History Main / OtakuOClock

{{Anime}} aired from around 11 p.m. until the wee hours of the morning, occasionally indicated by the odd-looking "22:00-27:00" annotation. They are almost universally watched by an older male audience, and often mocked by any shows aired earlier.

** This actually happened to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork quite a few Anime]] that tanked in ratings. ''YuYuHakusho'', ''[[ZoidsChaoticCentury Zoids: Guardian Force]], ''IGPXImmortalGrandPrix'', and ''DotHackLegendOfTheTwilight'' all got similar treatment.

* ''Persona4TheGoldenAnimation'' got amazingly dead time slots after 1:30 AM on both channels it aired on, due to being an expansion on the original Persona4TheAnimation, that only fans of the original show or the games would understand and want to see.

This also creates the infamous tendency to neuter, [[CensorSteam literally]] or [[OffModel figuratively]], the broadcast in an effort to get you to buy [=DVDs=]; recent shows may not even supply the 'full' finale. In fact, many small companies don't even release {{OAV}}s anymore unless they've done a TV run, just to make sure their audience wants them. However, how much FanService the show actually provides can vary quite a bit.

Interestingly, distribution in the fansub community largely removes this time restriction, as does DVR technology (which allows people to set their TV to record a show at, say, 3 a.m., and then watch it whenever they like it) and streaming. A [[PeripheryDemographic unexpected demographic can take interest in a show]], or a larger fandom is created for a series that originally had a much smaller one.

See also {{Watershed}}, SafeHarbor.

** ''Series/{{GARO}}'' came on at 1:30 AM, its two-part made-for-TV movie was on at midnight, and [[Series/GaroYamiWoTerasuMono its sequel series]] aired at 1:45 AM. Given that it's a horror series, its late-night timeslot is thematically appropriate too.

** ''Series/{{GARO}}'' came on at 1:30 AM, its two-part made-for-TV movie was on at midnight, and its sequel series is set to air at 1:45 AM.

* In [[{{Chibi Miku-san}} Vocalotown]], ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/412022 aired at "25:30"]] (the real BRS anime ended up airing at 24:45).

Interestingly, distribution in the fansub community largely removes this time restriction, as does DVR technology (which allows people to set their TV to record a show at, say, 3 a.m., and then watch it whenever they like). Streaming sites like Crunchyroll do the same thing. A [[PeripheryDemographic unexpected demographic can take interest in a show]], or a larger fandom is created for a series that originally had a much smaller one.

Interestingly, distribution in the fansub community largely removes this time restriction, as does DVR technology (which allows people to set their TV to record a show at, say, 3 a.m., and then watch it twelve hours later). Streaming sites like Crunchyroll do the same thing. A [[PeripheryDemographic unexpected demographic can take interest in a show]], or a larger fandom is created for a series that originally had a much smaller one.

Interestingly, distribution in the fansub community largely removes this time restriction, as does DVR technology (which allows people to set their TV to record a show at, say, 3 a.m., and then watch it twelve hours later). An [[PeripheryDemographic unexpected demographic can take interest in a show]], or a larger fandom is created for a series that originally had a much smaller one.

** ''{{Garo}}'' came on at 1:30 AM, its two-part made-for-TV movie was on at midnight, and its sequel series is set to air at 1:45 AM.

* ''[[Franchise/DotHack .hack//Roots]]'' on Creator/CartoonNetwork fits (or rather, used to fit) this bill, airing pretty close to midnight -- though only on one day of the week (Friday), and it eventually got, of course, ScrewedByTheNetwork in the middle of the latter half of the anime, giving American fans barely a taste of Haseo's DarkerAndEdgier prolonged FreakOut session (aka [[ClothesMakeTheManiac his forced upgrade into his]] [[SinisterScythe Flick]] [[GrimReaper Reaper]] [[ClothesMakeTheManiac form]]).

* The SciFiChannel's Ani-Monday block runs from 10PM to 12PM EST. They adjust it for time zones for the standard channel but not the HD channel, so on the west coast you can see it at 7PM, potentially averting the trope.

* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' originally showed somewhere around this time, which, considering the otherwise mostly tame content of the show, is the main clue it wasn't originally marketed for little girls.

* This is the theory behind Creator/AdultSwim, which airs between 9 PM and 5 AM and devotes its Saturday night broadcast to anime.
** They've started a new segment called "DVR Theater" which shows some of the older CultClassic programs around 5 AM.
** And the revived form of Creator/{{Toonami}} now takes the place of the anime block on Adult Swim, running from 11:30 PM to 5:30 AM on Saturday night.

** And the revived form of Creator/{{Toonami}} now takes the place of the anime block on Adult Swim, running from midnight to 6AM on Saturday night.

Unlike the United States, the TV in Japan is still driven heavily by the six broadcast networks (like many other large Japanese corporations, they're practically government). Satellite channels exist and do air anime (either first or second run), but they only account for about 10% of overall viewership. This more competitive atmosphere means that very few series can pull the ratings necessary to stay in the lucrative after-school or prime time timeslots.

* In Australia, anime is usually aired at either seven in the morning on a commercial channel (''Franchise/YuGiOh'', ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' and other kids' programs) or very late at night on the self-styled multicultural channel SBS (the collected works of Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' and so forth).

* ''[[DotHack .hack//Roots]]'' on Creator/CartoonNetwork fits (or rather, used to fit) this bill, airing pretty close to midnight -- though only on one day of the week (Friday), and it eventually got, of course, ScrewedByTheNetwork in the middle of the latter half of the anime, giving American fans barely a taste of Haseo's DarkerAndEdgier prolonged FreakOut session (aka [[ClothesMakeTheManiac his forced upgrade into his]] [[SinisterScythe Flick]] [[GrimReaper Reaper]] [[ClothesMakeTheManiac form]]).

** ''Series/UltraSevenX'' was aired at 2:15am on CBC and 2:25am on TBS.

* In Japan, ''JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is one of the absolute pinnacles of {{Shounen}} anime. But due to how violent it is, the 2012 TV anime adaptation is aired at 12:30 AM.

** UltraSevenX was aired at 2:15am on CBC and 2:25am on TBS.

* In Australia, anime is usually aired at either seven in the morning on a commercial channel (''Franchise/YuGiOh'', ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' and other kids' programs) or very late at night on the self-styled multicultural channel SBS (the collected works of HayaoMiyazaki, ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' and so forth).

* An early version of Otaku O' Clock relates to different reasons in the years before anime was mainstream in the US. During it's initial 1985-1986 runs, ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' was shown mostly during the early hours of the morning such as 6:30 or 7:00 am, alond with many other syndicated import shows. This was believed to be due to the tendency for parents to still be asleep and unaware of the mature content of what was supposed to be "just a cartoon". It should be noted that ''Robotech'' was originally broadcast on NBC affliates before their SaturdayMorningCartoon lineup, which at the time usually began around 8:00 am. At that time, NBC broadcast an annual primetime preview special giving glimpses into the season's soon-to-start Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup, particularly highlighting new cartoons. Robotech was not mentioned in the fall 1985 special.

* An early version of Otaku O' Clock relates to different reasons in the years before anime was mainstream in the US. During it's initial 1985-1986 runs, ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' was shown mostly during the early hours of the morning such as 6:30 or 7:00 am. This was believed to be due to the tendency for parents to still be asleep and unaware of the mature content of what was supposed to be "just a cartoon". It should be noted that ''Robotech'' was originally broadcast on NBC and their SaturdayMorningCartoon lineup at the time usually began around 8:00 am. At that time, NBC broadcast an annual primetime preview special giving glimpses into the season's soon-to-start Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup, particularly highlighting new cartoons. Robotech was not mentioned in the fall 1985 special.

** It will be relocated to Tuesdays in January 2011.

There is also, like in many other countries, a concern over content; when ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' aired in the dinner hour in 1995 to massive numbers of complaints over its sexual and violent content, many networks dropped anime programming from similar timeslots.