Best/Worst Moments of Toonami 2022

[CountFrylock]

what do you think were the best and worst moments for the block this year?

[Toonamiguy321]

Best 

1. AssClass and MiA right out of the gate in the new year. We started off running

2. TOM picking up a new ship and getting back on the move

3. MHA S6 beating the odds and giving us a sliver of hope that CR isn’t a guaranteed prison for a show

4. I enjoyed Shenmue even if it’s not the most engaging story

Worst

1. Primal reruns and the summer content drought. Place the blame wherever, the bottom line was it sucked ass

2. The 11 month old bumpers. The packaging is the life of the block, and them being untouched for so long made everything really stale

3. The loss of momentum after January. They set a high bar at the start of the year and just never were able to keep up with it

4. Uzumaki not being delivered on the promised date for the 4th time in a row. 

 

And an extra one I don’t want to list as a “worst” but more just a let down, Housing Complex C really gripped me at the start then just fumbled hard in the end. 

[atomicinumatt]

Best

So my favorite thing about the block this year is MiA. Getting even season 1 was a surprise to me and the fact that they got season 2 is even better because it has long been one of my favorite manga and the anime is nearly perfect IMO

Really glad about getting the new season of MHA as well. 

I actually enjoyed Housing Complex C, and while I think it did suffer from being rushed, I still liked the story and thought that the animation and voice acting was really good. The vibes and atmosphere it created were really good too IMO and that is something I consider pretty greatly. 

I also enjoy the marathons if it is something I like haha was glad to see the Batman movies marathon as well as MiA, MHA, etc. and I am definitely looking forward to FLCL!!

Worst

The general axing of content from [as]/Toonami as well as the recent downsizing of the Block is my largest complaint. I do not need an entire block of premiers and would love to see a longer line up like we had back in the day even if a lot is reruns later in the night. Wish we could go til 5 AM or something haha but I get it that not everyone is down with that. 

Other than HCC, I was let down with a lot of the originals. I thought Shenmue was okay, but it was not my cup of tea. Uzumaki is still in whatever development hell it has been stuck in, so the jury is still out on that. I do not expect much from the new FLCL sequels either.  

Those are my only real complaints. I am not hard to satisfy and I am just glad [as] and the Block are still around. These are just my thoughts.

Future Hopes

So obviously I am hoping that next year they can acquire something big that we are not expecting like CSM or SXF or Mob, and maybe something that is more of a slow burn like Call of the Night or something. AoT and maybe even TYBW can probably be expected next year but I always love being surprised. 

I also hope that they block can be lengthened later into the night. It does not have to come on earlier, I actually prefer it starting around 11-12 est. Even if it is with reruns. 

Hoping that after this year the WBD axing will slow and maybe we can see some promising things. I am a hopeful person. 

I realize these are just my opinions and may not suit the likes of others!

Edited December 19, 2022 by atomicinumatt

[Daos]

Well I think MHA Assclass and Abyss are the obvious winners even if it was many years late on the Ass.

The losers... Naruto? I've heard tales that there's an actual story to this show but people are really willing to sit through hundreds of episodes of filler for it?

Yashahime. Stay tuned! Characters you loved 20 years ago might show up and do stuff! They probably won't! But they might! Stay tuned!

Housing Complex C...  4 episodes isn't enough to get me invested in your big twist that the little girl is C'tuhlu and has... time powers....or something? And I guess everyone sucks and deserves to die? What was the moral of the story again? Wait.. that WAS the moral? 

[PokeNirvash]

5 hours ago, Daos said:

4 episodes isn't enough to get me invested in your big twist that the little girl is C'tuhlu and has... time powers....or something?

Kimi was not Cthulhu, she was Yog-Sothoth. Completely different eldritch horror.

Personally, best was Ass Class season 2 finally showing up, worst was Zaslav taking his fiscal chainsaw to the Crunchyroll co-pros. And while it was a nice celebration of the 25th anniversary, I felt that The Return was more than a bit of a letdown.

[Jman]

This year, well, no lie, this year was ROUGH.  A combination of the buyout destroying the shows they could get and Zaslav destroying the hype for the other shows made this year hurt.  Still, we're down, but not out.

Best - 

Shenmue The Animation showing the world that there was a good kung fu movie underneath the outdated gameplay.

MHA is still on Toonami, even when it appeared that it would have gotten too big for the block (the Fortnite appearance, the freaking live-action movie having a distributor).

Made in Abyss and Housing Complex C being two of the best examples of DeMarco's vision of a bespoke action block showing people animation that isn't necessarily going to be front page Netflix fodder with celebrity voice actors and Times Square ads.

Worst -

Yashahime - A nostalgia bait show that fails to deliver on the dynamics that made people nostalgic for the show!  When women on social medial, InuYasha's primary audience, continually expressed preference for Bastard!! instead of Yashahime because King Dudebro Dark Schneider was more like the InuYasha they remembered and loved, something clearly has gone wrong in the writing room.

Zaslav and his fiscal chainsaw being the closest the block has come to having Chainsaw Man.  Between killing any hope of another Shenmue season and the fucking story ending properly, he has slashed budgets and killed any hope of really big acquisitions.  It doesn't help that it's implied that the Sword of Damocles is also hovering above Uzumaki.

More FLCL sequels - DeMarco loves FLCL more than James Cameron loves Smurfworld Pandora.  Except Cameron at least has the effects to make Avatar 2 - The ReSmurfening a theatrical experience.  FLCL is done.  It was a great idea that's only hurt by unnecessary sequels.  Kind of like Eureka 7.

[Blatch]

I'm still impressed that Toonami was able to get Made in Abyss, since it's so unlike anything else they've shown interest in. It's not even bolstered my hopes for other Sentai titles, but hey, maybe Kaiji is possible at this point? So that would probably be my number one. On the other hand, while I wasn't too keen on Housing Complex C, the final episode was gory and overblown and almost made the show worth it by itself. Almost. So I loved that, which I guess is compensation for not liking Shenmue as much as I did, though most of my problems there were in the second half.

Also, Blade Runner: Black Lotus was a thing. I neither loved it nor hated it, though I edge toward liking it. Anybody else gonna mention that? Funny to think any of it aired this year, as it's been consigned to the write-off bin where it shall spend an eternity. At least we still have that comic book continuation in the works, unless that's been cancelled too.

The worst? Probably having to see the "Gross, stop drooling!" bump for the umpteenth time. It's tough for me to come up with anything particularly egregious because, even despite the lack of premieres over the summer, Primal was new to me, and it was a real thrill getting to watch it for the first time. Season 3 announcement soon? Come on Zaslav. At least I'm not paranoid enough to think Uzumaki could be cancelled any day now. If anything, they'll give it to someone else like they're doing with the DC shows now.

[Daos]

This sums up my feelings on housing complex C

 

[OwlChemist81]

Crazy--I don't remember this scene at all somehow, though I know it was in the final episode!!

[naraku360]

All I know is the worst has got to be announcing season 3 of FLCL.