Predict Toonami in 2025

[Jman]

5 hours ago, Sketch said:

In this case he was suggesting the Dreamworks Voltron show that was Netflix exclusive for years. Now that Netflix has cast it off, they could get it from NBC Universal Comcast and that would be neat.

Everyone involved with that show wants to forget it ever existed, including Amazon MGM, who currently hold the license from WEP.  It’s why they’re spending over $100 million in Australia on Henry Cavill and a bunch of other people to make a movie.

[Jman]

Anyhow, the big thing that will be a test in 2025 is whether or not Zaslav goes forward with his plan to divest the linear channels from the WarnerBros Discovery conglomerate as a whole.  If he does, Toonami's future may be as branding for a section on Max, more so than a block of programming.  

[OwlChemist81]

🤦‍♂️

 

[Jman]

17 minutes ago, OwlChemist81 said:

🤦‍♂️

 

I want the same level of casting and advertising as Invincible.

[brianycpht]

31 minutes ago, OwlChemist81 said:

🤦‍♂️

 

I feel like that Sunrise got mad at Demarco and Toonami for airing Origin at 3am

 

[PokeNirvash]

Still a better treatment than Geass premieres at 5AM. Bandai really reamed Lazzo for that one.

[Jman]

12 minutes ago, PokeNirvash said:

Still a better treatment than Geass premieres at 5AM. Bandai really reamed Lazzo for that one.

As they should have.  I didn’t watch the show till it hit Netflix.

[Mr. Idea Box]

On the one hand, Gundam on Prime is bizarre at best.

On the other hand, this could be seen as a warmup before production on MGM's Voltron movie kicks up a notch.

Either way, scratch that show off the prospects list for the foreseeable future.

[Jman]

13 hours ago, Mr. Idea Box said:

On the one hand, Gundam on Prime is bizarre at best.

On the other hand, this could be seen as a warmup before production on MGM's Voltron movie kicks up a notch.

Either way, scratch that show off the prospects list for the foreseeable future.

In hindsight this might be Khara’s call.  Khara moved the Evangelion movies over to Prime Video after the debacle with the dub of those films.  Prime Video also had Anno’s Shin Kamen Rider.

[Top Gun]

Prime still does anime? Huh.

[Toonamiguy321]

So they are actively running the Lazarus promo, I wonder if it’s a good or bad sign that they haven’t dropped the full 4/5 schedule yet. Is there more on the plate? Or are they just needlessly secretive as they often are?

[Sketch]

18 hours ago, brianycpht said:

I feel like that Sunrise got mad at Demarco and Toonami for airing Origin at 3am

 

There was a bidding war and honestly I don’t think Toonami will bid much for an acquisition ever again.

One-Punch Man season 3 is finally airing on October and chances are even if Viz gets it, it will be exclusive to Hulu but might be on Netflix and CR then eventually Toonami. Chances of a Toonami premiere are slim to none.

It’s quite interesting that Amazon is suddenly picking up anime directly again after Anime Strike died off. Now they’re even streaming dubs though Bandai Namco Filmworks probably pushed for the simuldub of GCuX and possibly funded the dub.

Edited March 7 by Sketch

[Toonamiguy321]

4 hours ago, Sketch said:

There was a bidding war and honestly I don’t think Toonami will bid much for an acquisition ever again.

One-Punch Man season 3 is finally airing on October and chances are even if Viz gets it, it will be exclusive to Hulu but might be on Netflix and CR then eventually Toonami. Chances of a Toonami premiere are slim to none.

It’s quite interesting that Amazon is suddenly picking up anime directly again after Anime Strike died off. Now they’re even streaming dubs though Bandai Namco Filmworks probably pushed for the simuldub of GCuX and possibly funded the dub.

Of all the legacy titles the block has lost access to, Gundam should be the least surprising. None that aired were exactly ratings blowouts, and needing Demarco to fly out to Japan personally each time to license them was an excessive extra expense. 
 

When they got Origins, Demarco was very confident it was airing at like 12:30 or 1. Programming put it where it would do the least harm and apparently kept that info away from Demarco as long as possible. 
 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Toonami premiered the dub for either season of OPM, so not getting S3 as a premier wouldn’t be much of a deviation. As long as we still get it eventually. Which with the current state of things is certainly questionable. 

[Sketch]

4 hours ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

Of all the legacy titles the block has lost access to, Gundam should be the least surprising. None that aired were exactly ratings blowouts, and needing Demarco to fly out to Japan personally each time to license them was an excessive extra expense. 
 

When they got Origins, Demarco was very confident it was airing at like 12:30 or 1. Programming put it where it would do the least harm and apparently kept that info away from Demarco as long as possible. 
 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Toonami premiered the dub for either season of OPM, so not getting S3 as a premier wouldn’t be much of a deviation. As long as we still get it eventually. Which with the current state of things is certainly questionable. 

Back in 2016 and 2019 respectively, Toonami did get the dub premiere of both seasons. Not only that, the dubs were exclusive to Toonami for a while but now it’s only on Hulu. Prior contracts might give Toonami an edge in negotiations but they could easily pass on the dub premiere and let someone else snatch it up. In which case it only makes sense for Viz to put it on Hulu first if Toonami doesn’t take their dibs. Toonami will more likely get it in the middle of 2026.

[Toonamiguy321]

52 minutes ago, Sketch said:

Back in 2016 and 2019 respectively, Toonami did get the dub premiere of both seasons. Not only that, the dubs were exclusive to Toonami for a while but now it’s only on Hulu. Prior contracts might give Toonami an edge in negotiations but they could easily pass on the dub premiere and let someone else snatch it up. In which case it only makes sense for Viz to put it on Hulu first if Toonami doesn’t take their dibs. Toonami will more likely get it in the middle of 2026.

Man, I won’t remember that at all. I could have swore the dub existed before Toonami got it. 
 

Say what you will about the block being “necessary”, but it had carved itself out a relevant niche at one point dropping dub premiers of what at the time, was one of the most relevant shows on the market. Now we can’t even get decade old B shows from Sentai. Or anyone. It’s actually astounding how far it’s fallen in a relatively short window of time. 
 

Well, if they get first crack at it, they absolutely should grab the dub premier, cost be damned. At least have one reminder out there that Toonami exists. But I suppose we will just have to be content with them maybe getting it a year later. 

[brianycpht]

47 minutes ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

Man, I won’t remember that at all. I could have swore the dub existed before Toonami got it. 
 

Say what you will about the block being “necessary”, but it had carved itself out a relevant niche at one point dropping dub premiers of what at the time, was one of the most relevant shows on the market. Now we can’t even get decade old B shows from Sentai. Or anyone. It’s actually astounding how far it’s fallen in a relatively short window of time. 
 

Well, if they get first crack at it, they absolutely should grab the dub premier, cost be damned. At least have one reminder out there that Toonami exists. But I suppose we will just have to be content with them maybe getting it a year later. 

Them passing over dub premieres in hopes of getting it cheaper way down the line is everything wrong with their mindset 

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, brianycpht said:

Them passing over dub premieres in hopes of getting it cheaper way down the line is everything wrong with their mindset 

Honestly… Why should they try to pay as much as streamers when they won’t benefit all that much from throwing that much money at acquisitions? No anime they can possibly get will do as well as Family Guy.

But it seems like they’re stuck in this limbo of not wanting to spend a lot of money but refusing to seek out affordable anime.

[brianycpht]

1 hour ago, Sketch said:

Honestly… Why should they try to pay as much as streamers when they won’t benefit all that much from throwing that much money at acquisitions? No anime they can possibly get will do as well as Family Guy.

But it seems like they’re stuck in this limbo of not wanting to spend a lot of money but refusing to seek out affordable anime.

They would be better served finding shows they aren’t over exposed then. I don’t think it helps them if they become the 5th place presenting an already popular show. 
 

 

[Toonamiguy321]

2 hours ago, Sketch said:

Honestly… Why should they try to pay as much as streamers when they won’t benefit all that much from throwing that much money at acquisitions? No anime they can possibly get will do as well as Family Guy.

But it seems like they’re stuck in this limbo of not wanting to spend a lot of money but refusing to seek out affordable anime.

Losing out on dub premiers is something I can deal with. As streaming gets more powerful every year, this was an inevitable outcome. Especially with the growing animosity towards Toonami for holding shows hostage. Eventually distributors wouldn’t even want to bother offering the block dub premiers. An unfortunate loss, but that’s how it goes. 
 

Where I take an issue is that while waiting for those big shows to cool off price wise, they just air nothing. They have to “hold” slots for 3-6 months for some reason, even though 1-2 shows could air to completion in the time that they stall. And then after many months of drought, they land a single show that is long since yesterday’s news and expect praise for it. 
 

The ratings are close to a rock bottom holding pattern. A super expensive popular show is gonna do roughly as well as an unknown B show at this point. I’d rather see them invest in a full block of B shows, rather than one slot of a big show. Viewership will not vary much between the two options. 
 

And if they really are debating between anime value vs Family Guy ratings, then it’s time to just shut er down. They got plenty of Fox slop in their tank to completely replace the block. Just do it if that’s the plan and stop jerking us around. 
 

I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that once Family Guy was secured was the same time that Toonami expenditures ceased. 

[brianycpht]

11 minutes ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

Losing out on dub premiers is something I can deal with. As streaming gets more powerful every year, this was an inevitable outcome. Especially with the growing animosity towards Toonami for holding shows hostage. Eventually distributors wouldn’t even want to bother offering the block dub premiers. An unfortunate loss, but that’s how it goes. 
 

Where I take an issue is that while waiting for those big shows to cool off price wise, they just air nothing. They have to “hold” slots for 3-6 months for some reason, even though 1-2 shows could air to completion in the time that they stall. And then after many months of drought, they land a single show that is long since yesterday’s news and expect praise for it. 
 

The ratings are close to a rock bottom holding pattern. A super expensive popular show is gonna do roughly as well as an unknown B show at this point. I’d rather see them invest in a full block of B shows, rather than one slot of a big show. Viewership will not vary much between the two options. 
 

And if they really are debating between anime value vs Family Guy ratings, then it’s time to just shut er down. They got plenty of Fox slop in their tank to completely replace the block. Just do it if that’s the plan and stop jerking us around. 
 

I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that once Family Guy was secured was the same time that Toonami expenditures ceased. 

I believe programming is stuck in the mindset of 10 years ago when A tier shows were an easy option, dub premiere or not. Funimation typically didn’t give them dub premieres but didn’t block them from getting shows so there wasn’t an issue. Even Simuldub shows could show up within a month. Not a bad deal. They didn’t have to hunt or look for B tier shows

But now it seems like they are convinced that ONLY A tier shows are worth their time and won’t consider anything else. They’d rather run a rerun than take any kind of chance on a show that isn’t a huge name. It really doesn’t make a huge difference ratings wise and they also run the risk of people long have watched it elsewhere 

Wouldn’t it be better to keep the block interesting by keeping shows coming in. At least in the past you knew when a show ended a new one would come in- even if it wasn’t the biggest or newest thing. 
 

Months of stalling and reruns don’t encourage engagement. Originals are fine, but I’m tired of them sacrificing half a year stalling and marathoning them at the expense of everything else 

[Jman]

Anime has definitely proven to be more valuable for on-demand, streaming services to watch ongoing plots than it has been for the dying linear networks which are better served with standalone material that you can head in and out of.  Despite DeMarco's pleas to the contrary, appointment television is not a thing anymore unless it's sports.  It's why streamers are willing to pay so much more for the material than Toonami, they have the money and they need it more.

If Lazarus tanks, the block may need to start writing its eulogies.  And despite what history may say, Space Dandy was not a huge success.

[OwlChemist81]

To be fair, it seems the 4/8 Prime date is only for the Subtitled version. It seems the dub COULD still come to Toonami, though it's a longshot.

[Sketch]

4 hours ago, OwlChemist81 said:

To be fair, it seems the 4/8 Prime date is only for the Subtitled version. It seems the dub COULD still come to Toonami, though it's a longshot.

Not according to this.

http://press.amazonmgmstudios.com/us/en/press-release/prime-video-announces-global-premiere-of-highly-an

 

[Toonamiguy321]

5 hours ago, Jman said:

If Lazarus tanks, the block may need to start writing its eulogies.  And despite what history may say, Space Dandy was not a huge success.

Space Dandy was also not a Toonami original. Success or not, it’s still one of the most fondly regarded shows the block ever aired. Something that likely would not be the case if Demarco was allowed to smear his shit all over it as a “producer”. 
 

That’s the main hurdle for Lazarus. And I know we all love Watanabe, but he is not an infallible wizard either. If AS gave him pocket lint for a budget or Demarco kept interfering, it’s gonna suck. 

[KageRageX]

You know what?

Toonami can just fucking air Supes, Unicorn, IFG, CSE, OMG Yes and Primal as a whole lineup and I wouldn't even fucking care ATP.

If they had to keep info about the last real Gundam show airing at the ass end of the block from DeMarco because even programming knew that Gundam wasn't meant for US audiences, then what the hell else is there worth waiting on?

[Blatch]

4 hours ago, KageRageX said:

You know what?

Toonami can just fucking air Supes, Unicorn, IFG, CSE, OMG Yes and Primal as a whole lineup and I wouldn't even fucking care ATP.

If they had to keep info about the last real Gundam show airing at the ass end of the block from DeMarco because even programming knew that Gundam wasn't meant for US audiences, then what the hell else is there worth waiting on?

This, but they throw out Unicorn and IFG in favor of an hour of Venture Bros. reruns. At this point, I think it deserves to be christened as a proper Toonami show, to the point where I'm half-expecting it to replace the other Rewind reruns when those contracts run out.

[btw, handle/post]

[Jman]

The fact that Prime Video is investing in anime again is just proof to me it’s still a growth sector, as people embrace anime but are more meh about pseudo-attempts at it.  That and they clearly are going back into animation at a faster clip after Invincible’s success.

[PokeNirvash]

4 hours ago, Blatch said:

This, but they throw out Unicorn and IFG in favor of an hour of Venture Bros. reruns. At this point, I think it deserves to be christened as a proper Toonami show, to the point where I'm half-expecting it to replace the other Rewind reruns when those contracts run out.

I can get onboard with that. Venture Bros. always struck me as honorary ACTN from the start.

[Toonamiguy321]

Fresh schedule update, though it’s nothing we didn’t already know. Not sure why they made us wait so long for this one. 
 

It is interesting to see that they are keeping double OP. I suppose it can be removed at any time, but I’d sooner bet that the schedule goes unchanged until CSE and BE end. They are looking at a 6-10 episode debt for the show, which won’t be fun to deal with later in the year. 

[Mr. Idea Box]

If anything, this adds more credibility to the block shrinking down to two hours later this year. Swapping subbed Lazarus for Two Piece, while being a knee-jerk reaction if I've ever seen one, is an unexpected scheduling choice any way you put it.

As for what can cover the tab in the back half of 2025, I highly doubt we'll get more than 50 episodes this year, so my second choice is a feature film or two. Hey, it happened the last time WB put their chips into a major DC Comics feature.

[Sketch]

Feels like there must be some reason why they choose to keep One Piece doubled up instead of dropping the 3AM slot and shifting things up but alas it's not because they were keeping a spot warm for a 2nd premiere the same week as Lazarus. Maybe they'll have something a week or two after but at this point hoping for something before May 10th seems like a fools game.

Considering Lazarus was paid for more than a year ago there is no evidence they have spent a single dime on programming for Toonami this year besides renewing One Piece and we're almost a quarter through 2025.

[Toonamiguy321]

On 3/23/2025 at 4:23 PM, Sketch said:

Feels like there must be some reason why they choose to keep One Piece doubled up instead of dropping the 3AM slot and shifting things up but alas it's not because they were keeping a spot warm for a 2nd premiere the same week as Lazarus. Maybe they'll have something a week or two after but at this point hoping for something before May 10th seems like a fools game.

Considering Lazarus was paid for more than a year ago there is no evidence they have spent a single dime on programming for Toonami this year besides renewing One Piece and we're almost a quarter through 2025.

That one article did say that Lazarus subbed would be airing on cable with a month delay, that’s probably what they are saving that slot for. It is the bonus function of making it so there are 3 premiers on the block rather than 2. I still stand by it being crazy they are sending Lazarus onto center stage with zero other shows to support it. Basically guaranteeing it fails. 
 

May 3rd isn’t quite a month, so One Piece could give up a slot on May 10th when they slot OMGY into the CSE slot. That’s a LOT of OP episodes burned though. 8 weeks worth, so 7 they need to make up for. 
 

Our best prayer for a new show is BE S2 replacing S1, which would be on the 17th. Nearly the halfway mark for the year before seeing them spend any money. 

[brianycpht]

15 minutes ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

That one article did say that Lazarus subbed would be airing on cable with a month delay, that’s probably what they are saving that slot for. It is the bonus function of making it so there are 3 premiers on the block rather than 2. I still stand by it being crazy they are sending Lazarus onto center stage with zero other shows to support it. Basically guaranteeing it fails. 
 

May 3rd isn’t quite a month, so One Piece could give up a slot on May 10th when they slot OMGY into the CSE slot. That’s a LOT of OP episodes burned though. 8 weeks worth, so 7 they need to make up for. 
 

Our best prayer for a new show is BE S2 replacing S1, which would be on the 17th. Nearly the halfway mark for the year before seeing them spend any money. 

You mean the show where the lady spends an episode looking for her uterus so she can get knocked up by a basketball player?

Definitely Toonami material 

[Toonamiguy321]

5 hours ago, brianycpht said:

You mean the show where the lady spends an episode looking for her uterus so she can get knocked up by a basketball player?

Definitely Toonami material 

I couldn’t tell you. I have watched a total of 30 seconds of the show. The commercial for it they kept airing leading up to it. And from that, I determined it was shit not worth my time. Sounds like I was right. 
 

Anyway, I don’t think it belongs on the block. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s possible they add it. Maybe if we all keep saying it as a sure thing, it won’t happen. Like reverse manifestation or something. 

[PokeNirvash]

I've joked to myself plenty how Lazzo wouldn't have greenlit Common Side Effects if he were still in charge of [as], but OMGY, I'm almost certain he'd flat-out reject in the pitch phase.

[Jman]

58 minutes ago, PokeNirvash said:

I've joked to myself plenty how Lazzo wouldn't have greenlit Common Side Effects if he were still in charge of [as], but OMGY, I'm almost certain he'd flat-out reject in the pitch phase.

Lazzo made no secret (he flat out said so in Reddit AMA's) of his driving philosophy being "Bring the funny or look for another job."   This is the same guy who allegedly rejected Bojack Horseman for Mr. Pickles.  CSE would never have made it past him.

[brianycpht]

5 hours ago, PokeNirvash said:

I've joked to myself plenty how Lazzo wouldn't have greenlit Common Side Effects if he were still in charge of [as], but OMGY, I'm almost certain he'd flat-out reject in the pitch phase.

OMGY is so cringeworthy and gross for the sake of being gross 

Its also just not funny at all 

[MasqueradeOverture]

At least the first hour's some quality ADULT animation.

Offset that Fight Girl shit hard.

[Toonamiguy321]

12 hours ago, PokeNirvash said:

I've joked to myself plenty how Lazzo wouldn't have greenlit Common Side Effects if he were still in charge of [as], but OMGY, I'm almost certain he'd flat-out reject in the pitch phase.

What? You think Mike “women are not funny” Lazzo would have turned down a show made by a woman primarily for a female audience? 
 

Birdgirl

Teenage Euthanasia

Tuca and Bertie

Three Busy Debras 

Oh My God… Yes!

Maybe ol Mike one of those “they hated him cause he spoke the truth” kind of guys. 

[brianycpht]

10 minutes ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

What? You think Mike “women are not funny” Lazzo would have turned down a show made by a woman primarily for a female audience? 
 

Birdgirl

Teenage Euthanasia

Tuca and Bertie

Three Busy Debras 

Oh My God… Yes!

Maybe ol Mike one of those “they hated him cause he spoke the truth” kind of guys. 

Not only is it not funny, it kind of is demeaning to women. I wouldn’t think women actually would want to be portrayed like these characters 

[OwlChemist81]

22 hours ago, MasqueradeOverture said:

At least the first hour's some quality ADULT animation.

Offset that Fight Girl shit hard.

I will certainly give you that CSE is quality adult animation!!

It may be a rerun, but quality? Damn right!

Leading candidates for 12:30 following it: Fire Force; Mashle S2; MHA S7. Almost certain we get Blue Exorcist S2 at 1 AM but I guess not even THAT is set in (Dr.) Stone!!

[MasqueradeOverture]

22 minutes ago, OwlChemist81 said:

I will certainly give you that CSE is quality adult animation!!

It may be a rerun, but quality? Damn right!

CSE is right up there with Severance for best show of the year so far, it's kinda ridiculous.

[Top Gun]

4 hours ago, MasqueradeOverture said:

CSE is right up there with Severance for best show of the year so far, it's kinda ridiculous.

Yeah, I didn't know what to expect from it going in, but it's been fantastic so far. 

[Blatch]

6 hours ago, MasqueradeOverture said:

CSE is right up there with Severance for best show of the year so far, it's kinda ridiculous.

I've seen four episodes so far. I really want to get back in, but I also don't want to pay any more for Max, so it looks like I'll be waiting for the marathon so I can DVR it.

[again, where's a release of the soundtrack?]

[PokeNirvash]

I, on the other hand, have only seen two. I really, really dig it.

[Sketch]

On 3/26/2025 at 5:48 PM, Blatch said:

I've seen four episodes so far. I really want to get back in, but I also don't want to pay any more for Max, so it looks like I'll be waiting for the marathon so I can DVR it.

[again, where's a release of the soundtrack?]

You didn't have to wait long. There's a marathon of eps 1-9 tonight at Midnight. Set that DVR.

[Toonamiguy321]

3 hours ago, Sketch said:

You didn't have to wait long. There's a marathon of eps 1-9 tonight at Midnight. Set that DVR.

If he is ok waiting and dodging spoilers, there is a full 1-10 marathon on April 4th as well