Jman

I cracked fully when I saw the fight between Andy and MBrandon for not being a wrestling match and convincing me they wanted to make something closer to All Rounder Meguru or Teppu before executives got involved, and just began looking in briefly when the following episode was that half baked training montage. Nothing after that contradicted by belief that it was a very shallow take on fighting anime with an unnecessary wrestling motif, in the same way that the What If? Episode with the attempt at mecha this week was from people who think mecha are stupid.

Christmas is for basketball. The NFL trying to muscle in on the NBA’s turf with games on Netflix is no bueno. It’s especially obnoxious since they’re on Netflix, while the NBA has the common courtesy to put the games on network, over the air television. Football already have Thanksgiving. Christmas is for b-ball.

It’s Christmas Day, opened presents with family, got to see my nephew, and I’m still working out after it’s all done. Well, as my old coach so succinctly put it, it’s not like everyone has the day off.

Meanwhile consensus best of fall 2024 is DanDaDan. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2024-12-23/the-best-anime-of-fall-2024/.218746

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2024-12-24/the-worst-anime-of-fall-2024/.218747 Take a bow DeMarco.

It’s on the Internet archive as well. For now anyway.

https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/GYNV02MJR/panty--stocking-with-garterbelt

The first teaser for the 2025 appearance. Fitting time, given that the original series aired its last episode on Christmas Eve.

DanDaDan is doing huge business for Netflix and Crunchyroll. While it may be a non-exclusive contract, it may also be too popular.

Salmon with mushroom and pancetta, tomatoes, and fettuccine Alfredo.

DanDaDan 12 - Basically - Ranma 1/2 12

Somewhere DeMarco is begging for the opportunity to air it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/12/21/ukraines-first-all-robot-assault-force-just-won-its-first-battle/ Ukrainian robots just defeated a Russian force of four regiments, the first time ever an all robot assault force has won a battle in warfare.

Lazarus, Rooster Fighter, and presumably (if it's still in production) Get Jiro! are the three big tentpoles for the rapidly waning Toonami block this year. MAWS is there too, but I'm curious how Warner will treat it with Superman due in July. Maybe a fall release to catch the tail end of the movie hype? Besides that, we know acquisitions are few and far between and it looks like Creature Commandos is off limits. So it's up to those three, maybe four shows if Jiro comes out this year, to keep the block afloat.

There's been no real reporting on the ratings these past few weeks. So I go to the Max ratings for something to report. Honestly, in 2025, the linear ratings are probably going to be considered so secondary for the block given Warner going all in on Max (including migrating all their sports programming from TBS and TNT to Max simulcasts, even All Elite Wrestling) this ratings block is going to need some major consideration for how we address the ratings in the future. The Nielsen number is becoming less and less important for cable, although networks still rely heavily on them.

The animation looks good.

One last week of no Flop Girl while Creature Commandos holds at #3 on the Max top 10. Show is COOKED.

Welp, that came, sucked, and went. Next time they make a pro wrestling cartoon, make the main characters best friend/rival a Seth Rollins parody or something. Or if you’re keeping it focused on AEW due to corporate synergy, a Chris Jericho parody. It worked for Kinnikuman having Terry Funk as a friend/rival. 2/10, please tell Western animators there are more anime to copy than DBZ and Naruto.

This was the culture that decided the best way to have an orchestral finale was to bring in cannons. My one boy from back in the day was Russian, but his family fled the Communists. It really is a shame how a few jerks make everyone look bad.

I know the Saudis are paying for sports to whitewash their questionable decisions as a government. But I doubt anyone else brings the cash to have Fury/Usyk fight, let alone twice.

Remember, it’s not about making their lives better, they gave up on that. It’s the catharsis from making others lives worse.

You would think at the very least Warner would want Creature Commandos if only to promote a certain film that they want as a summer tentpole. To me it’s pretty clear that the cable lineup is far down their list of priorities, and we may see significant movement to divest from them this year. It is over, the Flop Girl is the proof of it, and DeMarco is trying to convince people Lazarus won’t be like every other flop he’s produced. Even Viz seems happy to have Bleach on Hulu.