“Anime Broadcasts are Inappropriate!”
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Apr 2, 2011 02:10 JST
- Tags: Censorship, Earthquakes, Mass Media, Tokyo, TV, TV Tokyo
Top Tokyo anime station TV Tokyo is under fire for daring to break off its back-to-back earthquake coverage after a mere 33 hours, “inappropriately” broadcasting starting to broadcast anime whilst other Tokyo channels were still lovingly showing endless scenes of ruined reactors, wrecked cities and huddled refugees.
TV Tokyo ran 33 hours of continuous quake coverage from 2:54PM on the 11th of March to 11:55PM on the 12th, at which point it finally relented and broadcast the scheduled episode of Tegami Bachi.
The station subsequently fell victim to a barrage of criticism for “inappropriate programming,” with some 600 complaints received.
TV companies are apparently alone in Japanese corporate culture in being largely impervious to minority complaints and utterly unself-effacing when responding to them, and TV Tokyo’s CEO is no exception:
“We did receive 90 messages of support for broadcasting it, but most were critical. I’d like to bear their valued opinions in mind.”
Just why every station in the Tokyo region was expected to offer days of continuous quake coverage is not exactly clear; nor is it clear what purpose half a dozen channels endlessly regurgitating the same information actually serves.
Anime fans for their part are already feeling put upon thanks to the tendency of stations to splash maps all over the screen every time there is a 1m tsunami anticipated on beaches 2000km away.
2ch is highly sceptical of the excessive wave of “self-restraint” cancellations, as well as the increasingly transparent efforts to hijack the disaster hysteria for political ends and backdoor censorship:
“What are they whining about? It’s practically an anime station.”
“Just what did they expect?”
“So now TV Tokyo is going to have to exercise ‘self-restraint’? What about Madoka…”
“If you don’t like it, change the channel!”
“On the contrary, they should be grateful. The other stations all run quake coverage, but they have anime to take solace in – I think that is good.”
“If you want to complain, do it to the government or Tepco… the ones who blame anime are nuts.”
“Just shut up and watch NHK!”
“People who don’t even watch that channel shouldn’t be lodging complaints about it!”
“The self-restraint obsessed crowd are seriously irritating.”
“It’s better than the creepy variety news shows on the other channels.”
“TV Tokyo should exercise self-restraint – from showing quake coverage.”
“What the hell is the problem supposed to be anyway? We don’t need more than one channel running quake news all the time…”
“Do the self-restraint maniacs actually derive pleasure from watching quake reports or something?”
“TV Tokyo is in the right. Endless quake images are only going to traumatise children.”
“I thought Japan was finished when I tuned in to TV Tokyo to see earthquake reporting, but I saw a ray of hope when the anime returned!”
“The people who make these complaints are mentally ill… what is the point of having every single channel run the same reports and not forgiving anything else, it’s crazy.”
“NHK runs nothing but earthquake coverage, the others run quake coverage/variety programmes, and TV Tokyo runs anime. Take your pick.”
“The quake was in Tohoku and the Tokyo channels don’t even broadcast there, so who cares if they broadcast anime in Tokyo?”
“Did they complain properly to ATX and Animax as well?”
“I was surprised TV Tokyo even broadcast quake news.”
“The people complaining are the ones who need to show some self-restraint…”
Blade & Soul Launch Unexpectedly Voluptuous
Nisemonogatari Pachinko Machine Unveiled
Lax Lady Venera Figure
Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut Ceaselessly Naughty
“Abusive” Breast-Groping Fundraiser Molested by Petition
Hanayo Koizumi’s Birthday Highly Revered
Toyota Prius CM Goes Full KanColle Mode
Usamimi Anette-san Micro-Bikini Figure
A Full Course Dream 3some “An Otaku Wet-Dream”
Dimension W “Both Cute & Grotesque!”
Monster Monpiece Naked Trailer Shamelessly Shameless
Digimon Adventure Tri PV Full of Promise
Tekken Moves Performed in Real Life
Energetic Lucky Chloe Figure
Otoko No Ko Harem – Will You Admit To Wanting This?
Dagashi Kashi Irresistibly Sweet
Oshiete Gyaruko-chan Pantsu-A-Plenty
Nitroplus Blasterz English Trailer Quite Rousing
Valkyria Chronicles Remaster Trailer Retells The Tale
Sickeningly Sweet Enju Aihara Miko Figure
Skimpy Sonico Cosplay Barely Contained
Kumiko & Reina Cosplay Hardly Blows At All
Skimpy Elf Bikini Cosplay by Saku Supremely Sexy
Gothic Lolita Hatsune Miku Cosplay Busts Out
Delectable Dizzy Cosplay by Lechat
Dark Elf Cosplay by Non Very Dark Indeed
Titillating Tamako Cosplay Perfectly Pink
Goddess of 2ch: “Full of Lust & Urges (& Also Videos)!”
Raunchy Reisen Inaba Cosplay by Tsuyato
Haruhi Bunny Girl Cosplay Rocks Out
The people complaining about TV Tokyo are like the idiots glued to CNN, Fox and The Weather Channel. Watching the same footage and listening to same talking heads over and over and over...
Give the people of Japan a chance to relax and take their minds off the tragedy so they can focus on rebuilding.
The only people who should be forced to watch 24/7 tsunami coverage should be the president of TEPCO and the clown politicians.
I just think TV Tokyo learned it's lesson from endless eight, and cut short the coverage of endless quake.
They should just make a separate channel named "Natural Disaster Channel" and broadcast all the natural disasters they want there...
Thus was born the concept of the News Channel.
A 24/7 news station whose only purpose is to tell you that you should feel depressed, angered, astonished, or offended....?
Nah, that'll never catch on.
Wouldn't that just make you feel good about your situation?
to Dia, It wouldn't make you feel good about your situation, it would make you feel evil and unclean for being the lucky ones.
Libyan State TV is doing a good job at the mo. Fox is close but we'll need better citations for that.
on sankaku complex, quotation marks quote you!
we have that its called The Weather Channel surprised they dont have that in Japan
i think the problem is different, it's not thet they want tv tokyo to show disaster, but they want every japanese to be concerned about disaster , therefore watch it on every channel, as a kind of hypocrite solidarity i guess , such as "i can't see anything else than the disaster on TV, so it's really a serious thing, i suffer too " etc etc ...
it's pretty much like complaining that some people in some regions didn't do one minute of silence in the middle of the day ...
i don't understand what they're thinking, how could you watch every channels with one tv anyway. also, what's the difference between news in one tv station with others, practically they're the same right.
I know that channel. I love Disaster Time and Volcano show, and at night they show shows like Earthquake Chicken and Tsunami Guy.
nothing beats "When Buildings Collapse"
The best part is when the buildings fall down!
"Wanna catch the tide?"
"We need EVERY CHANNEL TO SHOW THE SAME THING. WHAT'S THAT? THAT'S POINTLESS? CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALALALALALALALA!"
“If you don’t like it, change the channel!”
600 people cant be arsed to do this.
Did you watch 9/11 live? Changing the channel only changed the announcer's voice; it was everywhere. Now imagine if 9/11 lasted 3+ weeks and everything else was canceled out of "restraint..."
Ahahaha... Personally I'd rather watch anime than boring broadcasts about things I already know. XP
I second that. Besides, there's no point in learning about the tiny details of such a catastrophe. It ends up being morbid to just watch the same over and over again and how thousands of people struggle to live and cry for the deaths of their beloved ones. Srsly, something to take our minds out of that IS NECESSARY. I wonder who the fuck complained.
I know who complained. The Japanese who don't give a fuck about anime and want to know about the state of their country over some bullshit. I understand the need to escape through television but in a crisis there are more important things. Imagine that shit happening over here and then in the middle of it the TV stations start playing Two and a Half Men. We would be pissed and rightly so. Two and a Half Men sucks!
And you are in Sankaku why?
I think the people who sign in to sankaku just to vote our comments down are pathetic. Faggothitsthevotedownbuttonsayswhat? The more faded this comment is the prouder I'll be.
Dude... So you're saying you'd rather wallow in sorrow and continue watching you know is already around and happening than try feeling a little better? Something that catastrophic of that scale would take time to recover so why would you continue watching something when you know that there won't be any change soon? That's what happened in my country when a storm blew in and floods were severe. 24/7 coverage of the destruction that was plain obvious. Restoration doesn't happen instantly. So instead of depressing myself, I made my comfort food and watched a DVD knowing it's gonna take a while. With a full Pantry and generator I have no worries for the 2 weeks.
Well said. There is a time to escape reality, and THATS NOT NOW. The people who feel the need to sit there and watch anime to avoid being depressed need to get a life.
How dare they give entertainment to the people who might be a little bit tired of the whole disaster thing by now.
There are other forms of entertainment besides the TV you dumb fuck.
In spite of that TV IS still for entertainment,you little piece of shit!.
Apparently it's your only form of entertainment you dumb fuck ^_^
lolol get a life it's just cartoons
I don't see the problem with airing anime during such a terrible time for Japan. People don't need to be constantly reminded of the horror they faced. In fact, the time has never been better for a distraction or three! Let them smile.
Why don't they need to be constantly reminded? This shits real. Anime isn't
Because even if they are reminded, nothing actually changes? So it doesn't matter?
Speak for yourself, there are plenty of people who see it and go out and do something. Just because you don't like it and your main hobby is TV, doesn't mean thats the case for everyone else.
“NHK runs nothing but earthquake coverage, the others run quake coverage/variety programmes, and TV Tokyo runs anime. Take your pick.”
“TV Tokyo is in the right. Endless quake images are only going to traumatise children.”
Newfound respect for TV Tokyo, for trying to preserve our smiles in light of Japan's disaster.
Yes god forbid people have some escapism from the horror.
The Japanese I know are going crazy having nothing but tsunami coverage 24/7, especially since it is all repeats on a 30min loop. On Twitter people are being told to turn off their TVs for a while for the sake of their mental health.
The best response from 2ch has to be “Just shut up and watch NHK!”
All I saw on NHK was scenes of devastation looped, charts, diagrams, models of reactors, opinions from experts, more charts, more diagrams, and even more PSA CMs, all within the L-shaped screens and a death toll notification like it was some high score on a game. OTL
Is Madoka counted as escapism? If so, we need escapism from the escapism...
That sort of escapism wouldn't have been suspended until April if it was counted as one.
Never thought I'd say this but...I'm starting to miss Kyuubee.
They can TURN OFF THEIR TV's INSTEAD OF WATCHING CARTOONS! HURP DURP
How would YOU feel if YOU were the victim of that Earthquake / Reactor blowing. And you were sitting there for weeks without aide, hoping, wishing, praying, whatever, for someone to help. And to know that there are people out there who don't give a fuck and want to watch cartoons instead. It's easy to pick your ass and say "I don't want to see all these hurt people, it's depressing" THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Go out there and volunteer to help! Stop trying to escape the fact that the world is in chaos. This is why Humanity is failing as a race. We don't help each other and just want to help ourselves. The truth is though, by helping others, it comes back to you. There is more to this world that is hurtling through space than our 5 senses can detect.
Do you think authorities will allow anybody who is willing to help get access to disaster areas?
I believe they call in the kind of people they need.
People with suitable knowledge and skills. Specially when working at areas with radiation risk.
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Someone upload 30min of earthquake broadcast to looptube, and give link to those 600 morons. It's do the trick, and we can watch some anime in peace.
"Watch some anime in ignorance you mean!" Heyooo!
I side with TV Tokyo.
I mean, let's take... the July bombings in the UK a few years back.
If I had to endure 33 hours or more of that (this was when I still watched TV) on _all_ (mainly five) TV channels, I think I would have killed myself.
And people wonder why Japan has such a high suicide rate...
Being there to report the initial tragedy is fine.
Keeping up with developments as they happen is also fine.
Every TV station in the country providing 24/7 coverage of the death and destruction of a natural disaster for days on end is fucking depressing. People need a break from all that misery, be it anime, game shows, soap operas or even just some lame ass infomercials.
You can only watch so much misery before it starts eating at you.
So turn off the TV? Do something else?