Sci Fi Channel to add anime block

Date: 2007 May 11 21:42

Posted by Jeremy

The Sci Fi Channel (US) are to air regular anime with new Monday night block!

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One would think that the Sci Fi Channel would have at least a regular rotation of anime, rather than the sporadic viewings they’ve had in the past. Especially since there are plenty of sci-fi and horror-themed anime out there to satisfy the most die hard fans.

All that's going to change, because starting June 11, the Sci Fi will launch Ani-Mondays, a late night anime block to compete with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up. The new block will run every Monday starting at 11 p.m. (ET, PT), featuring various movies and television series, all with a sci-fi or horror theme. While obviously not going as long into the week as Adult Swim, which will soon begin airing all seven days of the week, it should be a rather decent start and enable more anime to air on American television.

Kicking off Ani-Monday's debut will be the U.S broadcast premiere of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex–Solid State Society, the recent film based on the hit anime series, which itself is based on the popular manga created by Masamune Shirow. This will give fans a chance to view the movie before it becomes available on DVD on July 3rd. Of course, given that both seasons of the Stand Alone Complex series were featured on Adult Swim and were both big hits in the ratings with viewers, this has been seen as quite the shot at the competition.

Further programming for the new Ani-Mondays block will be provided by Manga Entertainment, thanks to a one-year agreement the Sci Fi Channel signed with the company. This is due to the fact that Manga Entertainment is part of Starz Media, which produces the recent Sci Fi series, Painkiller Jane. Future titles on the Ani-Monday's schedule will include the 24-episode time traveling drama Noein, the 13-episode psychological police thriller Tokko and the 4-episode Macross Plus OAV. With this kind of line-up kicking things off, there's no doubt Ani-Mondays could very well be a success.