Anime @ Work : Anime scriptwriter Yamanobe Kazuki's Anime and Historical Drama Update - No.13

This time, I'd like to discuss the late night animation programming on Fuji Television called Noitamina. This word, which is animation spelled backwards, was chosen by the production staff who wanted to overturn everyday perceptions about animation. To date, the titles broadcast by Noitamina include Honey and Clover (24 episodes), Paradise Kiss (12 episodes), Ayakashi-Ayakashi (11 episodes), Jyuohsei (11 episodes), Honey and Clover II (12 episodes), Hataraki Man (11 episodes), Nodame Cantabile (23 episodes) and Mononoke (12 episodes). As a quick glance shows, these programs are largely adaptions from girls' manga.

These late night broadcasts were designed to raise awareness in the F1 demographic, that is, female viewers in the 20-34 age group who normally don't watch animation. The results have showed strong backing from women. The first episode of Nodame Cantabile had a viewer rating of 5.4%, the highest ever for a late night animation, easily breaking the six-year record of 4.8%, set in 2000 for the broadcast of Fighting Spirit (a Nihon Television late night broadcast).

In October this year, Noitamina began broadcasting Moyashimon, called "Tales of Agriculture" in English (11 episodes). "Moyashimon is based on a manga by the artist Masayuki Ishikawa, which began serialization in August 2004 in Evening, a manga magazine for young men. The story is a comedy about a university student at an agricultural college. This program is also expected to bring in high ratings.

Late night animation broadcasts have opened the market for female viewers, and Noitamina, which continues to receive high ratings, is a huge success. However, those in the business are not satisfied with DVD sales, whose numbers do not reflect the viewer ratings. A high percentage of those in the F1 group follow personal finance budgets which do not include the purchase of DVD-related products. Still, someday there will undoubtedly be a show which is both a television and DVD hit.


Profile of Yamanobe Kazuki
Scriptwriter
Member of the Writer's Guild of Japan
Representative Director of the scenario production company, Edgeworks

Official site of Edgeworks http://www.edge-works.co.jp