brianycpht

Maybe the long term plan is to have a stream of originals constantly premiering and encoring in the lead slot. With so many productions happening simultaneously, I could see it. Add in Ballmastrz, Final Space, and Primal premiering their next seasons on Toonami and they’d have plenty of material to occupy the slot

So I’m wondering if it’s even known whether MHA will run one or two fours this time around. If it’s split then they may be torn on whether or not it’s worth it to give MHA the lead only for it to go be gone in 12 weeks if it’s a full season than it’ll last until November/December. DBS would finish in September right around the same time FG finishes. Then they have a decision to make. Do you give it to MHA with 2 months left or do you loop DBS back to episode 1? If you give it to MHA at any point, it will end in November so then they’d have to figure out the lead slot again. If it’s not a long runner, then they’ll have to constantly consider this. Ideally, you could have a Demon Slayer and MHA turn taker if the seasons work out. But what other shows could take the lead slot? I almost feel like they leave Super there forever because it’s a sure thing easier than having to figure that out constantly. Not saying I agree with that but I imagine that goes into their decision making

Ironically, many would rather watch the old Ocean/Funimation dub (censored) with the dub music then Funimation’s 2007 remaster or Kai. Just like they’d love to see the Dic/Cloverway SM than the Viz redub or crystal But as much as people say they want that, I doubt they’d tune in to something like that week after week But one thing that would have going for it is you can’t get those anywhere legit on streaming. But that also means they probably aren’t available to air either even if they do have the tapes still

Its kind of like this... The casual viewer who still sits in front of the TV is probably a little older and would remember what's considered the "good years" of AS/CN/Toonami. DB is a crossover show that viewers of FG on TV would be willing to watch because they are probably of that generation who watched CN from 2000-lets say 2007. They assume that a large portion of that group watches DB because of the nostalgia factor and would be more willing to watch an anime if its a familiar title from that time period. They are looking to recapture those memories of watching anime on CN/AS from their childhood/teen years. A modern title wouldn't work there because that person would more associate it with streaming. They believe that a person of that generation would be willing to stick around if they saw a familiar show presented in the way they remember watching it in the past (via Toonami and TOM). It's why people went nut for the April Fools gag but didn't necessarily hang around for the actual revived block. Hell, those viewers don't even consider what airs on Saturday to be "real" Toonami. To them, it ceased to exist the second it left weekday afternoons. Like I said the most likely properties to actually work would be either Sailor Moon, YYH, or dare I say it, the original DBZ. Moon and DBZ, however, unless they really pushed hard for it, would not be the versions people remember. Those have long been redubbed, revised, and rescored. YYH in HD would be cool to see, but would that really draw people in considering it's age and length? Gundam Wing and G Gundam are other big nostalgic titles, but would they work once a week? Gundam titles haven't really hit big with modern Toonami so I can't see them making a case for it. Honestly, I don't know if something like that would work out the way they hope. It would be an expensive venture that may be a dud. It would have to be a really cheap deal.

I feel like they really should've been using this year to establish a different show in the 11pm hour. It's going to be quite a drastic change to the regular viewers come fall. Easing off their complete reliance of Family Guy to prop up the whole night (I'm not just talking about Saturday, I mean weeknights as well) would make it much easier later on. It seems like the ultimate plan is to front load the entire pre midnight hours with American Dad, Bob's, and Rick. I believe what they may do is air 3-4 unique episodes of each and ditch some if not all of the encores. I don't see how they keep 8:00 otherwise unless they want to use the Naruto/Jack hour there (also repeating at 5). To me having 3-4 Dad's a night is either leading up to them losing that hour completely or a preview of their strategy moving forward.I will admit though, as a up all night person, I'm intrigued by the possibility of a FOX-less late night portion of the block. There is such a massive catalog that they could easily program 5 or so hours. It seems like they really are set on keeping Super in the lead, perhaps even beyond the airing of episode 131. Maybe they were hoping by the time it cycled through, more Dragonball would be on the horizon. Demarco also hinted at the possibility of another "nostalgic" property taking that spot. Is that the only thing they think will hook in a casual viewer? I do wonder what they could possibly be hoping for. There's only a few heavy hitters that come to mind- Sailor Moon, YYH, Gundam (Wing or G) or perhaps even a re-airing of Bleach (maybe the last stretch). Would a viewer really come in for those week after week or just a few times and then go watch the rest on their own at a faster pace?

It shouldn’t even be on the chart since it’s a rerun lol

This reminds me about how they constantly talked about ratings, made fun of the numbers, changed the schedule at the slightest problem, and made threats like this. Now whenever it’s brought up to Demarco, he wonders why people are so obsessed with them and basically says we have no business even talking about then because we don’t know anything. Well, I think the constant talking about them on their end made the community like this. I can’t think of any other fan base (maybe wrestling) that I’d so ratings focused. They created it. Even in Toonami 2.0’s early days, they stressed how important it was. Then in late 2014, we noticed something was slipping they said don’t worry, then they cut the block down saying ratings were bad- again stressing they need to be better to re expand or go earlier again.Maybe it shouldn’t have been a constant talking point on their end. I knew nothing of demos and shares until I was an Adult Swim/Toonami viewer 😂

Things have changed a great deal. I see people constantly on Twitter talking about how great Toonami was. They refer to it in the past tense. Even when it’s pointed out that it’s still on the air, they still argue that it’s not the same block as the one they grew up with. Toonami isn’t introducing people to things on a mass scale like they used to. I think they still point casual people who don’t watch anime to things they wouldn’t seek out. I’ve also seen those same people watch the second seasons of things Toonami introduced them to online and never watch Toonami’s eventual airing. It’s happening right now with Titan, Stone, and TPN Unless we go back to the times where you simply could not easily get shows until they aired on television, it’s just not going to be the force it was its not going anywhere, but the excitement and purpose it used to have is not the same

I think we’re past the point of things being on the block being a primary means of exposure. It certainly helps broaden its awareness a bit, but the fact that many didn’t even know Demon Slayer was dubbed until it was on Netflix and Funimation says a lot about the current state of TV We’re the last vestiges of a gone by era

I was one of the CNN watchers. I literally have it on my TV 24/7 now. I’ve kind of lost interest in the block for the time being since there’s so much craziness happening. Wolf Blitzer rules! He does his show 7 days a week

Well, Toonami doesn’t do much to remain a tastemaker, often relying on “requests” of shows that are already popular. Kim Manning even recently acknowledged that this strategy has backfired on them because people tend to request things they’ve already watched and won’t tune in again. I don’t think the people who run the block are avid seasonal watchers either and would be aware of shows beyond the biggest Shonen or if a creator they liked made it. By the time they are aware of it, it’s past it’s peak popularity They used to have the luxury of time between a Japanese broadcast and a dubs release so they can take the time to see how a show turns out. At least then they would debut the show in English. Now, Funimation is becoming more of a competitor in that regard. They would rather debut it in English themselves and still give Toonami an opportunity to air it later. But Toonami basically can’t do what they did in the past if dubbers would prefer to be their own distributors as well How Yashahime didn’t debut on the block first is beyond me 😂?

The only caveat to having a marathon on December 19th is it gets the two over and done with. Then we go right back to normal January 2nd as opposed to waiting a whole week after New Years But truthfully, they really only need the one this year. They’d marathon logic as always evolved to suit their programming needs

The last 2 seasons had a few episodes premiere in theaters or at a con, but they always aired before streaming. They were never day and date sub/dubs either. It’s always been about a month behind

Another factor that could effect its release is the VAs taking time off for the holidays. December is a really bad time to start a new anime. Considering that alone and it historic release pattern, it wouldn't be too outlandish to suggest that the dub will come out the second or third week of January

This Isn’t having some new stuff better than nothing? Watch any network show that’s not on cable and you’ll see new episodes come and go. Sometimes reruns will have to happen if we’re airing a simuldub. The alternative is airing it months later after anyone cares. That ultimately is worse and makes the block more irrelevant. They’re still trying to be current with what’s coming out and will air the episodes as they come in since Funimation dubs them this way and not in batches.Thats probably how it’ll be with Clover. I’d take that over pulling it and sticking a rerun of something again. I’d rather be caught up with where Funimation is and not 10-15 episodes behind again. Once Funimation gets back on a weekly schedule we’ll still be right there with them and delays will not be an issue

If it happens, it happens. They’ll figure it out if it does. A week or two of reruns because of a delay isn’t a big deal. Regular TV shows do it all the time. It’s how they stretch a 22 episode season over 8 months

I asked Demarco on Twitter yesterday and he said there’s still complicated legal issues with it that refuse to get worked out. Since he’s openly talking about it, I wouldn’t count on it anytime soon

It's almost no risk to them, but if they have a new show in mind to replace MHA, I don't think we'll see it until the 11th. We may do another fan favorite MHA (maybe the 2nd place episode). Or maybe take it a step further and do a modern "Power to the People" where they can pick any episode of any show from a list

Zap2it currently has the normal lineup (with episode titles) scheduled, as does TV Guide. On TV Guide, it lists MHA at midnight with a generic series description. This doesn’t mean it’s rerunning, but that they don’t have any data for the spot and it’s a template for what has usually aired there. I figured it would have an episode listed if it was, but it could very well be another “what’s your favorite episode” deals. My reasoning behind this is that while the 4th might be fine and not so risky to run this normal, rerun heavy lineup, STARTING a new show at the top of the block wouldn’t be the best idea. The 11th is also the earliest we might get Jojo back so having a new show at midnight plus the return of Jojo would be a good start to July. The lack of a marathon announcement today makes me even more confident we aren’t getting one

I think the main point of contention is that before current events, they were already in a cutback phase and this is the longest the block has ever gone without a fresh show that wasn’t a sequel. Many on this board don’t consider PA a “premeire” because we watched it on ASA and if that was our last chance for a new show for awhile, I can’t blame some for being disappointed- despite the quality of the program. Clover and Naruto have their detractors so also and may not even watch them (me for instance). I do wonder how much of the backlash is the dissatisfaction over the lack of new or the fear that ratings are going to suffer leading to more cuts. If it’s the latter, I’d stress that it’s more important that the block be something you enjoy over a constant fear over its potential demise.

They’ll try it anyway I’m sure, it’s worked out so well for them before.But with MHA potentially not being replaced and the block leading with 3 reruns, it will feel rather stale. Without fresh stuff up front, it won’t give people a reason to stick around for the new stuff. I don’t know what they are going to do, but theyl really should try and get a back catalog show from Funimation or Crunchyroll. I know they are picky about the lead slot, but trying something new is better than just leaving MHA in reruns. What were they going to do had COVID not happened? I think the only thing that threw them for a loop was Food Wars not being able to continue. I think negotiations didn’t happen in time to get season 3, so they got Mob on to take the 1am slot and just brought Paranoia Agent (which was intended to replace Demon at 12:30) out a few weeks early. I can’t see Mob at 1am as anything other than a temporary fix to plug a hole they didn’t know they’d have to fill. I’m also hoping they still had a deal on and this wasn’t something they chose to acquire over a fresh title. I want to believe good things are coming, but nothing that’s happened this year (even before COVID) has been good news in terms of fresh acquisitions. 5 premiere slots lost (6 depending on how you view PA) since the beginning of the year and them also not replacing MHA leads me to believe it’s money related and what we had coming was mostly sequels that may not happen this year. So I’m hoping they actually have plans to replace MHA. They were always going to have to anyway between seasons

I doubt they’d let it get that bad, but if that were the case, they need to move the actual premeire shows up. They can’t have the block led by reruns

That’s what bothers me, if they put time and money into picking up Mob again (assuming it just wasn’t still under contract), they could’ve just as well made a deal for another show they’ve never aired before. I don’t know if it was a deal of “We like Mob so let’s get it again!”. If that was the deal (same with PA), it’s a little bothersome that they just go for things that they either like, like the creator, have aired before or know it’s the newest Shonen. There’s a ton of catalog titles they never aired that they could potentially air right now with nothing new coming out. If they could make new deals for those shows- why not something new?

Someone should get him to live tweet 😂

I do feel like they do need some new people to help curate some content for the block. I think it can only make the block better