GitS/FMA press release

[livingfruitvirus]

Release Date: 7/28/2004 Cartoon Network Acquires Two New Animé Series for Adult Swim

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Fullmetal Alchemist
to Join the Late-Night Block of Animation in November

Cartoon Network has acquired two new animé properties that will begin airing Saturday, Nov. 6, during Adult Swim, its late-night block of animation aimed at adults 18-34. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex will air Saturdays at 11 p.m. (ET, PT), and Fullmetal Alchemist will air Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. (ET, PT).

Set in the not-too-distant future when technology plays a key role in everyday human life, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex follows the adventures ofthe most popular female cyborg, Maj. Motoko Kusanagi, and her fellow police officers of Section 9. Along with the ever-ready Tachikomas, the officers must continue their mission to hunt down criminals in both the real and online world. In Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the officers of Section 9 are called in to resolve a murder before it turns into an international incident, hunt down a runaway state-of-the-art killing machine and solve the mystery of a defective android.

Fullmetal Alchemist tells the story of 15-year-old Edward Elric, a prodigy known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, who has special abilities to manipulate objects and transform them into other things. Because of an experiment gone awry, Edward and his brother, Alphonse, paid a heavy price for messing with the natural laws of science. Edward lost his leg, and Alphonse lost his entire body. But Edward is able to enclose Alphonse’s soul inside a suit of armor but at the cost of his right arm. Equipped with a replacement mechanical arm and leg, and a near mastery of alchemy, the brothers set forth on an adventurous quest to find the fabled Philosopher’s Stone to restore their bodies to their natural state.

Hope theyre not boring.

[True Noir]

Sounds good. The commercial for GITS looked really good. I can't wait to watch it. As for FMA, this is definately worth watching. At first I was like eh... toward it, but it got good after a couple episodes.

[Karl Olson]

Both have potential... to rock your head in.

However, they might also be too niche.

[Pepperidge]

Even FMA? It has to be the first show that I've seen in years that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to just about anyone who doesn't like anime.

[Karl Olson]

Even FMA? It has to be the first show that I've seen in years that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to just about anyone who doesn't like anime.

I'm not going to place any firm bets on either of the properties. FMA takes a few (some might argue several) episodes before it really begins to heat up (which means it'll be alteast a month before people see why it's an awesome show,) and GitS:SAC, though episodic, doesn't really get underway for about the same number of episodes (though GitS:SAC might just have enough eye candy and awesome to hold a viewership anyway.)

[Riza Hawkeye]

FMA is great, there isn't anything in this show that is not done well IMO. The music is great, the animation is nice, and there is good blend of action/comedy/drama. FMA is a show that I would recommend every one watch, I've gotten a number of people (even people who don't nomarlly watch anime) into it.

I haven't seen GitS:SAC, but I've heard that that it is very good. I meant to buy the Special Edition yesterday, but combined with the Eva Platinum Vol 1 + Box and the other anime I plan to buy soon it would be too much of a hit on my wallet.

[Mysteryinfoman]

I was gonna get a peak at GITS at comic-con but it was full the screening room, I really hope it does well. Sean Akins mentiones in the latest issue of Anime Insider that "I want to put the greatest stuff on the network and 'SAC' is one of the greatest. I expect it to be the highest-rated anime on Adult swim." Even more than IY, we'll see, I certainly hope so and I hope FMA does good as well. In another part of the issue Funi sounded pretty confident it'll do well here in the US.

[Jed_Alchemist]

i remember one person on this board saying that if FMA aired on weekdays, it would have a better pace. airing one ep per week is actually good enough. FMA also has a thing for really good dramatic moments and cliffhangers.

[Karl Olson]

I was gonna get a peak at GITS at comic-con but it was full the screening room, I really hope it does well. Sean Akins mentiones in the latest issue of Anime Insider that "I want to put the greatest stuff on the network and 'SAC' is one of the greatest. I expect it to be the highest-rated anime on Adult swim." Even more than IY, we'll see, I certainly hope so and I hope FMA does good as well. In another part of the issue Funi sounded pretty confident it'll do well here in the US.

Anime Insider interviewed Sean again? Cool. Nice to know he has faith in it, and as I aspected, they are quite picky about what they run (which right there may explain why a number of shows have been passed over.)

[Bandit]

The latest epsiode of Full Metal Alchemist that has aired in Japan was the most intense episode of any anime or even feature film that I have ever seen in my life. I absolutely cannot wait to see the next episode now. I'm sitting here, all I can think about is FMA, and I can't even do my work :(

FMA honestly has something for everyone. The art and animation are wonderful, there's great music, the story never fails to be mind bending and interesting, and, kinda like Conan, nearly every episode prevents the viewer with something to figure out for themselves.

I noticed something early on in the series, and I made a note of it to myself. Only in the last episode that aired (41) was my idea revealed to be what exactly happened. FMA is one of the most exciting animes I have ever watched.

[Captain Harlock]

Hope theyre not boring.


I hope so too, although GITS atleast sounds interesting.

[Youko Recca]

From what I remember, Fullmetal Alchemist was never in boring at all. Huge amount of Drama and suspence. I doubt anybody reading this thread will listen to anyone else but just a heads up I guess. GitS I have a feeling will be awesome and a great lead in.

[ohmrbill]

From what I remember, Fullmetal Alchemist was never in boring at all. Huge amount of Drama and suspence. I doubt anybody reading this thread will listen to anyone else but just a heads up I guess. GitS I have a feeling will be awesome and a great lead in.
The early barrage of filler episodes were pretty boring. Or just plain bad in a couple cases. I almost gave up on the series there, but fortunately I stuck with it and it proved to be very rewarding.

[Sampo]

Hope theyre not boring.
Not sure about FMA. For Gits, IMO first episode is pretty good. Although for the other three after the initial episode... :shrug:

[Youko Recca]

The early barrage of filler episodes were pretty boring. Or just plain bad in a couple cases. I almost gave up on the series there, but fortunately I stuck with it and it proved to be very rewarding.May have been awhile but I never recall being bored, just by like...the first three or four slightly maybe. The little filler like with Psiren was entertaining. Never got really bad.

[Pepperidge]

The episode with Psiren was one of only true filler eps in the series (almost every episode has at least one concept or character that plays an important role at some point in the story), but even it was hilarious. That's what's great about FMA: it can so easily switch between disturbing drama and gutbusting comedy.

And I honestly don't think FMA is dragged out at all. Even the early "set-up" episodes are extremely well paced and let viewers know enough to keep them fascinated. Oh, and there are no recap episodes. At all.

[PaQ]

Just a few months away. cool. Can't wait to see FMA in dub form.

Hopefully GITS is good, I've never been too into that franchise, and that movie from a few years ago wasn't really interesting. Hopefully this series brings something to the table.

[Arxane]

Nice. These are two series I'm very interested in watching, especially dubbed.

...Saturday, Nov. 6... I just hope we'll get to see some commercials for these series before Nov. 5 before Nov. 4 a week beforehand a good amount of time before their premiere!

[JetMaster5]

Ah, Full Metal Alchemist. One of the best recent anime series in a long time. I only watched the first 13 episodes and I knew right away that this series is going to be great. Drama, suspense, action, music, and the atmosphere....it's got everything going right.

...Not sure for GITS, though. I didn't watch a single episode of it, so I couldn't give my opinion on it. But if it's getting a game on it's own, then there's gotta be something good about it.

[ohmrbill]

May have been awhile but I never recall being bored, just by like...the first three or four slightly maybe. The little filler like with Psiren was entertaining. Never got really bad.
I used the term "barrage," but looking back it was only really eps 4 and 5 that I had a problem with in the beginning of the series (I guess it felt like more because of the once-a-week thing). :sweat: Plus I was thinking of eps 9-12 in the mix. But either way, I probably wouldn't be a fan of the series if the most of the series followed that formula.

And I do use the term "filler" loosely. Yes, they introduced characters and concepts important to the story, but the bulk of those episodes were mainly centered around one-time characters and events, with the important stuff sprinkled in.

[Bandit]

I used the term "barrage," but looking back it was only really eps 4 and 5 that I had a problem with in the beginning of the series (I guess it felt like more because of the once-a-week thing). :sweat: Plus I was thinking of eps 9-12 in the mix. But either way, I probably wouldn't be a fan of the series if the most of the series followed that formula.

And I do use the term "filler" loosely. Yes, they introduced characters and concepts important to the story, but the bulk of those episodes were mainly centered around one-time characters and events, with the important stuff sprinkled in.Ed and Al's misadventures in the city of Lior quickly becomes one of the most crucial things in the series. Don't mistake these episodes as being filler, because they are some of the most important episodes in the series. FMA does have "filler" episodes, so to speak, but there is so much story to tell to pack into 52 episodes, I do not think they would have episodes just for the sake of taking up time. Mixing episodic episodes in is a very good strategy, because, even though FMA is strictly story-based, these episodes allow viewers to get into the story without watching beforehand. Every episode lends at least something minute to the story...

[ohmrbill]

Ed and Al's misadventures in the city of Lior quickly becomes one of the most crucial things in the series. Don't mistake these episodes as being filler, because they are some of the most important episodes in the series.
None of the episodes I mentioned were any of the ones that took place in Lior.

[Anime Freak]

None of the episodes I mentioned were any of the ones that took place in Lior.
The Lior eps are very crucial to the series, espcially around eps 41+42 ;)

[ohmrbill]

Again, I wasn't talking about those episodes when I said "filler."

[SirLemming]

Ghost in the Shell sure looks awesome. If nothing else, it'll be a fantastic animation exhibit. I mean, just look at that, that's gotta be the highest-quality animation ever on a TV show. This is like the opposite of Lupin III. I think they could get a lot of people watching it just based on how good it looks.

With that said, I think they should really start advertising the series now. And I don't just mean the DVDs, I mean like actually saying "THIS WILL BE ON ADULT SWIM IN A FEW MONTHS". Create some anticipation and hype. I know it's already working for me just with the DVD commercials.