Jman

On streaming - I've described myself as a zealot for the CONCEPT of streaming because I believe it leads to the democratization of media. Things that would never be localized became big hits, shows that would never see the light of day got budgets behind them...but, and this is a big BUT, we've seen the end of the salad days of streaming. The "Make product and gain subscriber at any cost" mentality is gone because the products are now lined up in such a way that you need to be profitable since the venture capital for the shiny new thing has run out. Even Zaslav has mentioned that he sees streaming services being bundled together as the future, and Verizon is already doing so to entice people to buy its stuff. Expect the bigger telecom companies and ISPs to bundle streaming services together in the future, while some of the also-ran services (namely anything that isn't established like Netflix or a loss-leader like Prime and Apple are for their products) go all in on ad-support/premium options. Unfortunately, as much as I want some of the services to fold (coughParamountPluscough), studios operate on the "if you're not making all the money, you're losing too much money principle", so don't expect that unless they get desperate. Still, Netflix continues to beat subscriber expectations, even with some really obnoxious decisions (password restrictions, really?!), so it's clear there's a desire for this. As for Cartoon Network as it is, the brand has value. The linear channel clearance is paid up for a few years, you might as well use it. If the clearances were about to expire, this might be a different story.

Toonami has no source of product. You can have all the hours in the world, but if you can't logically fill them with anything, what do you really have? You have Unicorn, and they're going to run that sucker into the ground because they do have it and they're not paying anyone else for it, regardless of how mid its ratings are. Most of what they have at this point are contracts they directly negotiated with Japan or contracts that were before the Sony buyout of Crunchyroll. Meanwhile we know DeMarco doesn't care for Sentai's lineup since he wants his perfect show (job seekers call this the "magic unicorn search" where people look for the perfect candidate or the perfect job not realizing the futility of looking for such) and Discotek, bless em, doesn't acquire broadcast rights, or else someone would have logically asked for Gunbuster by now. So they're stuck.

That name sounds like this is being done under duress. ‘Oughta be fun to see if the kids watch.

And people wonder why I’m such a zealot for streaming.

The Owl House was not a very popular show outside of its small, loud Twitter audience, but I don't think people will hold that against this show as much as they will the kid feel. I hesitate to use Unicorn's Nielsens given how much of the show is tied up in Max viewership, but people avoided the block then came in for the anime, Dr. Stone in particular. Superman definitely gets more attention than a Genndy show not attached to a license, especially given Unicorn's mis-marketed appearance (thankfully it's a limited series), but there's a lot here. Of course watch as I say that and this show ends up being a minor cult classic and Creature Commandos is despised.

Dr. Stone beating Unicorn is no real surprise, but the others beating it as well? That’s not a good look.

It’s not Toonami, but I think the examples of Avengers Assemble and the Guardians of the Galaxy cartoons are a good example of people ignoring superhero material because they didn’t count, even if both were specifically designed to emulate the look of their live-action counterparts. Assemble got the worst of it because it replaced Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, widely considered an equal to Justice League in a classic case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, but GOTG, despite some genuinely good moments (like their pastiche episodes that had Gamora as a Disney Princess) didn’t do that great ratings-wise either. And yes, Gunn’s new reboot is years away. But The Flash comes out next week and the big takeaway, besides “Batman!” is “That’s All Folks!” That can’t be good for the show. Tomboy Lois is already rustling people’s jimmies online, so that won’t help either.

The problem is that it’s capeshit that very specifically doesn’t count. To wit, with the big DC relaunch the talk of all the internet, on top of Gunn flat out saying “cartoons will be in continuity”, this slice of life leftover with tomboy Lois and the dude from The Boys as Clark is essentially a leftover, a contractually obligated also-ran. When you teach your audience that the only stories that matter are the ones that contribute to the big on screen narrative of the extended universe, and very publicly announce that none of the stories matter until the big relaunch movie hits, why even bother paying attention? Now add in it being an unabashed kids show that desperately wishes it was animated by the Japanese, and you might as well not even bother.

It's a clear case of "we're dumping this somewhere", from what I've seen. It was DOA as soon as James Gunn announced his intention for future animation to be in continuity with his rebooted DC Universe. The only hope at this point is that the Warner higher ups consider this a solid for them and give Toonami access to Creature Commandos when it airs, because that will be an adult cartoon, and will be in continuity with the relaunch, so it will get way more eyeballs than this trainwreck.

Demon Slayer Swordsmith Village 2 Hell’s Paradise 8 Witch from Mercury 20

Full trailer.

More like “My Meh-Ventures”, am I right?

Like a Dragon: Ishin. It’s a Yakuza game set during the Meiji Restoration, so I’m there.

Ignoring the kids show stuff, that seems to be the biggest issue with the show. No one is particularly likable.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-06-04/new-macross-animation-project-to-be-produced-by-sunrise/.198798 Hopefully with all the legal rigamarole settled it comes over here.

DeMarco wants a lot of things, chief among them streaming to be made illegal and Crunchyroll to go bankrupt. Neither is happening any time soon.

A buddy of mine back in the day joked about naming his “Drowned Sorrows.” Personally I’d go with “The Downstream,” or “The Open Keg.” I do however, know the sign I would put above the bar.

Zero. But that’s mostly because even back then I was very adamant about keeping my online and offline presences different and separate. Might be because I knew what a douchebag I was back then.

You knew they were ass mad about that one when Aqua Teen had a whole bit about the show going to “Carl Central.”

Trailer drops June 17. Buckle up.

I'm not going to play armchair psychatrist for DeMarco, but it does feel like there is a lot more lashing out after he felt his power base and ability to gatekeep action animation from most Americans fade away. The guy essentially controlled what everyone but pirates and the really hardcore weebs watched back in the day (the day of $20-$30 DVD's of a series with 4 episodes a pop) and he didn't mind lording that fact over people (as pointed out by the tone of the Adult Swim bumpers and a lot of his earlier tweets and interviews where he was much more smug and arrogant). Now it's more him just being pissed off at everyone, while occasionally ranting how much better it was back in the day when Toonami (and by extension him) controlled what you watched and when you watched it, because you now have too much choice.