Hey, Answerman!

Hey Answerman! Do you get free anime DVDs because you're a writer? How cool is that?!

I do get anime DVDs in the mail, and I don't pay for them, but they are not free. Nothing is free. Except free samples at the grocery store, and even then sometimes you pay for it later (albeit gastrointestinally).

When I get an anime DVD in the mail from some company, it's my responsibility to make sure we use it for the website; nine times out of ten that means I wind up mailing it out to the critic that's going to review it, and maybe 10 percent of the time I'll review it myself. Sometimes I'll review something and then give it away as a prize in a site contest, and sometimes they wind up in a big box that I take to Anime Expo every year, where they're given away as prizes to the folks who show up at our panel. Regardless of what happens to them in the end, they have to be covered on the site. That's how it works. And usually it involves at the very least a trip to the post office (and cracking the whip over one of our critics) or sitting down and cranking out 1200 words on the title myself. Any way you slice it, those DVDs ain't free.

A lot of reviewers out there get "comps", which is what we in the industry refer to screener copies as, and as I said, they are not "free". There's an expectation between the company providing the screener and the critic/website/publication that the screener will be covered in some fashion on the site. It's not like they're just handing over free stuff, no strings attached.

So before you decide to pursue employment as an anime critic, remember; you do get anime DVDs in the mail that were "free", but oh, you WILL pay for them. And if you don't, you won't be getting anything more and likely whoever hired you on will cut you loose pretty quickly.

After reading the rants for a couple of weeks, I decided to bring a certain issue that has been bothering me for awhile. For years, I have seen countless people talk about anime. The problem is...they talk mostly about popular fighting anime series that can be watched in either Cartoon Network or YTV. Naruto, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, Fullmetal Alchemist, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Rurouni Kenshin are just couple of examples. I have nothing against the animes I have listed. They are all very good. What really bothers me is that why do people always talk about fighting anime when there are other good animes from different genres.

All I hear is fighting, fighting and more fighting. Ever since Dragonball Z aired in North America, people seem to have an excess demand for fighting anime. For example, Cartoon Network announced that one of their new animes for Adult swim at Fall 2006 will be Bleach.

Is it because of ratings? I guess TV companies are afraid to take chances and just go with what works. After all, if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Is it because of the culture differences? Sure, that seems to be a reasonable argument. If that is true though, how come there aren't other animes being shown that suits our taste? The only anime I can remember that didn't have actual constant fighting that aired in Adult Swim and YTV was Witch Hunter Robin. Ever since that anime aired, I haven't seen anything that remotely relates to other popular genres that dominates North America. ( i.e. Mystery, Humor, Drama, etc. etc.)

Is it because people see anime purely as entertainment? In most cases, the majority would go with that argument. I always wonder how people would react if they watched Honey and Clover in Adult Swim or YTV, an anime that tackles on real issues that deals with loneliness, self-discovery, and peer-pressure. Wouldn't you say this is an anime that would have an impact on adolescent teens or university students? NANA is another show takes the same approach as H & C.

Is it because of bad production and irresponsibility of American companies? Just look what happen recently with Pokemon. In one of ANN's special report, Chris explains how poor dubbing can irritate even hardcore fans who have been following the franchise from the beginning. More importantly, let's not forget the CMX and Tenjou Tenge controversy.

Is it because of censorship, FCC and CRTC (For Canada)? For those of you who don't know, Nevanna completely ruined Card Captor Sakura with revised script writing and horrible editing (revised it because they believe that Shaoran and Sakura's relationship seemed highly inappropriate). You can't just slap something together half heartedly and hope that fans will accept it. That is totally unacceptable. This can also tie to culture differences since Japan is more tolerant and disciplined than North America. However, Japan can be pretty brutal if you step over the line. In Canada, it took a couple of years for anime to actual start appearing in YTV. In the early years, Canadians choices were to either watch Spongebob Squarepants on TV for free or rent/buy anime dvds online from distributors.

It can be a combination of all the reasons I have listed. Cartoon Network and YTV can do a better job if they are willing to expand or make chances.

The point is that it wouldn't kill people to actual try watching other genres of anime. Why is it that many people seem to reject things that aren't mainstream or very popular? Does it have to air in YTV, Nickelodeon or Adult Swim in order for people to like it? All I'm saying is that with a little research and effort, you could actually find other animes (besides fighting) that can be entertaining. It's not like there is anythng good on TV.  I mean, when is the last time you watch anything decent on TV? TV programming became so sluggish  that I don't watch TV as much that I used to. (Scrubs, Sports programs, The Daily Show, The Colbert Repor and the Fox Sunday Lineup. ----> That's all I watch now.). I'm starting to get sick and tired of being the only one who wants to talk about anime shows that doesn't involve fighting.