The Toonami Thread

[Paradox295]

I'm not sure new shows are the answer just yet (that was what arguably killed Saturday Night Toonami in the first place). Start with bumpers and then gradually introduce new content. Prime the pump a little.

Aniplex is supposedly announcing new acquisitions this weekend at Sakura Con, and they have always been the "lets get shows on Adult Swim" guys. Maybe if Toonami comes back, there's the possibility of Blue Exorcist getting dubbed!

Speaking of which, can we get someone (Andy, looking in your direction) who is going to that to ask Funi and co if they gave AS the shows in exchange for free, and if they're interested in doing that again.

 

[Lighthammer]

Maybe not necessarily new shows, but shows that haven't been on the block for a long time would be a very nice change of pace.

Like, I don't think it would be a problem to go snag Gundam Wing for a rerun, just as long as it isn't on the block for more then two runs. Frankly I'd love to see them rerun Gundam SEED as I think it would be more popular on Adult Swim. Gundam 00 wouldn't be bad to run on Adult Swim either. It got horrible ratings of Syfy because no one really knew it was there outside a nitch group.

Either way, I think acquisitions (old or new) is all but required. However, part of the problem is ALSO going to be convincing the audience the current stuff on Adult Swim is worth watching again. They don't have a horrible line up, but lets face it, each of those series are VERY FAR along and Adult Swim doesn't really have the ability to go back and rerun old series from the beginning to catch people up. Lets face it, we DO NOT want Full Metal starting over again for the 8 millionith time.

That actually does bring up an interesting point --- I think Toonami Mid-night run (12:00A - 1:00A) might be helpful for weekday spots. It would be helpful to run Bleach from the start there. Besides, it could really act as a fanfare for a Friday / Saturday lineup. Thats, afterall, what made Toonami successful before ---- its ability to promote its own series.

I also keep thinking to myself that maybe, just maybe, a lot of the series Toonami would run would be more successful if they trimmed the filler out. Bleach, for instance, would be much more interesting to me if I didn't have to sit through filler. I'd much rather the series took a break instead of waiting forever for filler. Naruto Ship might fit that too. Problem is, good trimming costs money and I wonder if Adult Swim / Media Producers would want to funnel money into that.

 

[Space Cadet]

If Toonami were to come back, I'd prefer it to be on AS rather than CN. Mainly because this current iteration of CN is more adverse to having blocks on their network. Sure, they have DC Nation, Cartoon Planet and technically, Saturday Crushzone(which they use in PR, but I don't think they actually show the name anymore on-air), but for the most part, they tend to stay away from branding. And its worked so far for them, since their ratings are up and have been beating Nick and Disney in certain demographics.

Toonami would fit more with Saturday night on AS. I mean, the pieces are already there, just brand 12-6 as Toonami(maybe take 11 PM too, but I think AS is more content to let that be the comedy hour).

 

[Lighthammer]

I'd argue their ability to brand is what makes them better then Nick and Disney.

Nick and Disney are so erratic they border on unpredictable. In the midst of the chaos, Cartoon Network has (generally) remained predictable and branding showcases that.

The big power of block branding is, in theory, that block should establish a genre you generally like. You should be able to tune into that block and always find something you like. That offers immense power to introduce you to new series and not feel obligated to run reruns while you're waiting for new episodes to be ready. It creates that "Gundam 00 / Code Geass" effect I've referred to a few times in this thread. Generally if you were interested in Gundam 00, you were interested in Code Geass so it was absolutely no problem ending Gundam 00 and leading into Code Geass while season 2 of Gundam 00 was made and then vice a versa.

Toonami started to fail at that towards the end of their run when they started to inter mingle too many series that had interest in one demographic but not another. That's something not talked about often, but I think that's one of the top 10 elements that caused Toonami's end in 2008. For instance: as a general rule, if you were interested in Pokemon, odds are you would be interested in Zatch Bell, but probably not Gundam Seed or YYH.

 

[cuzin34]

I would be a happy guy if toonami really comes back on [as] and get High School of the Dead since its already.

 

[Sketch]

Right, despite Cartoon Planet we can't really trust Toonami in the hands of CN under its' current management. And I have often said CN can make a great action block without Toonami (and the same goes for AS) but Toonami usually skewed old and that will still be a problem especially if they aired ThunderCats, The Clone Wars, Young Justice and Green Lantern. It would be cool to see them all on Toonami but they need 6-11 ratings to survive right now and while Toonami was always cool to kids it constantly needed tweaks to avoid skewing too old. That is no concern with Adult Swim. No longer would they need to fight the tide.

But Adult Swim's bread and butter is comedy. They wont give up Friday or 12 AM - 1 AM on weekdays for action. Expecting more than a rebrand of Saturday 12 AM - 6 AM is expecting too much. The honest truth is nothing they air will beat Family Guy, American Dad or Robot Chicken regularly. But 12 AM - 6 AM Toonami poses a problem. Keeping people up that late regularly to watch the whole thing will be tough. But half the hours Toonami occupied on Saturday are now Adult Swim's and the first hour in particular could easily do better.

So I offer this suggestion that could put action animation back on the map. Toonami on Adult Swim Saturdays 9 pm till 2 am. Comedy can have 2 am onward for some early morning laughs.

With that I highly recommend sharing The Clone Wars, ThunderCats and maybe YJ and GL. They could cycle in Megas, Titan and Samurai Jack as well. Perhaps even JLU if Warner did not take it back yet.

And I will also go as far as to suggest the 9 hour on the other days becoming Toonami to give Bleach and The Clone Wars weekday runs.

In my mind, that is exactly what they should do to make the best use of the Toonami brand on AS but more so I feel CN should get 9 pm back on weekdays and particularly weekends and Toonami can be the action block on Adult Swim Saturday 10 pm - 2 am on 12 am - 6 am as it was last weekend.

I don't think they need to re-introduce the ASA series to have them air on AST (coining that). But some of them are about to finish their runs as it is. Kekkaishi and DRR to be exact. Relaunching ASA as AST could occur around the time they restart or leave. That could free up space (lol space) for new series and giving FLCL a break makes room for a return of Outlaw Star, Trigun, Gundam Wing, Blue Sub or Yu Yu Hakusho.

I think ideally in the 12 am - 6 am scenario they should aim for 1 to 2 fresh series on top of Bleach premieres. Put the older stuff later into the night near Bebop and GitS. FMAB shouldn't be burried while in its' second full run so keep it in the first two hours. If nothing brand new seems good atm then keep the first hour as is followed by one or two Toonami classics. Maybe bring InuYasha back to a more watchable slot and run shows like ThunderCats, Megas, Titan, I.G.P.X and Jack in the pre-CN hours.

Another suggestion I have is to sell 1 half hour to Funi, Sentai, Bandai or Aniplex and Viz to cycle content on like Syfy did with Manga but that scenario would be much more favorable to those companies if they got 10-12 am instead of 12-2 am or later. That or just get Funi to sponsor an hour since they have are the biggest player. I think if they did sell those pre 12 am slots to licensors they would not have to worry about lower ratings revenue compared to Family Guy and The Boondocks in those slots.

Toonami could truly be the hub for getting people to support the anime industry. That's why earlier would be better and I'd argue loss of ratings to 10:30 - 12:00 am would be more than made up for with a comedy boost 2 am - 6 am when people would rather have a laugh. The 9 pm - 10:30 pm would surely see an improvement as well.

But if they don't want to shake things up then just slap the Toonami package on the usual and add in some new and nostalgic shows. ASA seemed all but dead but Toonami and even a minimal amount of effort could turn that around in a hurry. Afterall they'd be the only game in town for adult targetted anime on basic cable. That means they have all the power to make it work and with great power comes great responsibility and I think we can all agree that they have missused their possition as the only game in town. Not to say they have to do anything but if you are going to do something, do it well.

 

[bla2772]

Right, despite Cartoon Planet we can't really trust Toonami in the hands of CN under its' current management. And I have often said CN can make a great action block without Toonami (and the same goes for AS) but Toonami usually skewed old and that will still be a problem especially if they aired ThunderCats, The Clone Wars, Young Justice and Green Lantern. It would be cool to see them all on Toonami but they need 6-11 ratings to survive right now and while Toonami was always cool to kids it constantly needed tweaks to avoid skewing too old. That is no concern with Adult Swim. No longer would they need to fight the tide.

But Adult Swim's bread and butter is comedy. They wont give up Friday or 12 AM - 1 AM on weekdays for action. Expecting more than a rebrand of Saturday 12 AM - 6 AM is expecting too much. The honest truth is nothing they air will beat Family Guy, American Dad or Robot Chicken regularly. But 12 AM - 6 AM Toonami poses a problem. Keeping people up that late regularly to watch the whole thing will be tough. But half the hours Toonami occupied on Saturday are now Adult Swim's and the first hour in particular could easily do better.

So I offer this suggestion that could put action animation back on the map. Toonami on Adult Swim Saturdays 9 pm till 2 am. Comedy can have 2 am onward for some early morning laughs.

With that I highly recommend sharing The Clone Wars, ThunderCats and maybe YJ and GL. They could cycle in Megas, Titan and Samurai Jack as well. Perhaps even JLU if Warner did not take it back yet.

And I will also go as far as to suggest the 9 hour on the other days becoming Toonami to give Bleach and The Clone Wars weekday runs.

In my mind, that is exactly what they should do to make the best use of the Toonami brand on AS but more so I feel CN should get 9 pm back on weekdays and particularly weekends and Toonami can be the action block on Adult Swim Saturday 10 pm - 2 am on 12 am - 6 am as it was last weekend.

I don't think they need to re-introduce the ASA series to have them air on AST (coining that). But some of them are about to finish their runs as it is. Kekkaishi and DRR to be exact. Relaunching ASA as AST could occur around the time they restart or leave. That could free up space (lol space) for new series and giving FLCL a break makes room for a return of Outlaw Star, Trigun, Gundam Wing, Blue Sub or Yu Yu Hakusho.

I think ideally in the 12 am - 6 am scenario they should aim for 1 to 2 fresh series on top of Bleach premieres. Put the older stuff later into the night near Bebop and GitS. FMAB shouldn't be burried while in its' second full run so keep it in the first two hours. If nothing brand new seems good atm then keep the first hour as is followed by one or two Toonami classics. Maybe bring InuYasha back to a more watchable slot and run shows like ThunderCats, Megas, Titan, I.G.P.X and Jack in the pre-CN hours.

Another suggestion I have is to sell 1 half hour to Funi, Sentai, Bandai or Aniplex and Viz to cycle content on like Syfy did with Manga but that scenario would be much more favorable to those companies if they got 10-12 am instead of 12-2 am or later. That or just get Funi to sponsor an hour since they have are the biggest player. I think if they did sell those pre 12 am slots to licensors they would not have to worry about lower ratings revenue compared to Family Guy and The Boondocks in those slots.

Toonami could truly be the hub for getting people to support the anime industry. That's why earlier would be better and I'd argue loss of ratings to 10:30 - 12:00 am would be more than made up for with a comedy boost 2 am - 6 am when people would rather have a laugh. The 9 pm - 10:30 pm would surely see an improvement as well.

But if they don't want to shake things up then just slap the Toonami package on the usual and add in some new and nostalgic shows. ASA seemed all but dead but Toonami and even a minimal amount of effort could turn that around in a hurry. Afterall they'd be the only game in town for adult targetted anime on basic cable. That means they have all the power to make it work and with great power comes great responsibility and I think we can all agree that they have missused their possition as the only game in town. Not to say they have to do anything but if you are going to do something, do it well.

Do u think [as] will even air toonami I wanna no the ratings

 

[Kuromi_Star]

You know, I think for a lot of people, Toonami is more about "anime" then action, because that's what they remember from the golden days. And if it came back it would need new content. I think the chances of Toonami actually making a return hinges on whether AS wants anime to make a much bigger return on the network. Bebop always seems welcome and is sort of untouchable in the minds of anime fans and WS show runners and It'd work in a 4am slot. But no one likes Kekkashi. We've seen GiTS and FMA a million times. Even TOM can't keep that exciting.

With that in mind, I think 10pm would actually be a good hypothetical time to start Toonami/ASA. You get two hours of AS comedy but you can ease into the stuff for the "Hardcore" crowd. Ideally, AS would stop ignoring comedy anime, but since they got burned on that already I suppose they wouldn't go down that road again. If they did though, I think something like P&S, and a cheap but loved classic that not too many people have seen, like Nerima Daikon Brothers or Excel Saga, and moving the inevitable FLCL rerun up a few hours.

Shounen would be a must, and Mecha would be a plus. Persona 4: The Animation would be a good addition to Bleach, and they could plug the new game. Eureka Seven AO might be a good choice if it didn't end up being too expensive. Tiger and Bunny is of course a favorite. I think lesser known older series that haven't lit up the DVD market could work out too (Devil May cry, Black Blood brothers?)

 

[bla2772]

dose any think adult swim acknowlege what it did on saturday u know like have tht black screen and white words and be like ur welcome for toonami we got huge rations or some thing? and also do u think it will be on adultswim sometime this year . As for me i dont think thell say anything but i do expect toonami sometime in may

 

[Tristan McClark]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'd like to say how mad I am that I missed Toonami's (temporary) return. I stopped watching AS some time ago. Got bored with the comedies.

With that said, sometimes I'm not sure if I want Toonami back. I watched Toonami when it ran Johnny Quest, Voltron, Thundercats, Superfriends, etc. I grew up with some of the shows, literally. When I was in eighth grade, I remember Toonami playing DBZ up until Goku arrived on Namek. Then, 9th grade, the "Second Coming" with Toonami airing the remaining Frieza Saga and Garlic Jr. Saga over summer of 2000. In Fall 2000 (10th grade), they played the Cell Saga. In 2001 (eleventh grade, was the first part of the Buu Saga. In Fall 2002 (12th), the second part of the Buu Saga. In Spring 2003, DBZ finished with Kid Buu. Then, I graduated in May.

Okay, sorry about the rant, I just had to share that. I just had good memories with Toonami, like you guys. When it left, it was like Michael Jordan retiring from the NBA (1st time). I missed it even though I stopped watching Post-JLU. If it comes back again, I feel like it cheapens the "retirement." Like when Jordan came back. I was happy he came back, but...please tell me someone gets my point!

BUT, if Toonami did come back, it could work as a one week thing, with older shows from the 90s and early 2000s. IMO, a late 80s/early 90s show (DBZ), a couple of mid 90s shows (Gundam Wing, Sailor Moon, etc.) really helped define Toonami. And I'm in no way taking away credit from the other shows (Big O, Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, etc.)

Is it me, or did anime define Toonami?

 

[Sketch]

Quality action animation defined Toonami but most of the shows people remember it for did come from Japan. I still see people associate ReBoot, ThunderCats, Batman, Superman, Samurai Jack and Megas XLR with Toonami but those shows are not as quickly associated with Toonami as Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto, Gundam, Tenchi, Outlaw Star, Sailor Moon and most of all DBZ.

 

[GWOtaku]

So I never got the feeling this was entirely a joke. I felt like it was a lot more of a test to see if Toonami would work on Adult Swim.

Matthew Williams called this one.

 

[Captain Maverick]

Matthew Williams called this one.

im interested in where this is going if i knew how to tweet id go there and supposrt it.....

 

[Tristan McClark]

Quality action animation defined Toonami but most of the shows people remember it for did come from Japan. I still see people associate ReBoot, ThunderCats, Batman, Superman, Samurai Jack and Megas XLR with Toonami...

I agree, Toonami had quality shows. When I talk to individuals, they always associate shows like ReBoot and Batman with their Pre-Toonami networks. I know Toonami played Batman TAS, one of my all-time favorites, but I, at some level, always connect BTAS with Fox Kids more than anything. Of course, Samurai Jack and Megas are part of CN, but they don't really credit Toonami for it. It just seemed like anime overshadowed those shows.

 

[GWOtaku]

It's not hard to sign up, all you need is email. There's also Facebook pages for CN and Adult Swim and Cartoon Network's feedback form. Talk to em in whatever way(s) you like.

 

[Gregatron]

Right now on Twitter #BringBackToonami is trending.

I think that's a good sign that we want it back.

 

[Silver]

Matthew Williams called this one.

Dude, Tweeting at the speed of light!

 

[Captain Maverick]

and signed up for twitter just for Toonami and i never had a second thought to do twitter finding it relatively pointless THATS HOW BADLY I WANT THIS BACK FOLKS.
REVOLUTION

 

[tinybrain]

The only fear I have about Toonami going back to Cartoon Network is that they might try to make it like the failed Miguzi block.

I don't think it was a failed block. I enjoyed it during its run since I was in the demographic and ave a lot of nostalgia towards it, and I don't think that it running for as long as Toonami was on Daturday nights is a fail.. But I certainly wouldn't minda a Toonami or Miguzi reboot since I love the anime and action shows on both blocks.

 

[Gregatron]

If I were CN and [AS], I would air Toonami on Friday and Saturday nights.

After Cartoon Planet, I'd use Friday nights to air old anime like Yu Yu Hakusho or DBZ and old action shows like Samurai Jack.

Then Saturday nights they can use the lineup they currently use.