It’s time to say goodbye to the beloved Nichigo, as we welcome Anisata into the world.
Earlier today, networks Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) announced that they’ll be ending their prestigious “Nichigo” animation block. The programming block will be replaced by a Saturday morning animation block called “Anisata.”
Anisata will be a 60-minute block that kicks off in April 2017. The block will run from 7:00AM to 8:00AM JST, and marks the first time that the two networks shared an hour-long early Saturday block since 1983. It was in this block that TBS and MBS ran Super Dimension Fortress Macross and Warrior of Love Rainbow Man.
The “Nichigo” block currently runs at 5:00PM local time. The time slot, whose name is a portmanteau of “Nichi” (“Sunday”) and “go” (“five”) officially launched in 2008. The first show to air in the block was Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Since then, the slot has gone on to host numerous celebrated anime titles, including:
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Sengoku Basara Two
- Star Driver
- Blue Exorcist
- Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
- Magi: The Kingdom of Magic
- Space Battleship Yamato 2199
- Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
- Haikyu!!
- The Seven Deadly Sins
- The Heroic Legend of Arslan
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
- My Hero Academia
- The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance
- The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War
Most recently, the Nichigo block has been home to the My Hero Academia anime series and the currently airing second season of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.
Source: Mantan Web
