CountFrylock

funimation has been a reliable partner but demarco did say times are uncertain right now and on twitter lately he doesn't sound like things are business as usual

i wonder how the rest of this year will look for toonami if demarco already isn't confident about securing new hot titles for the block and believes originals/older shows might be the only option moving forward

demarco stated anything netflix grabs they have for 25 years Yuyu Hakusho is a possibility and might air one day on toonami anime movies could make a return

my problem is I'm not really sure a bunch of older shows will be able to sustain the block like they did in the early days of the toonami reboot you still need some fresh mainstream power to carry the block as the originals can't be pumped out quick enough to act as the consistent lead show for toonami also gotta remember demarco did say they'd be considering weirder titles they previously might not have aired on toonami because times are changing weirder might not mean good but they'll take what they can get right now

while i agree...Demarco has been a lot more open lately about how difficult and crappy the situation has become for toonami from being super angry about netflix gobbling up whatever anime they view as hot and trendy at the time with "Fuck You Money!" to lamenting that times are changing and there's less money for bumps/events optimism is always appreciated but i don't see WM giving toonami a boosted budget out of nowhere...

a small extra note he confirmed that like always toonami remains a passion project and the toonami crew continues to act as unpaid interns for the block not being paid whatsoever for anything they do regarding it

Good And Bad News good news...it's just demon slayer being affected(due to sony asking an outrageous amount of money for it) the bad news...Demarco stated they may have to air fewer new popular shows and rely more on originals not really sure the block could be sustained on obscure series and originals

what makes you so sure they'll have a higher budget in the future? nothing demarco has said lately makes any of this sound like a temporary problem....back in december people were speculating that toonami was waiting for the budget to reset and that we could be seeing plenty of new shows in 2022 however demon slayer and numerous other shows alongside it being denied(as well as the packaging budget being decreased)wasn't expected demon slayer? sure you can say given it's massive box office success that sony denying toonami season 2 was inevitable but several other shows being denied...not so much aside from Jujutsu Kaisen i can't really think of any shows that would be considered too popular and expensive for toonami but at the same time be something they'd be pursuing

demarco recently confirmed on twitter the price tag for season 2 was higher than they could afford so it's never airing on toonami unfortunately.... Sony sees demon slayer as this top tier premium series and if toonami wants it they'll need to pay out the ass for it that's money they just do not have

also in other replies he stated the following 1. they don't want many long runners on the block(so those thinking boruto might be returning soon...nope) 2.someone mentioned toonami's month of premieres to him(a new show every week for the next month or so)an asked how many more could we expect to see? demarco replied saying there will be two or three more additions to the block soon they just are waiting to get permission to air them 3. they may have to show less shonen content less new popular shows and more originals maybe they'll have less money to spend on Total Immersion events and packaging for the block 4.everything is up in the air and uncertain in a way it has not been before for toonami 5.there are three originals yet to be announced slated for next year 6.he's happy with the performances of the toonami originals so far and they'll be up on hbo max sooner rather than later where they'll reach a much larger audience

One Piece really seems like a show they picked up because options were limited and it would indefinitely hold down a time slot they wouldn't need to worry about rotating shows in and out for hence why doubled up one piece seems to be a permanent fixture on the block moving forward but the main reason one piece returned is because Toei still sees value in american cable tv and thinks it greatly benefits something like one piece where as sony is busy telling toonami to piss off and get content somewhere else because catering to a block on cable tv does them no good when they can just keep all the new content exclusive to streaming

because now sony has funimation aniplex and crunchyroll they can charge whatever they want for those shows and toonami will either have to pay up or find something else if sony isn't interested in working with toonami anymore then that's a lot of content toonami wouldn't be able to access outside maybe older titles that are on the cheap Sony most likely doesn't see the benefit in airing demon slayer season 2 on cable television when it's popularity means people will happily subscribe to a streaming service to watch the dub

and considering sony also owns Aniplex and crunchyroll it's not just new funimation titles that toonami could be missing out on and here's the tweet

i think this is probably the best free to play game I've played in a very long time....spending money is optional as you can build a somewhat competent deck just by playing the game and acquiring currency over time there's also a crafting system where you get rid of cards you don't want to craft ones you do want

yeah the idea of toonami in the united states airing aew just seems nonsensical

not sure why right now isn't a good time though...funimation has always been a reliable provider for the block we all know why sony isn't budging on demon slayer s2 but not budging on any new funimation content right now is just strange

not sure how this became a running joke on this site when there's never been any indication toonami could be airing aew anytime soon

it is a little strange that they hyped up a new show to be on the block every week for a month or so but then 1/29 has nothing

excluding attack on titan final season part 2 of course(since the contract they made long ago prompts it to air first on toonami) i ask because all the tweets demarco has been sending out don't sound all that positive about the current situation at toonami mentioning several shows falling through(not just demon slayer)how the packaging budget has been slashed and how toonami will need to be different/more experimental moving forward but does that mean we can write off new funimation content coming to the block after AOT Wraps up? in the recent additions to the block we got 1 older funimation series in AC S2 A Sentai filmworks series(made in abyss) and an older funimation series that toei gladly gave them for exposure on american television none of these really do much to debunk the fan theory that funimation titles as well as CR/Aniplex titles(excluding the CR/AS partnership originals)are off limits

two things changed....1: sony acquired crunchyroll and 2: the demon slayer mugen train movie made so much money that second one most likely led to them wanting to keep DS S2 exclusively streaming because it's a major money maker and toonami likely couldn't afford to pay the price tag they'd put on it even if they were willing to give it to toonami so it's not so much that sony considers them competition...as much as it is they see no incentive in working with toonami now i guess seeing how much money they can make from demon slayer if they just kept it to themselves and since demon slayer wasn't the only show toonami was denied it's likely that toonami got denied a bunch of funimation shows as they are the dominant dub company in the united states and typically air the most content on the block

what happened to the funimation relationship is that sony probably wants to keep the newer funimation content exclusive to the funimation now streaming service demarco confirmed sony was blocking them from airing demon slayer season 2 and several other shows fell through around the same time so it's no doubt other funimation titles they tried to grab before sony forbid them from touching any of them because they see cable tv as irrelevent and why bring anything to toonami when they can make people come to streaming to watch the newest shows? excluding attack on titan due to that ancient toonami contract obviously

and when i say that....I Mean It's promoted and propped up like this massive blockbuster series but then once it ends and transitions into say assassination classroom it feels awkward....I Don't care as much for black lotus as some of the other stuff on toonami but that doesn't mean I don't see it as this dramatic hollywood like series i do and that makes it's position on toonami bizarre when you look at what's around it

looking back at this video with today's announcement is just weird.....the vibe was that one piece wasn't returning and that they couldn't justify paying toei's asking price for a show that was filler on the block not even sure if things will be any different now it's been five years and that's enough time for any one piece fan to just say "Screw it...I'm gonna watch this on funimation's service"