by Of all things, a highly-rated anime was on the air
The evaluation of an anime work is not determined solely by its content. No matter how excellent the story or direction, if the “opposing program” in the broadcasting time slot is too strong, it may be forced to struggle in terms of viewer ratings. So, what kind of work have you been forced to cry in the past by the wall of opposing programs?
A typical example of seeing two people who had their final love scene cut from “Yamato” is the anime “Space Battleship Yamato.” Although it is now regarded as a monumental piece of science fiction anime, when it was first broadcast, it faced a significant obstacle in the form of sluggish viewer ratings. This work, which began in October 1974 in the Sunday 7:30 pm slot, tells the epic story of “Space Battleship Yamato,” which sets off into space to save the Earth from destruction.
However, the opposing program, “Heidi, Girl of the Alps,” boasted an average viewer rating of over 20% and stood as a powerful rival. In its way, during the same period, the sci-fi drama “Army of the Apes,” influenced by the movie “Planet of the Apes,” also began, diverting viewers’ attention and becoming a headwind for “Space Battleship Yamato.” The situation did not improve even after “Heidi, Girl of the Alps” ended in December of the same year, and “A Dog of Flanders” began broadcasting in the following January in the subsequent time slot.
This also achieved high viewer ratings, and “Space Battleship Yamato” ended its regular broadcast without being challenged by competing programs until the end. The era moved on to the 1980s, and this time, ” Acrobunch: Legend of the Demon Realm ” suffered from the strength of competing programs.
This work, which aired from May 1982 at 7 pm on Wednesdays, is a sci-fi robot anime that depicts the adventures of boys who travel around the world on the all-purpose robot “Acrobunch.”
The production team was also impressive, including Yoshinori Kaneda, who was called “a revolutionary in the world of animation,” and Mutsumi Inomata, who is famous as an illustrator of the “Tales of” series. However, standing in the way of this talented cast of “Makyou Densetsu Acrobunch” was “Dr. Slump Arale-chan,” originally written by Akira Toriyama.
This work, which aired simultaneously, garnered an astonishing peak audience rating of 36.9%, sparking a massive surge throughout Japan. Perhaps as a result of its overwhelming popularity, “Makyou Densetsu Acrobunch” was later moved to 5 pm. Sci-fi anime was not the only one to struggle with competing programs. In the 1990s, “Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne,” an anime adaptation of a popular girls’ manga by Arina Tanemura, faced a significant challenge in terms of audience ratings.
The original work was Tanemura’s breakthrough work, with a total circulation of over 5 million copies, and is a thrilling entertainment that combines the fighting girls’ line, as typified by “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon,” with the thrill and glamor of a phantom thief. The anime began airing in February 1999 at 6:28 pm on Saturdays, a convenient time slot for viewers, and all the conditions necessary for a hit should have been in place.
However, CLAMP’s Cardcaptor Sakura was also airing in the same time slot, and Hunter x Hunter began airing in October of the same year. Both are popular works with many loyal fans, and as a result, they often clash with powerful rivals. As a result, with the end of Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, the Saturday evening girls’ anime slot by TV Asahi and Toei Animation, which had continued since Goldfish Warning!, came to an end. This marked the end of a history that had spanned approximately eight years.
