K-On! General Discussion Thread

[M.Marangio]

A small update of the official homepage http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/ :

According to the new front page and the broadcat schedule, the anime will start airing on April 2, 1:59, on TBS.

ETA: thanks, corrected the URL

[E_I]

Originally Posted by M.Marangio

A small update of the official homepage http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/:

According to the new front page and the broadcat schedule, the anime will start airing on April 2, 1:59, on TBS.

Nice. But you need to take out that colon at the end of the address. You get a 404 with that.

http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/

[Tempester]

K-On! is being broadcast by the TBS and BS-i stations.

Uhoh, does this mean that K-On will get the same treatment as Clannad did in aspect ratio, with the original widescreen version cut to 4:3 in an initial broadcast on TBS and the original version airing on BS-i 3 weeks later?

That would be a pain for me if it happened, and it doesn't help that I'm a sucker for original aspect ratios. I would have to regularly replace the episodes with the widescreen versions 3 weeks later, that is if the subbing groups even bother to go and sub the widescreen version. I'm having a problem like that with Clannad right now.

[FallenDevil]

well i guess this series will be a good one and would be romance/comedy....

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Tempester

Uhoh, does this mean that K-On will get the same treatment as Clannad did in aspect ratio, with the original widescreen version cut to 4:3 in an initial broadcast on TBS and the original version airing on BS-i 3 weeks later?

Dammit TBS. Change over to widescreen for the love of god. This is getting dumb.

Originally Posted by FallenDevil

well i guess this series will be a good one and would be romance/comedy....

Since I can see this pulling a Lucky Star and pretending that males don't exist, I doubt "romance" is one of the genres. "Moe comedy" would be more accurate.

Sigh... in general, I attempt to avoid this kind of show, but if they're going to pull off epic rock concerts every once in a while it'll be worth watching.

Besides, at least the animation is pretty.

[Ithekro]

It seems all Japanese stations will be switched over by sometime in 2011, much like all United States stations are switcing over later in 2009.

[E_I]

Originally Posted by Tempester

K-On! is being broadcast by the TBS and BS-i stations.

Uhoh, does this mean that K-On will get the same treatment as Clannad did in aspect ratio, with the original widescreen version cut to 4:3 in an initial broadcast on TBS and the original version airing on BS-i 3 weeks later?

That would be a pain for me if it happened, and it doesn't help that I'm a sucker for original aspect ratios. I would have to regularly replace the episodes with the widescreen versions 3 weeks later, that is if the subbing groups even bother to go and sub the widescreen version. I'm having a problem like that with Clannad right now.

******. Not this **** again.

[Blue-kun]

But apparently K-ON! will be airing on MBS a week later as well. I'm not sure how this played out with Clannad since I don't really follow it, but isn't there any chance it might go widescreen on MBS?

[Tyabann]

At least the Haruhi rerun(?) is airing on widescreen stations.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Blue-kun

But apparently K-ON! will be airing on MBS a week later as well. I'm not sure how this played out with Clannad since I don't really follow it, but isn't there any chance it might go widescreen on MBS?

Incidentally, the answer is almost certainly no because of the reason they do all this. BS-i is a premium TV channel. They want people who watch (the free) TBS/MBS/CBC/etc. channels to pay extra and get BS-i (apparently called BS-TBS as of April 1st). TBS itself airs shows in widescreen HD all the time (they air Gundam 00 in HD, for example), but that's a mainstream broadcast that airs in primetime, so they want to get the best ratings as possible for the ad revenue. But for these shows that air at ungodly hours where pretty much everyone's either a night owl or timeshifting, there's no ad revenue to be made, hence why they push the premium TV subscription. They're also producing the DVDs, incidentally, which is why BS-TBS shows are incredibly slow to get Blu-Ray releases (because, again, they're propping up the value of their premium TV channel). You can also notice that even their premium TV "HD" broadcasts are crippled; this is almost certainly to add value to the Blu-Rays when they eventually ship (because we know that TBS can air shows in proper HD when they want to).

So all that to say, they could very easily air it in HD on all their channels, but they won't for this reason. Think of the TBS/MBS/CBC broadcast as "informercials" for the actual products they're selling (subscriptions, DVDs, and eventually Blu-Rays), and you're getting closer to the business logic. Obviously, that doesn't change the fact that it's annoying.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Incidentally, the answer is almost certainly no because of the reason they do all this. BS-i is a premium TV channel. They want people who watch (the free) TBS/MBS/CBC/etc. channels to pay extra and get BS-i (apparently called BS-TBS as of April 1st). TBS itself airs shows in widescreen HD all the time (they air Gundam 00 in HD, for example), but that's a mainstream broadcast that airs in primetime, so they want to get the best ratings as possible for the ad revenue. But for these shows that air at ungodly hours where pretty much everyone's either a night owl or timeshifting, there's no ad revenue to be made, hence why they push the premium TV subscription. They're also producing the DVDs, incidentally, which is why BS-TBS shows are incredibly slow to get Blu-Ray releases (because, again, they're propping up the value of their premium TV channel). You can also notice that even their premium TV "HD" broadcasts are crippled; this is almost certainly to add value to the Blu-Rays when they eventually ship (because we know that TBS can air shows in proper HD when they want to).

So all that to say, they could very easily air it in HD on all their channels, but they won't for this reason. Think of the TBS/MBS/CBC broadcast as "informercials" for the actual products they're selling (subscriptions, DVDs, and eventually Blu-Rays), and you're getting closer to the business logic. Obviously, that doesn't change the fact that it's annoying.

You seem to be pretty hell-bent that it will be aired in 4:3 aspect ratio first. I don't doubt your theory and judgement, but if that is the case, then what about other broadcasting stations, especially Chiba TV, which aired Haruhi, Lucky Star and Munto TV in widescreen? Why don't they resort to the same dirty business tactic that TBS is doing? Is it simply because they have more shame, or is it that they can afford to do so, being in a better financial position than TBS?

[E_I]

The first chapter of the manga have been scanlated.


Edit: Sorry, only the first chapter has been translated.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Tempester

You seem to be pretty hell-bent that it will be aired in 4:3 aspect ratio first. I don't doubt your theory and judgement, but if that is the case, then what about other broadcasting stations, especially Chiba TV, which aired Haruhi, Lucky Star and Munto TV in widescreen? Why don't they resort to the same dirty business tactic that TBS is doing? Is it simply because they have more shame, or is it that they can afford to do so, being in a better financial position than TBS?

I don't think it has anything do with shame (no matter how much viewers might think it should).

I think it's mostly because of the financial arrangements for the production. TBS is a financial partner in the production committee, and they take a cut of all the DVD sales (their logo is on the boxes, etc.). So they've decided that this is their marketing strategy, since they're trying to push both their stations and the show. The other shows you mentioned are published by Kadokawa, and the airtime on stations like Chiba was more-than-likely purchased the way you'd purchase informercial time. The TV stations in that case aren't part of the production committee and don't get a cut of the DVD sales, so they basically don't care and/or don't have a say -- whatever viewers they do get is viewers who aren't watching one of their competitors at those ungodly hours, and they need to fill the time.

So, there are cases when the TV network is a co-producer, and cases where the TV networks are just outlets for broadcasting. And in the cases where TBS network is a co-producer for a late night anime, they always do this 4:3 thing (at least, they have so far). Basically, it seems to me that whoever puts down the money gets to make the rules (the Golden Rule? ).

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by -Kh-

I'm not going to flame you, but I just found something funny:
-I love Lucky Star.
-I watched Ichigo Mashimaro, thought was okish but sometimes too much loli for my taste.
-Started watching Manabi Straight, dropped it after 3 episodes.
...That's the way that people is, we are not copies of each other to think alike....

I keep discovering that even when I agree with someone about certain shows, there are other shows that we disagree about. No two people have the exact same taste, in anime or anything else.

Just for the record, I think Ichigo Mashimaro is the funniest anime I have ever seen. I enjoyed Lucky Star a lot. And I enjoyed Manabi Straight, mostly. I generally like the moe aspect of things, but if a show has only moe, it tends to get pretty boring pretty fast. IchiMash and LS had humor, and Manabi Straight had sentimental warmth. Especially ep4, which featured Nonaka Ai and Hirano Aya's characters.

As for this show, we get to see if KyoAni has any good new directors in the bull-pen after the departure of Yamakan. This show is directed by KyoAni animator Yamada Hisako. She did key animation on Air, SHnY, LS, and Clannad After Story.

I'd be pleased but shocked if we got the 16:9 version of this show at the same time as the 4:3 version. Good discussion.

[Nikkan]

Looks like a great anime Hope it meets the expectation

[Nina.Wolken]

I'm also looking forward to this show!
I would be more than happy if it turned like Lucky Star or Manabi Straight i.e dropping all romantic aspect in favor of focusing just on the comedy and the band development.

[Midonin]

There would need to be a romantic aspect in the first place for that to happen, and from what I've read of the manga, there really isn't one.

[Littm]

First manga chapter isn't hooking at all. But I hope that it will be a good anime. Actually, I like the commercial. I wish KyoAni luck with this adaptation and going to watch it.

[Ithekro]

Considering the first chapter of Lucky Star isn't all that hooking either (adapting it caused people to dub it the "food animu"), I think KyoAni can pull at least something off.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Midonin

There would need to be a romantic aspect in the first place for that to happen, and from what I've read of the manga, there really isn't one.

Linda Linda Linda snuck a little romance in so there's always a possibility.