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We’ll see what happens. For now we don’t even know if Swordsmith will immediately follow Entertainment District. If it does it won’t necessarily mean anything but it could be a sign of a quicker turnaround for the next arc.

It could feasibly get on Toonami sooner.

It’s pretty evident by now they do marathons mainly to stall and they will use them on non-holiday weekends when necessary. They just shoot for taking off 5-7 weeks a year and mostly take off holidays because that generally makes the most sense for casual viewership.

Why wouldn’t it be?

Honestly not bad for the current bar. Mugen train might be picking up steam.

Great to have these weirdos back. I got more amusement from both of these episodes than I did from the Plantasm movie.

I’ve been calling the Titan finale for January 6th ever since we got the confirmation Entertainment District starts on January 13th. There’s no other good reason to take a 3rd week off the regular lineup then.

Back in 1998 I caught a bit of Toonami at a friend's house and he was like "yeah they play Voltron and Dragon Ball Z" and I was like "cool" but didn't really think about it again until I got CN in 1999. When I got CN in 1999 I started watching Toonami regularly and basically never stopped.

Code Black showing the inside of a body that is in shambles honestly makes it the best one for Adult Swim even if it might feel odd to air that and not the original.

This is what Aniplex of America has https://aniplexusa.com/shows/ Of these shows which have dubs and didn't already air on Toonami the best picks are easily Mashle and Gun Gale Online. I suppose some people would still like to see Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Arc but it's been so long since the first series aired that seems pretty questionable. Though if they actually can show Baccano that would be awesome. Engage Kiss came out the same season as Lycoris Recoil and it's pretty neat from what I've seen but the heavy emphasis on kissing in the middle of action could turn viewers off. Kaguya-sama is fantastic and if there ever was a rom com worth trying that had no typical action in it, it's that one. Grancrest War is good fantasy sword and sorcery. Another off beat pick I'd love to see would be Cells at Work and Cells at Work: Code Black is even better for Adult Swim and goes some dark places. There's plenty of shows that would nicely fill a rotating slot after Lycoris finishes.

We're finally at the point where expansion seems decently plausible though I don't think they'd go straight to 11pm and maybe just have 11:30pm to start if they intend to show Scavengers early next year. Then if that does well enough they could potentially expand again on March 16th with Uzumaki, Ninja Kamui, Superman or a worthwhile acquisition. Your second scenario is very likely and while I don't want Dr. Stone to move down it makes sense to give the new show the higher slot even if Dr. Stone's episodes are much newer. Senku and co will do more than fine at 1am in that scenario. If they intend to rerun Dr. Stone, Demon Slayer or even Lycoris Recoil then they might need some more wiggle room until Shippuden ends because IGPX will last until June. If they do show Uzumaki early next year then I could see them expanding for a rerun of that before giving that rerun slot to Dr. Stone, Demon Slayer or Lycoris Recoil. Though I hate to see it go, I don't expect double One Piece to be a weekly occasion in 2024. They can double it up whenever they can't easily swap in something else and maybe it returns to full time doubled up airings when Shippuden ends but baring expansion they don't need to rely on doubled up One Piece to fill a spot in the middle of the block. At least not for a few months.

Well hold on now. DeMarco actually said Lycoris Recoil is among his 10 favorite anime he watched in 2022 and it's in good company. This list also makes me suspect that he'd sooner grab Ranking of Kings, G Witch or Spy x Family (or Mob) but Aniplex is being less dickish than the rest of SONY. DeMarco is probably still trying to get those shows and maybe they'll air in 2024.

Either that or Michiko & Hatchin in 2015 though Akame was pretty surprising even if it was relatively popular at the time. Still, getting a random simuldub premiere of an untested property is pretty dang surprising.

Yeah maybe so. Henry Gotou probably could negotiate like that still. Good to know it’s not just Mugen Train for now. Swordsmith actually seems likely for next year if not immediately following Entertainment District. So Lycoris will fill the spot that an hour long DS opens in January though it’s surely bumping a One Piece in the process. Bets on Titan’s finale airing on January 6th because of these known details that assure something unique will air that night.

Yeah maybe GGO can air next year. I think both that and Lycoris Recoil get new seasons next year and that could play a part in LR getting picked up now.

What an unexpectedly delightful pick! CR might still not be willing but Aniplex is back on the menu!

What we could have had if Toonami and Sentai made more deals this year https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hhrjgLvgeIFzDs17HjImbsOHnu5egWB8QfL162bxRcM/edit?usp=sharing

And TTG is one of the few still cranking out episodes. I don’t think the approach to kids shows in the 2010s and 2020s is necessarily the problem but in attempts to appeal to a broader audience the course correction was arguably too far to the other side.

So not much better than FLCLs unless it gains in the coming weeks. Money well spent huh?

They have premiered a movie around that close to Christmas but I wouldn't bet a whole ketchup packet on them doing that.

It's gonna get 4 slots, it would be pretty tight to fit into 3.5 The question to me is whether they run Dr. Stone that night to avoid getting 3 weeks behind. They'll run Demon Slayer if it's in December because they are bound and determined to finish Mugen Train by Christmas.

Linear cable is dying more and more every year but more so than that, linear cable aimed at children is hitting critical lows and it seems like a lot less children's television is being produced even for streaming. Adult Swim has eaten up basically all worthwhile time on The Cartoon Network, WBD is killing more of their remaining kids shows, Nickelodeon networks are being eyed for either big changes or removal from cable packages and with all the media consolidation there's a lot less companies attempting to make kids programming even for streaming services. There's dozens of free streaming kids programs but the vast majority of them are from decades ago and probably entertain 30+ adults more than kids. Many of us grew up in an era when Saturday morning cartoons, weekday afternoon blocks and kid-targeted cable networks were a significant part of growing up in the US. Now these things are considered relics of the past and kids aren't clamoring for these institutions for entertainment. I never thought I'd see the day when it looked this likely for not only Cartoon Network but also Nickelodeon to go off the air. They probably won't but they will continue to stagnate as long as the companies that own them wont make much of anything for them to air.

Now we see the year will finish out strong but we can also assess the cost of that. Was Demon Slayer the show they were teasing back in Spring? It's a reasonable theory but not necessarily the case. Other reasonable theories are that they were expecting 3 months worth of Attack on Titan this year and they were probably banking on Witch from Mercury, Bleach and possibly other shows. They might be able to get them eventually and I doubt they've given up on trying to get them. They probably didn't have a lot of money to play with if they were saving a bunch for Demon Slayer or Bleach. I can understand going after big shows but they seem to be trying to live beyond their means instead of figuring out a way to live within their means. Hard to believe they couldn't get anything from Sentai, Discotek or Viz. The block looks healthy now but that's not likely to last if they keep doing what they have been doing. The massive amount of inactivity was frustrating and a short burst of new programming in the last two months doesn't make up for that but it does put it closer in line with prior years.

So probably all that's left to predict for December is whether we get the Attack on Titan special that month or not. I still see it as a strong possibility for December 16th after Demon Slayer and possibly also Dr. Stone Watch this post age poorly instantly

I’d still welcome it airing. Maybe it can replace Dr. Stone in February.