The Anime Society 4: Fabulous Traps within!

Which unfortunately means it's not ending soon T_T

On that topic, was there an explanation for why Reborn! ended? I'm assuming it's due to its declining television ratings (which is typically why long running shounen of this kind reach their death bed).

The manga hasnt ended though right? I just started reading it

On that topic, was there an explanation for why Reborn! ended? I'm assuming it's due to its declining television ratings (which is typically why long running shounen of this kind reach their death bed).

I only read the manga, but I presume that to be the case. Or perhaps they couldn't make a plausible filler arc so decided to leave it for a bit? That's one thing Reborn does well - make the filler suit the canon arc.

Hiatuses are fairly commonplace (One Piece has taken them in the past and is, suffice to say, certainly in no danger of declining ratings - quite the opposite). I'm completely out of the loop with Reborn! so I'm unsure what the exact reason was. However, I do keep tabs on the ratings and it has plummeted somewhat in the past few years.

Perhaps it caters more towards a western audience, and as such doesn't attract such great home ratings? I obviously don't know much about the Japanese mindset though.

I mean, Reborn is probably the favourite between my friends IRL, although that could also be One Piece. I personally find it to be better than both Bleach and Naruto in terms of story construction.

But yeah, I didn't even know the Reborn anime had been cut until a little while ago. As long as the manga continues, I'm happy. It has a far more solid story than the wishy-washy tripe Kubo has been coming out with lately.

Arguably the same could said about One Piece (pirates are perceivably more western whereas ninja and death gods are securely interlinked with Japanese heritage) and given it's one of the most popular anime and manga series of all time, I don't believe this is the cause.

In terms of ratings, One Piece is always in the top 3, alongside long running anime intended for children. This is then followed by Dragon Ball Kai around 5 to 6 and Naruto Shippuden at 9. Bleach is not faring too well and is often amongst shorter series, which is not a good sign.

The reason One Piece may still be so popular though could be a similar one as to why Soap Operas are so popular in the UK. People have watched them for so long that they wont just drop them. This was one thing that had stopped me from dropping Naruto for a LONG while, until I succombed just over a year ago (completely dropped, including the manga - I had dropped the anime even earlier). The only reason I haven't dropped Bleach as well is because I still prefer the concept of it to Naruto, even if it's been pretty bad lately (I dropped the anime in January).

One Piece's success is not comparable to any other long running anime series. It has consistently reached the top 3 in Japanese television ratings and has remained there for over a decade (this is truly remarkable; no other long-running series has remotely reached the top five in their entire run, let alone for this length). The manga has similarly sold more volumes (over 190 million) than any other series in history. In every poll, One Piece remains a top favourite. To suggest that its popularity is simply a case of fan loyalty is grossly underestimating how influential the series has become. The only shounen series that can remotely compare, and even then is statistically inferior, would be Dragon Ball.

Wow, that's something I've definitely never heard of occurring in Television before O_O It's truly amazing. Although that's with my knowledge of western Television (where my knowledge and future career path lie) so it could just be that Japanese viewers are vastly different to western ones. I mean, you rarely see animation outside of the adult/comedy/satire genre on the "big 4" here in the UK (I'm talking about The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, and their spin-off channels, as I don't believe Channel 5 is worthy of the title 'cause I never see anything good on there).

I'm rambling and not making much sense of the point I'm trying to make... too tired XD

Just to clarify, it's averagely within the top 3 of anime alone, discounting everything else shown on Japanese television. It normally receives in the regions of a 9 to 12% share of the viewing audience, although occasionally it can peak much higher (a quick search generated this article, which is relevant to this discussion). The highest television rating an anime series has ever achieved was with Touch, reaching an amazing 30+% of the viewing audience. Granted, this was back in the late 80s, but it's still incredible nevertheless.

Out of curiosity, anyone seen GAINAX's new anime, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt? What do you think of it so far?

I can't actually watch anything other than the first half till I'm 18 which is in a couple weeks but the first part I found hilarious! I thought the artwork was too much like cartoons like Invader Zim for my liking but I actually loved it and found it hilarious xD What do you think?

...Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt...

I can't actually watch anything other than the first half till I'm 18 which is in a couple weeks...

Ive not seen it yet, but you are a good girl

Wait, what? I know the content is pretty adult orientated, but since when did halves of episodes get age ratings?

Anyway, I've seen the first two eps now. Definitely the funniest series I've picked up so far this season, and as long as it doesn't get repetitive it should stay that way. Still waiting on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru though, which could give it a run for it's money (SHAFT + maids + comedy = my kind of series).

W-W-What why? O_o (Am I being stupidly ignorant here? xD; )



YouTube - half the episode was free for anyone to watch and the rest were 18+. No idea why, that's just YouTube XD
I agree, it's hilarious at the moment but if -every- episode is similar to this for 26 episodes, I can imagine I'd tire of it quite quickly. Here's hoping some form of plot will follow!