Jump to content
UnevenEdge

Toonami's eventually going to get cancelled.


Zenigundam

Recommended Posts

Let me explain why.

 

Toonami, right now, does not appeal to adults. It does not even appeal to teens. I could see maybe pre-teens liking it if the quality of the programs were better or if Naruto and One Piece aired at the front of the block and everything Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter could be thrown out the window, but really you have one high-quality show, which will not garner good ratings because of the time it airs at and the ignorance of anime fans (Gundam Unicorn) and a really weird show which is still all right to watch (JoJo), but everything else is pretty lame.

 

 

The content ratings for all the shonen on Toonami are total lies. Dragon Ball Super could be on CN at 9am for toddlers honestly. Yeah, so Toonami's gonna get cancelled because everybody wants to see quality stuff, and, in addition to being for babies, the shonen are pretty lame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe in a year that actually has more than one "2" in it, but for now, it's premiering new Samurai Jack soon so it's not going anywhere!

 

Though I think premiering Super episodes at 8 PM is a mistake and REALLY hurts the rest of the block. The Great Saiyaman saga hasn't been enough so far to carry an 11:30 rerun lead-in, but I guess that's drawing to a close soon and we're getting to the real meat of DBZ KFC!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zeni, I think you're just salty that Japanese kids shows do better than UC Gundam on Toonami.

 

DBZ draws more adults than any other anime Adult Swim can play. If any other show was airing light on action episodes like the past four weeks of DBS/DBZ they'd have utterly tanked. For some reason people tolerate that kind of fluff for Dragon Ball. One bad week certainly doesn't prove otherwise.

 

I don't see Toonami lasting forever though with Naruto, One Piece and DBS they can feasibly fill three slots for many years to come. As far as most anime fans who don't love Dragon Ball are concerned, Toonami is already irrelevant and behind the times but they're still trucking along after close to half a decade and at least have plans into their 6th year. As long as they do relatively well compared to the rest of Adult Swim, they won't get cancelled any time soon. Hell, they've clawed their way back to having 3.5 hours of premieres and will all but assuredly make it back to 4 hours of premieres. You clearly don't like the direction Toonami has gone in but that doesn't mean it hasn't worked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say so but if this does head into political discussion I will gladly tune this thread out.

 

Sketch with another strong argument and to add on to that, remember that anime block on Chiller from a couple years ago? It had a mature selection of shows like Devil May Cry, Black Blood Brothers, Is This a Zombie?, and Tokyo Majin and yet it bombed and died in a less than a month. Of course this was mainly due to boneheaded decisions by the Network like lack of advertising, a overall less than stellar budget lineup and basically being on a channel not many people knew existed. But the point is good luck running a late-night anime block without some of the popular hooks we have now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also want to say that I'm not against the idea of a mature anime block because I think that would kick turbo-ass, I just don't want that in exchange for the block now. Personally I think that this is the strongest it has been ever since 2014, with the exception of Shippuden.

 

G4tv also had a anime block when it was at its peak, with only video game review shows during the day, and Cinematech and anime like Paranoia Agent and Cromartie Highschool at midnight. That was the time to be alive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Outside of a few high-quality series such as Hellsing Ultimate (but who hadn't seen the original Hellsing in the early 2000s?), Attack on Titan (overrated to an extent, but a good anime), and Parasyte, Toonami has fallen flat on its face. It's only been sustained by ASA holdovers and other anime that were previously featured prominently on American TV. Its original acquisitions have, for the most part, been total flops that were purchased at a value in spite of the lack of actual quality.

 

Toonami's playing up to Generation Z expectations because CN has permanently influenced (and damaged) its programmers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm certain the end of ASA was the week before Toonami came back, because when else would it have been?

 

Besides the week before [as] banished Code Geass and Moribito to the graveyard slot and made most of the night all-comedy, much to the anger of Bandai and Media Blasters.

 

It was Adult Swim going "We're going to give a shit about anime again."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Outside of a few high-quality series such as Hellsing Ultimate (but who hadn't seen the original Hellsing in the early 2000s?), Attack on Titan (overrated to an extent, but a good anime), and Parasyte, Toonami has fallen flat on its face. It's only been sustained by ASA holdovers and other anime that were previously featured prominently on American TV. Its original acquisitions have, for the most part, been total flops that were purchased at a value in spite of the lack of actual quality.

 

Toonami's playing up to Generation Z expectations because CN has permanently influenced (and damaged) its programmers.

 

Say what you want about Akame ga KILL!!'s show quality, but considering it owns the highest debut for any Toonami show, I would NOT call it a "flop." Sure it kinda petered out toward the end, but it still averaged an impressive 1245K total viewers, 724K adults 18-49, and 494K adults 18-34. And One-Punch Man's premiere run, though short, was even more impressive in the target demos (737K/495K), AND it was GOOD. Hell, to this day its reruns still lifted the back end considerably in general.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

G4tv also had a anime block when it was at its peak, with only video game review shows during the day, and Cinematech and anime like Paranoia Agent and Cromartie Highschool at midnight. That was the time to be alive.

 

Actually, that was [adult swim] who aired Paranoia Agent. Anime Unleashed aired Gungrave, which is the reason why we got Paranoia Agent as part of the Champloo package deal instead.

 

 

CONTEXT: [as] set up a poll back in 2005 asking which series viewers wanted to see more and they'd air the top two. Between the three choices - Champloo, PA, and Gungrave - Champloo and Gungrave won, but [as] aired Champloo and PA instead. Likely because G4 outbid them.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ani-Monday/Tuesday had a far superior anime selection to anything Toonami has put together. Its cancellation was the saddest day for me as a viewer since the end of the original ASA Saturdays back in the day.

 

Sci-Fi knew how to put a badass anime block together.

Vampire Wars

Psychic Wars

Sword for Truth

Descendants of Darkness

MD Geist

Virus fucking Buster Serge

 

QED

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, that was [adult swim] who aired Paranoia Agent. Anime Unleashed aired Gungrave, which is the reason why we got Paranoia Agent as part of the Champloo package deal instead.

 

 

CONTEXT: [as] set up a poll back in 2005 asking which series viewers wanted to see more and they'd air the top two. Between the three choices - Champloo, PA, and Gungrave - Champloo and Gungrave won, but [as] aired Champloo and PA instead. Likely because G4 outbid them.

 

 

Huh. Well the more you know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Especially not when one of those shows is a Cartoon Network property.

 

Remember when Star Wars TCW was on ASA? Those were dark times xD

 

Not because of the show in particular but because ASA started at 12:30 and only before 1am because of Star Wars TCW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do remember that, but that's not quite right. Star Wars: TCW started at midnight, and Bleach followed afterward at 12:30 in Spring 2009. This was also an expansion back of ASA from 1-6 AM. Of course, that was proven to be a dumb move since Bleach always outrated Clone Wars in Adults 18-34, famously capturing both the #1 and #2 spots on Adult Swim Saturday nights for 5 weeks running. (In those days, comedies like Boondocks competed handily). It was tried at Midnight in July briefly (with Clone Wars at 1:30) before being moved back to 12:30 by August. It wouldn't be until FMA:B premiered in Spring 2010 that the midnight slot would become a straight action slot (and it hasn't changed ever since!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do remember that, but that's not quite right. Star Wars: TCW started at midnight, and Bleach followed afterward at 12:30 in Spring 2009. This was also an expansion back of ASA from 1-6 AM. Of course, that was proven to be a dumb move since Bleach always outrated Clone Wars in Adults 18-34, famously capturing both the #1 and #2 spots on Adult Swim Saturday nights for 5 weeks running. (In those days, comedies like Boondocks competed handily). It was tried at Midnight in July briefly (with Clone Wars at 1:30) before being moved back to 12:30 by August. It wouldn't be until FMA:B premiered in Spring 2010 that the midnight slot would become a straight action slot (and it hasn't changed ever since!)

 

Ah right, when they added Clone Wars the whole 12AM hour was action again not just 12:30.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is why I'm so grateful for Toonami. In its dying days, ASA really only had Bleach with consistent premieres. I remember the days when a show ended, it was not instantly replaced with something new (this is true for classic weekday Toonami as well) the next week.  Things would get shifted around constantly going back and forth from starting at 11, then 12, then 1, then back to 12, to "Hey lets so all action" then the next week "Oh never mind lets put some comedy in there". Now we have always have a running block of 6-7 premieres (at least to television) with somewhat consistent ratings.

 

One thing I read on Programming Insider every week is that AS as a whole is down in viewership from a year ago. This week it was 18% down from a year ago.  If you take that into account, Toonami is really not doing bad at all, especially on night when Family Guy can't even crack 1.5 total viewers. Toonami does better on Saturday then most of their originals could do and additional FOX reruns aren't worth the cost on Saturday night, so I think the block is safe for a long while yet.  Of course as we've seen before, business priorities change, but I think as long as Lazzo, Demarco, or Manning are at the network, we're in good shape!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...