"Toonami" News & Discussion Thread

[Hypeathon]

The current arc in Naruto has been drawn out to atrocious levels. I mean, I know it's supposedly the final arc, but still, damn.

Or maybe it just seems drawn out because the manga is so boring.

You're not going to get me to agree with you on any of what you said either. In fact frankly, not only have all the criticisms I've heard that the story constantly bores people not make sense to me, but I've also gotten tired of trying to argue otherwise. Everyone reinforces the idea that the story has gotten so downhill that it's somehow this weird inside joke and it's not worth elaborating anymore why the Naruto story gives anyone the reactions they have. I don't get it and I'm tired of feeling left out of this annoyingly-weird loop. I don't know what everyone's personal preferences are or what they are preferring out of Naruto specifically that they feel they're not getting, but I in all honestly find Naruto to at least try harder at doing certain things in telling a story that not much other stories from the "shonen" category alone do. And that matters a lot to me in terms of what I see.

Sorry, but not much is going to change my mind and I'm done trying to figure out everyone else's reactions about the story. I mean, I had an argument with Light Lucario several pages back over comparing between Naruto and Fairy Tail and I made it very clear then why I'm not big on Fairy Tail or it being on the Toonami block.

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Looks like Toonami really is serious about possibly not starting One Piece at episode 1, and they bring up a few reasons why if they do. It comes down to that starting later would make sense as far as getting to episodes that would be new to AS/CN as a whole.

Toonami

Well obviously every episode would be new to AS, but as others have mentioned, there are plenty of episodes that would be new to CN as a whole from the beginning. And plenty of scenes within the episodes that didn't get completely cut. I'm definitely in the "start at episode 1" group, but as that doesn't seem likely, I'll just be happy with it being on.

Although it's not surprising that the lineup won't be changing significantly with the new TOM, I thought they might try to add One Piece on the night the new TOM premiered, hence the possible April start date. And since nothing currently on the schedule will be ending that soon, it also gave me a little more hope for an extra hour being added to Toonami, but with that answer about the lineup not changing, I'm less hopeful...

 

[Nobodyman]

You're not going to get me to agree with you on any of what you said either. In fact frankly, not only have all the criticisms I've heard that the story constantly bores people not make sense to me, but I've also gotten tired of trying to argue otherwise. Everyone reinforces the idea that the story has gotten so downhill that it's somehow this weird inside joke and it's not worth elaborating anymore why the Naruto story gives anyone the reactions they have. I don't get it and I'm tired of feeling left out of this annoyingly-weird loop. I don't know what everyone's personal preferences are or what they are preferring out of Naruto specifically that they feel they're not getting, but I in all honestly find Naruto to at least try harder at doing certain things in telling a story that not much other stories from the "shonen" category alone do. And that matters a lot to me in terms of what I see.

Sorry, but not much is going to change my mind and I'm done trying to figure out everyone else's reactions about the story. I mean, I had an argument with Light Lucario several pages back over comparing between Naruto and Fairy Tail and I made it very clear then why I'm not big on Fairy Tail or it being on the Toonami block.

To each their own. Just as you have trouble understanding us Naruto naysayers, we have trouble understanding how the fans can still consider it a good manga, and it's very unlikely that either of us are going to change each other's minds. What matters is that we make our voices heard and clearly explain why we feel the way we do.

As for me, if I were to get into a real discussion about the quality of Naruto (which, let's not, this is hardly the place) I would try to defend my position in a logical way, citing specific examples from the manga.

 

[Lanmanna]

Well obviously every episode would be new to AS, but as others have mentioned, there are plenty of episodes that would be new to CN as a whole from the beginning. And plenty of scenes within the episodes that didn't get completely cut. I'm definitely in the "start at episode 1" group, but as that doesn't seem likely, I'll just be happy with it being on.

Although it's not surprising that the lineup won't be changing significantly with the new TOM, I thought they might try to add One Piece on the night the new TOM premiered, hence the possible April start date. And since nothing currently on the schedule will be ending that soon, it also gave me a little more hope for an extra hour being added to Toonami, but with that answer about the lineup not changing, I'm less hopeful...

I am in Water 7 camp; the arcs really started getting good with this one, in my opinion. Also, the action was top notch.

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

I am in Water 7 camp; the arcs really started getting good with this one, in my opinion. Also, the action was top notch.

That would probably be my second choice; it's shortly after the prior Toonami run ended, it's native 16:9 and HD-sourced, it coincides with the current home video releases, and it's a very strong arc that introduces one of the main characters and re-introduces a couple others in some ways.

Speaking of which, The One Piece Podcast is asking this very question on Facebook. You never know... the results could have some influence on the Toonami crew's eventual decision.

 

[Hypeathon]

To each their own. Just as you have trouble understanding us Naruto naysayers, we have trouble understanding how the fans can still consider it a good manga, and it's very unlikely that either of us are going to change each other's minds. What matters is that we make our voices heard and clearly explain why we feel the way we do.

As for me, if I were to get into a real discussion about the quality of Naruto (which, let's not, this is hardly the place) I would try to defend my position in a logical way, citing specific examples from the manga.

I don't wish to get into much of a real discussion myself, but I do want to get one thing of my chest. I couldn't help but think about this earlier today after cooling down and I realized why in spite of whatever criticism the story gets, I still like it and it's the same situation with Eureka Seven. Within the past year, I've learned how important character transformations are for telling a story and that it can help determine what the exact point of that story being told is. With Naruto, I see the idea of character transformation illustrated strongly. Whether the characters are meant to be outright likeable or not, there are roughly 20 characters (and that's just counting from the top of my head) that either have or are currently going through a transformation based on the way they think and behave.

The idea of character transformation and it can relate to creating a theme can make or break how I feel about a story and whether or not I feel compelled to see that story through. It's especially a big deal for me when a lot of manga and anime are all about being escapist entertainment to the point where that it can wear thin. And what's worse is that this idea of sexualizing young female characters (and even male characters to a lesser extent) and even applying voyeurism is what's often considered entertaining in anime and manga. I'm use to seeing that, but that doesn't mean I like it any more.

Okay, that's all I'm going to say on the subject of my feelings towards the Naruto story. If anyone wants to talk further to me about it, pm it to me or something.

 

[Ishtar]

Well obviously every episode would be new to AS, but as others have mentioned, there are plenty of episodes that would be new to CN as a whole from the beginning. And plenty of scenes within the episodes that didn't get completely cut. I'm definitely in the "start at episode 1" group, but as that doesn't seem likely, I'll just be happy with it being on.

Although it's not surprising that the lineup won't be changing significantly with the new TOM, I thought they might try to add One Piece on the night the new TOM premiered, hence the possible April start date. And since nothing currently on the schedule will be ending that soon, it also gave me a little more hope for an extra hour being added to Toonami, but with that answer about the lineup not changing, I'm less hopeful...

Honestly, even with all of stuff edited out by 4Kids, the same general story for Seasons 1 and 2 are intact. Casual viewers already familiar with those episodes might still pass those episodes off as "reruns", despite it being a different and uncut dub. You can't necessarily assume that all current Toonami viewer haven't already watched One Piece one way or another. Yes it would be nice for as many casual viewers to start One Piece fresh to erase what the 4Kids dub did as possible, but airing almost 200 episodes before getting to entirely fresh material not aired on Toonami (NOT including episodes or footage cut by 4Kids) is still a risk of its own. Like I said, I really don't want to see One Piece pulled again before it even gets past Skypiea. That's the worst case scenario, but it still shouldn't be ignored as a possibility. I also disagree with people saying that the TV airing is not for us current fans. I mean we were the one who requested so hard for One Piece to begin with. Why should we not matter? Call it selfish all you want, but some people will be unhappy with no matter where they start.

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

You can't necessarily assume that all current Toonami viewer haven't already watched One Piece one way or another.

The same could be said for every Toonami title since its return, and that hasn't stopped them from being successful. Bleach and Deadman Wonderland got dub premieres, but the rest didn't, and the old beginning episodes of Naruto that absolutely did air in almost the exact same form on Toonami Saturday nights years ago still manage to pass a million viewers.

 

[Hypeathon]

I said it before, a friend of mine and her preteen niece are examples of having not seen Naruto or most of the other shows before watching them on Toonami. I'm pretty sure neither of them have seen One Piece either.

 

[Ishtar]

Toonami has responded yet again, and they bring up another point why they may not want to start with episode one. This is one of the reasons why Season 1 is not my ideal choice. They bring up how it would take 4 years just to get to where they last left on during its original Toonami run and then another 5 years or longer to catch up to where it currently is in Japan, which has no signs of ending anytime soon. They said those 10 years or so of episodes alone would be a huge bet, even for them. One Piece has lasted in Japan longer than Toonami's entire original run on the air. Also, think of it this way. One Piece clearly seems like the show that is supposed to be accessible from any story arc in the series. How else do you think One Piece's current target audience still manages to support the series? Every generation of kids watching One Piece in Japan doesn't have the show start over for them, do they? No, they tune in to whatever story arc is currently airing, and they manage fine. The older fans in Japan who have watched the show from the beginning aren't the ones who support One Piece alone, otherwise how would it still be such a big hit?

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Toonami has responded yet again, and they bring up another point why they may not want to start with episode one. This is one of the reasons why Season 1 is not my ideal choice. They bring up how it would take 4 years just to get to where they last left on during its original Toonami run and then another 5 years or longer to catch up to where it currently is in Japan, which has no signs of ending anytime soon. They said those 10 years or so of episodes alone would be a huge bet, even for them. One Piece has lasted in Japan longer than Toonami's entire original run on the air. Also, think of it this way. One Piece clearly seems like the show that is supposed to be accessible from any story arc in the series. How else do you think One Piece's current target audience still manages to support the series? Every generation of kids watching One Piece in Japan doesn't have the show start over for them, do they? No, they tune in to whatever story arc is currently airing, and they manage fine. The older fans in Japan who have watched the show from the beginning aren't the ones who support One Piece alone, otherwise how would it still be such a big hit?

This is the biggest counterpoint I can agree with (along with avoiding the inevitable stretching issue that would come from airing the 4:3 episodes), which makes Season Four my second choice, the latest point in the series that's been dubbed. This is why I'd really love to get two episodes a week, but even if they do get an extra hour that may still not happen.

 

[Light Lucario]

Toonami has responded yet again, and they bring up another point why they may not want to start with episode one. This is one of the reasons why Season 1 is not my ideal choice. They bring up how it would take 4 years just to get to where they last left on during its original Toonami run and then another 5 years or longer to catch up to where it currently is in Japan, which has no signs of ending anytime soon. They said those 10 years or so of episodes alone would be a huge bet, even for them. One Piece has lasted in Japan longer than Toonami's entire original run on the air. Also, think of it this way. One Piece clearly seems like the show that is supposed to be accessible from any story arc in the series. How else do you think One Piece's current target audience still manages to support the series? Every generation of kids watching One Piece in Japan doesn't have the show start over for them, do they? No, they tune in to whatever story arc is currently airing, and they manage fine. The older fans in Japan who have watched the show from the beginning aren't the ones who support One Piece alone, otherwise how would it still be such a big hit?

Yeah, that's pretty much why I think that starting with episode one would be too much of a risk. Taking nearly a decade to get to where the Japanese version currently is sounds rough and it could be off-putting to the viewers, especially when the early One Piece episodes are legally available through various means. If kids can get into One Piece through whatever the current arc is when they start to watch it, then I think that Toonami viewers can do that too.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Guess I better go find a legal stream of this Skypeia arc everybody says I should see, because I don't think I'll be getting it from Toonami.

 

[Sketch]

They might start at Skypiea actually.

I think 227 would be a good episode to start on, it's when they meet a certain significant character just before they go to Water 7. If they start at 207 that means nearly half a year before even getting to Water 7 but if they started at 227 they'd get a couple episodes warm-up before they get to Water 7 which is one of the best arcs of the series in the opinion of many and shows One Piece's darker side.

 

[TheCtes]

Water 7/Enies Lobby still shows some of the most three dimensional characterizations in any anime imo, and this saga is my favorite in any anime. I'd love for it to start there. My only problem is that Little Garden would never see it's North American light.

I think perhaps showing episode 4 and then episode 227 and onwards would be a good idea.

 

[vegeta95748]

Looks like One Piece won't be going double episodes at all.

Toonami

 

[Light Lucario]

Looks like One Piece won't be going double episodes at all.

Toonami

That isn't too surprising. I wasn't expecting them to start off with double episodes right off the bat. It would have been nice and maybe they'll be able to do that in the future, especially when it does sound like they have more of a budget after everything they announced a few weeks ago, but it was probably a bit much to expect them to jump into double premieres right from the start. I don't really like the idea of having two separate arcs air at different times either. That sounds like it could confuse more people and it would still take years to get through the earlier arcs like that anyway.

 

[veemonjosh]

Coming April 27th:

- New TOM
- New Absolution
- New Look
- The return of IGPX!

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Coming April 27th:

- New TOM
- New Absolution
- New Look
- The return of IGPX!

So the schedule will be changing slightly on the night the new TOM comes after all. It ends up being as late in April as possible, but I'm still happy that they're managing to keep to their original word on the month it would happen in. And this makes it look very unlikely that they'll be able to get One Piece on there in April, unless that extra hour surprises us and gets added, but with all they're doing in the meantime, that doesn't seem too likely. But hey, they've been doing a lot of impressing lately, so I can't really count any possibility out at this point!

Oh, and IGPX. Cool. Would be a shame if they lost their only original. Hopefully it can stay in a consistent timeslot throughout both seasons and perform well. I also hope someone license rescues it.

 

[GWOtaku]

Huh. I'm surprised they were able to get IPGX back and impressed they went out of their way to do so. This was actually one I largely missed, and I regretted it when the DVDs became impossible to find...definitely will be watching.

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