Viz is launching a 24 hour anime channel on consoles

Source

So apparently, Viz Media is launching something called Neon Alley, a 24 hour streaming anime channel with a combination of subscription (7$ a month) and limited ads. Interestingly, they specifically stated that it won't be limited to Viz shows only, and they'll focus on showing dubs. The press release also seemed to spill possible dubs for Rinne no Langrange and Zetman as well.

edited 27th Jun '12 4:52:27 PM by Zendervai

it sounds cool but I can't see it doing well

I might subsribe to it

And now they've announced the dub premier of Blue Exorcist.

I wish you weren't joking.

...Wait, you're not.

HOLY SHIT FUCK YES!!!

Source?

It's true.

I would dismissed this with a simple "meh".

Then I saw Lagrange.

This sounds great. Is this going to make Manga Entertainment to update there library?

This is kind of a weird idea, but I'm interested in several of the announced titles, while there's one show I want to watch on Canadian TV this year. I'll probably try it out since it doesn't require a cable subscription or anything.

Oh, and one thing that may not be very clear. Neon Alley will behave just like a normal TV channel, just streaming onto consoles. Has there been anything else like this?

edited 29th Jun '12 3:52:43 PM by Zendervai

They got Naruto Shippuden. I should have guessed someone would snatch it up after Disney didn't get an audience for it.

....they got the third Bleach movie???

....they got Inuyasha: The Final Act???

....wait they got Death Note!?!? Did Adult Swim lose the license for that? I think they did!

Holy cow. I would be excited if it weren't for how much this decreases the chances of Toonami getting any of these, even though VIZ said it won't stop them from airing these on TV if a network is able to get them.

How many people have consoles? I'm not a gamer and don't keep tabs on that news.

edited 12th Jul '12 10:09:50 AM by kyun

67 million people. The last time I check.

Due to the weird aspects of this, Viz is exercising their Digital Distribution rights. It doesn't interfere with TV airing rights at all. And since those things were all licensed by Viz for North America in the first place, it's not a case of the license sliding around. That is, Disney never licensed Naruto directly, they just sublicensed the TV rights from Viz.

edited 12th Jul '12 10:29:03 AM by Zendervai

Could be an interesting possibility for anime to avoid obscurity, but quite frankly I'm not too hopeful, because this business model seems to be based around the apple store/Androip app platform, and unlike those I don't see users depending on their consoles to watch tv shows after they boot up, but I could be wrong. I would even guess that it's probably the PS 3 users who would be more interested, since they use their console more like those home pc's were supposed to.

Xbox are making updates to make it run closer to a PC.

It has more to do with the user base than the console's capabilities, since people in general don't like to change their habits, they prefer adding new ones or replacing them. But really, I'm just speculating for the hell of it.

Well, at least it should be an inexpensive form of distribution - so it will never endanger Viz, and may help with profitability.

Regardless, success will mainly depend on how well the shows are advertised, but then again Viz are usually good on that regard.

I see what you're saying.

Lets hope that this doesn't blow up in their faces.

edited 12th Jul '12 1:57:51 PM by theweirdKiddokun

So Viz has announced the console it will be on. PS 3. I can't say I'm surprised, as the anime fan/gamer overlap is the most pronounced with the PS 3.

The reason for that, incidentally, being that most JRPGs and other Japanese titles are on the PS 3. Neptunia, Disgaea, Record Of Agarest War, you name it.

No surprise whatsoever.

edited 14th Jul '12 4:16:51 PM by burnpsy

So did they give up on the Xbox? or is it on both?

Right now they don't have any news regarding a XBox 360 version.

Given what the initial announcement said, or at least suggested, Neon Alley was going to start on just one console. I agree Zendervai, it made sense that it was the PS 3 that would have it. I never understood why the rumors suggested that it was going to be on the X Box 360, given that the PS 3's game selection skewed a little more towards the same niches as anime than either of the other consoles.

& the wii is overlooked again!

just so you know, i use my wii as a pc [albeit, the opera browser is shit], but it's netflix works great & sees tons of use. i also have hulu [though lack the memory to run it]

plus i can't access my shonen jump alpha account through it.

edited 15th Jul '12 12:42:26 AM by ComradeClaus

I don't think the Wii was ever a possibility. It was mentioned that as much of the content as possible would be in HD, and that would be rendered useless by the Wii, as it doesn't actually have proper HD output. There's also the fact that the Wii's successor has already been announced and yadda yadda yadda.

pbt... i've seen hd flatscreens in the store & fukin hate them. such harsh, cold images compared to the warm soothing glow of a curved 80's cathode ray tube.

the wii's lack of hd is meaningless, outside of tech fetishists, it's no loss. [games like mario galaxy, skyward sword, sin & punishment are works of art despite lacking hd]

anyway... this should be put in the wii u at launch then.

besides, i've seen jpgs that look basically the same at 50kb as they do at 1mb hi-res/ hi-def for the sake of itself is bs!

plus some of the greatest games are STILL from the 8-bit era. ever see Zanac? or 1943 battle of midway? [yes, the real battle was in '42, this game is a sequel to the 1942 game]

plus hd & the Graphics Arms Race between ps360 is what's bankrupting game designers.

edited 17th Jul '12 11:21:41 PM by ComradeClaus

...what? This isn't a game, it's a channel. If something was recorded in HD, it looks much better on an HD TV. The difference between SD and HD for Casshern Sins, for example, is astounding. The problem with HD for games is that too much emphasis was put on the graphics, which wasn't nearly as much of a problem with anime and TV.