Forum - View topicINTEREST: Hatsune Miku x Powerpuff Girls Keychains Offered in Japan
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14761 |
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Guess as a magical girl show, it kinda works. But as a PPG spinoff, not so much. PPG was about fun with parodies in sugary sweet. (For example, the villains wouldn't work any other way.) Kinda like turning Mach Go Go Go into Speed Racer difference. Regardless, even in Japan, not many remember PPGZ anymore - after all, Japan has its own generic magical girl shows already. (Like how Voltron as really the only giant robot series widely remembered in America, but GoLion is just but one of many in Japan.) Even amongst Western anime fandom, there's no push to have it licensed. Some of the only ones here interested are already PPG fans to begin with. That's probably why even in Japan, they still use the original PPG designs for promos such as this and for the recent earthquake project, because they're still the most recognized. 
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TitanXL
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Eh, I'm pretty sure the main reason it's not licensed is because of Cartoon Network. It aired in other countries, after all.
And that last thing is a very misleading. PPGZ and PPG aren't really owned by the same companies. It's not really proof of anything anymore than saying Monchhichi is more popular than One Piece because Chopper's not on that logo and nobody wanted One Piece on there (or maybe PreCure in terms of magical girl). Too many factors to make a statement like that when it comes to copyright and different companies; especially if the whole thing is orchestrated by one guy. Personally I think the Z would be out of place there.. all those characters are for very little kids, and Z was aimed at a bit older audiences and otaku. And this article, well, reread it, it's about the 10th year anniversary of the cartoon in Japan and it's due to a collaboration with Cartoon Network. Of course they won't use the Z characters for that. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Polycell
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One reason the show never came to America is probably the flop of the original's movie. It also doesn't help that it seems the dub also felt the need to make Snake a chick, which is not exactly something that'd go unnoticed here. There's also the fact that, just judging from the opening and the transformation sequences, the PPGZ just doesn't appeal to the same audience as the original(and CN's strongly under-10 male audience is the one reason it still commands decent prices for commercials).
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The Goron Marshall
 Posts: 111 Location: Canada |
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That's pretty subjective. I'm 19 years old, and I still enjoy watching Cartoon Network shows, sure some of it is partially due to nostalgia, but then there are some of the more recent CN shows like Flapjack and Chower - those shows are genius in my opinion, and more aimed towards a broader audience. Seriously, most fans of Flapjack and Chower are teenagers, not necessarily young children. That said, not every fan of the original PPG was a little kid at the time. Sure I watched PPG when I was young, but I still liked it even as I grew older. Besides, PPG was originally going to be called 'Whoop*** Stew'. If you don't believe me, look up the pilot episode on youtube. |
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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Allow the DVDs and extras to cross that line then. Otaku buying power activate.
Probably. Z came out in 2006, and PPG was already done in America at that point no thanks to the movie flop and post movie episode decline. One has to wonder if that's why Aniplex was even given the license to make a show of in the first place, it was a last bit of money Cartoon Network could squeeze out of the property before hanging it out to dry. Then they didn't even bother to bring it back to the US due to lack of interest and possible demographic/censorship issues (the dub that does exist is pretty heavily altered akin to what you'd see in 4Kids stuff)
I'm don't doubt older people watched it, but the thing is no matter who watched it or not doesn't really change the original target demographic. It's still a kid's show, just like I'm sure older people would love to watch Doug or Rugrats again. Still aimed at the under 10 crowd though. As for the pilot well, it's not the first time that's happened. Problem Solverz was originally pitched for Adult Swim, but instead they just toned it down and aired it on Cartoon Network for kids. Retooling stuff is fairly common. |
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Mohawk52
Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14761 |
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Didn't mention why it wasn't licensed (and in the end, it doesn't really matter because...); what I said was there's no push to get it licensed even. Also, feeling is Craig McCracken won't like it here neither, another reason.
That is a fair point, though it does show that the original PPG design is still recognizable in Japan, at least among kids and the general populace. I don't think the same can be said about PPGZ even just among otaku, to whom it was aimed for.
Yes, but at least they could had mentioned it or even showed it in an insert or something, to portray how proud they are that Japan deemed the franchise popular enough to make its own adaptation.
PPG was riding the popularity wave when they decided to do a movie, but CN took too long to get it into theaters. By then, it had already been months with hardly any new episodes, curbing enthusiasm. Definitely this is something that they can learn from anime with its quicker timely TV-cum-movie releases (even if it's just 60 minutes). |
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Juno016
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It was quite popular when it was airing. If it hadn't been, it would not have lasted for as many episodes as it did. They were prepared to take it off the air if it didn't gain enough popularity at the time. Granted, people don't pay as much attention to it now because it wasn't revolutionary or particularly marketed hugely in terms of where it fit in the genre, but it still gains a bit of recognition among different kinds of fans in Japan. And, of course, in America. It never reached the popularity of Powerpuff Girls in America, but then... Powerpuff Girls didn't reach popularity in Japan, either. In comparison to other American cartoons, it still did well. But American cartoons don't do that well in Japan anyway, so you can only take that argument so far before it doesn't work anymore... As for comparing the overall popularity of Powerpuff Girls vs. Powerpuff Girls Z in Japan... I don't have numbers, but just by the fact that Magical Girl fans exceed cartoon fans, I would guess Powerpuff Girls Z was more popular overall.
PPG is somewhat recognizable as a cartoon in Japan, however, I think these products and that collaboration are meant more as a promotion of the series, not a result of its popularity. Cartoon Network is known to do some forceful things to advertise its cartoons in Japan because cartoons don't gain much popularity in the first place. I'm pretty sure PPGZ gained more of a following in Japan than the original PPG. Also, there would be no point to mentioning PPGZ anyway, because it's not the direct property of the companies involved. And it would be far too off-topic. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14761 |
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That hardly ever happens in Japan. Even for long-running series, they at least give them time to stop where they want. That's a good thing about Japan broadcasting - a series' scheduled order is pretty much guaranteed a complete run (partly because they have nothing else better as replacement anyways - it's not like Hollywood studios where they always have something ready in the vault), plus it helped that it aired 7am, less pressure.
Not necessarily - not all shows are made equal. For example, FPS games are more popular in America than JRPG games, but not all FPS games are made equal - a JRPG game can be more popular than some lower-tier FPS games (say, Final Fantasy). Some properties can exceed their genres. Further, magical girl fans and cartoon fans are not mutually exclusive.
Not likely for the non-profit recent earthquake project. That was mainly picked by Domo creator Tsuneo Goda to cheer up the kids devastated by the quake, not as a shameless promotion for anything, so he picked stuff that children would recognize and make them happy.
Not from our direct experience though, from friends and acquaintances in Japan and outside - many at least recognize PPG but not PPGZ, even amongst fellow otaku. That's why CN can celebrate a 10th Anniversary there, because people still recognize it (AFAIK they don't do that just for any other show). PPG exceeded its genre; many of the few who recognized PPGZ are PPG fans to start with. |
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