Still we are now in July. This is my favorite month of the year or maybe it be best to say one of my favorite months. The weather is hot but it sure better then being cold. We have fireworks because of the Fourth of July in America. Long days due to the sun not setting and longer sunsets. Now this is the things that summer dreams are made of! What kid doesn't imagine running in the hours of summer popping fireworks while enjoying an ice cream with their friends? Sounds like the perfect holiday. Still I am not a kid and I don't enjoy all of these things but it sure is nice to dream. Though maybe I just like July because my birthday falls during this month. haha
On blog side there been a few things going on. Though one things to note is that around this time of last year was when I first thought up of doing a One Piece blog. Not sure if I told the whole story but I was inspire by somebody else who was blogging shojo series like Shugo Chara. The only thing that was stopping me was that I was interning that summer and wasn't sure if I would be up to blogging. Still I am sure you guys can piece together what happen seeing that this blog didn't get started until the last day of August. haha Lame right? Though time to get into this!
by Mikey-san
Did you know it is hard to find a person wearing a one piece swimsuit considering that the title of this series is called 'One Piece'?
Still after a long wait and months of preparing, the first big contest for this blog is going to happen which is 'Show Me Your One Piece!'. This a chance to not only show all the One Piece stuff that you may have collected during your time as a One Piece fan but to also show your support for One Piece within your own country. This blog strongly support the people who provide One Piece in our country. May it be buying the DVDs from Funimation or the manga from Viz. Maybe even both. Still we want to reward the people who support One Piece in their own country and just for being a great fan.
We would need you to email pictures of all the One Piece stuff you have in order to win some cool stuff like One Piece: Season Three, Second Voyage (or Funimation One Piece DVD of your choice) or One Piece: Volume 55 (or Viz One Piece manga of your choice) along with small little things.
The contest will end August 10th. You would need to send your entry the OnePieceAtATimeBlog (at) Gmail (dot) com. More details can be found here. Good luck!
Poll Results
by Mikey-san
One thing that you may have notice in the last few months was that there was a poll on the blog. I didn't say much about it but it seems like there was a good turn out. The point of the poll was to just see what you guys wanted since I want to know what you guys are interested in. The poll was simple. All that was to be done was select whatever option that you wanted which had been offer on this blog or would eventually be offered.
Another surprising finding was seeing that you guys wanted 'more of the same' things which means more recaps and reviews of the weekly anime episodes and manga chapters.Well that will always be done so no need to worry. I just was thinking that people would be less interested in that and wanted other things.
For a while it seems like you guys want me to go to more conventions and I would love to do that. I am hoping that with Sora and Neku that we could get more conventions covered since going across the country is a bit daunting at the moment. Also the fact of spending a lot of money is a bit intimidating right now. haha Though I will try my best and if anything then we will get somebody at a big con...SakuraCon anybody? haha Still it seems like not that maybe people want a contest and I am sorry. Still this contest was planned out a few months ago in April and I hope that you all will take part in it that can.
by Mikey-san
Remember of a time when you would eagerly wake up on Saturday morning and the first thing that was done was turn on the TV to watch a fresh batch of Saturday morning cartoons? Those were good days when millions of kids would gather around the TV to watch the newest episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or maybe something more recent like Static Shock or Pokemon. Though what happen to those days when kids would be abuzz about the latest episode from their favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon? Clearly not many around the age of twenty and above watch Saturday Morning Cartoons because not many are willing to wake up early due to an attempt to catch up on much needed sleep. Still even adults knew about some of the more popular Saturday Morning Cartoons. I can't even name one popular Saturday Morning Cartoon that isn't Pokemon(: Sinnoh League Victors) or Yu-gi-oh 5Ds off the top of my head and that is considering that I have a little brother who watches Saturday Morning Cartoons. That is sad considering that I support Saturday Morning Cartoons which is the only reason why I support 4Kids still being in business since they re the only ones in the game that has a decent Saturday morning line up.
My friend would kill me if she knew that I was doing a discussion about Saturday Morning Cartoons and not show this image.
Apparently Saturday Morning Cartoons are not what they use to be twenty years ago, much less eight years ago. Many people have stated that the cartoons of today lack quality or that they are not that well done. Some say that the cartoons of today were only made to last one season then pushed out for the next new thing. Other say that these shows were just made to sell toys and be a brand of toys. A good example of the later one was that Hot Wheels cartoon that was being shown on Cartoon Network.
Still what happen to Saturday Morning Cartoons? Where is the spirit that brought us love and continue to bring joy to the young kids of today? Money? Can't be since that has always been there and we have never notice it till today. Transformers? Was used to make money off of the toys. Ninja Turtles? Another way to make money off of toys. Heck, one of the reasons why cartoons get pulled off the air these days is because companies can't find a way to make toys from them in a profitable way for the TV networks can rank in the money on the toy deals. Still that is only one reason why Saturday Morning Cartoons is where they are today. To tell the truth I really don't know why Saturday Morning Cartoons are where they are today. I have read and talked about many different reasons why Saturday Morning Cartoons aren't as strong as they were before and why networks are dropping or limitings their hours dedicated to the block. Some are saying that it was because the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) along with concern parents pulling the plug or limitings the amount of commercials that can be played during the morning block especially on foods that could be consider unhealthy like sugary cereals. Others are claiming that the FCC began pushing for more E/I (Educational and Informative) programing which then lead to the lack of quality cartoons in order to make the cartoons more 'educational and informative'. Others are citing that the cartoons are not bring in the ratings as they use to because of the lack of interest from viewers.
I am not sure really where to point the blame on here. It could be a combination of all of the above. Take a look at ABC Saturday morning block, ABC Kids, and you can see that six out of eight of the shows there are E/I approved (Which is beyond me how that is possible base on what those shows are). Then there are the clear signs that the only reason why local stations show Saturday Morning Cartoons is to meet the minimum requirements of educational programing that the FCC demands.Still it is this one organization with the three letters that is limiting the ideas of Saturday Morning cartoons on both cable and local TV stations.
Just take a look at what the networks are showing for Saturday Morning Cartoons. ABC Kids is filled with reruns of Disney shows and cut and paste episodes of Power Rangers. Cartoon Network is showing reruns of the stuff that was shown the night before with new episodes of Pokemon and lesser known animes. Cookie Jar TV on CBS focuses on programing for young children with reruns of Sabrina, the Animated Series. The CW4Kids on The CW seem to be the only network with a full morning block showing the most new content but it doesn't mean it is quality programing (I mean it is 4Kids, do I need so say more?).
Still the main problem is that there is no reason for kids to wake up to see these cartoons. The stuff aim at the younger kids on may grab their attention since they are little kids. Though the point of the programing isn't meant to hold them as they grow and mature. So where are these kids to go when they get older? That is the flaw that NBC and CBS structure has. It is beyond reason how ABC Kids is staying afloat seeing that they are showing three year old reruns that not even Disney Channel is willing to show anymore. CW4Kids show the most new content but as mention before, not all of it is of the highest quality with showing their 'interesting' done dubs and low cost shows. Then Cartoon Network has some good new content being show as in anime but they show it very early in the morning when most kids would be asleep and then finish off the block with the reruns of the new episodes they show the night before.
Now this is something I would wake up to see
Would you wake up to see these Saturday Morning Cartoon blocks? I would love to wake up to see Pokemon as it comes on live but really I need my sleep. My little brother doesn'teven wake up that early and it's lucky for us we have Cartoon Network West so we can catch the new episode two hours later. Still why would anybody want to wake up to see reruns of something they saw last night? I mean we all know that Cartoon Network will show that new episode ten more times before Monday comes around. Do you want to wake up to watch something that is low quality and not that entertaining or something that is boring while trying to be educational.
Now I am not going to say that anime is the solution but I am going to say that anime can be part of the solution. There are tons of animes that could be brought over and be dubbed correctly to show to an American public. These can provide a good flow of new content that would grab ratings. KidsWB saw their highest ratings during the time that they were showing Pokemon before forcing it off their airwaves. This would then be good exposure for anime to be introduce to a younger audience and create a new generation of anime fans. The older generation of anime fans can't be holding the torch for anime forever and we can just watch it whenever we want while younger kids may not be trusted to use the internet. Still the only thing that could stop this from happening is that networks most likely won't show anime since they may not get the rights to a toy deal which is something that the Japanese companies may need to learn how to share if they ever get to thinking globally. Still Cartoon Network is showing anime as in Pokemon and Beyblade but they need to get it out of the 6'oclock (Central) time slot where most kids are still sleeping and up into a later hour. Though the point is that anime could help get shows that have new episodes that exclusively premiere on Saturday mornings.
Though I would prefer if these Saturday Morning blocks were filled with quality American made shows. There are no iconic heroes or shows that have roots in the Saturday Morning block anymore. Most of the popular shows are on cable networks. Where are the Supermans or the Animaniacs of today? It is nice to have anime to show but something American made is always good to have on TV as well.
If anything, FUNImation could just do what was done with to Sailor Moon for One Piece and add some sort of segment like 'Captain's Orders' where Luffy would talk about something that took place in the episode to make that episode of One Piece education. That way the FCC could be happy and okay with One Piece being on TV.
Narrator: Now it is time for 'Captain's Orders'.
Luffy: Hey guys! Remember to eat a lot of oranges or you are going to get scurvy like Johnny did!
Johnny: Yeah! Scurvy bad!
Luffy: Now where are my oranges! I want some oranges! And don't forget the meat! MEAT!
Narrator: And those are your 'Captain's Orders'!
Now that is educational! haha I learned about scurvy! Imagine all the anime that could be shown if they do something like that. Adding a segment called 'Samurai Says' to Samurai Champloo where Mugen talks about how cleaning up after yourself is important. Then you get clips of him cutting up some guys as he talks about it. It could work with Nerima Daikon Brothers. That is educational since I now know that there was a prime minster in Japan that strongly supported privatizing. Now that is better then any E/I stuff that is up there because of the FCC. haha
Still the overall thing is that we need some good shows that have new episodes if we want to see a future for Saturday Morning Cartoons.
by Mikey-san
Yeah....I am out of guardian characters from Shugo Chara! to use....
Still added another great site to the blog roll which is Anime 3000! This site is full of anime goodness with many posts about different things happening in the anime world while a long series of podcasts including one that I hope you guys been follwing, The SpeakEasy podcast by the friends of the blog: Hitsui and Narutaki at The Reverse Thieves. The big cheese there is Sean who is also incharge of getting a community of anime bloggers together. So if you need to find a certain kind of anime related site then I suggest that you hit up their directory. You may find the site that you want there.
One Piece Wallpapers
by Mikey-san
Looking for some cool wallpapers for your computer and/or laptops? Well Andrew (he was mention during the AKon coverage) has you covered. He has created a few anime themed wallpapers including some great One Piece ones. My personal favorite is the one titled 'Orange' which features everybody's favorite navigator, Nami. Though I suggest you take a look at some of his work and see what he has. You can view his work on his DeviantArt page.
So I hope you guys enjoy the week and enjoyed final match of the World Cup that happened! Spain vs. Holland/Whatever-they-are-calling-them. Kind of long but I am glad that we didn't went into penalty shots. Spain got the gold! haha Still I leave you guys with this in honor of the announcement of Durarara(rarararara) getting picked up and getting dubbed.
Don't forget about 'Show Me Your One Piece! Have a great week!
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