"Toonami Isn't An Anime Block"

[CountFrylock]

This is a comment I see every so often when someone becomes annoyed at Non-Anime Airing On Toonami

however while that statement is true....Toonami isn't exclusively an anime block

it's hard to not think it's become one at this point

Majority of the content that [AS]Toonami has aired has been Japanese Animation

so when someone comes in with this expectation of toonami being an anime block it's not so much because they think that's what it should be

it's because that's all toonami presents them with.....when Non-Anime is so uncommon on the block it starts to become harder and harder not to view it as an anime block

[PokeNirvash]

"Toonami's not supposed to be an anime block, but given the level of content, yeah, it actually kinda is."

[Jman]

Funny enough, most of the big gets for the next few months are going to be Western because of Crunchyroll keeping stuff for itself and Hulu, and Hulu keeping Bleach.  Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures with Superman may be kids show sent to Toonami because action cartoons don’t work on CN proper, and arguably the biggest possible get in the next 12 months would be Creature Commandos.  So if you feel like Toonami needs more Western stuff, wait a bit, because they don’t have a choice.

Edited April 22, 2023 by Jman

[CountFrylock]

24 minutes ago, PokeNirvash said:

"Toonami's not supposed to be an anime block, but given the level of content, yeah, it actually kinda is."

that's my point...yeah it's not suppose to be an anime exclusive block but looking at what mostly fills it's schedule....it's hard not to see why some people would say it's an anime block

Any American Cartoons that would be perfect for the block are likely held by a streaming service and while DC Cartoons are always an option

WBD isn't exactly generous enough to hand them out like candy hence why we only see those sometimes and not all the time

[CountFrylock]

13 minutes ago, Jman said:

Funny enough, most of the big gets for the next few months are going to be Western because of Crunchyroll keeping stuff for itself and Hulu, and Hulu keeping Bleach.  Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures with Superman may be kids show sent to Toonami because action cartoons don’t work on CN proper, and arguably the biggest possible get in the next 12 months would be Creature Commandos.  So if you feel like Toonami needs more Western stuff, wait a bit, because they don’t have a choice.

I Don't think There's gonna be enough Western Content coming in for toonami to be able to solely rely on that....

Edited April 22, 2023 by CountFrylock

[OwlChemist81]

Toonami needs to catch a big car if you ask me. Maybe once MAX rebrands there will be more crossover streaming shows. A merger between MAX and one of the other anime companies, even if it's Discotek, would be pretty huge.

[Toonamiguy321]

Many years ago, I remember someone asking Demarco why they don’t air new western stuff. And he just flat out told him, there wasn’t any to air. And that wasn’t even really an exaggeration, until recent years, the only real action animation coming out of the west were straight to video DC and Marvel films and Korra. 

Anime has single handedly kept the Toonami lights on for about 9 out of 11 years of its revival. And the only western show to PREMIER on Toonami in 11 years has been Samurai Jack S5. Things change, and I don’t blame a single person who considers this to be an anime block. Besides the odd little kid anime, this is the only home for anime anywhere on cable. A tiny, 3 hour window once per week. The frustration of not being able to have that 3 hours a week without some random western reruns getting thrown on it is a valid frustration. 
 

Maybe in the good ol days it was an action animation block, but the west chose to turn its back on action animation for about a decade. Can’t blame people for becoming diehard anime fans when few alternative options were on the table. 

[OwlChemist81]

Hopefully we can get back to 4 hours a week?

To be somewhat fair, there is anime elsewhere on cable TV: Disney XD still airs Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh.

However, ADULT anime? Pretty much just Toonami and, once in a blue moon, TCM.

[CountFrylock]

8 hours ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

Many years ago, I remember someone asking Demarco why they don’t air new western stuff. And he just flat out told him, there wasn’t any to air. And that wasn’t even really an exaggeration, until recent years, the only real action animation coming out of the west were straight to video DC and Marvel films and Korra. 

Anime has single handedly kept the Toonami lights on for about 9 out of 11 years of its revival. And the only western show to PREMIER on Toonami in 11 years has been Samurai Jack S5. Things change, and I don’t blame a single person who considers this to be an anime block. Besides the odd little kid anime, this is the only home for anime anywhere on cable. A tiny, 3 hour window once per week. The frustration of not being able to have that 3 hours a week without some random western reruns getting thrown on it is a valid frustration. 
 

Maybe in the good ol days it was an action animation block, but the west chose to turn its back on action animation for about a decade. Can’t blame people for becoming diehard anime fans when few alternative options were on the table. 

Streaming Services made things difficult for toonami...that's where the American Action cartoons are

they aren't on cable television

Edited April 23, 2023 by CountFrylock

[Toonamiguy321]

17 minutes ago, OwlChemist81 said:

Hopefully we can get back to 4 hours a week?

To be somewhat fair, there is anime elsewhere on cable TV: Disney XD still airs Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh.

However, ADULT anime? Pretty much just Toonami and, once in a blue moon, TCM.

That’s why I specified there are little kid anime peppered around here and there. But to the majority looking for an anime fix, those glorified toy commercials aren’t what people are looking for. 

I won’t lie to myself, Toonami isn’t providing adult anime either. It’s all one step above the little kid stuff. But there are no other options. If you want the cable anime experience, it’s Toonami or nothing. There is always that narrow chance they grab something like Made in Abyss that is actually more adult oriented, but it’s rare. 

I don’t see 4 hours in our future anytime soon. Demarco is already prepping people for disappointment in the upcoming schedule cycle. 
 

6 minutes ago, CountFrylock said:

and like i said if there's any american action toons it's likely they'd be exclusive to a streaming service with no kind of bargaining allowed....Toonami needs them more than they need toonami

Toonami would benefit from them but they wouldn't really benefit from toonami

Unfortunately, Toonami falls into this trap with anime too. A long time ago they should have turned away from CR/Sony owned shows. They have made it clear they won’t share and the block has nothing to offer them. Go for the Sentai catalog, they may not have the shows they want, but they do have the shows they need. Which in the current scenario, is anything that isn’t a rerun. 

[CountFrylock]

1 hour ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

That’s why I specified there are little kid anime peppered around here and there. But to the majority looking for an anime fix, those glorified toy commercials aren’t what people are looking for. 

I won’t lie to myself, Toonami isn’t providing adult anime either. It’s all one step above the little kid stuff. But there are no other options. If you want the cable anime experience, it’s Toonami or nothing. There is always that narrow chance they grab something like Made in Abyss that is actually more adult oriented, but it’s rare. 

I don’t see 4 hours in our future anytime soon. Demarco is already prepping people for disappointment in the upcoming schedule cycle. 
 

Unfortunately, Toonami falls into this trap with anime too. A long time ago they should have turned away from CR/Sony owned shows. They have made it clear they won’t share and the block has nothing to offer them. Go for the Sentai catalog, they may not have the shows they want, but they do have the shows they need. Which in the current scenario, is anything that isn’t a rerun. 

could it be that Sentai just rarely responds to toonami?...it's known that hidive's customer service sucks ass and they still don't have an app for it on modern consoles

it's either xbox one or nothing...

[Toonamiguy321]

16 hours ago, CountFrylock said:

could it be that Sentai just rarely responds to toonami?...it's known that hidive's customer service sucks ass and they still don't have an app for it on modern consoles

it's either xbox one or nothing...

I have always considered that excuse to be a load of shit. When Toonami sets its sights on a show, they would move mountains to secure it. If they were told no, they would keep trying. Take Demon Slayer for example, Demarco had admitted they continue to inquire about it even knowing the answer is likely still no. 

In the past, Sentai has shown a lot of eagerness to have their shows be on Toonami. The reason it’s “hard” for Toonami to get their shows is they usually don’t have anything Toonami wants, and thus I believe they half ass their efforts. 

I can’t speak on their customer service quality, but I highly doubt the call center they have for customer complaints is in any way associated with higher level executive branch that would deal with making a TV deal for a major network. 

[CountFrylock]

6 hours ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

I have always considered that excuse to be a load of shit. When Toonami sets its sights on a show, they would move mountains to secure it. If they were told no, they would keep trying. Take Demon Slayer for example, Demarco had admitted they continue to inquire about it even knowing the answer is likely still no. 

In the past, Sentai has shown a lot of eagerness to have their shows be on Toonami. The reason it’s “hard” for Toonami to get their shows is they usually don’t have anything Toonami wants, and thus I believe they half ass their efforts. 

I can’t speak on their customer service quality, but I highly doubt the call center they have for customer complaints is in any way associated with higher level executive branch that would deal with making a TV deal for a major network. 

it's easy to always blame toonami for what's wrong with the block but these days i think the answer isn't that cut and dry

it's WBD....we know Toonami's resources are smaller and the crew working on the block has been reduced so what might not have been so difficult in the past is now quite the challenge for a few people

[brianycpht]

6 hours ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

I have always considered that excuse to be a load of shit. When Toonami sets its sights on a show, they would move mountains to secure it. If they were told no, they would keep trying. Take Demon Slayer for example, Demarco had admitted they continue to inquire about it even knowing the answer is likely still no. 

In the past, Sentai has shown a lot of eagerness to have their shows be on Toonami. The reason it’s “hard” for Toonami to get their shows is they usually don’t have anything Toonami wants, and thus I believe they half ass their efforts. 

I can’t speak on their customer service quality, but I highly doubt the call center they have for customer complaints is in any way associated with higher level executive branch that would deal with making a TV deal for a major network. 

I don’t know what the deal with Sentai is 

 

It seems like they get tied up in going after popular Sony things that they aren’t looking at Sentai. I hope I’m wrong on that 

My discussions with fandom on this typically result in being told that Sentai doesn’t have “good” or “popular” things and that Toonami just “can’t air ANYTHING” if they hope to hook the casual audience 

I do think if this is the attitude they share, it goes against the principles of what made Toonami popular to begin with. They took lesser known shows and elevated them. They didn’t take already popular things and threw them out there for the smaller and  smaller audience that hadn’t already seen it them. 

It goes bother me a little that they are still hoping the Sony thing gets better because they will continue to pin their hopes on that with a low yield. If it becomes a formalized partnership then great, but I just wouldn’t trust them on a show by show basis. They really should take a look at the Sentai catalog and pick some cheap things that look like they’d fit the block. Even if they are other genres- try something out. Continuing to hope Sony will cooperate is just not worth it when half the time you have to stall or resort to reruns. 
 

Kind of reminds me of the guy who finally gets over their ex and makes a connection but then starts ignoring her because the ex finally replied “k” to a text 2 weeks later 

Edited April 24, 2023 by brianycpht