Toonami

[Peanutbutter]

Wow, they all hated what is probably the best episode of the show. Can't wait to see how they react when it gets really bad.

Actually, a couple of them didn't. It may not be as bad as other episodes to come so I could understand some people going into not knowing what the fuss is all about. But for me, just reading about what happens in the last half of the series creeped me out. I may peek at the first few episodes sometime, but I'm not going anywhere near the rest.

[Lord Dalek]

That was the best episode of the show?

It has the least otaku pandering and the best character writing of the entire series.

...I know.

This is going to be a fun 24 weeks.

You have no idea.

[Nel_Annette]

In fact, someone seems really upset about the reaction to the show, even though he admitted that he hasn't seen any of it. Didn't he get that most people did?

[Spark Of Spirit]

That was the best episode of the show?

It has the least otaku pandering and the best character writing of the entire series.

...I know.

This is going to be a fun 24 weeks.

You have no idea.

Truly the Toonami we all deserve.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

OK, Look, I can live with HXH never having a chance of getting licensed and airing on Toonami. Really, I can. What I can't begin to even fathom is why THIS show, which so many people already actively hated, got licensed, dubbed, and aired on Toonami ASAP? Don't the people who are in charge of this block listen to their viewer feedback? Wasn't it already popular to bash this show before it even finished airing? Well, maybe I'm off the mark and it was genuinely popular and had a huge fan-base, but from what I can tell most people were saying it was shit. But, then again, maybe I'm only basing that off of what I've seen people say about the show on this board.

Still, its really starting to tick me off that there are other good shows that could easily be licensed and aired on Toonami for an affordable price, but none of those shows have a shot on a block like this when nobody actually shows any interest in watching them. Its sad, but its the bitter truth of the matter, I suppose.

[Foggle]

Well, maybe I'm off the mark and it was genuinely popular and had a huge fan-base

It does, but not among what I'd assume is Toonami's audience. SAO is written like a bad fanfiction and is stuffed to the brim with otaku-pandering garbage, so it wouldn't really appeal to people who'd want to watch anime dubbed or even on TV.

[Lord Dalek]

Well, maybe I'm off the mark and it was genuinely popular and had a huge fan-base

It does, but not among what I'd assume is Toonami's audience. SAO is written like a bad fanfiction and is stuffed to the brim with otaku-pandering garbage, so it wouldn't really appeal to people who'd want to watch anime dubbed or even on TV.

Which is ironic considering how Kawahara wrote bad fanfiction to his own bad fanfiction.

...which is why I'm looking forward to the lengthy discussion of 16.5 when episode 10 airs.

[LumRanmaYasha]

OK, Look, I can live with HXH never having a chance of getting licensed and airing on Toonami. Really, I can. What I can't begin to even fathom is why THIS show, which so many people already actively hated, got licensed, dubbed, and aired on Toonami ASAP? Don't the people who are in charge of this block listen to their viewer feedback? Wasn't it already popular to bash this show before it even finished airing? Well, maybe I'm off the mark and it was genuinely popular and had a huge fan-base, but from what I can tell most people were saying it was shit. But, then again, maybe I'm only basing that off of what I've seen people say about the show on this board.

Still, its really starting to tick me off that there are other good shows that could easily be licensed and aired on Toonami for an affordable price, but none of those shows have a shot on a block like this when nobody actually shows any interest in watching them. Its sad, but its the bitter truth of the matter, I suppose.

The unfortunate thing is...Sword Art Online was the most talked about and popular new anime of 2012, which is probably why Aniplex was eager to pick it up and pushed for it to air on Toonami. While the show garnered a huge (and deserved) hatedom as it continued on, especially once it's second half began, it still retained plenty of fans who somehow enjoyed it to the end, this audience mainly being the kind of otaku schmucks that like stuff like Bleach and Angel Beats. As far as the entirety of the internet could tell you, the ratio of people who like Sword Art Online to those who don't is about 50/50, the majority opinion being different depending on which forum/site you visit.

I think the Toonami staff no longer trusts fan opinions for the most part because of the massive amount of fans who complained about the block's revival from the beginning and demanded Dragonball Z and those who continued to bash successive acquisitions, although of course GXP's hate was warranted and proven when the show had to be pushed to 3am. In any case, they paid no attention to the overall opinion on the show, and even if they did they saw it as 50/50 and read positive and negative articles about it and felt the negatives weren't deal-breaking. They stated themselves they only watched 2 episodes before picking it up anyway, so they missed the real crap the show shits out further into it's run. As far as the stuff like the incest subplot goes, they probably think people are making it up and it isn't actually in the show. So basically, they picked up the show without actually watching to see if it's questionable content existed and paid no attention to the criticism of the series at all. Aniplex also offered the series at a reasonable price, apparently, and the fact Toonami would have a dub premiere AND an Aniplex series AND a recent anime also likely influenced their decision to pick it up.

As far as Toonzone goes, the forums aren't indicative of a shows general popularity with the masses. The Bleach anime talkbacks on the Adult Swim/Toonami board are primarily negative with only Radical and Zoombie tending to actually enjoy the episode, yet as we all know, Bleach is the highest rated show on the block right now. Until the ratings are released, it is unclear whether the audience of Toonami at large truly hates the series a la GXP, or whether it is a Bleach or Family Guy situation of a show that is generally disliked at sites like Toonzone but enjoyed by casual viewers at large.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Sword Art Online got 930,000 viewers on Saturday. At least it wasn't a million, but those are very strong numbers for 2am, the second time that slot has seen 900,000+ viewers in Toonami's revival. Bah. I don't care how much they paid for it, I hope it does worse and is pushed back in successive weeks a la GXP. It just didn't deserve to be on U.S. television, much less dubbed in English at all.

[Daikun]

I'm not sure whether they have the ability to license the series for television broadcast in the U.S. again, though. They might just have the home video distribution rights. In any case, it'll be great to finally purchase the series on DVD again, since I never bought the season 1 releases Viz put out way back when and they never released it in full. It would be nice if it was a sub-only release, if only to get the final 47 episodes that Viz never dubbed on DVD as well.

A bit of an update: It will only be the Viz-dubbed episodes (1-104), not a complete series release.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well, hopefully they'll at least have the subbed version of those episodes on the discs as well. The dub doesn't really hold up that well, in my opinion, although some moments (Very Melon, for instance) are made even more enjoyable in the dub.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well, it's been confirmed that Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be replacing Eureka 7 when it ends.

Eh, can't say I'm thrilled, but for the most part I thought The Clone Wars was an alright series, although admittedly I stopped watching it after season 2 until the Darth Maul episodes. It's a decent addition to the block,  a CGI american cartoon giving a little variety to the block, and it's aired on [adult swim] before and garnered decent ratings, and around the same level as maturity as the rest of the block Bebop aside, so I'll take it instead of more reruns FLCL or Ghost in the Shell (although I'd like Ghost in the Shell to return to replace Cowboy Bebop after it's current run).

[LumRanmaYasha]

Oh, but in cooler news, Evangelion 2.22: YOU CAN [NOT] ADVANCE will be broadcast on August 31st along with a special goodie! Sweet! 

Shit or not, I wonder if Evangelion 3.33: YOU CAN [NOT] REDO will have a dub premiere release on Toonami? 

[Foggle]

Probably.

As an aside, I wonder how much they'd have to butcher End of Eva to air that.

[Daikun]

The Clone Wars = Meh. Nice to see they're adding more variety to the lineup, but couldn't they pick something better? I really hope it's just filler until something better comes along (hopefully, in a few months).

Evangelion 2.22, though...