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GDH/Gonzo continue expanding online options
- By Phyl Good
- Published 04/24/2008
- Anime and Manga
- Unrated
Phyl Good
View all articles by Phyl Good
GDH/Gonzo continues trying to adapt new ways of interacting with anime/animation fans. Starting Friday, April 25, 2008, GDH's subsidiary, GONZO Rosso, plans to begin airing a 6-part series of short anime episodes on its official YouTube channel, GONZO DOGA. Each episode will be three minutes long, and a new one will be aired every second week.
The little series is Hennako-Chan, adapted from a Japanese comic written by Fujio Akatsuka and produced by Fujio Production Co., Ltd. The original comic was serialized in the weekly magazine, "Shukan Josei," from January 1991 to August of 1994. It portrays an eccentric young schoolgirl with telekinetic powers, who can control people and objects by staring at them. The black comedy series revolves around the way her family's lives are thrown into turmoil as her powers expose their various secrets.
This series will not be produced in the usual anime style.
Instead, it will appear as a "moving comic strip," with the original comic-style artwork being digitally manipulated to create movement, with sound added.
While Fujio Akatsuka has already had four of his 540 comic series animated in the past, the last one (Tensai Babakon) was aired in 1971, so a completely new generation will now discover him. The broadcast on the YouTube link will be in Japanese, but a version with English or Chinese subtitles will be simultaneously available at this Fujiyama GONZO DOGA site. (Fujiyama is a company that has developed "secondary data" synchronizing systems that enable delivery of video content to PCs, cell phones, etc, and also help to synchronize subtitles with the vocals on the video.)
As GDH says, about this new series and the method of broadcasting, "By expanding from its core broadcasting and distribution channels to the Internet, and by producing anime adaptations of works by renowned comic artists, GDH will aim to reach beyond the existing anime fan segment both within and outside of Japan, and pursue new possibilities of the ad-supported webcasting business model."
The little series is Hennako-Chan, adapted from a Japanese comic written by Fujio Akatsuka and produced by Fujio Production Co., Ltd. The original comic was serialized in the weekly magazine, "Shukan Josei," from January 1991 to August of 1994. It portrays an eccentric young schoolgirl with telekinetic powers, who can control people and objects by staring at them. The black comedy series revolves around the way her family's lives are thrown into turmoil as her powers expose their various secrets.
This series will not be produced in the usual anime style.
While Fujio Akatsuka has already had four of his 540 comic series animated in the past, the last one (Tensai Babakon) was aired in 1971, so a completely new generation will now discover him. The broadcast on the YouTube link will be in Japanese, but a version with English or Chinese subtitles will be simultaneously available at this Fujiyama GONZO DOGA site. (Fujiyama is a company that has developed "secondary data" synchronizing systems that enable delivery of video content to PCs, cell phones, etc, and also help to synchronize subtitles with the vocals on the video.)
As GDH says, about this new series and the method of broadcasting, "By expanding from its core broadcasting and distribution channels to the Internet, and by producing anime adaptations of works by renowned comic artists, GDH will aim to reach beyond the existing anime fan segment both within and outside of Japan, and pursue new possibilities of the ad-supported webcasting business model."