anime central RIP

Last year I was please to see the UK get it's first dedicated anime channel, Anime Central. It wasn't run in the ideal way (six shows running a new episode each night, repeated 3 times from 9pm) and it was easy to lose track if you missed an episode, but the thought of having a source of free anime I might never have seen otherwise was an enticing one. They showed some awesome shows too- though the best of the lineup were Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell, two series i already own on DVD. However some months ago it became clear the channel was dying a slow and protracted death. New shows failed to appear, and the channel simply repeated Bebop and GITS on loop (apparently the only shows they still have the licence to) every frickin' night for months on end, until this week AC was finally replaced by 'True Entertainment' a channel that mixes music chart shows, horrible sounding 'true story' TV movies and (naturally) yet more repeats of those esme two anime shows. So what killed AC? Mainly it was probably down to a lack of viewers, which is understandable as how many people could've still been watching the same two shows loop seemingly into infinity? Some blame must lie with Anime fans though who bitch about there being no anime on UK TV but then didn't watch it when it was available- either because it showed dubbed or because they already downloaded it (illegally) months or even years ago. Ah, well it was good while it lasted, for a few months anyhow....

The Master of animation returns..... and no I don't mean me!

I was surprised to find out the new film by animation Master, Hayao Miyazaki has just been released in Japan. I knew it was coming, but I hadn't realised it would be so soon. Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea is the latest production from the Spirited Away director has unsurprisingly opened an number 1 in the box office charts. Now it has been released it has instantly become my most wanted film and I am impatiently awaiting the release of the English language version of the film. Even though I know next to nothing about it- I haven't seen a clip or more than about two pictures from the movie. But Miyazaki made it- so it will be excellent, of this there can be no doubt!

If you're even slightly interested in Japanese animation, or indeed cult cinema in general, chances are you have seen the classic 1988 movie Akira. The interweb is abuzz once again, as for about the third time plans are afoot to make a live-action Hollywood adaptation. This time however the plans are to turn the somewhat epic multiple-volume comic series that spawned the movie into two movies, one of which may hit screens as early as next year. Although in theory this sounds better than previous adaptations (one of which was to be helmed by Stephen Norrington, director of two of the worst films of all time Blade, and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen) but it's still a bad idea. I've always been sceptical about attempts to bring this film to live action- the action will be moved from Neo Tokyo to 'New Manhattan', and rumours suggest Leonardo DiCaprio may play the lead Kaneda (note to casting directors: he's waaay too old to be playing a teenager). It's too early to get too worried though.As I said before, this is at least the third attempt to bring this adaptation to the big screen, so who's to say that this time will be any more successful? This is one of those projects which seems to be permanently stuck in development hell. Fingers crossed that it remains there.

2008 has started with a bit of a disappointment for anime (Japanese animation) fans on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US the first 24/7 anime channel The Anime Network has gone off the air, and it's taken the UK block with it. The signs were there before Christmas when the UK'sAnime Network block on Propeller TV suddenly lost it's on-air presenters- Stuart Claw and the rather lovely Emma Viecelli were there one week, gone the next and seemingly unable to tell their viewers why. It's now clear that it was because the block was being axed- and the order must have come form high up- the Anime Networks' owners ADV. It's not all doom and gloom though. AN will live on Stateside as an on-demand service (and is now online too), whereas in the UK we have the ace channel Anime Central to ensure we get our anime fix. Still, I'll miss Miss Viecelli. Sniff!

OK, so it currently looks like the Uk's first dedicated anime channel Anime Central, will be launching on Sky channel 199 from this coming Thursday ( September13th) from 9pm. To begin with it appears the same six shows will be showing each night showing in 3 hour blocks which will then be repeated (so the same episodes will be shown between 9-12, 12-3 and 3-6am). Of the initial crop I can recommend Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (an awesome sci-fi, even if I have no idea what's going on half the time) and Full Metal Alchemist, but the other shows should all be worth a look too!

Over on 195 (Propeller TV) the Anime network is now on between 8-10pm 7 days a week. Series premiers are on Saturday and Sunday but Monday to Friday are showing catch-ups, so if you're a late comer, you might still be able to get a clue what's going on. I recommend anybody who's yet to do so to try out some anime- there's a whole lot more to it than Pokemon!

Oh I don't know, you wait your whole life for a dedicated anime (Japanese animation) channel to hit the UK and then two come along at once... well sorta. The UK's version of The Anime Network (which shows in a 2 hour block on sundays on channel 195) is going 7 days a week but is still going to be a two hour block rather than a proper channel, but the UK is also getting a full blown anime channel called Anime Central that will broadcast from 9pm to 6 am 7 days a week. And both are happening within two days of each other. Mental! Brilliant, but mental. This will be a chance for me to sample loads of new anime without having to spend a fortune of DVDs. Hurrah! Fear not UK viewers, for I will at some time in the future fill you in in which shows you need to be watching. Of course I know what'll happen now- having had no anime on TV for years I'm now probably going to have incidents where two great shows are on at the same damn time! Maybe it's time I got Sky Plus..

Just a quick reminder to UK viewers- the anime network block starts 8pm tonight on Sky Channel 195. Check it out!

Being a fan of anime (Japanese animation) in the UK involves a lot of looking at the size of the US market jealously. Over the past couple of years one of the biggest sources of this has been that the US fan base is large enough to support two 24-hour anime channels (The Anime Network and now the horribly monikered Funimation Channel). Whereas DVDs and books can be imported, there's no getting round they are out or our reach! This week the news broke that the Anime Network is going to be making it's UK debut as a two-hour branded block showing on Sky Channel 195 on Sundays from the 3rd of June. Luckily for me of the 4 shows making up the initial line-up I've only seen one of them already (Evangelion, a classic of anime that 99% of fans must have seen by now). Unluckily for me it's on at the same time as 24, meaning I'm going to have to shift my 24 viewing to it's repeat showing on Saturdays just as it enters the final few hours. Never mind, musn't grumble!

the offical site

UK types, who have yet to sample the genius that is the films of Japan's Studio Ghibli, there's the chance for even you non digital types to set this right. And I suggest you set your videos/sky plus/tivo/pvr becasue they really are worth your time (and are on at a time where most of you will be at work/school/college/asleep ) the first one is Kiki's Delivery Service on tomorrow (monday) on channel for at 9.55am, and 3 other Ghilbi flicks are showing in the morning this week too- two of which are stone cold classics (My Neighbour Totoro and Laptua: Castle In the Sky) and one (the Cat Returns) still worth a watch!