This series is my occasional countdown to Anime Weekend Atlanta. I’ve done it two or three times with varying levels of success, and I am once again embarking on a quest to spend 100 days writing 100 posts about anime, manga, animation, comics, film, and conventions. We’ll see what happens.
100 Days of Anime 2026
Day 015/100
ED of the Day: “Datte Atashi no Hiro” by LiSA from My Hero Academia (2017)
Currently Watching: Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig
Alright, yesterday I talked about designing a game/system for fantasy booking my own anime-adjacent television network. Tonight we’re going to do just that.
I want to start by reiterating the goals. I am explicitly, definitively, and adamantly not trying to simulate the reality of programming television in any era. I want to daydream about how I would program Toonami or [adult swim] but with enough rules in play that I’m not just blue sky plotting the billion dollar network with all the best shows that ever were. I also want something where there’s room for collaboration, and something I could repeat with a different outcome.
So first of all, we’re going to work in blocks. For ease of play at this time, all blocks are six hours so we get four blocks a day. If I eventually come back and give this a real “pen-and-paper game to share with your friends” treatment, I’ll probably have some more mechanics at work here, but I’m trying to type this up before midnight so I’m going to keep it simple. Monday through Thursday, all blocks are the same. Friday shares the first three blocks with a unique Friday night block. Saturday will have four unique blocks. Sunday will have three unique blocks and share the weekday night blocks.*
Regardless of the block, we are at the whims of our dice to determine our budget. Roll 12d6. Multiply that total by 25. That’s your budget for a block.
Now, to determine the price of a show start with 10 points.
Shows with fewer episodes are more valuable (okay, 26-episode series aren’t always the best, but I favor them. This is, of course, not really true of syndication). Shows with less than 30 episodes add 5 points. Shows between 31 and 50 episodes add 4 points. Shows with between 51 and 70 episodes add 3 points. Shows between 71 and 90 episodes add 2 points. Shows between 91 and 100 episodes add 1 point.
If the show is ongoing, add 1 point. If the show has concluded deduct 1 point for each year since the final episode originally aired.
If you’re using the dub, add 5 points. If you’re going to air more than one episode per day in a given block, add 1 point.
If it’s an anime original, add 1 point. If it’s based on a title from Shonen Jump, add 2 points.
Finally, add 1 point for every 100,000 users who’ve added it on MAL
If I’ve done my math correctly, that gives one episode per day of Cowboy Bebop a cost of 69 points. Nice.
I’d also like to have some sort of score for the block quality. I think that’s going to be the average of the cost of the shows in the block plus 10 points for each unique show.
Now, to tell you the truth, I’m getting so tired it’s hard for me to read, and I’m rapidly having other ideas for the mechanics of this thus far imaginary game. As per my not in italics below, I think I’m going to continue working on this tomorrow. Until next time.
*A note from Chase mid-writing: I am already second guessing this. I actually think it would be fun to daydream and draft out this game for a few days so I may elaborate more on this process over the next couple of days.
chasetriesagain.com 