Reruns and Anime

[KiraraKim]

I’m not sure what type of response I expect from this thread but I’ve been thinking and in my opinion reruns would be a good thing for anime in Japan. As far as I know reruns are pretty much non-existent in Japan. I know a few popular series get repeated after their entire run but reruns don’t happen when a show is on the air like they do in the States. This is great for short series but when it comes down to long series I think it is a problem.

Instead of reruns long series in Japan get filler. Some might say it is better to get new material than old material and I would agree to a point. Some filler can be entertaining but usually they end up being boring or downright stupid. Filler also tends to make characters act out of character ruining the continuity of the story. Sure reruns are no fun but at least it would give a chance for new fans to get caught up in a series (less face it if you miss one episode of a most anime you are pretty much screwed). Now the only way for fans to see material they miss is to buy the DVDs. Additionally if you want to buy an entire series you have to shell out cash for the filler too (especially when filler episodes can be on DVDs with regular episodes). I would rather not have the filler and have to pay less money for the episodes I am interested in.

So what does everyone else thing. Do you think reruns would be better when an anime is trying to wait for more manga material or do you like the fact that there is a new episode every week (almost) even if those episodes are filler?

Of course in the states we have it worse. Here not only do we get reruns but also filler when an anime airs on TV.

[ant]

As far as reruns I have seen Card Captor Sakura recently on the BS channel, and Eureka 7 rerunned at midnight as opposed to 7am. There are many ways to video tape/dvd record a television show and hard core fans will shell out the money to buy the dvds. Some might not want to shell out the money and send bones to TV companies, go see Rove's thread for more info! As far as I am concerned I download or buy so this doesn't affect me, and filler shmiller, if you really like a show I am sure you can put up with it (not sure about the Naruto fans though).

[KiraraKim]

As far as reruns I have seen Card Captor Sakura recently on the BS channel, and Eureka 7 rerunned at midnight as opposed to 7am. There are many ways to video tape/dvd record a television show and hard core fans will shell out the money to buy the dvds. Some might not want to shell out the money and send bones to TV companies, go see Rove's thread for more info! As far as I am concerned I download or buy so this doesn't affect me, and filler shmiller, if you really like a show I am sure you can put up with it (not sure about the Naruto fans though).

Personally I usually stick to the manga of long series and give up on watching the anime because of all the filler. I like watching anime because of the voice acting and music but after awhile putting up with episode after episode of filler gets annoying (this is why I prefer short series or waiting for the manga to be complete before an anime comes out or at least taking a completely different route from the manga like FMA did). It is probably worse for the casual fans who probably wouldn't want to shell out the cash to buy every DVD if they missed some episodes.

And for CCS and Eureka they both already aired in full in Japan so that doesn't count.

[Zelkiiro]

Oh, characters can most definitely act in-character during filler episodes. I mean, just watch Slayers. :D

[ant]

And for CCS and Eureka they both already aired in full in Japan so that doesn't count.

yeah i know but those are the only examples that I have seen of a rerunning, different from reruns that we are used to in the States. It is even frequent in TV live actions that there is a definate number of episodes set as in anime. Yet they are reunned. In the US shows stay on due to popularity. Have no definate ending. Once the ratings slip is when shows have their final season/episode/arc. I wish the writers of Alf knew it would have been the last season so I would not be wondering for the rest of my life if he got on the ship or not.

[KiraraKim]

In the US shows stay on due to popularity. Have no definate ending. Once the ratings slip is when shows have their final season/episode/arc. I wish the writers of Alf knew it would have been the last season so I would not be wondering for the rest of my life if he got on the ship or not.

Hmm I actually like that unlike US shows anime have definite beginnings, middle parts and endings to their shows (it's more like a novel or a novel series in that sense). My point about the reruns were reruns would be better for long anime series instead of filler when trying to wait for the manga a series is based on to have more material. Just my opinion on the matter.

[Mana]

The problem is, I believe, that most shows in the US that have reruns don't have as cohesive a plot that most anime does. Even a less-than-mediocre anime will have a beginning, middle, and end, where American shows focus more on the 'slice of life' type storytelling, especially in sitcoms and the like. You can show any episode of the Simpsons in any order you want, and it will all make sense, but a lot of anime needs more order and structure; if you wanted to re-run an anime, you'd have to show it all from beginning to end.

[NausicaaBoy]

im going to go with mana on this one...re runs of anime take a lot more ummm..time commitment than your average american TV show or cartoon. Most animes you would be oh so lost if you had not scene all the episodes preceding the one you were viewing

[soundchazer]

There are two other things to consider:

a) How can you keep an animation studio running if you are not producing anime? Remember... there are limits to the time slots, and putting reruns kills the possibility for new product to come out.

b) Reruns rarely have as good a rating as the original shows, therefore making them less profitable than a new show.

It is not only time investment... it is also about money.

[kyubichan]

If you live here, you'd be sick of reruns. Every friggin' station airs reruns of every friggin' anime they ever aired. And not just ANY anime, they rerun YYH (not that I complain), Naruto (God, no) and Dragonball. Yes, Dragonball, you know, the one where Goku's a teeny weeny boy? Up to DBGT, where his grandkid Pan is an old granny.

[KiraraKim]

There are two other things to consider:

a) How can you keep an animation studio running if you are not producing anime? Remember... there are limits to the time slots, and putting reruns kills the possibility for new product to come out.

b) Reruns rarely have as good a rating as the original shows, therefore making them less profitable than a new show.

It is not only time investment... it is also about money.

Those are good points but I would think an animation studio could work on another series while a show was in reruns. And it's true that reruns don't have as good ratings but I wonder what ratings filler episodes get in Japan. I suppose if a series is really popular even filler would get high ratings. But I think reruns might capture new fans and help ratings overall.

It's true that they can't keep repeating the series but they could probably replay early episodes at least once getting new fans into the show and maybe that would help ratings overall.

[soundchazer]

Those are good points but I would think an animation studio could work on another series while a show was in reruns. And it's true that reruns don't have as good ratings but I wonder what ratings filler episodes get in Japan. I suppose if a series is really popular even filler would get high ratings. But I think reruns might capture new fans and help ratings overall.

It's true that they can't keep repeating the series but they could probably replay early episodes at least once getting new fans into the show and maybe that would help ratings overall.

Usually the series with the filler episodes are those that have a lot of episodes to begin with, and usually those have a lot of episodes because they are popular.

Now, having said that, it seems that you are confusing filler episodes with recap episodes in your post. You don't know if an episode is really filler until you start watching the episode, and therefore your viewing, even if it is a partial one, counts for the ratings. Now if it is a recap episode, you might see ratings dwindle for that week, but in the long run the recaps will keep people who might have lost a few episodes interested and therefore prevent losing audience as the storyline unfolds. That goes back to what some posters were saying earlier about reruns being a difficult scenario in anime given how linear and sequential the stories are.

[Roark]

To be clear here...

Are you talking about syndication (showing at a different time and/or station of old episodes), or are you talking about reruns inbetween seasons, when comparing to American TV. There's a big difference, but both are considered "reruns" to most people.

As far as I could tell, season-break reruns do exist (they did for Naruto), or the show is put on hiatus until the new season (much like summer time slots are used here). It's not common to have 52 new episdoes a year.

Filler isn't created in lieu of reruns, as far as I can tell. Instead, it's created because of the chapter-a-week phenomena of Shounen Jump, &c. You can tell a lot of weeks' worth of chapters in 30 minutes. Not catching up to the manga means not catching up to its run in whatever magazine.

Also, keep in mind that some filler is directly from the manga. Or some shows are based on manga that wouldn't otherwise go on as long (take Utena, for example.) So, filler takes and adds enough to ge the show to 26 eps in that case. This, incidentally, helps turn a profit.

So, recapping: Reruns wouldn't solve this problem. It's more of a an artifact of not wanting to outpace the weeklies. Summer reruns do exist, and I do recall seeing Nadia syndicated. This entire issue only really applies to long-running shows anyhow. Single-season shows need not worry abou the issue.

Besides, given the pacing of some shows vs. the weeklies, can you imagine a situation of "5 episodes... rerun 3... 2 more eps... rerun 6 eps, 4 more eps... rerun a few more..." Reruns like that killed DBZ when it was showing on cartoon network (they were waiting for the dub studios, who were going as fast as they could). It'd do the same thing pacing-wise anywhere.

[KiraraKim]

Just to be clear when I say "filler" I mean episodes that are "Anime Only" and not part of the manga. Of course these only really happen with long series that follow the manga pretty much exactly. I am not talking about "filler" episodes that are also part of the manga storyline (but maybe not part of the main plot). People might consider those episodes filler but that is all a matter of perspective. I wasn't talking about recap episodes.

Are you talking about syndication (showing at a different time and/or station of old episodes), or are you talking about reruns inbetween seasons, when comparing to American TV. There's a big difference, but both are considered "reruns" to most people.

I am talking about reruns inbetween seasons (not syndication)

As far as I could tell, season-break reruns do exist (they did for Naruto), or the show is put on hiatus until the new season (much like summer time slots are used here). It's not common to have 52 new episdoes a year.

Okay I didn't realize that. Thanks for clearing that up.


Filler isn't created in lieu of reruns, as far as I can tell. Instead, it's created because of the chapter-a-week phenomena of Shounen Jump, &c. You can tell a lot of weeks' worth of chapters in 30 minutes. Not catching up to the manga means not catching up to its run in whatever magazine.

I do realize why filler is put in a show but I was just thinking that putting reruns inbetween a seasons show would be better than making filler episodes when trying to wait for more manga chapters. Of course everyone made good points of why it couldn't work. :)

[Dark Lord]

If you live here, you'd be sick of reruns. Every friggin' station airs reruns of every friggin' anime they ever aired. And not just ANY anime, they rerun YYH (not that I complain), Naruto (God, no) and Dragonball. Yes, Dragonball, you know, the one where Goku's a teeny weeny boy? Up to DBGT, where his grandkid Pan is an old granny.

I definitely have to agree with you there... Almost nothing but reruns on air...*sigh* Right now, I'm pretty much sick of Dragonball and all the commercials they show about it... Yu Yu Hakusho is actually ok to watch since I haven't watched it all yet... As for Naruto, the reruns would actually be fine if it weren't for the fact that it's filled with spoilers... Another similarity between the 3 anime I mentioned is that they are each extremely long...

[JOJO]

In some cases filler arcs have been known to kill anime, such is the case of Rurouni Kenshin or Kinnikuman Nisei. And in some rare ocasions, anime that ended to soon in Japan has been revived in other countries(like USA), such was the case of Kinnikuman Nisei and Big O wich they actually became more popular in America than Japan and got them more seasons.
Some anime series never seem to go out of style, like DBZ, that show has been around on TV for as long as i can remember and its still is, in fact, i think its on right now.