"Toonami" News & Discussion Thread

[wjbraden]

What I'm trying to say is did you remember when Dragon Ball Super One Hour Special aired in Japan? I don't know if Toonami is going to do the same.

Episodes 109 and 110 aired as an hour-long special in Japan, but it doesn't look like Toonami's doing that according to schedule listings. Though these episodes aired together in Japan as one "episode" (only showing the opening and ending once in the full hour), for international releases (and when it was simulcast on FunimationNow I believe), Toei split them into two separate episodes, adding an extra minute of content that wasn't present in the hour-long version in doing so. Confusing, I know, but the bottom line is, Funimation doesn't have the slightly shorter hour "special" to work with for the dub, so there is no reason to air the two episodes back-to-back on Toonami.

 

[CNFan1995]

Even after Monkey Punch passed away days ago we got good news that Lupin the Third Part V is coming in June 15th.

 

[PicardMan]

So this is basically confirmation that Golden Wind will not directly follow up Diamond is Unbreakable. We still don't know if it's because the dubbing isn't ready yet, the ratings were bad enough that JoJo won't return, or some other factor. This also shows that Toonami is still reliant on long running franchises. People seemed to act like Lupin flopped, but it apparently did well enough to get a sequel. The Italian Adventure could be hit and miss, but it still was pretty funny. Surprised we know the replacement this far in advance.

 

[Paletron]

Guess that a dub for Golden Wind already was too much for Viz, never knew why they are always much slower with dubs than other companies. One down, we still have two more new shows coming at the end of June.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

Good news! Part V is much better than Part IV in my opinion- it has better storyarcs, gives the supporting cast more time to shine, and has a couple of interesting new characters. If that was your first taste of Lupin and you were on the fence about it, I hope this will give you a little more confidence in the franchise.

 

[Nobodyman]

Yay! Real glad to hear Lupin still has a place on Toonami.

 

[Light Lucario]

So this is basically confirmation that Golden Wind will not directly follow up Diamond is Unbreakable. We still don't know if it's because the dubbing isn't ready yet, the ratings were bad enough that JoJo won't return, or some other factor. This also shows that Toonami is still reliant on long running franchises. People seemed to act like Lupin flopped, but it apparently did well enough to get a sequel. The Italian Adventure could be hit and miss, but it still was pretty funny. Surprised we know the replacement this far in advance.

It's most likely because the dub isn't ready yet. While Jojo has never been a huge rating hit for Toonami, I don't think it's done that poorly either. Plus, the Toonami crew likes it and Jojo is a pretty popular franchise in general. I'm sure that they'll get Golden Wind as soon as it is available. I don't recall Lupin Part IV doing that well ratings wise, but I could be mistaken since it did get a rerun slot not too long afterwards.

Anyway, this is a surprise announcement. I didn't expect that they'd announce another show this far ahead in their schedule. It kind of made sense with Attack on Titan given its popularity and they might have been required to put new episodes on the lineup as soon as possible, but I wonder if they'll just announce new series like this weeks or months in advance now. I'd be fine with that since it makes more sense than waiting until the last minute.

I wasn't a huge fan of Part IV. It was all around okay, but it left me pretty mixed on the franchise. It didn't make me want to go watch other Lupin series, but I do remember saying that I'd check whatever Lupin series could end up on Toonami in the future and I still plan on doing that. I did like some aspects of Part IV and maybe Part V will be more appealing to me. I'd be more willing to watch it than any Jojo or SAO season at least.

 

[Yojimbo]

I know this is off topic but is there any news about Dragon Ball Super because after this week's episode of Dragon Ball Super. What I'm trying to say is did you remember when Dragon Ball Super One Hour Special aired in Japan? I don't know if Toonami is going to do the same.

What do mean "news"? Is it coming back for new episodes after the tournament arc? No, nothing yet. I think the one hour special aired in early December like the 1st or 2nd of the month in Japan.

 

[PicardMan]

Good news! Part V is much better than Part IV in my opinion- it has better storyarcs, gives the supporting cast more time to shine, and has a couple of interesting new characters. If that was your first taste of Lupin and you were on the fence about it, I hope this will give you a little more confidence in the franchise.

I was wondering how this show will handle story arcs. Part IV's Leonardo da Clone arc was significantly less fun than the wacky heist of the week episodes that didn't connect to the arc. Are the ongoing arcs more engaging? I assume we will get at least half standalones going by part IV.

 

[CNFan1995]

What do mean "news"? Is it coming back for new episodes after the tournament arc? No, nothing yet. I think the one hour special aired in early December like the 1st or 2nd of the month in Japan.

No. I'm not talking about the news about the return of new episodes of Dragon Ball Super. Because I don't know if Dragon Ball Super is coming back in Japan. I'm talking about next week's episodes because I'm talking about the one hour special they aired in Japan. My question it's if they're airing Episode 109 and Episode 110 back to back on Toonami.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

I was wondering how this show will handle story arcs. Part IV's Leonardo da Clone arc was significantly less fun than the wacky heist of the week episodes that didn't connect to the arc. Are the ongoing arcs more engaging? I assume we will get at least half standalones going by part IV.

We get a couple of miniarcs during the quarter points of the series, and a couple of standalones in between them. I feel that they're all generally better paced than the da Vinci arc was.

 

[wjbraden]

No. I'm not talking about the news about the return of new episodes of Dragon Ball Super. Because I don't know if Dragon Ball Super is coming back in Japan. I'm talking about next week's episodes because I'm talking about the one hour special they aired in Japan. My question it's if they're airing Episode 109 and Episode 110 back to back on Toonami.

Uhh, you might want to check my reply to you earlier, they're not airing the episodes back-to-back, check it out here for proof: TV Schedule for Cartoon Network USA - Eastern Feed .

Anyway, awesome news about Lupin, not that there was any doubt they weren't going to pick it up considering how much DeMarco and crew love the show. Plus, it'll be a nice dedication to Monkey Punch, RIP old friend.

The June 15th premiere date, as PicardMan pointed out, definitely means we aren't seeing Jojo Part 5 right away, since that'll be the only free slot availble around that time (I kind of doubted it, since the show will still be airing in Japan until July and Viz is slow as molasses). It also means no Memorial Day marathon in any capacity, it seems. Could they fianlly be putting an ix nay on the marathons??

 

[PicardMan]

Could they fianlly be putting an ix nay on the marathons??

At the very least, I think they'll be drastically reduced as the weeks when they play the regular schedule on holiday weekends (such as Thanksgiving) the ratings are normal but marathons have a long history tanking the ratings. Supposedly the holiday itself did that, but we are learning otherwise now.

 

[wjbraden]

At the very least, I think they'll be drastically reduced as the weeks when they play the regular schedule on holiday weekends (such as Thanksgiving) the ratings are normal but marathons have a long history tanking the ratings. Supposedly the holiday itself did that, but we are learning otherwise now.

I think the marathons primarily make sense during Christmas and New Years, when people are out of town, shopping, etc., for extended periods of time, which will drag viewership down no matter what. But for stuff like Memorial Day and the 4th of July, where people usually only go out and do stuff on the holiday itself, I don't think it's necessary. That time they celebrated the 4th of July like 4 days early was kind of silly, and the week-early Thankgiving one recently was bizarre.

As you said, I think most of the marathons are doing more harm than good at this juncture, as most people (myself included) despise them. Two or three marathons a year is fine. 7 or 8 is overkill.

 

[PicardMan]

As you said, I think most of the marathons are doing more harm than good at this juncture, as most people (myself included) despise them. Two or three marathons a year is fine. 7 or 8 is overkill.

Rerun marathons do suck. Demarco proposed theme marathons rather than seven random rerun episodes of something. Marathons also delay us getting new shows as it makes it take much longer for a show to finish.

 

[Light Lucario]

I can understand having a marathon on Thannksgiving weekend. A lot of people would probably be spending time with their families or traveling, but I agree that marathons for holidays like Memorial Day and July 4th seem to be a bit much. I still kind of miss when they aired movies. They at least offered something new instead of reruns. I'm not surprised that they've stuck with marathons for so long. They are easier to manage and some marathons have done surprisingly well ratings wise in the past.

I imagine that they'll still have marathons for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, but they'll hopefully cut back on them. Marathons can help to give other shows more exposure, but it can be annoying if a show you don't like gets a marathon treatment. Not to mention it does delay new episodes and new shows from getting on the block.

 

[wonderfly]

4th of July (aka American Independence Day) and Halloween don't need marathons, unless those holidays SPECIFICALLY fall on a Saturday.

That leaves Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas week and New Years week as the times for marathons.

And yeah, "Memorial Day" and "Labor Day" are the lesser important ones, so maybe get rid of those...

I'm fine with marathon weekends, just...maybe start having a theme to them, instead of "Here's 10 episodes of Dragon Ball Z Kai!" ? Anyone remember "Toonami: New Years Eve-Il?" A collection of episodes from shows that featured the villains? Maybe do something like that again?

 

[PicardMan]

Nostalgia Critic is going to cover Toonami next week. Considering the fact that he seems to know next to nothing about anime, this upcoming episode is probably going to be cringe.

 

[Terror of Death]

Was really hoping they would choose another anime instead of more seasons of the same stuff. I still might watch the first few episodes of part 5 but part 4 left me unimpressed.

 

[PicardMan]

Was really hoping they would choose another anime instead of more seasons of the same stuff. I still might watch the first few episodes of part 5 but part 4 left me unimpressed.

It seems like one season action anime are pretty rare in today's world. Since 2015, we've had Kill La Kill, Akame ga Kill, Parasyte, and Megalobox for one season anime. I can't think of any action anime off the top of my head with only one season that doesn't have a chance for a season 2 in the future. Toonami runs on long running franchises partially because that's the dominant type of action anime. Most anime of last season, like Goblin Slayer or That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime have multiple seasons planned. Airing just one season of an anime would really anger hardcore fans of it. The era of single season action anime is dead. I know it was said about 5 years ago that long runners are dead but now the shoe's on the other foot. The seasonal model just made continuous long runners dead. My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan are obviously long runners destined for triple digit episodes (although with Titan's production schedule, it will take a while to get there). Asking for short runners is so hard when I can't think of a single season action anime.