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I dunno… it’s been months since the season ended and Toonami has had plenty of openings but there’s no sign of it coming. I don’t think CR sold exclusive broadcast rights to AXS but they very well could have.

Dunno if it was money or spite from CR (maybe both) but this no name channel snatching the cable rights to MHA while AS sits in complacency is a real bad look. It might not be exclusive and obviously it’s not season 7 but it could keep Toonami from obtaining more MHA for at least a year if it’s an exclusive cable rights deal. I hope the block on AXS TV doesn’t immediately get the boot. It has a rather desirable time slot (for the channel) right after TNA Wrestling at 10pm along with an encore opposite of Toonami. It’s only an hour and they aren’t promoting it so far but AXS is giving anime a better time slot than a network that has aired anime for decades. That should really be a wake up call for AS but it probably won’t be. Maybe CR cut AXS a great deal on just the broadcast rights (no streaming or cable VOD) but there should be no reality where AXS can outbid AS for any anime much less MHA. I really don’t see how that’s possible unless CR showed favoritism in the dealings. And the worst case scenario is that the AXS block is immediately pulled but the rights they obtained last a year or longer.

Probably just a mistake but these periodical flubs are starting to add up.

I do not doubt those shows expire come June and they will shorten the block when they leave unless they wanna drag GITS out or actually finish IGPX in HD. It is insanity that they couldn't even manage 2 premieres a month into the year and it bodes very badly for the future.

I busted out laughing in the bathroom during my break at work today when I saw this. They truly have outdone themselves with this one. IFG gets pulled at ep 6 showing they could have arbitrarily done that at any time and they're doing it on ep 6 which is a two part story with ep 7. They do not give a shit. I think this show is gonna get written off at the end of physical year. Which I think is the end of February that checks out. Better buy it on digital before the end of the month. Double Blue Exorcist as expected but... a month early. Yikes. And they bring in the most loathed FLCL sequel right after the Pillows disband? I'm with Guy on this one, that's like taking a dump on the legacy even if it includes the last song they ever recorded. I don't think there's even a full length version of that song and that annoys me greatly. Theorectically that could just be the first FLCL they revisit, they could end up rerunning the other, maybe in chronological order of sorts, the timeline is stupid. And we're down to ONE premiere and it's in the exact middle of the block. INCREDIBLE. You have to suffer through the worst reruns to get to One Piece and the good reruns. What a shit show. They would have gotten more views from sticking Sailor Moon reruns at Midnight, there's little doubt in my mind. But the layup would have been DBZ Kai. Nobody is going to watch this shit and if anyone does they should be booed for doing so willingly.

Definitely not mostly a comedy and it’s great to see AS branch out like this with a serialized drama that isn’t anime or Genndy. You can see some Scavengers in its DNA too which isn’t surprising given the creative team. I feel it’s off to a strong start and hope it does well.

Might have suited Dante better I suppose.

That is the most 2000s thing possibly ever. Should’ve gone with click click boom.

Yeah they probably are waiting for Common to end because they are sparse on premieres for the network in general and want to space them out even if they’re on different nights. Common is on Sundays but the dub of Lazarus will probably air on Thursdays be it before or after the sub on Toonami. Anyone else notice Primal has been rerunning at midnight on Sundays lately? It just finished season 2 and is leaving but it was there for a bit and even encored at 3:30am.

It is precisely my concern that Adult Swim will continue to premiere the dubs of original anime outside of Toonami either to get a show on Max on Fridays or because they want to milk these originals like they did with RATAM and Uzumaki. A truly baffling move for Toonami given its long history of only airing dubbed anime outside of shorts and one movie as part of an elaborate gag.

Here's some more piss to pour on the situation... There's a very real possibility that come April, Toonami won't even get the dub premiere of Lazarus and the dub premieres 2 days prior on Thursday 5 days later on the following Thursday. Imagine Toonami in such a state not even getting to premiere a show that was made for the block? The absolute state of absolute states. Starting the year off with a full quarter of nothingness does indeed mean that any additional lulls will mean 4-6 months total are a wash. It wouldn't take much. Lazarus should end right around 4th of July so that's perfect timing right? Kill 2 weeks right there because heaven forbid they give Toonami a full night so they can get through 13 episodes in one night like what was attempted with Harley Quinn (which they still messed up in the end). Despite all that Toonami will stay on the air its just really gonna suck unless you like reruns of the same shows.

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.