Toonamiguy321

Ok fine, if the discussion is getting the numbers up, step one is getting SOMETHING on the lineup. The numbers are not going to shoot up by running reruns, 2 hours of OP/Naruto, or another unwanted FLCL. I even doubt Uzumaki will move the needle, especially if they go the sub premier route. Im not suggesting they air shows that intentionally tank the ratings. I’m just saying we are in a spot where getting them much lower will be as difficult as getting them much higher. If the Toonami audience will sit through Primal reruns over and over again and not have that choice crater viewership, I think it would be a genuine challenge picking a show that could bring the current ratings floor average lower. Part of the reason I don’t see a point in worrying about the ratings is because it’s a vicious cycle. No shows = shit ratings. Shit ratings = no budget. No budget = no shows. They have the power to make the needed change to get the numbers up, so not making that change leads me to believe they aren’t too stressed about Toonami ratings. That said, once Grunge starts, I assume they will care about that a little more since they paid to have it made. That’s gonna get compared with every other new AS show this year.

I know AS is putting their stamp on it, but I wonder if Checkered Past will be it’s own thing just so it’s arm length from actual AS so they don’t have to incorporate all these shows into their website. And if it bombs hard and they have to abort, it will be cleaner. For its incredibly brief run, was Adventure Time ever on the AS website?

1 and 2 was a two parter but we got both the same night. That one was two stand alone episodes title wise but they clearly go together since one ends with Jimmy’s fate unknown and the following begins with Clark and Lois immediately trying to find Jimmy.

Considering the 2023 pickup catalog is sitting at 2 shows, I know the answer is not many. If that is NOT the answer, then that means Demarco is a colossal fuck up blowing deals left and right. I give even odds on either reason. Getting shows doesn’t mean the block wasn’t obsolete. You could still stream almost anything Toonami aired long before they aired it. There were occasional exceptions, Space Dandy, the originals, but those were far from the norm. Is anyone still sweating ratings in 2023? It’s interesting to look at them week to week, but we are so far beyond the stage of improving them. And really, if they are at this level and AS still hasn’t cancelled the block, ratings ain’t gonna be what gets the block cancelled. Bleach would surely nudge them up a little, and it would be a much healthier lead show than some rerun or the mess that Grunge looks like, but in the end, who cares? I’d rather Toonami actually be watchable over worrying about what number gets posted next to a show on Tuesday afternoon. Bleach improves block watchability. Would I prefer some fresh blood come in first? Yes, but we are also in a scenario where the beggar really can’t be picky.

They go and have Robot Jones narrate their promos for the block and then don’t even air his show on it? Unforgivable.

Ain’t talking about 15 years ago. Talking about 8-9 years ago, when this block was already completely obsolete. From what we hear from Demarco, sure they are always talking, but the same old conversations. Can we have JJK? No. Can we have Demon Slayer? No. Where are the talks about something they can actually afford? Clearly not happening since we don’t get anything. If they maintained good relations in the industry, they wouldn’t need a reason. They would cut them deals just to do it. The distributor makes a few bucks, gets a little advertising and has a positive standing among Toonami fans. We still wouldn’t get the exclusives, but each distributor has PLENTY of B tier stuff that isn’t going to ever do much besides be catalog filler.

If the block had allies in the industry, someone would hook us up with a show. Maybe not the best show, but something to keep the wheels turning. I don’t want to hear about cost or budget when distributors used to give the block shows for free just for the exposure. That’s when you know bridges are healthy. If your excuses are actually true, they should stop telling the fans that things are in the works, deals are being made, shows are brewing, etc. Then we at least stop having expectations. But all year long they have strung us along with the promise of a big pickup that has never come. 2012 was the worst the block was financially ever. Yet they still secured shows. Again, not great shows, no mega, modern hits, but they kept it fresh. No excuse for 2023 to be this bad.

I have seen this argument many times, even as far back as the first AS expansion and it baffles me. CN has been a diet of TTGo and Gumball for 90% of its runtime since about 2015. The entire reason they are cutting CN and expanding AS is because kids abandoned the network many years ago. Some people are so bizarrely attached to labels that they will turn their nose up at a genuinely good change for no good reason. This block is AS in name only, likely for the sake of being able to utilize more diverse advertisers that target a demo who actually watches TV. But its programming is still pure CN. I could understand the outrage if CN had been doing something that was actually worth a shit but they have not. I honestly can’t see this doing bad enough to give any time back to CN. That’s how far the bar is set. The block has a small start up cost with the bumps and advertising, but beyond that it’s free to operate. I think it has enough stand alone episodes that they could swing it. That said, the moment they add it to the block is the moment conspiracy theorists expect GKND to get the greenlight.

I’m thinking less about the audience reaction and more about the clowns who program AS in 2023 having an issue with it. I think PPG would have been a day 1 show if the reboot didn’t exist. The four shows they did pick have been at rest for 10-15 years. Maybe if this does well they will throw it on. I mean, if you want it to fail, watching it is counterproductive to that goal. But I’ll bite, why exactly do you want it to fail? This is the best use of the 5-7 hours in about a decade.

If Demarco didn’t burn the bridges, who did? When he doesn’t get his way we see him in real time throw a fit on Twitter and point fingers about how [anime distributor] is teh suck. It’s not a wild leap in logic to think that no one wants to work with the local manchild. If the bridges were not burned, we wouldn’t be looking at a block that’s an hour of One Piece and Naruto + a shit original.

The good thing is this really doesn’t need to be a huge ratings blowout. I’d think so long as it does comparable to what CN did in those hours, they are gonna mark it down as a success. I’d guess the packaging will rarely, if ever change, so the novelty of that will fade, but it’s nice they tried at all rather than just the typical nature rotation. I do think it’s first week or two will be heavily propped up by people checking it out, but it’s not something I see people making a long term commitment to due to how early it is. But it works out since all these shows are episodic, just watch when you want. And since the episodes aren’t following the seasons, you don’t have to worry about tuning in during the “bad” ones. As for other shows, what else do you think they should air? To me, Johnny Bravo seems like a perfect fit but I don’t think nu-AS would be willing to air it. Powerpuff Girls is another I see suggested a lot, but I don’t think CN wants to give that up.

When asked, Demarco said the AMC acquisition did not hurt their ability to acquire shows from Sentai. Of course, he could have been lying (something he does as easy as breathing), but that doesn’t really benefit him in this scenario because it forces us to assume he is simply avoiding their catalog due to its lack of entry level shows or things that appeal to his personal tastes. Unfortunately, I think it’s far too late to get someone else in the driver seat. Someone will argue Gil is in charge now, but he is Demarco-lite so that doesn’t change anything anyway. And even if we did get someone else in control, Demarco has burned so many bridges already they probably still couldn’t do much for us.

5pm - Dexter’s Laboratory - Dexter’s Rival, Simion, Old Man Dexter 5:30pm - Ed Edd n Eddy - The Ed Touchables Nagged to Ed 6pm - The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy - Toadblatt’s School of Sorcery, Educating Grim, Its Hokey-mon! 6:30pm - Courage the Cowardly Dog - The Shadow of Courage, Le Quack What do you guys think about the opening lineup for Checkered Past? To me, it looks like whoever they put in charge actually gives a shit about making it enjoyable and unpredictable, rather than the lazy approach of starting every show at episode 1 season 1. EEnE is, but the following day jumps to S3. It’s early, but I’m gonna assume they are going to curate out episodes people generally do not like, which makes sense since this block is pandering specifically to nostalgia. On top of the curated episodes it seems to have its own set of unique bumpers too, so I’m really pulling for this to succeed.

Demarco is on vacation, probably was just intern-kun messing up and posting an incomplete graphic. Not the first time we have seen it happen in recent years. They are happy to air viewer repellent so long as they can take credit for making it. See - FLCL Progressive, Alternative, Grunge, Fena and Black Lotus.

I was never smug or condescending about it. I only ever suggested that it MIGHT happen given the length of the arc, and more recently the delays after Punk Hazard ends. As much as I wanted it to, never once did I suggest it leaving was a sure thing. Maybe a GOOD thing, but not a sure thing. Dressrosa doesn’t make me suffer. It actually improves my situation as I have an excuse to go to sleep much earlier. Later down the road I may have to tough it out since I do want to see Shippuden end live, but that’s about a year away and plenty could change before then. Hopefully the suffering I experience in your head makes up for how dog water Dressrosa is.

Like right this second? Or in general? Been keeping up with Superman which I certainly did not expect to be one of my top AS picks of 2023. Also been trying to care about Teenage Euthanasia, but I have already missed one week so far. Why a Wednesday premier? Come on AS.

Caught ya, just couldn’t bring yourself to actually ignore me, could ya? Imagine sitting here and actually defending Dressrosa just to have the opposite opinion of mine. Sorry, I can’t take credit for it. You can skim any hardcore OP community for thoughts on Dressrosa and get something very similar. You will struggle to find OP fans who will give a positive review of anime Dressrosa.

Dressrosa sucks ass. It’s easily the lowest point for the anime between shoddy Toei animation and their most shameless one chapter episodes full of padding to reach 22 minutes. 2 episodes a week means an hour of torture each week instead of 30 minutes. The only way Dressrosa is watchable is on your own skipping the OP + recaps, and maybe setting the speed to 1.5x just for good measure. Even if the entire arc stays double, which I doubt, that would still be about 1.5 years on the arc when accounting for marathons and other delays. If nothing else, I kinda wish since Naruto is now in its final sprint to the end, that they would swap it with OP. After this stretch of Itachi filler, there’s only like 10 filler episodes left. Throw the Naruto fans a bone here after 10 years of loyalty.

Buddy, One Piece leaving was OPTIMISM. It staying and dooming us to two years of a single arc is the bad end. I still think Naruto is gonna stay double till 9/30 and then be replaced by Uzumaki. One Piece has no need to preserve its episodes. So here’s a revamped 9/30. 12 - Grunge 12:30 - Uzumaki (subbed) 1 - One Piece 1:30 - One Piece 2 - Naruto 2:30 - MHA No cut, yet it still feels like an awful lineup. Depending on dub speed and Crunchyroll cooperation, Dr Stone’s second cour could tag in when Uzumaki wraps up. That would be November when accounting for a Halloween delay. That just leaves Grunge as the one unknown. And as we have seen in the past, when an original or top billing shonen isn’t available, they really struggle at putting something in the lead. If nothing else, I’d say odds and Toonami only getting 2 acquired shows this year is sitting at about 90% right now.

Welp, we can finally put the OP speculation to rest. Looks like we either will stay at 2.5 hours, or they are weening us into a 2 hour block normalcy. This is just like last year during DST where they used the confusion of unusual schedules to sneak in an hour cut. If I had to take a guess, double Naruto will stick till 9/30, at which point Uzumaki will slip in at 12:30. Once Grunge ends is probably when they rip the band aid off on 2 hours. So in our future a few months from now probably this. 12 - Dr Stone S3 part 2 12:30 - One Piece 1 - Naruto 1:30 - original rerun

We are at least sure Bleach isn’t an exclusive. Crystal was Hulu only so we knew it could never come (which was a good thing), it’s slim, but Bleach isn’t entirely off the table. Unfortunately, for all we know Bleach was the April show they seemingly blew the deal on. Back in the spring, Demarco explicitly ignored all questions about Bleach. From asking if it could be on the block to innocent questions like asking if he has checked it out. It did seem like he was taking precautions to not accidentally trip an NDA. And at the same time of doing this he had no issue talking about wanting JJK, reiterating Demon Slayer S2 was still off the table and wishing Witch from Mercury was coming their way. So it’s not that he was just avoiding show talk in general, he was explicitly avoiding Bleach talk.

Probably better to ask after we get 9/16. There are just too many unknowns. I’ll make an assumption they will stall one slot so subbed Uzumaki can tag in on 9/30. That would have it temporarily overlap Grunge, but I think they will let it slide to squish it into the appropriate month. Since it’s subbed, it’s a lot harder to headline with anyone, as by their own admission multiple times, subs are the number one ratings killer. The rest is anyone’s guess. The only thing that could even be considered a hint is that Eizouken tweet that tagged Toonami, and that’s a huge stretch. It seems the teased April show may have fallen through. I would not be surprised at all if there are zero acquisitions for the rest of the year. Even though it’s entirely pointless, they will probably do a Halloween marathon on 10/28. Id bet on an hour expansion for that so they can run both Uzumaki and HCC. Not that you would ever know, you blocked me, remember? Hopefully you don’t start charging me rent for the head space though.

They are unobtainable. On the slim chance they are obtainable, it takes way too much sacrifice just to land one show. But Demarco can’t get out of the mindset of Toonami being able to effortlessly land every Jump show that releases and would rather air nothing and continue chasing a dream, over settling for B shows and actually having content on the block. I have no doubt he will be. Taking a vacation from work is not taking a vacation from being angry on twitter every day. He is probably thinking about “haters” right this very second. Expect a “I’m bored, AMA” tweet before this vacation ends. He needs his monthly quota of attention and validation.

Here’s our answer courtesy of Sketch. Little worried about using “was” in the discussion of this matter as it implies it fell through and will never come.

If anyone is interested in bothering Demarco, someone should ask him if AoT is the show they were waiting on back in April.