What's going on Animax-Asia?
 

This probably the most controversial thread I ever made in Animesuki or any other forums because it more like a blog entry than a forum thread in first place. I also need the moderators' approval if it legal in this forum or not. If it's illegal and they can lock this thread for good but if that so I need good explanation.

I've been a legal Animax-Asia subscriber for many years, since ASTRO(Malaysian cable TV network) put Animax-Asia in their service. However in recent years my faith towards that channel is put to the test. In 2010 they went into epic fail move by showing some Korean dramas but it's already over by the beginning of 2012. Nobody knows why Animax-Asia do such thing but some theories suggest they tried to increase their rating but some says they actually wants to make more money and so they can show more anime in the future. The end of K-dramas in Animax is just closing the very small part of nightmare.

I've run of patience, causing me to write this when I heard they going to show Chihayafuru in this February. Isn't Animax already had too many female-oriented shows to begin with like Neo Angelique Abyss and Skip Beat in this month(January 2013) and not to mention of re-run of K(while not shoujo to begin with but I'm still believe it is made for teenage girls). Don't get me wrong Chihayafuru is a good show but I think it just wrong timing to be in Animax. Yes it's true girls should have their own shows too but I think it just little bit too many shoujo/josei shows in prime time? Yeah there are too many shounen action shows too but I'm going to emphasize that later.

What I saw in recent prime-time shows most of the male-oriented ones are shounen action & adventure shows like Naruto, Bleach, Beelzebub, Hunter x Hunter, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood(historically), Tears of Tiara(historically) and Fairy Tail. No other genres like comedy, romance and drama for examples. Most of the romance and drama genres are left for shoujo and josei ones which I already mentioned earlier. However I think the female viewers are treated little bit better as they not just got romance and drama but also some 'cool' action shows made for them like Kuroshitsuji, 07-Ghost and dubiously K. Yes it's true they also showing Tora Dora(which is a shounen romantic comedy) but that still in "experimental" period and so I cannot give more opinion on that. There still some good romance and drama made for shounen and seinen audiences out there and only waiting for Animax to pick them up. I would love to see Hanasaku Iroha in Animax even it were falsely advertised as "shoujo slice-of-life" show.

Perhaps the biggest sin Animax ever made is false advertisement. First they wrongfully promoted K-On and Lucky Star as "cute shoujo" shows just because they are fooled by "girly" atmosphere and attitude of those shows. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that both shows are actually seinen. Then they also wrongfully advertised Kuroshitsuji and 07-Ghost as "cool shounen action shows" even both are obviously made for girls. It is debatable that Kuroshitsuji was exclusively made for girls or not but from what I learn from other thread although Kuroshitsuji was from a shounen magazine but it's not from Jump or any other magazines that are more popular to male readers. However the shit actually hits the fan when I saw K's ad in a popular magazine in my country and think "Oh, Animax is going to show a cool ecchi show!" as I saw Neko getting the spotlight while the bishies(real stars of the show) are push far in the background. I stayed late just want to see it's first episode and bullshit. Just another bishounen fanservice show for girls.

Third and final piece of rant is fail to separate between both male and female-oriented shows. I still remember how annoying I had to see that annoying violin girl show(don't remember its title and don't care about it either) before I can see Bleach. While this seems discriminative but I think it is the most effective move for Animax even with the shows they currently have. I still remember when MTV-Asia actually made a segment just for teenage boys and young men alone which prioritize rock and alternative bands while no boybands(which usually preferred by teenage girls) in sight for at least an hour. So my suggestion is the shoujo/josei shows in prime-time, shounen action shows later and finally seinen shows in midnight or near-midnight.

I why complain? Animax is a paid channel and I paid for it every month. I just want my money actually worth something and good providers are always listen to their customers but too bad they already banned my Animax-Asia forum account and so I can shut up for (their own) good. What kind of provider who don't even want to listen from its own customers in first place.

I dunno. Every time I tune in to Animax Asia, I end up in the 6:00 to 7:30 pm timeslot, which has Hayate no Gotoku!, Beelzebub and Lucky Star, so I can't say that there's too much of a particular demographic in their broadcast sched. That said, I'm not the kind of person who focuses on demographics anyway.

False advertisement? I don't think I've seen that on Lucky Star. Also, demographics like seinen or shounen or otherwise doesn't matter to those who are relatively unfamiliar with the anime industry. Likewise, you don't want an accurate advertisement that spoils key plot details like in K. I'm actually impressed that they were able to make an ad about it considering how it can be easily spoiled to many.

I see no problem with that as well. I just tune in elsewhere if I don't like what I'm watching.

Unsubscribe. Its as simple as that.

Animax Asia comes with the cable bundle in most SEA nations, so you can't unsubscribe.

As a fellow Malaysian and I can tell you it's not going to be easy. As ASTRO's channels come in packages and for Animax-Asia also come with Star World, FOX-Asia and MTV-Asia for examples. Unsubscribing Animax means you also had to unsubscribe those channels too. While you can include and exclude channels like you desired but it charge you with extra fees, which something most subscribers are not going to happy with.

Back to the topic I think Animax is rather "anime channel for anime newbies" than "anime to the max". If you know something like School Days, Yosuga no Sora and Mirai Nikki and then you are too "advanced" for Animax. By then it is much better just pull the plug and get more reliable sources. Just like in my case I already stopped watching Animax since 2010 when the K-drama invasion takes place. However I still had in my ASTRO services because of AXN-Asia and FOX-Asia. Just avoiding myself from pressing number "715" on the TV.

I just want to be neutral here even though I agree Animax-Asia does sucks. Perhaps Animax's suckiness began when they went into rating wars with Hero TV in Philippines, one of the largest Animax's market. Hero TV got all decent shounen and seinen shows and thus only bishounen craps like Kuroshitsuji and 07-Ghost left for Animax. However in recent times Animax seems to win that war despite losing many battles as they got Hunter x Hunter reboot. Why? Because Togashi's fandom is huge in Philippines thanks to Yuu Yuu Hakusho's popularity to that country. In fact Animax also shown YYH in the past.

Eh. I don't buy these sorts of entitlement issues. Animax can show whatever the heck they want to show. If they make a wrong move, their profits suffer. If they do something right, their profits go up. It's all a cash grab in the end, so really: If they happen to have more customers that prefer female-oriented shows, then I don't see anything wrong if they keep doing it. Outrage is an acceptable response of course, but it's hardly any reason for the channel to change its lineup on account of a single vocal complaint.

I think you mean La Corda d'Oro. Aside from few exceptionnal points, I'll agree with you (especially the false advertissment part and K) although I don't live in Asia here.

I'd say Animax-Asia has a lot of variety for an anime channel/block. Just compare it too Toonami, which is just content with airing the same old shows and genres again and again, only marketing towards action-starved teenage boys and jaded "anime fans" who only want to see yet another rerun of Cowboy Bebop on television. You'll never get something like Chihayafuru, Gankatsuou, or K-On on Toonami.

Maybe this is a good subject for cultural differences between what is considered profitable entertainment in SEA and North America.

Animax is a little guilty of airing "the same old shows" in some aspect. Mainly with how many times Hayate the Combat Butler has been aired. I'm not sure if the Toonami comparison is really fair, since Animax is a 24-hour anime channel, while Toonami is a programming block. I find that Animax' selection a bit lacking for a channel that's all anime (and anime-related stuff like Anisongs) all the time. Simply since the number of shows available tends to be rather small.

It's not that the shows in Animax are terrible, it's just that there's a real lack of variety. In the Philippines, Hero TV is a much better choice since they show stuff like Michiko to Hatchin, Hanasaku Iroha, Railgun, Shiki, Hell Girl . . .basically a wide variety of shows.

I wonder why Hero TV made it so easy to acquire licenses to anime compared to Animax.
It's really baffling, actually.

I've always figured that Animax are for people who are... Uninitiated, and needed a starting point somewhere.


When you're already watching the latest season of everything, there's no reason to follow Animax except maybe for nostalgia or a good laugh... Or some masochistic impulse...

Don't really mind if its girly as long as they're not fan service anime purely for male consumption.

Yeah but Neo Angelique Abyss and Skip Beat are fanservice anime purely for female consumption. They already had bishounen fanservice shows like Kuroshitsuji and 07-Ghost before and I think they already had too many of them. I would love to see one or two mild ecchi comedy shows for shounen or seinen audiences regardless how mediocre are they. Unfortunately Animax and other loyal viewers already put VETO on any ecchi shows to begin with. I just blame those 16-years old girls.

Be mind that this is the exact same channel who brought us Fate/Stay Night, Darker Than Black and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in the past. Where all of these shows goes? They are gone and replaced with shoujo ones. Yeah it's true They are currently showing City Hunter as I typing this but CH is a 1980's show with cliches from 1980's Hollywood action movies and series thrown all over the place. Yes CH is good on its own but I just unimpressed with it. I'm also sad to know that Hero TV already shown Hanasaku Iroha which made its chances to be in Animax are very slim to none. Maybe there still some hope left for Tari Tari and Sankarea. Animax need more romance and drama shows for shounen and seinen audiences if they really wants to live the "Animax" name.

It's true I better pull the plug or ignore that channel consider it is a win-win situation but in long run I'm the real loser as I had to pay for a channel I didn't even spent a minute with and Animax continues to show some bad selection of anime without complain or protest. I already sent an e-mail Animax-Asia's management directly not too long ago and what I got is just a crappy short e-mail that saying "Don't worry, we are working on it" and I don't see how they actually working on it except they show us some bishounen craps instead. This is how most male viewers like me abandon that channel and left it to teenage girls instead.

Probably a lot of the girly shows are child friendly. We can't deny the facts that a lot of animes aimed for men aren't child friendly at all.....:heh:

If it can't be avoid, then we could simply stick to downloads and fansubs... TV anime are govern under strict laws.. or maybe not strick but maybe

^You probably right for shoujo romance and drama shows but I don't see how such shows like Kuroshitsuji and 07-Ghost are child-friendly in first place.

I just... can't stand the Tagalization. It just... sounds horrible to the ears. Especially when they have to mouth off and talk really fast so they can say everything within the actual mouth movements.

I checked the images of the two.. hmm.. yeah.. yaoi vibes...

Anyway, I don't know... probably its more acceptable? Hahaha.. I mean for girls...:heh:

Hahaha, you can't blame it. But that made a lot of fans here in the Philippines....

I just watched four more episodes of Busou Renkin due to their reruns during weekends. Guess Animax Asia does hold some good in it after all. :heh:

Lol, as a viewer of "Tagalized" anime for more than ten years, I am very much used to them. (Oh, and looks like Trigun is being rerun on Hero TV with a new cast of voice actors.)