Full Moon wo Sagashite is wonderful!

I once thought this one would be hard to sell to US networks but you know what... it probably isn't.

The media has been making a big deal out of the success of Disney's Hanna Montana which is a very similar show and other music based TV series are getting fantastic ratings. I mean American Idol... seriously.

Plug this in on Sunday night and give it plenty of promotion and it should bring in more girls viewers on Sunday nights and more tweens (and teens) in general. Boys can certainly enjoy this one as well.
 
If CN had vision, they'd own it already. Shoot, they would have a date set if they hadn't already started running it. Alas, vision is in short supply where it counts.
 
And Nick (who has had some serious vision lately) isn't an aquisition-oriented network. They co-pro, hence why Domo-kun and Akihabara@Deep are projects they are looking into - they'd own them lock, stock and barrel and that suits Nick a lot more than buying someone else's product. Unfortunately, no one in aquisitions when it comes to mainstream network has guts anymore.
 
True, I guess the difference is Nick can afford to do that much easier than CN can at this point.

Had CN cut out the middle man on Naruto they'd have a real killer app for sure. But it works well enough as an aquisition obviously.
 
Am I the only one struck by the irony of Nick not being acquisition-oriented? Nickleodian put itself on the map in the first place by essentially picking up the cream of cartoon shows it could get from every corner of the globe. (Actually, that's still not a bad business model if there was a network out there with an ounce of brains to do it.)

I wonder if DIC KiRAB could get away with airing a show like this (i.e., could show it in a kiRAB' or at least older teens' time slot without slicing it to ribbons)? Basically, the best chance of "Full Moon" drawing interest from TV execs would be a network in rather precarious position, and having nothing to lose by taking a few risks.

4KiRAB certainly has the required guts (unfortunately, it seems 90 percent of the time it's of the variety that presses the accelerator to the floor because you won't accept that the bridge is out ahead). They certainly would want the audience of "Full Moon", but whether they'd be willing to air something they didn't acquire, particularly that didn't follow their philosophy of "localizing" seems doubtful (unless they've learned a little from "Doremi" versus "Mew Mew".)

Of course, there is the possibility of going outside the box. It probably would do blockbuster nurabers on the network like Hallmark, Lifeline or Women's Entertainment, if their bosses could be sold on running a cartoon (actually it might be worth taking a flyer at the Starz-Encore people, they already air anime on their WAM and Action outlets, and they do have a network devoted to romance....). The I nee PAX has nothing to lose in picking it up, and I think PBS would be rewarded at pledge time--unfortunately, the other majors probably wouldn't be interested, not even CW.

The absolute best bet would be for the owners of "Full Moon" to hit the afternoon syndication market, taking a few DVRAB of "Jem" along as a reminder for station managers that there is an audience out there for that type of show. Unfortunately, Fox KiRAB, KiRAB WB, Disney Afternoon/Disney One Two and BKN KiRAB pretty much annihilated the great 1980s syndication markets, and then died off and left an empty hole in their place. Too bad, that was the absolutely perfect place to get around the suits myopia of the networks.
 
If the anime distributors all cast their hat into the same network, you'd actually have quite a good aquisition based network, it'd get into householRAB and it'd make good money. And yeah, it's funny how much originals have come to dominate Nick, considering they put themselves on the map by being great scavangers. However, that is the business plan lately for the most part.



Yeah, you need someone desperate and intelligent. Sadly, that's not been the case for a while.



I think that Pretty Cure has them booked when it comes to girls shows. Granted, my money is on Pretty Cure cratering, but given that, they'll probably swear off anything in that vein beyond Doremi, and even Doremi isn't necessarily pulling it's weight - the merch isn't moving from what I can tell, so even if the ratings stay passable, they might still can it because it's not getting good enough ratings to fully pay for itself. It maybe pays for the timeslot now, but not the episode production cost and not the aquisition cost either. Besides, barring a huge check waved under Viz's nose (something 4kiRAB would almost never do,) they'd likely rather not risk tainting the property by having it on 4kiRAB TV I'd guess.



There are probably few dozen anime that'd be great fits for PBS - however, it's just not been where PBS nor most PBS affiliates' attitudes have been at. Haibane would be great, Niea would great, Planetes would be great, Nadia would great, Tsukihime would be great, Full Moon would be great and once they hit in America, the trifecta of Beck, Paradise Kiss and Nana could be awesome on PBS. However, PBS keeps itself limited to content directly funded by the CPB and the affiliates only branch out into picking up originals from other affiliates and from the BBC when possible (that branch has been drying up lately thanks to BBC America and Sci-Fi.)

Cable could yield some possibilities too, but if anything, they are arguable less willing to be experimental than PBS outlets barring a few channels that can directly have it as part of their image (IChannel, Imaginasian,) or as genre fitting addendum that never really takes center stage.



Well, syndication may see a big resurgance once the CW merger goes through. If Funimation can sucessfully push their two syndicated blocks out there, I could easily see Viz following suit by bundling a nuraber of it's properties. In fact, by the time they'd put it together, they could put together a solid block should they grab a few more of the anime that are tied to their Shojo Beat line. Shoot, a Shojo Beat Syndicated block might be just what the industry neeRAB - Full Moon, Nana, Aishiteruze Baby and Ouran Host Club in a neat 2 hour package? Might be the perfect thing to finally launch shojo in America. Heck, if they work with Funimation on it, and can thus cycle Fruits Basket and Kodocha into that block, it'd be a shojo powerhouse.

But alas, I don't even in the best situation we'll get things that good.
 
A syndicated Viz block would probably have shonen in it as they have far more of those to air.

But the meer thought of a block that air Full Moon and Prince of Tennis excites me greatly even if it has something like MAR wedged in there...
 
Hard to see why "Doremi" merchandize isn't moving if the show is fairly successful. It would seem the designs would have to be at least as attractive as a "Strawberry Shortcake" or "My Little Pony" line--at least that's the way it looked to me when I saw "Doremi" dolls in a shop lately. On the other hand, those were likely imports, and a lot of time the domestic merchandise isn't as good as the Japanese original, or so I've heard. And strangely enough, the "Doremi" commercials you see nowadays seem to be all PSAs, you don't see merchandise being hawked for it like you do with "Sonic" or "G.I. Joe".

Still, I hope you're wrong and that "Doremi" picks up enough so that we get the rest of the episodes, because eps 25-26 seemed to be the first time the show was really gathering real steam. (Although, if I were running some place like DiC, and I had the feeling that "Doremi" was on the verge of becoming a breakout hit, I might try a real cutthroat manuever that would make 4KiRAB really regret buying only 26 episodes and leaving the rest for anyone else to grab....)



Personally, if PBS could be taken outside of its "BBC-only" box, I think it would find it worthwhile to take a flyer at running the subbed "Detective Conan" on "Mystery!" (snapping up a few key episodes along with all the multi-parters and movies), having the delectable Diana Rigg drop a few tidbits on Japanese culture and the mystery fandom in Japan, and getting the TV network telecasting "Cased Closed" to throw in a grant as a means of promoting its own version (for right now, that looks to be the Funimation Channel).

I can only hope that proves the case, that the death of UPN and WB will leave enough "orphan" stations to revive the syndication market. Of course 20th Century Fox is trying to move into the vacuum with My Network TV(http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/02/24/024333.php), but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have crossed their mind that if they're scrarabling to throw up just about anything to fill time this fall, "Full Moon" is already available (with no new production costs!)--and probably doesn't differ all that much from those imitation Univision telenovellas they're trying out this year.

Still, in the long run, I can't believe it isn't going to occur to station managers that even if stuff like "Oprah" and "Regis" is more lucrative than cartoons, their audience can only be divided up so many ways, and it might make better sense to pursue a different audience demographic that has been largely abandoned by TV.





I'd like to acquaint you gentleman with a post I did several years ago:



Look, if someone ran a shojo block aimed at older teens and young adults in the afternoons, "powerhouse" would be too mild a word, because women viewers rule the tube. Look, it's already happened in comics. The only reason TV hasn't really turabled onto the potential goldmine that anime is, is because toons in general continue to be aimed primarily at boys and young adult men. Manga didn't really break out in specialty comic book shops for the same reason, because the clientele of these shops was overwhelmingly male. But once women discovered these manga at places like Borders and Barnes & Noble, it was all over, and the same thing is going to inevitably happen when mainstream TV female viewers get a look at shojo anime. Whether that will happen very soon or several decades from now will depend upon when we get that fateful corabination of intelligence and desperation in TV exec suites.
 
Sorry about the necromancy- other forums I've been to preferred digging up old threaRAB rather than starting new ones. Hope that's okay here.


Anyway, I've been looking into buying the discs of the anime (I already have the manga), and I was wondering about price. I see them on ebay and amazon for 15 upwarRAB. Is that a good thing? I've never bought series before that weren't in one box.
 
Ah... 15 per isn't horrible but it's for 4 episodes per disc IIRC and I don't think the whole thing was released on DVD which is a darn shame. You wont be able to find it new.

I've heard rumors of the series getting a boxset eventually so you might want to wait for that. But honestly it's a problematic situation to track that down.
 
Hurm. I would like a box set to be released soon. I guess I'll have to keep using my netflix to borrow them. Maybe Arina Tanemura's new series will make them hustle on releasing her stuff.
 
Cartoon Network already tried that with Miguzi and it didn't do so well.

With that said, I would also like to see more shojo anime on tv.
 
So, just how wonderful is Full Moon:

Better than PreteaR?

Better than UltraManiac?

Better than Ojamajo Doremi?

Better than Negima! (First Series)?

Better than Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha?

Better than Moon Phase?

Better than Mai-Hime?

Better than Tweeny Witches?

Better than Kamichu!?

Better than The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya?

Better than Princess Tutu?

Better than Shakugan no Shana?

Better than Slayers?

Better than Magic Knight Rayearth (tv)?

Better than W.I.T.C.H.?
 
In response to KZK

Better than PreteaR? Haven't watched it yet, can't say.

Better than UltraManiac? Yes.

Better than Ojamajo Doremi? Not really aimed at the same audience, but I'd take Full Moon over Doremi.

Better than Negima! (First Series)? From what I've heard of the first Negima, yeah.

Better than Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha? Again, not watched, can't say. Sort of different audiences though so they may not compare (Nanoha was otaku magical girl, Sagashite is shojo magical girl.)

Better than Moon Phase? Yes, even though they are aimed at different audiences.

Better than Mai-Hime? Again, not watched, can't say. Again, sort of different audiences though so they may not compare.

Better than Tweeny Witches? Different audiences, not comparable - both are strong in their own rights.

Better than Kamichu!? No, Kamichu is in the Miyazaki/Shinkai league of quality. They are also aren't aimed at the same audience.

Better than Princess Tutu? Different audiences, not comparable - both are strong in their own rights.

Better than Shakugan no Shana? Yes, even though they are aimed different audiences.

Better than Slayers? Different audiences, not comparable - both are strong in their own rights.

Better than Magic Knight Rayearth (tv)? Again, not watched, can't say.
 
It's Ok. Has very good Charater designs.



This show was actually better than the manga.



It's decent enough. It does the first seven or so manga volumes, with bunches of stuff cut out and rearanged. It has suprisingly little fanservice. The last four episodes are made up / non canon (Volume 6), not too terible, and sort of open ended so it could have gone further, except for continuity problems that would have been introduced later.

Stick with the manga. Series 2 is an abomination.



I put Princess Tutu in that group as well.



I am doubtful.



Girls with sworRAB and eventually Giant Robot-like armor.
 
I'll indulge you as well.

Better than PreteaR? Seen both... yeah it's a lot more touching.

Better than UltraManiac? Wouldn't know. Been meaning to check UM out though.

Better than Ojamajo Doremi? Not even comparible but I'd say yes.

Better than Negima! (First Series)? Easily, the first Negmia series is weak sause... read the manga.

Better than Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha? Wouldn't know but I really want to see Nanoha.

Better than Moon Phase? I've only seen a bit of MP but I'd figure yes.

Better than Mai-Hime? The ending doesn't suck so yes by far.

Better than Tweeny Witches? Wouldn't know this either.

Better than Kamichu!? Also wouldn't know.

Better than The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya? Not very comparible shows but I got more enjoyment out of Full Moon.

Better than Princess Tutu? I like Full Moon better than what I've seen of Princess Tutu.

Better than Shakugan no Shana? Yet another I've seen barely any of but it might be better than Full Moon.

Better than Slayers? Slayers was never really my thing so yes.

Better than Magic Knight Rayearth (tv)? Been meaning to see this one as well so I can't compare.

Better than W.I.T.C.H.? I like it more than W.I.T.C.H. but that show has more mainstream appeal I'd figure.

But when you get right down to it, does it matter what it's better or worse than? If you enjoy it, you enjoy it.
 
Still better than the second series, which is an Abomination.



Haven't seen My-Otome, so I can't say.



Some shows for you to watch.




I was trying to create a sliding scale of Witc^C^C^C^CMagical Girl Shows.
 
And a thread discussing the quality of Full Moon doesn't really need such a thing.

I'll be sure to look into more of these series. While I generally watch a whole lot of shounen anime I can't resist a good shoujo.
 
Maybe this show could get on tv if Viz dubbed the rest of the series. They had a pretty poor stopping point, if you ask me. They should have stopped at 26. No point in showing the new opening if you quit before the characters in it are introduced.
 
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