Gurren Lagann's Giant, Phallic Robots Coming to Sci-Fi Channel

Posted at 11:09 AM May 19, 2008

If there's one upcoming anime series that's generally agreed upon as being worth a damn, it's Gainax's bizarro giant robot series Gurren Lagann; now our buddy Gia has set internet nerds' hearts' aflame by noticing that the anime has appeared on Sci-Fi Channel's July calendar, specifically July 28th. Both Japanator and Gia are curious why Gurren Lagann licensor Bandai chose to go with Sci-Fi Channel over Adult Swim, which would seem a perfect fit for the show, especially since it was directed by the same guy who did FLCL.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer—did you know anime companies generally have to pay CN/AS to get their series on CN/AS? That used to be true when I was running Anime Insider, and I doubt it's changed since then. This is actually one specific company's fault (I'm not naming names), but especially since anime doesn't get big ratings anymore, getting anime on TV is really just like a major advertising push for the DVDs. I guarantee CN/AS has no desire to perform this service for free.

So my guess is that Sci-Fi Channel probably didn't charge Bandai to air Gurren Lagann, or possibly even paid for it (but probably not). Even if it gets less viewers on Sci-Fi than it would on Adult Swim, it's probably a much sounder financial decision overall. I'm sure it also helps that Sci-Fi is no longer the wasteland of B-movies it used to be, thanks to Battlestar Galactica.