Mmm, delicious monster.
Okay, now I DEFINITELY need solid cable when I move.
SyFy-chan's schedule has been updated to include a new series in its AniMonday line-up: Monster! Based on Naoki Urasawa's phenomenal suspense manga, the series revolves around a Japanese doctor living in Germany who suffers some backlash when he saves a young boy instead of a well-known politician. The backlash ends when all of the hospital staff involved in plotting his downfall mysteriously die...and then the boy disappears.
The anime, like the manga, is strong and steady, and for you slightly older sort, it's frequently compared to the original TV show of The Fugitive. I'm definitely looking forward to watching it on TV! It starts on October 12th.
Some of you may also be interested in what happens in the 12am-1am block, the Street Fighter Motion comic and the Voltron Motion Comic, both from Eagle One Media. Here's Eagle One's first four minutes of the Street Fighter version for you to check out and see if you'd watch it.
You've probably seen stuff like this before, but I have to confess, it's more nicely done than most of the motion comics/manga I've seen. Though it's still a billion times less cool than Monster.
Also, motion comics? Really? For a half hour? I really can't get behind motion comics. Either make a comic book or a cartoon, not some bastardization of the two. Surely Manga Entertainment has something else they could throw in there.
I think that's one of the real keys in the industry at the moment. First: try to find a way to make money off of the fans who won't buy DVDs, either by trying to convince them to pay for streaming or have advertisers pay for them.
And second: seep outside of the anime nerd club and into the mainstream. Not that it's ever NOT been a goal, but I think it's something that's especially vital to the industry right now. As they start really dealing with outdoing and eliminating need for fansubs, which I think is an end goal (albeit one far ahead), they need to start "training" a new generation of fans who is used to that, who uses that, who does NOT default to fansubs. Then, as fansubs (theoretically) become fewer, most of those fans won't move into buying; most of them will move into something else that's free and easy. That means those fans will be lost, which won't matter in the anime product itself because they didn't buy, but it WILL matter in the marketing aspect and it will matter for merchandising.
...Kinda blathering now. I don't know if Monster could really be a break-out hit, but I'm glad to see it getting a shot at least.
Screw motion comics. They always look like crap in the end.
I can't wait for Monster. I'll just try to ignore the Syfy logo, since it makes me want to throw rocks at the screen.