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I like the idea of doubling up Blue Exorcist for a few weeks so I kind of hope they do that if they need to stall and have nothing new to replace IFG directly in March. But I rather hate the fact that they’re basically writing off a 4th of the year at this point and chances are they’re not gonna make up for it later. Once Blue Exorcist season 1 ends we can probably get back to 4 premieres but because they decided to kill 6 months of a premiere slot with a glorified rerun we’re stuck with 3 or less premieres till then. I won’t rule out the possibility that they can have 4 premieres besides One Piece at some point in 2025 but it would take either two originals at the same time or an original coming in when they already have premieres from 12-2am. But the fact that they’re already in maximum conservation mode at the start of the year does not bode well for the acquisition budget.

On one hand, I’m kinda annoyed it to the live action show to be a hit for Lego to make One Piece sets but I’m still thrilled that we got there. Maybe they’ll do some anime inspired sets and mini figs too.

I’m sure Moose is quite happy with the state of One Piece.

We’re 8 eps away from 500 and I think that’s the last milestone I’m willing to achieve after 13 years of hosting and editing the thing. I don’t think I can rely on anyone to take over as much as Paul and/or Kuro might like to keep it going. Paul barely watches the block because he’s too busy. There’s no new blood to pass the torch to. Who under 30 years old even watches Toonami? Toonami Escape Podcast’s host Grexino just announced he’s done as well but the others seem intent on keeping it going in some capacity. They usually do weekly and discuss every premiere but the state of the block leaves them little to discuss so they’ll probably go biweekly after they do their 2024 awards show and a reranking of every show that has aired on AS Toonami. Toonami Squads probably gonna keep doing occasional podcasts as they have been but basically none of them expect much from the block and don’t trust any originals to be worth watching. The mediocre original anime have really scorched most of the remaining good will toward the block. And the fact that we’re down to 2 premieres for over a month at the start of a new year when they budget has reset is a very troubling sign that they’re never going to adapt or more likely WB/D is limiting their resources to the point that they can’t get much of anything. The frequent droughts have wore out the patience of even some of the most faithful and content viewers who still pay for some form of cable to watch this anemic block every week. The current lineup is such a slap in the face to that dedication but WB/D clearly doesn’t care. There should never be a point where there’s less than 3 premieres even temporarily. I know that’s how ASA could be at points but that’s far from the standard Toonami has set for the past decade and pretty much nobody is going to tolerate less than 4 while most reasonably want 5 if One Piece is one of them. But they seem pretty intent on coasting with reruns. They plugged every rerun slot with a 46+ ep season, have two of the best slots filled with reruns for 10+ weeks and even paid to re-up one of those reruns. We’re reaching beyond the “reruns suck but it’s part of television business” mantra at this point. Things can and hopefully will turn around but if they wouldn’t even give us double One Piece instead of an additional rerun on Jan 25th then what reason is there to expect something new before Mashle season 1 ends? That’s still just 2 premieres including One Piece till IFG ends in the middle of March. Expansion isn’t out of the question if they suddenly get something but this lineup is built to not need additions. If people haven’t given up yet, 2 months of this lineup will probably do it.

2014-2017 was peak to me but I still enjoyed watching regularly in 2018 and 2019. 2020 was bad of course but 2011 was boring and 2022 was more interesting by comparison even with a lot less dub premieres. 2023 was a snore and 2024 was honestly good besides original anime and early 2024 gave me hope they were adapting but clearly they aren’t. 2025 looks to be a worse 2023 at this rate and I’m feeling pretty over it.

Can’t even have Dr. Stone on in a timely manner now? Good grief… Sailor Moon is back but in the worst way possible, 3 rerun slots are filled till at least May, we’re still 2 out of 7 on network premieres and there’s no openings in the block until at least February 22nd. I don’t even feel like bothering to watch Mashle live much less One Piece so I’m most likely not watching the block live till March. My work schedule has me waking up so early that I am kind of glad to have little reason to stay up but I’m still thoroughly annoyed at the anemic state of the block. It was probably a coincidence that DeMarco deleted his Bluesky today but it sure was convenient for him to dodge any questions about this. On the other hand more than a negligible amount of people think Sailor Moon just now returning to TV and that says all that needs to be said about Rewind’s efforts. But on the other other hand people saw reports that Rewind was ending and thought that meant Toonami was cancelled (because they weren’t aware of the Saturday block of course). A total lack of awareness either way.

Seems like sensible synergy to have CR produce an anime based on a Sony IP but whether or not it turns out decently… well… maybe better than Shenmue.

They won’t do that at the cost of having nothing to premiere outside of Toonami if it comes down to it and the Max overlords demand new untested go up on Fridays rather than Sundays. IFG was an exception.

They might not get the premieres but it will probably air on the block. If it’s really ready soon then it will probably wait till Common Side Effects has been on for at least a month or end up as that show’s replacement. I don’t see it pushing Lazarus till later in the year but I suppose it is possible if it’s ready to air now.

He's had plenty of chances already and Uzumaki was the biggest mess yet but if he can't even get a great show out of Watanabe then he truly has no business overseeing these projects. I'd say he should have already been replaced in that division but who else would they get to run it? I guess it doesn't really matter because at this point its hard to imagine anyone doing much worse. But IMO they should just get rid of the division. They didn't need it to make things like Batman Ninja, Gotham Knight, Halo Legends or The Animatrix so they can easily go on without it.

Dr. Stone on January 25th is plenty likely enough but come to think of it so is Daima for January 25th. In both case they'd be 2 weeks behind CR (if Dr. Stone is a same-day dub). What I'm pondering is how they might shift things around to make room for either of those before Mashle season 1 ends. I honestly don't want them to bury IFG at 3am if they have nothing else to air ahead of it but Dressrosa One Piece and other reruns. I think this would be a good compromise... 12:00 AM - Dr. Stone Science Future / Dragon Ball Daima 12:30 AM - Mashle 01:00 AM - Invincible Fight Girl 01:30 AM - Blue Exorcist 02:00 AM - One Piece 02:30 AM - Dragon Ball Z Kai 03:00 AM - Naruto And on February 22nd Lazarus replaces Mashle causing this shift 12:00 AM - Lazarus 12:30 AM - Dr. Stone Science Future / Dragon Ball Daima 01:00 AM - Invincible Fight Girl 01:30 AM - Blue Exorcist 02:00 AM - One Piece 02:30 AM - Dragon Ball Z Kai 03:00 AM - Naruto But preferably they have this when Lazarus joins (option A) 12:00 AM - Lazarus 12:30 AM - Dragon Ball Daima 01:00 AM - Dr. Stone Science Future 01:30 AM - Invincible Fight Girl (will be replaced with a premiere on March 22nd) 02:00 AM - Blue Exorcist 02:30 AM - One Piece 03:00 AM - Dragon Ball Z Kai 03:30 AM - Naruto Or this (option B) 12:00 AM - Lazarus 12:30 AM - Dragon Ball Daima 01:00 AM - Dr. Stone Science Future 01:30 AM - Blue Exorcist 02:00 AM - One Piece 02:30 AM - Invincible Fight Girl (maybe replaced by Sailor Moon on March 22nd) 03:00 AM - Dragon Ball Z Kai 03:30 AM - Naruto I have also been rethinking my year projections with regards to Get Jiro and My Adventures with Superman. I think Get Jiro has to start earlier than December unless it's just 4 episodes because Max won't take a break. Lack of concrete information has me leaning toward a late 2025 broadcast if its not in 2026 so it's basically November or nothing without a break for Thanksgiving. It may be overly ambitious to expect it, but Superman potentially could return by June. Fall is a more reasonable expectation but we really have no idea how far along that is. But if it is coming in by Summer then maybe RickAniMorty will get replaced by reruns of the first two seasons. It's not the most optimal place to rerun the show leading up to a season 3 premiere but it is somewhere they could toss it on without much concern. I'm sure none of us would prefer that over getting a premiere earlier in the block but it is none the less an option. And regarding Lazarus, while February 22nd certainly seems feasible, international PR tipped us off on Ninja Kamui and so far nothing has been said about Lazarus airing in February, reports from international network only mention Common Side Effects will air in February. That said, it only takes a week of buying time to make March the month Lazarus premieres and they have various ways of stalling a week. I fully expect them to finish Lazarus by May 24th and it could have either a 2 episode premiere or a 2 episode finale between March 1st and May 24th. I doubtt they can resist the urge to marathon all 13 episodes over 2 weeks much like Ninja Kamui last year. They'll probably do the same with Rooster Fighter later in the year.

I doubt DeMarco is the only problem but he was the least involved in Suicide Isekai Squad and it was either that, the fact that WB/D doesn't just let people do whatever they want with DC characters or a combination of both which lead to that co-pro turning out better than everything else DeMarco got a producer credit on since taking his current position. We'll see how Ninja Batman 2 Electric Boogaloo turns out. I don't have high hopes and IMO Batman Ninja was quite a mess of its own but it was at least entertaining. But did we even need THAT much less another one? Warner Japan makes fine anime for the most part but when Warner US gets involved quality tends to go out the window with or without DeMarco. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with The War of the Rohirrim, it could definitely be a better movie but far worse movies have done well in the box office. I also doubt it would have done better or been better without DeMarco and Joseph Chou involved. Kenji Kamiyama's track record is looking pretty bad these days as well but his two most visible flops (Black Lotus and Rohirrim) did involve DeMarco and Chou. Not sure who decided to focus on Hera but I suppose the movie would have been more popular with a male insert lead, focused more on Helm or following the cousin who became the king in the end. If it was live action it might have done a lot better but also would have cost a lot more to make. Anybody with half a brain knows a 2D animated drama is a tough sell to theater audiences and only a handful of 2D animated movies did impressive numbers since 2020 (all of which were Japanese in origin). At first it looked like WB/D was taking a big gamble but we all should have realized from the start that all they cared about was extending their license for the brand so they can do more with it when they feel like it. Lose a bit of money now to make a lot of money later, who cares if that very visible failure for a 2D animated movie further diminishes the chances that more 2D animated films will be made and released in theaters right? I guess I'm the sucker for taking this project in good faith and wanting to support it in theaters in hopes to see more 2D animated theatrical films be made.

Probably not in any meaningful way. Even so, less than 20 million in the box office for a 30 million budget certainly isn't an endorsement for 2D animation (which usually costs much more than that if it's made in the US) and one could hope WB/D will never attempt to make a theatrical movie again. At this point it's safe to say the world is better of if WB/D entreily stops co-producing anime for the US market.

Yeah if it is Dr. Stone then you can bet CR won’t let Toonami say anything till 1-2 weeks before broadcast so they can start streaming episodes before Toonami even hints they will air the show. I suppose that’s the most desirable play the block can feasibly make to look like they have a leg to stand on in 2025.

Yes they very well could repeat RickAniMorty again or maybe do 4 weeks of Uzumaki.

Or they blank the schedule for Jan 25th and wait another week to reveal anything…

I only had 3 episodes there because it’s 3 usable weeks left in the year. I was expecting 10 eps but now that you mention that, maybe it’s only 3 to 6 eps. And also they probably won’t start a show on AS in December anymore because they don’t take holiday weeks off on Max. They can save Get Jiro till early 2026 unless it ends up being 3-4 episodes total. Well Guy, you’re not wrong about MAWS season 3 not being guaranteed for Adult Swim and Toonami but I’m remaining optimistic that it won’t be exclusive to Max. I don’t really expect an announcement this Friday unless it’s for Lazarus coming in February but it sure would be nice to know something is joining on Jan 25th.

I'm personally hoping MAWS season 3 is coming in 2025 but DC shows take their sweet time so I'm not counting on it to be ready for the movie hype. It can maybe show up for Fall depending on how far along production is right now.

Well anyway... It's the last day of 2024 so here's my 2025 forecasts, there's several ranging from absolutely boring to getting everything I feel I can reasonably ask for as long as Crunchyroll keeps various shows out of reach. But of course this is just some shows I think they might be able to get and Wind Breaker is probably the least likely to be on their radar but maybe it's a Lycoris Recoil situation. Feel free to substitute that with any other feasible Aniplex of America license that can fill 12 weeks. I didn't include any scenario where Blue Exorcist doesn't continue because I don't want to believe they are giving it the royal treatment right now for nothing but maybe I'm being too optimistic about that. I decided not to punt Fight Girl down to 3am when Rickdub ends but that is certainly a possibility if they have enough new things to fill earlier slots. I do think DanDaDan is within reach so I include it several times. I'm banking on Dr. Stone Science Future for most of these builds but I made one where even Dr. Stone is off the table. I also made a version where they decide to prioritize getting Sailor Moon R even though I don't actually think that's the best use of money right now. I also have a scenario where they can get a bunch of fresh stuff and also include Sailor Moon R. Optimistically they're back to 3 premieres by January 25th or mid February but with how they have built the January schedule it would take some abrupt changes to get back to 4 premieres before March. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HT_pmN_L3efCAbopFVuXh2rSJXK6rMqpOJekI54yRFg/edit?usp=sharing

The only way we’re getting back to 5 premieres is if Naruto or Kai leave or shift down and One Piece returns to 2am. I’m a for all of the above. But I’ll settle for 3 premieres that aren’t One Piece.

How much of it did you actually watch?

It’s already available on 3 platforms, MBS probably won’t charge AS two golden nuts to be the 4th place to show it months after the others. AS definitely won’t get season 2 any faster though.

They’ll air ep 19 on May 17th. Parasyte started Oct 3rd 2015 and the rerun was hastily finished with a mini marathon on Oct 1st 2016 but we know the deal was made months prior to October so I’m pretty sure the deal date doesn’t set the 52 weeks, the broadcast date does.

If it was an hour block I could stomach the thought of them reairing 1-52 for the upteenth time but wasting a year on that shit for the 3rd time on Saturday Toonami since 2012?

Restarting Naruto again is such a slap in the face. They’re still adding eps on-demand inexplicably but nobody will bother watching it that way when Hulu gives you the full OP and ED uncut experience. They probably have it for a year which means the contract will end around May. Just trudge along through Zabuza then pull it after episode 19 and I won’t consider this a complete waste of time. However if they pull it early due to lack of interest even in the low stakes 2:30 slot that cements it, Naruto has no juice left. And I suppose the fact Naruto is restarting but Sailor Moon isn’t is probably a good indication it didn’t meet expectations. But on the other hand, would they really double up a show for 4 months if it was doing the worst? They could have just pulled it. There clearly was no clause in the Naruto contract that every episode has to air so they aren’t likely to have such a clause for Sailor Moon. Yet there’s no rerun. Even if they planned to get Sailor Moon R soon it makes little sense to have no reruns reminding people the show is on TV. Unless it costs extra to rerun it there’s no good reason not to throw it on after 2am besides low viewership. That really bums me out. I think they should at least try reruns before they kick it to the curb.