"Toonami" News & Discussion Thread

Well now that’s impressive, they actually made a schedule change WORSE than my doomer prediction of President Curtis.

Feels like the block is in a 2008 style sunsetting mode. Shows end, and go unreplaced. Reruns pile up and the already dwindling audience loses interest. Next step is the block being cancelled and people shrugging their shoulders because it already feels dead.

I’m no fan of OP, but even that couldn’t double up for a few weeks? Almost like they are preserving it.

For the positive thinkers who think they are stalling - for what? They already had 4 flexible rerun slots they could do something with, what could be in the pipeline that needs 6 rerun slots?
I’m baffled too by the lack of double One Piece. They used to do this all the time. Is it just not worth buying more than 50 episodes a year and they don’t want to do holiday breaks as much anymore? When was the last time we got two OPs? I have no faith they will even finish Whole Cake Island. They’re still using the Zou version of the opening theme.
 
I’m baffled too by the lack of double One Piece. They used to do this all the time. Is it just not worth buying more than 50 episodes a year and they don’t want to do holiday breaks as much anymore? When was the last time we got two OPs? I have no faith they will even finish Whole Cake Island. They’re still using the Zou version of the opening theme.
It seemed like last year they fixed this problem and ordered a handful of extra episodes so they would have more flexibility with double ups, because we did end up going slightly over 50. Now this year they are back to being stingy so they probably short ordered again.

Technically, the OP is “right” for the current episodes. It takes a bit into this arc for them to actually change over. Zou was a short arc and they didn’t make a new OP for Whole Cake right away.

Anyway, as for finishing the arc? With the current state of the schedule it’s hard to believe we even make it to next year, I could see them not renewing the show come January.
 
It seemed like last year they fixed this problem and ordered a handful of extra episodes so they would have more flexibility with double ups, because we did end up going slightly over 50. Now this year they are back to being stingy so they probably short ordered again.

Technically, the OP is “right” for the current episodes. It takes a bit into this arc for them to actually change over. Zou was a short arc and they didn’t make a new OP for Whole Cake right away.

Anyway, as for finishing the arc? With the current state of the schedule it’s hard to believe we even make it to next year, I could see them not renewing the show come January.
This schedule is one of the worst in over a year. I don’t see the logic in expanding to four hours if you have so little content you have to air three shows twice in one night. Are we just running out the clock on this block like TOM4, or is this just a stall week? Really, FLCL Alternative? Do they really think people will sit through that again just to see One Piece, the only “new” anime. OP is airing 2017 episodes… and not exactly a fresh draw even if it’s a new arc where One Piece fans swear the anime gets good…
 
I wondered if Get Jiro!, as well as the second seasons of Blue Lock/Tokyo Revengers could be getting set up to premiere together, but that just creates more issues with gaps later on. Get Jiro!'s initial season is 10 episodes, BL season 2 is 14 episodes and TR is 13. That creates another FLCL-sized hole nobody wants. (Unless you're putting the original on for once...)

In an ideally budgeted world gaps like this would be a low-risk option to air a 4-6 episode OVA from the past like Blue Submarine No. 6 or a few movies. But that world has been dead for probably a decade now.
 
This is terrible. An hour of FLCL Alternative at 12:30-1:30? Only new anime is One Piece?
Eh. Felt like this was inevitable at some point this year. Short nights for a 1 month or 2 is cool with me. Elusive Samurai and Bleach are starting up on streaming anyway.

But this does feel like a tried and true move from their playbook, stalling for a contract to finalize. Plus, they're so going to marathon My Adventures with Superman season 3 one weekend on August 22.

After Alternative, they're probably gonna rerun Grunge, too.
 
Eh. Felt like this was inevitable at some point this year. Short nights for a 1 month or 2 is cool with me. Elusive Samurai and Bleach are starting up on streaming anyway.

But this does feel like a tried and true move from their playbook, stalling for a contract to finalize. Plus, they're so going to marathon My Adventures with Superman season 3 one weekend on August 22.

After Alternative, they're probably gonna rerun Grunge, too.
Maybe Shoegaze will follow Alternative rather than Grunge. Didn’t we randomly get Grunge reruns as filler a year or two ago? Plus Shoegaze is connected to Alternative for plot and characters. Though, I wouldn’t encourage them to double down on endlessly rerunning these FLCL sequels…
 
Maybe Shoegaze will follow Alternative rather than Grunge. Didn’t we randomly get Grunge reruns as filler a year or two ago? Plus Shoegaze is connected to Alternative for plot and characters. Though, I wouldn’t encourage them to double down on endlessly rerunning these FLCL sequels…
Yeah, Shoegaze. I mixed up which came next. My mistake.
 
Toonami is in serious need of new blood running it.
 
I wondered if Get Jiro!, as well as the second seasons of Blue Lock/Tokyo Revengers could be getting set up to premiere together, but that just creates more issues with gaps later on. Get Jiro!'s initial season is 10 episodes, BL season 2 is 14 episodes and TR is 13. That creates another FLCL-sized hole nobody wants. (Unless you're putting the original on for once...)

In an ideally budgeted world gaps like this would be a low-risk option to air a 4-6 episode OVA from the past like Blue Submarine No. 6 or a few movies. But that world has been dead for probably a decade now.
You have to ask though, what’s the point? Why not just premier them together right now? And let Jiro get the full spotlight when it’s time? As far as people can tell from this, Blue Lock and Revengers are gone and not coming back. I said the same thing about BE S5, this tiny audience is no longer willing to just shelve shows that more often than not, never return.

The blocks insistence on full audience blackout on basically all info more than 2 weeks away doesn’t help either. Is this temporary? Or are they gonna run the other FLCLs after? Nobody knows, but it’s usually best to assume the worst.
This schedule is one of the worst in over a year. I don’t see the logic in expanding to four hours if you have so little content you have to air three shows twice in one night.
This is also a good question. Why do they fight so hard to keep the block at 8 slots? This would have been a slightly less bad update if they just trimmed off two slots rather than further increase the rerun quota.
Eh. Felt like this was inevitable at some point this year. Short nights for a 1 month or 2 is cool with me. Elusive Samurai and Bleach are starting up on streaming anyway.

We were already in short night mode when IGPX was announced. This is uncharted shortness territory where the block is basically one show.
Maybe Shoegaze will follow Alternative rather than Grunge. Didn’t we randomly get Grunge reruns as filler a year or two ago? Plus Shoegaze is connected to Alternative for plot and characters. Though, I wouldn’t encourage them to double down on endlessly rerunning these FLCL sequels…
Yea, Shoegaze at minimum will probably be next, and we need the obligatory Superman marathon in there too.

And let’s not forget - they did tell us Lazarus is getting a rerun this year.

Until we see evidence otherwise, we shouldn’t rule out a 3 week run for Progressive either.
 
They probably wanted to air the final Bleach cour semi-close to streaming and didn't care about how much they'd need to sacrifice to do so. Viewership has been way up this year compared to last, so I doubt this is a sign they're sunsetting the block. Also, anyone claiming the block has never been this devoid of new content is just wrong. At the very least, there is A show of note, even if it isn't an acquisition. The months after Mashle season 1 ended and before Lazarus started, you couldn't even say that. It ain't good, but they've shown a willingness to sacrifice entire chunks of the year before, and in recent examples, it's been because they went on a shopping spree.
 
They probably wanted to air the final Bleach cour semi-close to streaming and didn't care about how much they'd need to sacrifice to do so. Viewership has been way up this year compared to last, so I doubt this is a sign they're sunsetting the block. Also, anyone claiming the block has never been this devoid of new content is just wrong. At the very least, there is A show of note, even if it isn't an acquisition. The months after Mashle season 1 ended and before Lazarus started, you couldn't even say that. It ain't good, but they've shown a willingness to sacrifice entire chunks of the year before, and in recent examples, it's been because they went on a shopping spree.
August 22, we have two of four hours open up because FLCL Alternative and My Adventures with Superman will conclude. That’s the next big day to watch. Could Bleach really be ready that soon? When is Viz premiering the dub on Hulu?
 
Guess the Hulu seasons of Tokyo Revengers might be off limits. I would prefer the theory that they are just stalling for Bleach or something and this is just a short term schedule.

From the sounds of it, Adult Swim intends to keep Toonami around, the question has always been how long will acquired anime be part of Toonami's programming. There have been plenty of times when it looked like Toonami was ready to abandon acquired anime and rely solely on American cartoons, reruns, and originals only for the block to bounce back. That's why it's hard to write its obituary just yet.

Still, we have historical precedent of a time when optimists were wrong. Back in 2007, I hoped that Toonami being cut in half when Cartoon Network got Goosebumps was only a temporary thing for the Halloween season. Come November and the block remained reduced to two hours. I know many Cartoon Network era Toonami fans feel bitter about the 90s Goosebumps show for that very reason.

Like I said, the long term future is very fuzzy and things could get better, but its no guarantee.
 
August 22, we have two of four hours open up because FLCL Alternative and My Adventures with Superman will conclude. That’s the next big day to watch. Could Bleach really be ready that soon? When is Viz premiering the dub on Hulu?
All we know is the sub premiere on July 25. At the earliest the dub would be August 22 or 29 but also could be around mid-September based on dub dates for the past cours It's too optimistic to think cour 4 will air this year. Next year at best.

I think they're just stalling for Get Jiro's main premiere to put its reruns in the opening slot. and to get an ok for another show. I deserve the groans but still banking on Fire Force and something else in September and October.
 
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August 22, we have two of four hours open up because FLCL Alternative and My Adventures with Superman will conclude. That’s the next big day to watch. Could Bleach really be ready that soon? When is Viz premiering the dub on Hulu?
We are probably gonna see them stall into September at the earliest. Adult Swim is running a panel at SDCC next weekend, so we might get some Get Jiro news there. Originals have the benefit of not being at the whims of Toonami’s information blockades.

I could definitely see Viz getting the Bleach dub moving sometime in August. The question to ask is, can we have it a month or less behind the sub?

It ain't good, but they've shown a willingness to sacrifice entire chunks of the year before, and in recent examples, it's been because they went on a shopping spree.

The question to ask is, why didn’t they already go on a shopping spree? Shows don’t just abruptly end, if they were only getting the first seasons of these shows, they have known since March they needed replacements. Even in a scenario where they thought they could move forward, they would have had 1-2 months minimum to know they wouldn’t be able to.

And knowing how sequel brained they are, it’s hard to think they are on a shopping spree because there just aren’t any options besides Bleach and OPM S3.

I don’t believe we can confidently say viewership has been up after recent revelations around here.

From the sounds of it, Adult Swim intends to keep Toonami around, the question has always been how long will acquired anime be part of Toonami's programming. There have been plenty of times when it looked like Toonami was ready to abandon acquired anime and rely solely on American cartoons, reruns, and originals only for the block to bounce back. That's why it's hard to write its obituary just yet.
AS currently has enough stuff in their archive to keep Toonami going year round without spending a dime. But Toonami existing doesn’t mean it isn’t dead. To many people, the current schedule indicates a dead block and they aren’t going to tune in again till something changes. Same thing happened in 08, yes Toonami was still alive, but the schedule was so bad people just voluntarily dropped it, and then it officially signed off with a resounding meh.
 
Toonami and Adult Swim never did air the original Ghost in the Shell movie did they? I believe I saw it on Sci Fi Channel. SAC rerunning wouldn’t be that special, but seeing a classic would be fun like when they aired Akira. Unfortunately it’s too expensive for them to license movies much anymore.
 
Seriously, do they not even have access to GitS reruns?
Yes, both seasons of Stand Alone Complex are streaming on the website. I think if Toonami had to go with reruns, going with beloved titles like GITS and the original FLCL would go down way better. The FLCL sequels and Blue Exorcist are kinda divisive Toonami titles. I remember that original FLCL and GITS felt overrerun back in the day, but it's been a while since they've been rerun. At least Superman is keeping the block afloat during this difficult time.
 

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