OwlChemist81

Except for the aforementioned swordfight, you're right. It's why I call episodes 16-21 the "sweet spot" of Sword Art Online II--they have by far the best action in the season!

Next time...

Maybe at some point someone gives him a megaphone?? I guess that would be anachronistic though.

Oh yeah, DEFINITELY some of the best action in the series so far--especially that swordfight between Asuna and Yuuki!

Not really. Just the kind of stuff you'd expect him to say. Usually it's stuff like "I had planned to throw a surprise party, but no one asked me!" As for WHY, maybe as an ironic counterweight to Asta, who speaks so loudly you can't help BUT hear him? Or maybe to give those of us who typically watch with captions a little treat??

I assure you, this year this will be the only one.

Problem: no dub. If it DOES eventually get one, I guess I could see us having it in the latter half of the block next year. I think HxH may eventually become seasonal like AOT and MHA. It will be interesting to see what happens with the manga, if it ever goes off hiatus long enough for Madhouse to try to adapt some more material as anime. Think InuYasha: The Final Act, except seasonal. The thing is, since it's now the latest premiere of the night, I don't think there's really that much chance it will happen. When it was in the early reaches of the block and kicking butt in the ratings, I would say it had a chance, but now, I'd say it's iffy at best. It would be amazing if the 2:30 AM rerun of Lupin the 3rd Part 4 actually got replaced by Part 5 in January, but that likely can't happen without some sort of shift in the schedule. I want to believe Boruto isn't the last new show from Toonami this year and they have one more trick left up their sleeve to replace FLCL Alternative, but I'd say that might be doubtful, unless we lose Bebop at the same time, since FLCL3 would obviously get a rerun in a later timeslot.

It never actually aired on TV in Japan; it's an Original Net Anime, according to Anime News Network. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=17825 This would actually be an interesting phenomenon if it DID happen, because I don't believe anything that didn't have either a Japanese TV or theatrical run other than U.S. originals (e.g.: IGPX; Samurai Jack) have ever aired on Toonami.

Yeah, 9 PM on Saturday night is crap, especially up against college football. Actually, when AOT S3 gets finished, it will be an 8th 60+-episode series. MHA will also eventually hit 60 but it hasn't gotten there yet. Until Season 4 is announced of either, AOT and MHA will be roughly the same length. Aside from AOT, HxH will free up a timeslot at some point next summer. Whatever replaces FLCL Alternative is pivotal. I'm also hoping FLCL replaces OPM with a timeslot that rotates between all 3 series in what's left of 2018 and all of 2019 at that point (2 AM). I understand FLCL Progressive getting a rerun at 11:30, but I wouldn't understand FLCL Alternative getting one. Even Space Dandy was cast into a later slot when it completely ran out of premieres. Gundam: Thunderbolt would be a nice replacement for FLCL Alternative; with 8 episodes, it would end before the end of 2018. With no marathon on the weekend before Halloween (or none on the one before Thanksgiving), that would give it at 11:30 (or Midnight if AOT moves up) on 10/20, 10/27, 11/3, 11/10, 11/17, (11/24 if 10/27 used for marathon), 12/1, 12/8, and 12/15. The only problem is that it has a slightly unusual runtime of 18 minutes, which would be ideal for a longer interstitial, but with normally-OP-free Shippuden now at 10 PM, it probably wouldn't be needed. Elsewhere in the Gundam multiverse, I've heard some pretty good things about Reconquista in G, but I don't know if it has a dub. Back on the note of Shippuden, its 10 PM timeslot isn't just a benefit for it, but also likely for artists who want to get their animated music videos on the Better Cartoon Show. Now they've got a better regular timeslot and therefore better exposure. Maybe Gorillaz' new video will make an appearance?

What's weird is this ED has actually grown on me. It does have a kickin' bass groove after the original vocal gibberish beginning. I kinda want to see if there's actually more to the song sometime... Yes, there is!

It would have been perfect if this was the way the arc ended, but no--we had to get THIS: Yeah, I have a meeting tomorrow, so I probably won't be watching with the East Coast--but maybe the West?

Quite a bit! Fortunately, Trunks has new resolve just as THIS happens!

That was so much more impressive than what we're seeing here!

I think "Vegetto" is actually a portmanteau of "Vegeta" and "Kakarot." Not sure how it works, but somehow the "-ot" gets reversed.

Yeah, the half that is Goku Black is actually not invincible!

Oh yeah, forgot he turned on the Kaio-Ken here too! But it might have been a bit too much for him to handle!

I was wrong. It's not James Marsters, but actually a guy by the name of David Gray. NOW!!!

It's alright...but it IS the same time every weekday! Apparently, Zamasu is voiced by someone semi-famous, kinda like Jason Douglas as Beerus! https://twitter.com/JamesMarstersOf

In just about 5 minutes, Merged Zamasu is fearsome, but Goku and Vegeta just might have one more trick up their sleeves. Plus, Trunks isn't out of the fight just yet! It's 3 on 2, but one is invincible! How can the Saiyans win this fight? Find out tonight! Yeah, ignore that whole "In 2 weeks" part; it's on TONIGHT!!!

I guess you could defend that somehow in the past few weeks, Black Clover has become the best NEW shonen in 2 years--since My Hero Academia began. At least it's a hell of a lot better than Darling In The Franxx--good Lord, that was disappointing, and I have NO desire for that to end up on Toonami--I'd rather have more Gundam. In other news, Super started out low but built nicely from 8 to 8:30. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say the 8 PM episode even built on CN's closer, Gumball. Dragon Ball Super (repeat) (ADSM, 8:00 PM, 30 min.) • 0.372 million viewers (#82) • 0.26 HH (#82) • 0.12 A18-49 (#87) • 0.15 A18-34 (#50) • 0.13 A25-54 (#88) Dragon Ball Super (repeat) (ADSM, 8:30 PM, 30 min.) • 0.435 million viewers (#77) • 0.29 HH (#75) • 0.16 A18-49 (#62) • 0.20 A18-34 (#32) • 0.15 A25-54 (#77) https://programminginsider.com/monday-final-ratings-primetime-emmys-and-monday-night-football-week-2-telecast-both-sink-to-all-time-lows/

Well, this is interesting: https://programminginsider.com/saturday-final-ratings-abc-and-espn-in-prime-time-draw-the-two-most-watched-college-football-games-of-the-week/ The 2nd Family Guy won the night, but Rick & Morty didn't drop very far from there--at least in terms of total viewers, but Dragon Ball Super won the night in Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34. Across all Primetime Cable, DBS was 2nd only to the Alabama/Mississippi game in 18-34, and My Hero Academia was #4, also behind the Washington/Utah game. My Hero Academia (repeat) (ADSM, 10:00 PM, 30 min.) • 0.643 million viewers (#55) • 0.44 HH (#46) • 0.28 A18-49 (#16) • 0.35 A18-34 (#4) • 0.23 A25-54 (#29) Dragon Ball Super (ADSM, 10:30 PM, 30 min.) • 0.717 million viewers (#43) • 0.49 HH (#33) • 0.35 A18-49 (#6) • 0.43 A18-34 (#2) • 0.30 A25-54 (#21) PROGRAM Viewers (000) A1849 rating A1849 (000) 10:00 My Hero Academia (r) 643 0.28 366 10:30 Dragon Ball Super 717 0.35 450 11:00 Attack on Titan 585 0.28 361 11:30 FLCL: Alternative 479 0.23 302 12:00a Pop Team Epic 353 0.16 206 12:30a Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable 347 0.16 201 1:00a Hunter X Hunter (r) 335 0.16 211 1:30a Black Clover (r) 354 0.17 222 2:00a Naruto: Shippuden (r) 319 0.17 225 2:30a One-Punch Man (r) 317 0.18 227 3:00 Lupin the 3rd: Part 4 (r) 256 0.14 175 3:30a Cowboy Bebop (r) 248 0.13 165 9/15/18 - Adults 18-49 Show Viewers Retention MHA 366,000 89.22% DBS 450,000 122.95% AOTS3 361,000 80.22% FLCL3 302,000 83.66% PTE 206,000 68.21% JoJo4 201,000 97.57% HxH 211,000 104.98% B. Clover 222,000 105.21% Shippuden 225,000 101.35% Punchy 227,000 100.89% Lupin 175,000 77.09% Bebop 165,000 94.29% AVERAGE 259,250 27th of 37 If I had to guess, Toonami will likely have a ripple effect when the new schedule starts, beginning with the Guy/Kai combo at 8:30-9:30, then again with Dragon Ball Super at 11, and then a couple of hours later with Black Clover at 1. BC might even move up to 12:30, but it's proved itself to be quite the late-night champion. I hate to say it, but the whole block will probably be much better off without Pop Team Epic, though I suppose it might show up at some point for an encore in the later reaches of the block, and that would be fine. Then after Toonami, the block didn't recover, picking up steam slightly in total viewers for the Boondocks, but dropping from there in Adults 18-49.

Fused Zamasu is just too hax! And he can do WHAT now!?!

Well, the Pop Team Epic stream didn't advance, but now we've got Attack on Titan Season 2! Looks like it's #31-#35 for now, but it's unknown if it will get a Friday night advance or not. Also, HOW it will advance is a mystery, which could reveal some interesting facts about AOT's streaming arrangements for Season 3. More likely than not, IF it gets a Friday night advance, it's moving to #33-#37, but I suppose it COULD straddle the seasons and advance to #36-#40, which would be 2 episodes of Season 2, and 3 episodes of Season 3. The only thing I've ever seen doing anything similar is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and only between the last 4 episodes of Part 1 and the first of Part 2, but technically those are the same season.

Dear Lord, why did I just waste 6 minutes of my life watching that!? At least it was pretty damn funny though!

Well, we could also explore it from this angle: back in '14, shows like Gurren Lagann and Hellsing Ultimate gave Toonami a sense of variety many feel might be lacking now. We've had plenty of mecha since (one could argue FLCL Alternative is that sub-genre's current representative), but we haven't had a good vampire show SINCE Hellsing, so it seems like a new vampire show on Toonami would actually be a good thing, but what's good enough in that sub-genre for the Better Cartoon Show? Yes, I'm aware that JoJo DID have vampires, but except for a brief comeback at the end of Part 3, they're mostly gone for now.