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Japan's TBS Confirms Anime's Move from Saturday, 6 p.m.
posted on by Egan Loo
Japan's TBS/MBS broadcast network has announced that the two-hour Hōdō Tokushū newsmagazine program will move from Sundays at 5:30 p.m. to Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. on April 5 — effectively pushing out the anime programs that have run for over five straight years in the network's popular Saturday 6:00 p.m. timeslot. Mobile Suit Gundam 00's first 25-episode run will end on Saturday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m., but Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 will not take over its timeslot. Instead the Code Geass sequel will premiere on Sunday, April 6, at 5:00 p.m.
The TBS/MBS network has run an anime series or an Ultraman live-action special-effects series in that Saturday 6:00 p.m timeslot since 1993. The timeslot reached its heyday during the 2002-2003 Mobile Suit Gundam Seed run and the 2003-2004 Fullmetal Alchemist run. Ratings began slipping with 2005-2006's Blood+. The ratings drop accelerated when NHK's Major baseball anime series ran directly against the TBS anime programs.
Here are the TBS/MBS progams that have run in the Saturday 6:00 p.m. timeslot in the last 15 years:
| Title | Premiere Date | Finale Date |
|---|---|---|
| Sanchome no Tama: Uchi no Tama Shirimasenka? (Tama & Friends) | 1993.07.03 | 1993.08.28 |
| Mukamuka Paradise | 1993.09.04 | 1994.08.27 |
| Ai to Yūki no Pig Girl Tonde Būrin | 1994.09.03 | 1995.08.26 |
| Mama wa Poyopoyo-Saurus ga Osuki | 1995.09.02 | 1996.08.31 |
| Ultraman Tiga | 1996.09.07 | 1997.08.30 |
| Ultraman Dyna | 1997.09.06 | 1998.08.29 |
| Ultraman Gaia | 1998.09.05 | 1999.08.28 |
| Zoids | 1999.09.04 | 2000.12.23 |
| Zoids/ZERO | 2001.01.06 | 2001.06.30 |
| Ultraman Cosmos | 2001.07.07 | 2002.09.28 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Seed | 2002.10.05 | 2003.09.27 |
| Fullmetal Alchemist | 2003.10.04 | 2004.10.02 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny | 2004.10.09 | 2005.10.01 |
| Blood+ | 2005.10.08 | 2006.09.23 |
| Ayakashi Ayashi | 2006.10.07 | 2007.03.31 |
| To Terra... | 2007.04.07 | 2007.09.22 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (First run) | 2007.10.06 | 2008.03.29 |
Source: Gunota Headlines
