The Toons of our Time: A Television Programming Analysis of Animé in the Philippines from 1999 to 2001

ABSTRACT

This thesis reconstructs the story of animé in the Philippines from the time of its arrival until to its current situation in the Philippine television landscape, with focus given on the Animé Boom period of 1999 to 2001. Using the framework of John Mittell‟s Genre Theory, the creation of the programming of animé shows in the Philippines is determined in relation to both macro (political-economic conditions) and micro (television network‟s programming strategy) factors that occurred in the Philippines during the period of study. To recreate the animé‟s narrative, this paper analyzes newspaper and magazine articles published from 1999 to 2007. The study also uses a focus interview of a GMA 7 program specialist, in addition to analyses of ratings of animé shows from 1998 to 2003. The findings show that the programming of animé genre in the country is indeed a result of both macro and micro factors. Macro in the sense that it was Martial Law of 1970s that caused animés to be banned on television; and then it was politics once again that revived the audience‟s interest on this genre through the House Bill 6622. On the other hand, there is the micro factor of the network‟s programming strategies, wherein both the advertisers and the audience affected the fate of animés.

The unique story created by animé in the Philippine setting proves Mittell‟s arguments that genres should be defined by not only considering television industry practices but the historical situation as well. And with that, this paper presents the boom of the animé genre to find its position in the country‟s broadcasting historical landscape.

Monzon, P.D. (2010). The „Toons of our Time: A Television Programming Analysis of Animé in the Philippines from 1999 to 2001, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines Diliman.

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