Mr. Idea Box

Someone was going to make this joke eventually. Just glad it was told.

[facepalm] You've gotta be kidding me... This is the exact way I did NOT want Toonami Rewind to end up. And what do they do? They place Dragon Ball at 2, Naruto at 2:30, and Sailor Moon at 3. Way to show where your bread's buttered, guys. At this rate, I'm expecting them to boot the ninja and the sailor once their contracts run out. Luckily, that gives them until May. Unluckily, that also clogs up the back half of the lineup for months. And with Invincible Fight Girl reruns at 12:30 until March? Plus Mashle on a more accessible platform? Good grief. I'm not even sure if MHA can save this paltry lineup, and that's just sad.

My thoughts exactly. An anime based on a PlayStation game would be practically easy money. And yet, the console had its own dedicated episode on Secret Level, making it a bit muddled.

Wow, seven takes on the upcoming year. Let's see what each variation brings us. Scenario #1: Lazarus, Dr. Stone Science Future, Primal Season 3, Mashle Season 2, more Blue Exorcist, Rooster Fighter, Get Jiro, Swordsmith Village reruns, Toonami loses 3 AM in February. Scenario #2: Dragon Ball Daima, Lazarus, Dr. Stone Science Future, Primal Season 3, more Blue Exorcist, DanDaDan, Mashle Season 2, Rooster Fighter, Get Jiro, Swordsmith Village reruns, Toonami keeps 3 AM until September. Scenario #3: Mostly the same as Scenario #1, except Mashle premieres before Primal, they pick up DanDaDan as well, and they keep the 3 AM slot until the Naruto license runs dry. Scenario #4: A mix between Scenarios #1 and #3, in terms of newer shows to license. Scenario #5: Lazarus, more Mashle, Wind Breaker, Primal Season 3, DanDaDan, more Blue Exorcist, Rooster Fighter, Demon Slayer Hashira Training, Get Jiro. Scenario #6: Sailor Moon R airs at 1 AM and bumps Blue Exorcist and One Piece down a slot. Plus Lazarus, Dr. Stone Science Future, Primal Season 3, Mashle Season 2, further Blue Exorcist, Rooster Fighter, and Get Jiro. Scenario #7: Dragon Ball Daima, Lazarus, Dr. Stone Science Future, Sailor Moon R replacing Fight Girl, Primal Season 3, DanDaDan, more Blue Exorcist, more Mashle, Rooster Fighter, Get Jiro, Toonami gains 3:30 for half the year. These scenarios are quite sound, and I agree that the last one would be the best way to spend their budget. However, there's one big setback to mention: My Adventures with Superman is nowhere on this list. My optimistic side would imagine WB would promote the upcoming theatrical film by releasing the announced third season on Toonami over the summer. Doubly so after Creature Commandos proved itself as a less likely contender for DC Comics in animated form. But even still, don't be surprised of that show pops up in the Midnight circuit at any point next year. Just putting that out there. Of course, there's also Fire Force's third season, but I don't think they'll add it to Toonami in 2025 if their January schedule is anything to go by.

To be perfectly fair, it was a good idea to try it. And now, over the past four years, we can make the same conclusion regarding Family Guy as their lead-in show. Unfortunately.

If any Adult Swim comedy was becoming part of Toonami, I'd rather have The Venture Bros. over Family Guy. But in all fairness, this sounds like the best schedule to hope for right now.

If that's what you think the schedule will look like soon, then I don't think I can print my thoughts on it. However, giving the benefit of the doubt, I'd at least bump Primal up an hour.

I assume no one's making a review of this week's offerings, with it being two marathons. That's all I'll say, because somebody has to make words on the last week of 2024.

With the way things are, it makes me worried for 2025. I'm starting to wonder if Toei might look elsewhere for One Piece. Letting DBZ Kai or OG Naruto expire early on would be surprising. Letting both expire would be a nightmare. Then again, I would've preferred losing 3 AM over even more Naruto reruns in the long run, but I digress. Let's imagine that the worst did happen, and Crunchyroll left Toonami in the dust forever. This still leaves Animax and possibly Kadokawa as alternative ways to get Sony on board for the block. Plus, they are getting more chummy with Sentai Filmworks to the point where they're outsourcing Williams Street's dubs to them. That, and there's always Viz Media to pull from. So, in all fairness, there are other options. But even I have to admit there needs to be fresh blood in the executive position nowadays. Truth be told, that's a blanket statement for every company in the 2020s, but that's a long story.

With the reveal of the first schedules of 2025, I wonder if the results of Rohirrim had something to do with it.

Returns: The schedule might be too packed if we had all of these seasons in 2025 alone. I know that's obviously a good thing, but if I could delay some of them, Fire Force S3, Lycoris Recoil S2, Demon Slayer, and S3 of Blue Exorcist might need to wait. Reruns: We already have these on the schedule, but I'd be happy to see Sailor Moon on there. Doubt it'll happen, though. New Shows: Daima, Aniplex title, and the originals? Yes. Undead Unluck and DanDaDan? GOOD LUCK.

Seconded to the nth degree. I also hope they don't renew that contract and just decide to let it lapse in May, because we'd be back where we started in more ways than one.

It's about time that manga got an anime adaptation. I thought they'd have to wait until after the main anime finished. Better bring up the elephant in the room now. I don't think this'll be on Toonami. But in all fairness, I could care less right now.

I'm thinking more like the 22nd myself.

I really don't want to join the bandwagon here, but even I think this is a rough start to 2025. Kicking it off with an out-of-season Uzumaki marathon? Airing possible reruns at 12:30? Not a single new show until February, even if 3 AM has a vacancy on the 25th? I suppose I was right, though. My base predictions were going to be inaccurate by New Year's Day. I just thought there would be something more substantial than this. Two premieres in January, and one of them is One Piece. TWO PREMIERES. I get the feeling the wrong people are being punished for War of the Rothirim. Namely, us.

Good point.

So, Toonami Rewind lasted only six months. Frankly, I should've seen this coming. I mean, I wanted it to last into 2025, but between Family Guy coming back to Adult Swim and Checkered Past losing the 6 PM hour, I knew it wouldn't last long. They went to where the money was, or at least where their own studio vault was. I'm just glad they ended it with Goku turning Super Saiyan for the first time. If there was any way to cap off the Friday afternoon block, it would've been with such a captivating moment in anime history. My only hope is that Sailor Moon and Naruto air at 2 AM on Saturdays. I used to hope against it, but if that's the only way we're getting those shows on cable television? It's either this or back to the streaming wars.

I couldn't agree more.

You know what? More companies should take this option, instead of complete acquisition.

Yeah, that's fair. My apologies for that. Then again, it's hard to cancel an Adult Swim show for good.

PETER: Everybody, I've got bad news. We've been kicked off the block. LOIS: Oh no, Peter. How could they do that? PETER: Well, unfortunately Lois, there's no more room on the schedule. We've just got to accept the fact that Adult Swim has to make room for terrific new shows like Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Made in Abyss, Shenmue: The Animation, Lupin the 3rd: Part 6, Housing Complex C, Royal Crackers, Ambient Swim, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, My Adventures with Superman, Ten-Year-Old Tom, Dexter's Laboratory, Ed, Edd, n Eddy, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Very Scary People, Forensic Files 2, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, Evil Con Carne, Lycoris Recoil, Ninja Kamui, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Sailor Moon, Psi Cops, What A Cartoon!, Johnny Bravo, Rick and Morty: The Anime, Uzumaki, Invincible Fight Girl, Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Futurama, Cartoon Planet, King of the Hill, Naruto, One Piece, Naruto Shippuden, Samurai Jack, Blue Exorcist, Attack on Titan, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Smiling Friends, Common Side Effects, and Scavengers Reign. LOIS: Is there no hope? PETER: Well, I suppose if all those shows go down the tubes, we might have a shot. (For the record, I know some of these shows are still airing, and a couple have yet to air by the time they come back. But do you really think they wouldn't yank the dog's chain here?)

BELOW 5 million?! That's worse than I thought. But technically, this isn't an original project. It uses an existing IP as a means to an end, making it a franchise entry. Yes, I know that anime are typically adaptations of manga at the start, but I digress. The point is, it would be easier to assume he's barred from adapting other WB works into anime, which means upcoming DC Comics cartoons have another hill to climb.

Yeah, that tracks. It's the final product with Akira Toriyama's involvement attached. Of course Crunchyroll would want it exclusively theirs. At least My Hero Academia has a full season to pull from.

Well, that's quick.

If it's a hour premiere, likely gonna be Daima. If it's a marathon night, Fight Girl.