrible CGI kid movies in the afternoon. Once in a great while they'll sneak in some new Steven Universe or Adventure Time in the early evening. Bah.

So, does that match up with your experience? Does it sound familiar?

No I completely get it. My catalyst anime was probably Dragonball Z if I really think about it, but I didn't get obsessed with anything beyond DBZ till Gundam was on Toonami, and when I met friends in high school that aided that desire even more. It was a mixture of both.

I think when people say they got into anime through Toonami, they are more Toonami fans than fans of that one show they obsessed over. Toonami was the flood gates opening, and the internet was the raft leading to uncharted territories. But its those territories that lead me to being the only obsessive fan of Sol Bianca (I get whatever I can find, and Akage helped me with some cels recently, thanks bud!), figuring out what anime I saw on Sci-Fi one Saturday morning (too me years to figure out that it was Roujin Z) and plenty of other obscure ova's out there that are still being found 15 or so years after me entering fandom.

Yea Teen Titans GO needs to leave indefinetly. Its like the new Johnny Test from a few years ago since that was all CN aired every single day. Last I checked more than half of CN block is TTG reruns, its a terrible shame.

[SteveH]

I think that time period, the Toonami Afternoons, created both. Fans of the block as you say, but no question some specific shows grabbed some specific demographics.

I think there's no doubt that Gundam Wing brought in a TON of females into anime. It was the first experience to the 'pretty boy' concept for many. Many of them gravitated over to Samurai Troopers when it came out.

Meanwhile DBZ and Sailor Moon were just chugging along in their endless way.

It's interesting about DBZ and Sailor Moon. Both shows kind of flopped when they were originally syndicated, because their web had a hard time grabbing that all important afternoon kidvid slot and generally ended up at that morning kidvid area which is generally the home of completely disposable shows. It's hard to build off the AM slot because kids are generally getting dressed, finishing homework, eating breakfast and otherwise unable to focus on the cartoon. But when Cartoon Network took up the shows as part of some barter 'timeshare' deal (no money changed hands as I understand it) and ran them in the afternoon, when kids could relax, were open for entertainment, boom, they hit and hit big.

That's pretty much why I tend to think there's gonna be a huge taper in interest in anime coming soon. There's no real 'entry level' anymore. There's no shared ritual. There's no real, dare I say it? Obsession anymore, just weak-sauce 'like' , flicked on the ol' smartphone swipe swipe swipe.

I dunno if that's good or bad for mental health but I don't think it's good for the animation studios.

[llj]

I've got nothing specific to add to this particular discussion of TV schedules and time blocks, but I will say that, springing off the topic of 'catalyst' anime, there seems to be fewer and fewer "buzzworthy" anime in the past 10 or so years in general. Anime are merely consumed for the moment and then audiences quickly move on to the next one. If you go online and want to talk about a show that finished airing 6 months ago, too bad for you. The audience has already moved on to the current season of shows and nobody cares about something that's already finished months ago (let alone years).

It's hard for any show to gain any kind of traction in building a loyal fanbase when anime is being treated in a more and more disposable manner in the streaming era. Even late 90s-early 2000s-style over-analytic message board conversations about meanings and symbolisms in any particular anime has largely become extinct today.