Toonami
This response worries me, dismissing worries about an all-shonen block. No, people aren't demanding you air experimental non-action shows. We just want good adult-oriented action shows in the vein of Bebop and GITS. And don't say "they don't make shows like those anymore"; there's not enough of them, but they are some and at least some of them should show up on Toonami (Baccano, Black Lagoon, Tiger and Bunny, Michiko to Hatchin, etc.).
Yes, they rather missed the point of what they were asking. At no point did they mention "experimental non-action" shows. No they were talking about shonen anime though namely in the vain of One piece, naruto, bleach, and DBZ... these aren't JUST action shows they are EPICALLY LONG actions shows that carry a similar appeal.
First while FMA is technically shonen, i would not put in the same class as those other 4; its far too different a series, and it carries a different kind of appeal than others. In fact, shonen is often used like a genre descriptor when its really more of a demograptic descriptor (shows that appeal to young male teens); Heck detective conan is ALSO considered a shonen and it's NOTHING like all of those other series we have been talking about. Action is not all the same, it comes in different flavors, and people like variety. One piece, dbz, naruto, and Bleach all feel like the similar kinds of shows, while FMA, bebop, GITS, and so on feel different. A lot of Fans want to keep seeing variety as we have been getting...
Second, fans are worried about how LONG these series are. These shows are so long that if you give them a timeslot they will own that timeslot forever. That means one less new show of a different kind that we can get. If they were in theory to fill up the time slot with Bleach, naruto, one piece, DBZ, and yu yu hakusho then toonami's line up would never change and their would be no variety... THAT is what that commentator's question and worry is about... I said it before, but personally i actually kinda LIKE that toonami can't rerun series over and over again because it gives them an excuse to keep changing the line up and keep things fresh and interesting.
I didn't look favorably on Skypiea lately but honestly it's a good arc to give people a feel for both the adventure and the fighting in One Piece. On top of that while it's a little slow at points it has no filler that I recall until G8 which is one of the better anime-only stories. The main problem is you don't get hardly any background on the characters in Skypiea and that's one thing you do get with the lost memories story after the Davy Back arc. Probably either wouldn't be too off-putting for people to start on. No matter where they start they run the risk of putting off some viewers.
I question what is the best starting point for a casual observer to begin their One Piece journey on because IMO until Baratie it feels really childish (something FUNimation's swearing may have been trying to skew) and the art style becomes a bit more palpable over time as well. Then again I don't think it looks any more like a kid's show than early Naruto so maybe that's a moot point.
Its really hard to say... though i feel like I'm leaning most towards skypeia. Each arc has their advantages...
Alabasta arc has a lot of good plot points in it that become relevant later and is a very strong arc. However, there begs to the question do you start at the beginning of the grandline(season 2) where the storyline technically starts, or do you start later at the alabasta arc itself(season 4)? Would skipping the build up towards the alabasta arc seem a bit off putting? Not to mention that part of the point of skipping ahead is try and get to the later stuff sooner, and alabasta at this point is actually fairly early in the series; so alabasta feels like it might be TOO soon.... though i do feel as though they could considering using the movies to speed things up... Start with the grandline, go through season 2, ending with little garden, then instead of airing the entire drum island arc, just air the 9th movie, and then a few more episodes then air the alabasta movie; and then we get to jaya and the skypeia arc.
Starting with davy back has both pros and cons... on the plus side, the marine HQ arc does well to highlight each of the characters thus giving you a decent idea about them. Also the davy Back arc gets right into the action soon which can make it a bit more appealing. That arc is then followed by the lost memories arc which will tell viewers a bit about the history of the characters, and this then leads into Water 7 which is a great arc; davy back is also fairly late into the series and get's us to later stuff sooner... the downside however is, in my opinion, that the davy back arc is NOT a very strong arc in and of itself. Its kinda of fun, but action wise it feels rather weak; and foxy can either come off as funny or just annoying. This could make it troublesome for one piece to find it's audience; the arc is 10 episodes long and i fear that might be too long for viewers to stick around and might drop the series before it gets better. Foxy will be one of the very first villains a new viewer will see and he may not put on a strong performance to make those viewers want to keep watching; unlike villains like Croc and Eneru who make for great villains and bring some great action... If you want to put you're best foot forward, davy back seems like a poor choice.
The skypeia arc... this would be between alabasta and davy back... Skypeia is later than alabasta, but like alabsata it is a very strong arc (though it doesn't have as many plot points). Its takes a few episodes to get going and get into the action, but all in all its an enjoyable arc that really reflects well on the series; the adventure aspect of the ealier episodes might be enough to keep people around to get into the real action. If we want one piece too give a good first impression to snag it's audience, skypeia and alabasta seem better at that than Davy Back.
There is also the option of starting off with Water 7, but i feel like that would be TOO late. Water 7 has a lot of emotional impact which i feel would come off stronger IF you know the characters well beforehand. I feel like the audience would enjoy water 7 more if they knew the characters better and thus had atleast one or 2 arcs to grow attached to them first before we get into water 7.
But like i said... so far I'm mostly leaning towards skypeia being the best point for them to start. Its later in the series, though not as late as water 7, and its very strong arc and thus good for making a good first impression on viewers and convincing them to stick with the show.
