"Toonami" News & Discussion Thread

[wjbraden]

well i was at the adutlswim board ( yes i know, im brave) and they are really upset about one piece. Yes its long and yes it takes up a slot but its no big deal its not like your wasting your time its a great show and when bleach ends boom one piece is your new bleach PERFECT. as for when i think it should i think season 4 is good start cause its super epic and will catch the casuals eyes, because after all thats who we need for one piece and toonami to grow

Screw them. They'll complain about ANY show they put on, just because they can. I'd suggest leaving there and forgetting about it.

 

[bla2772]

oh believe me i did one post said forget this im going back to toonzone and im never going back haha

 

[firecrouch]

Honestly, I do think it could work if handled properly. It's not like most people watching Toonami aren't already familiar with One Piece.

Being familiar with something doesn't mean you're caught up with it, or even checked it out at all.

I understand the legit reasons for defending why One Piece should start at episode 1, but at this point I feel like it's a bit late to do so at a once a week pace.

We'd all rather have multiple airings a week, but it works for "Bleach" and "Naruto". Why would it be a problem with "One Piece"?

It feels like a bit of a risk to have to wait 4 more years for episodes that haven't aired on US TV before, regardless of how butchered the 4Kids dub was.

Why? If the DVDs come at the same pace they've been going down, you won't have to wait 4 years to get to the new stuff. In general the people that want to start on Toonami at season 4, generally speaking from my observations, have already seen or have enough exposure to those first three seasons. They've seen the DVDs, the legal stream, they know it's out there. So why is it a problem for taking a while to get to the current point if the venue is already well-established for the people in the know?

The newer episodes need more attention, especially if we want to see FUNimation continue to dub past where they are now and it could increase DVD sales for those episodes.

Big disagree, and now to my main point. The newer episodes don't need more attention, they're getting plenty of attention from the people that care about them the most, the hardcore fans. And for T.V., obviously I think the focus should be from the beginning. Why you ask? Not starting with a clean fresh slate defeats the whole purpose of putting it on T.V.

Why do you think it's such a big deal for a popular anime to air on a popular cable channel? It's not just to make more money, and not just for the ratings. It's exposure. Putting anime out there in a venue where it will potentially reach people that don't usually watch anime, or don't usually go on forums like this or Crunchyroll or buy DVDs or what have you, creates new fans.

The anime industry is already sustaining itself with its core fanbase and structure, but when you're putting something in a new outlet that reaches a broader audience, why wouldn't you want to focus on making new fans? Why would you make another venue just serves the exact same purpose of what's already out there? That's the whole point, and the logical way to introduce people to "One Piece" is at the beginning.

And in all honesty, for a lot of the people who watch "Naruto" and "Bleach" on Toonami this might be their first time watching "One Piece", and if not that their first time seeing something other than the 4Kids dub. Also for those people that were just watching it on Toonami back in the day, it's been five years since then, might as well start off fresh. Also with the rate FUNimation's been planning to dub the series (season 5 announced way before this announcement and way before season 4 is done getting released), it doesn't seem like there's a problem continuing the dub regardless of ending up on Toonami or not. And exposure is exposure, the DVD sales will increase on the basis of airing on T.V. Airing earlier episodes will not alienate viewers and in turn it won't be an issue for increasing DVD sales.

I'll still support One Piece and Toonami by watching either way, but there really is a good argument for both sides.

I'm gonna be brutally honest and say the side I'm arguing against isn't presenting a good enough argument.

The problem with starting at episode one is that it would take years to get to episodes that haven't aired on TV yet and even longer to get to where Japan is right now. If they were airing episodes on weekdays as well, maybe starting from episode one would be more manageable, but I think that people can jump into the middle of the series without too much of a problem, especially if they did recaps on the Straw Hats' backstory to help everyone get on the same page for the most part.

Again, what's wrong with that? If you want the newer stuff you can buy the DVDs and probably down the line get those dub episodes on Hulu/FUNimation's site. The people who want those newer episodes can get them before they air on Toonami, otherwise the purpose of putting it on T.V. in the first place is defeated. Otherwise, as far as jumping into the series in the middle, sure there are fans that do that. But that's a much more subjective entry point than the literal entry point. Even if new and old fans tune in en masse each week for season 4 or 5, it won't be as effective. The issue of starting at a more current point is really just beneficial to old fans more than anyone else. Besides, even if season one aren't new to Cartoon Network , they might as well be met with plenty of fervor since this could be the first time the uncut dub of season one airs on T.V.

Sorry if the quoting I made messed up the message.

 

[Hypeathon]

I have to side with Firecrouch on this.

The more I think about it, the less the fear of being behind if One Piece started from episode 1 makes sense to me. I don't know what everybody else is thinking, but I'm not thinking about the number of episodes aired in Japan so far. I'm thinking about the number of episodes dubbed and released by Funimation, which excluding the upcoming 5th voyage set in May, there are only 252 episodes released so far. Even though Funimation has licensed season 5, we haven't heard anything about it since the announcement at Otakon and we probably won't hear more for at least a few months. So as far as dubbed episodes go, yes there are a number of episodes released so far, but it's not like we are anywhere near where Japan is in the first place, not even when 4Kids at first had the show.

And that's another thing. It feels as if everyone who's coming up with all of these suggestions to be as up to speed with the episodes as possible are being impatient. I don't know if that has to do with us within the bubble that is "anime fandom", being so use to getting things as soon as possible in some streaming or other video service or something else, but why in the first place does it matter so much if we're as current as possible with the anime or not? What exactly is the worst that could happen if we're going to stay behind from Japan, broadcast-wise? I don't really understand, especially since it's not the first time we were ever behind with having a long-running show broadcasted in the US. Personally, I want One Piece to have the proper broadcast pastime experience it didn't have that other shows had. It really feels like the kind of show that should've had that and whether it was due to how 4Kids handled it, dub and all, or whatever else the reason could be, One Piece never properly had that chance. I want if nothing else for people who've never seen the show before (and I'm sure there are still people out there who haven't) to grow up with One Piece on TV similar to how people grew up with watching Inuyasha. Also about the whole recap idea, Say I were to tell some preteen who never watched One Piece before, "hey just so you know, there's an awesome show called One Piece that's going to be on TV. But there's a chance the people running the show on TV might skip ahead to a certain season and just show a 1-minute recap of it". If I told that kid that may happen, I don't think he/she may like that. If someone is seeing a show for the first time, he/she doesn't want to be given just a recap. That person would rather invest in the full story.

I know someone close who she and her 11 year-old niece watch Naruto every saturday night on Toonami. And for whatever reason, neither of them have seen the show prior. It then got me thinking about how I use to stay up to watch Inuyasha back in my middle school years and how I recently discovered a lot of fans of the show were also on the same boat as me after looking through certain videos on Youtube. It's possible that because we keep hearing in certain instances how popular One Piece is like with the manga volume sales in Japan, that everyone who ever has cared or ever will care to know about the show is already watching it. But what if there's an audience that has yet to watch the show and may care to watch it on Toonami whenever it starts airing as their first time experience? Thinking about that, I don't see how needing to skip ahead to whatever arc in the anime just because we're behind with Japan makes for a good argument. Frankly none of us are even sure what are all the kinds of people watching all of the shows on Toonami in general.

 

[Light Lucario]

Again, what's wrong with that? If you want the newer stuff you can buy the DVDs and probably down the line get those dub episodes on Hulu/FUNimation's site. The people who want those newer episodes can get them before they air on Toonami, otherwise the purpose of putting it on T.V. in the first place is defeated. Otherwise, as far as jumping into the series in the middle, sure there are fans that do that. But that's a much more subjective entry point than the literal entry point. Even if new and old fans tune in en masse each week for season 4 or 5, it won't be as effective. The issue of starting at a more current point is really just beneficial to old fans more than anyone else. Besides, even if season one aren't new to Cartoon Network , they might as well be met with plenty of fervor since this could be the first time the uncut dub of season one airs on T.V.

I'm not sure if airing the newer episodes instead of starting from the beginning would defeat the purpose of putting it on TV. It would still get exposure and people could check out episodes either through Funimation's site, as I believe they have a good chuck of the episodes they have dubbed up on their site, or through buying the DVDs if they want to see the earlier episodes. I wouldn't mind if they did air the uncut seasons on TV, but I think I'd prefer to see them air more recent episodes. They could still be able to grab new viewers, while appealing to the fans by showing them more recent episodes. If One Piece was airing on weekdays as well, the I don't think it would be a problem to start with the first episode, but with a weekly block, I think that it would drag on too much to start with the first episode, especially when I don't think the first good arc start until the Arlong arc. The fact that they aren't sure yet as to what episode they'll start with shows that they're aware of the advantages of both sides of the argument, so I hope that they'll be able to make a good decision by the time One Piece starts.

 

[HG Revolution]

Since it seems the issue with starting from the beginning is mainly concerns about pacing, maybe if they were to start from the beginning but fit in two episodes a week would be the best case scenario? Ideally this would be for an 11 expansion but if not I could see them doing it once E7 ends. Do an hour from 1:30-2:30, with room for a more adult-oriented acquisition at 1 and pushing Soul Eater down to 2:30 (supposedly the show starts to weaken around the mid-point, but if the night average keeps increasing at the rate it's been it could do very well even at this later timeslot). Cats and Titan get pushed to the 3 hour and perhaps we lose a Bebop, though I could also see Brotherhood leaving at least temporarily depending on how the deals with FUNimation work.

 

[ChildHood90s]

there's a chance the people running the show on TV might skip ahead to a certain season and just show a 1-minute recap of it". If I told that kid that may happen, I don't think he/she may like that. If someone is seeing a show for the first time, he/she doesn't want to be given just a recap. That person would rather invest in the full story.

I know someone close who she and her 11 year-old niece watch Naruto every saturday night on Toonami. And for whatever reason, neither of them have seen the show prior. [...] what if there's an audience that has yet to watch the show and may care to watch it on Toonami whenever it starts airing as their first time experience? Thinking about that, I don't see how needing to skip ahead to whatever arc in the anime just because we're behind with Japan makes for a good argument. Frankly none of us are even sure what are all the kinds of people watching all of the shows on Toonami in general.

I know a lot of people would like to see One Piece get it's 5th season dubbed, as well as subsequent seasons. The best way that can happen is if One Piece starts at season 4, where there's a recap for the whole series. But I have to agree with Hypeathon. Even though an audience can enjoy a show from the middle (in theory), I feel it's best if a viewer gets to enjoy One Piece from the beginning like most of us One Piece fans had before. Whether or not a later arc's quality will garner more ratings than the first arc or not is just conjecture at this early point, isn't it? I feel the name alone, the decent story lines, and coupled with an awesome lead-in, will be enough to give One Piece healthy ratings.

And fans have waited this long for One Piece in the US... it'll be hard at first, but I believe One Piece fans will come to accept the long wait. As long as One Piece has an assured home over on Toonami, and doesn't get cancelled by [AS] for whatever reason... Should be fine. Either way, color me excited. I get to see uncut One Piece. No lollipops or Root beer this time!

Perhaps... we'll lose Brotherhood or a Bebop or two by the time One Piece arrives... might not be too big of a deal... Hm, now I'm curious. Is it possible to have two airings of One Piece, a later airing starting at episode 1, while the airing around 1pm starts from season 4?

 

[Light Lucario]

Perhaps... we'll lose Brotherhood or a Bebop or two by the time One Piece arrives... might not be too big of a deal... Hm, now I'm curious. Is it possible to have two airings of One Piece, a later airing starting at episode 1, while the airing around 1pm starts from season 4?

I think having two airings of One Piece from two different arcs would probably be too confusing for the audience. Having an hour of One Piece could work if they started at episode one. It would still take a long time to get to more recent episodes, but at least the time that it would take would be basically cut in half. Although, I think I'd prefer seeing that happen with an expansion of the block. Bleach and Naruto would have the 11PM hour, while there's an hour of One Piece at midnight. I could see them maybe getting rid of Brotherhood by the time they're ready to air One Piece, so starting with the first episode could work out better if they went that route.

 

[Daikun]

Bleach and Naruto would have the 11PM hour, while there's an hour of One Piece at midnight.

Why not put One Piece at 11PM instead? It can be on earlier instead of dragging after midnight and likely have a larger chance of viewership who can stay awake.

 

[Sketch]

I'd rather have One Piece lead things off, it makes a good transition from comedy actually but you know how they do things at Adult Swim. The strongest player gets the best slot so if Toonami started at 11PM, Bleach would get it. I wonder if they'd be willing sandwich One Piece between Bleach and Naruto in that scenario but it's probably just as well if One Piece got the midnight slot for now.

I'm not counting on double One Piece from the start either. Don't you think they'd want to see how it does before giving it two episodes a night?

 

[Daikun]

I'm not counting on double One Piece from the start either. Don't you think they'd want to see how it does before giving it two episodes a night?

They dove right into that when they picked up King of the Hill. It was working well for them.

 

[Ishtar]

They dove right into that when they picked up King of the Hill. It was working well for them.

But that's a givaway with a FOX comedy. One Piece would be taking a much bigger risk with double episodes. The other disadvantage is that One Piece airing twice would take a timeslot that other shows could take, which I'm sure people would complain about.

 

[Hypeathon]

They dove right into that when they picked up King of the Hill. It was working well for them.

Look, I get that from our point of view, some shows seem to be all the same. But I would imagine from the perspective of the people working at Adult Swim that would somehow be comparing apples to oranges with those two shows.

But that's a givaway with a FOX comedy. One Piece would be taking a much bigger risk with double episodes.

Well specifically, it would cost double the amount to broadcast the show for 2 time slots. This sort of question was addressed before with Naruto.

 

[Daikun]

But that's a givaway with a FOX comedy. One Piece would be taking a much bigger risk with double episodes. The other disadvantage is that One Piece airing twice would take a timeslot that other shows could take, which I'm sure people would complain about.

What risk? OP has way more episodes than any Fox comedy. It's also airing once a week as opposed to an hour for every single day, which caused KOTH to run out of episodes way too quickly.

Also, what shows could they take away? Reruns of The Boondocks and Black Dynamite? Who would complain about their loss on Saturday when Adult Swim could air it on Sunday, or any other day of the week for that matter, since anime doesn't air on those days anymore?

It's not like they're taking away any Fox shows by doing this; plenty of that stuff already airs on Saturday nights before 11PM. One Piece could benefit by transforming that hour into premieres.

 

[Ishtar]

What risk? OP has way more episodes than any Fox comedy. It's also airing once a week as opposed to an hour for every single day, which caused KOTH to run out of episodes way too quickly.

Also, what shows could they take away? Reruns of The Boondocks and Black Dynamite? Who would complain about their loss on Saturday when Adult Swim could air it on Sunday, or any other day of the week for that matter, since anime doesn't air on those days anymore?

It's not like they're taking away any Fox shows by doing this; plenty of that stuff already airs on Saturday nights before 11PM. One Piece could benefit by transforming that hour into premieres.

I should have been more clear. I meant if One Piece had a full hour, that would be one less timeslot for Toonami to give to another future show. Some fans are already complaining about One Piece's inclusion because it is another long running series taking up a timeslot that could be used for shorter shows. Personally I would support it because if there is any show that could benefit from having two timeslots it is One Piece. I'm just acknowledging what an opponent to that idea would say.

 

[Light Lucario]

Why not put One Piece at 11PM instead? It can be on earlier instead of dragging after midnight and likely have a larger chance of viewership who can stay awake.

I wouldn't mind that either, but I think that they would still keep Bleach and Naruto at the start of the block since they both have proven to get solid ratings and could help One Piece gain more viewership. If One Piece does really well, I think that it could start off the block at some point, but not right off the bat. If they start off with just one episode a week, which they might considering that they would have to pay double to air two episodes a week, maybe they could put it in between Bleach and Naruto instead of right after Naruto.

 

[firecrouch]

Back on the episode order issue for "One Piece", I asked two of my best friends about their opinion on the matter. They're fully aware of the series (it helps that I'm such a big fan of it and talk to them), and have watched/read it here and there. They dropped out of it after a while but are still interested in it. So not new but not hardcore either.

Anyway, I bring up the discussions I'm having online about this to them and ask their opinion on where it should start airing. They both thought not starting at episode one was a terrible idea, for a few reasons but mostly correlating to what I said. I'd like to know more opinions of this matter from casual fans and people that haven't watched it.

 

[honorableninja]

i do have to wonder if one peice isnt being set up to be bleach replacement as if they take no breaks from now till the end of the year bleach will proabably be done sometimes by the end of summer to mid-fall allowing one piece to take it spot.

 

[Light Lucario]

i do have to wonder if one peice isnt being set up to be bleach replacement as if they take no breaks from now till the end of the year bleach will proabably be done sometimes by the end of summer to mid-fall allowing one piece to take it spot.

That is entirely possible. It could be that they want to establish both Naruto and One Piece before Bleach finishes its run so that they can still have popular SJ series to start off the block with after whenever Bleach finishes next year and help to keep Toonami going well after Bleach ends. Which show eventually takes Bleach's slot will most likely come down to which series consistently get significantly better ratings than the other.

 

[Daikun]

I should have been more clear. I meant if One Piece had a full hour, that would be one less timeslot for Toonami to give to another future show.

Yeah... If it aired anytime after midnight.

By airing One Piece at 11PM, the rest of the block could go untouched. Bleach and Naruto could continue on their merry way while Soul Eater (or whatever else succeeds it) continues to premiere at 1AM. There would be no less slots.

Alternately, One Piece could air in hour-long blocks...for a while. Then whenever Soul Eater or Eureka 7 ends, they can scrunch OP down to a half-hour and play the new show at 11:30 (or 12:30, assuming they move the other big two up a half-hour). There would be no downsides to this.

Oh, and if you remember from far back, that was the way OP started when it first came to Toonami in 2005. It played in hour-long blocks from April till September at 10PM. They didn't have a problem with it back then, and if an expansion really does happen, they shouldn't have a problem with it now.