What could be the next big Mainstream anime hit?

I b et slam dunk would have faired well. SJ seems to like it since it's in their magazine now but that's as far as it gets. I don't think any networks want to risk anything on sports anime.
 
This really isn't new but how do ya think the new Mazinger series "Shin Mazinger" would do with kiRAB. I know I would've loved a show like this when I was younger.
 
Those WOULD be the right circumstances. XD Good adaptation, slamming voice cast, decent promotion to the right demographic epic swag - yeah, world domination.

Buuut I'm about 95% sure it won't happen. :P
 
Major is still running, it started in 2004 and has 110+ episodes. It's got a good story and pacing, but I don't really think that a sports anime would do to great with the mainstream audiences.
 
The Prince of Tennis, for what I've seen and read, really isn't exaggerated all that much, at least not as much as Eyeshield 21. Slam Dunk is probably the most down to earth. I would easily watch PoT over a real tennis match.
 
As a fan of PoT, it's quite possibly the best example of DBZ in sports. Monologues over techniques, doppleganger mirror moves, and a serve that WIPED OUT THE DINOSAURS!
 
It shouldn't--and doesn't--count, since PPGZ isn't PPG; aside from sharing some cosmetic similarities and character names, they are 2 very different entities. So PPG isn't really a way to judge how well PPGZ would do in the US at all.
 
Yeah and Japan didn't even really care for PPGZ, they prefered the original PPG. If that kind of reaction is anything to follow, I'd doubt it'd do good.
 
It's less a matter of how much the physics are exaggerated, and more a matter of the fact that it's fiction. SPORTS are popular in the U.S., but how many fictional television shows ABOUT sports are popular? Sports MOVIES do well enough, but they tend to follow a very specific formula that's uniquely suited to a 90-minute-to-two-hour format and hence don't share a whole lot of structural similarities with your typical ongoing sports manga or anime series.
 
Similarly I love Eyeshield 21 but would never waste my time watching a match on TV. Heck my dad had season ticket to the Rampart (a hockey team) and I went to a match once with a friend but we left early to go play DnD instead so I'm immune to that whole 'atmosphere' I hear live games are supposed to have.

I follow Eyeshield 21 for the struggle of the characters, I don't know what kind of persons overpayed pro sport players are and what little I know of them doesn't really interest me.

Conversly I'm pretty sure real sports fan don't really care about the struggle of the players and really only want to see action and performances. REAL performances, not scripted ones.


Now wrestling fans on the other hand... maybe Ultimate Muscle could have been a bigger hit with the right marketing.
 
I could see slam dunk doing VERY well if possibly in conjunction with the NBA, not in marketing, but just in advertising the actual show, and getting a good dub, and a good release.

Maybe even a spot on tv, or espn or something, idk, I think it could work.
 
Whatever it is, it won't be something aimed purely at teenagers; Shonen won't cut it. It neeRAB to go beyond genres and find what makes people respond, not just in fan circles, but in general. Heck, The Dark Knight made over a billion dollars in revenue: I think anime can sell, but it neeRAB to actually think about the big picture.
 
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