Blog Talkback: Leap of Faith

I.. was not aware Problem Solverz was a real show. I thought it was just some parody on YouTube someone linked me.

And what's wrong with Oniichan no Koto? Aside from the ugly artstyle detracting from the whole basis of the show, I mean. (Those ears killed me) Seems basic enough aside from that.
 
What's wrong with it? Well besides being stupid fanservice of the squickier variety and have no real creative or artistic drive whatsoever beyond playing to otaku fetishes...
 
Just because you're not into it doesn't mean others aren't. It has just as much artistic drive or whatever as anything else out there. *shrug* Even if it did seem like a poor man's B Gata H Kei to me. I'll still take it over Chowder or Phineas and Ferb as the article mentioned, though. Don't see how those shows are taking risks at all, myself. Though Oniichan did fail to make me want to watch more than one episode.
 
"Just as much artistic drive or whatever as anything else out there"? Really? It's the definition of a "paycheck show." It only exists to cheaply profit off a subset of the otaku base that will buy anything that plays to their fetishes, whether it's good or not. I'm not particularly fond of Chowder or Phineas and Ferb, but they are creator-driven shows that are putting more than a minimal amount of effort into their production. I don't know if Phineas and Ferb was particularly risky, but Chowder did some artistic experimentation (somewhat inspired by Gankutsuou, actually) and perhaps most significantly it was very different from anything else being made by Cartoon Network the time it premiered.
 
I'll admit that while the designs of "The Problem Solverz" are eye-bleeding, I do love how Cartoon Network branched out to an independent studio that has little to no TV experience. It is proof that anyone can make a TV series, and that the internet is a pretty good tool to help out with that.
 
It may also be proof that this isn't always a good thing. There are independent studios out there making funny, smart cartoons, who deserve the break more then a bunch of "look how random we are, it's ugly but we totally mean it to be so it's actually high art~" guys imo
 
Oniichan no Koto was based on a manga by one guy, a creator, not by some committee of CEOs, I think the fact it getting some flak by people should show how 'risky' it is. I mean, if such a taboo subject that goes against society's norms is the premise of a show, then that by definition can't be playing it safe. Have you seen the show? I don't see how you can claim is has less effort put into it than Phineas and Ferb does. I don't see how Chowder or Phineas and Ferb differ from all the other children's comedy cartoons out there. Episodic comedy shows tend to be pretty standard on TV, and from what I've seen of them, they were no different. I remember Phineas and Ferb being especially repetitive and you can break down every episode to a T (Doofenshmirtz's invention will cover up Phineas and Ferb's antics and Candace will be no closer to telling on them)
 
Oniichan's subject matter might be risky if it was aiming at a general audience, but seeing as it's a late-night show being sold specifically to an otaku audience pre-programmed into buying such fanservice fetish series, it's not really doing anything new or creative really at all. As you said, it's "basic." Chowder might not seem particularly different from a lot of the shows now, but think back to what else was airing on CN at the time: My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Class of 3000, Out of Jimmy's Head. Chowder in comparison was different in that it was the first storyboard-driven show the network had made in years and allowed for weirder humor and mixed media experimentation. I mean, it's not totally unique, Spongebob and other shows had done similar things in the past, but networks seem nervous about more offbeat comedies a lot of the time for some reason, so it was a mild risk. At the very least, it wasn't a sure-fire success like Oniichan.
 
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