Toonami

[Rynnec]

If they're going to keep Bebop, then they may as well put it back-to-back with Trigun and Outlaw Star when they eventually get the rights again. That, and switch over to the BD footage.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh yeah, since other people did this before, I figured why the hell not post my own dream Toonami line-up? Keep in mind that its a "dream" line-up, meaning that its impossible, so don't berate me with comments about how much sense it doesn't make.

11:00 PM - Hunter X Hunter (2011)
11:30 PM - One Piece
12:00 AM - Trigun
12:30 AM - Outlaw Star
1:00   AM - Dragon Ball
1:30   AM - Yu Yu Hakusho
2:00   AM - Full Metal Panic!/Fumoffu/The Second Raid
2:30   AM - The Big O
3:00   AM - Movie Of The Week (i.e. Summer Wars, Redline, Akira, etc.)

There you go, I made a schedule that would completely satisfy me but would make some semblance of reason in terms of scheduling as well. I divided things up into "hours" for this schedule. The first hour is the "Modern Shonen" hour, where replacing Bleach and Naruto would be HXH and One Piece, both of which are long-running shonen series that would have no short supply of new episodes to keep airing on a weekly basis for the largest sum of viewers. Then to have some variety, the second hour is the "Space Western" hour, featuring the two underplayed space westerns for a change (maybe one of them could be swapped out with Black Lagoon if people started getting tired of seeing them reran). The third hour is the "Classic Shonen" hour, which is pretty self-explanatory here. The fourth hour is the "Giant Robot" hour, featuring the only two mecha TV series that I really care about (unless you count Zoids as a mecha series). The final 2 hours could be devoted to a different film each week, and I doubt that this would bother anyone whether they were stand-alone films or not since most people wouldn't stay up late enough to care about it, anyways, unless they were hardcore anime fans who would probably be the people to enjoy this kind of stuff, in the first place.

Also, despite this being a dream-list, I primarily picked shows which I not only like, but which are all action-heavy enough to appeal to Toonami's usual demographic. On that end, it'd probably be the best possible Toonami line-up in my own little perfect world.

On that end, I know that its completely for anime only, but if I were to remove the movie-hour, then I would probably devote the remaining time to animated DC shows (Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and Justice League/Unlimited, which could in turn be switched out with Young Justice once it were finished airing its own run of episodes).

[Daikun]

You're gonna need a lot of coffee for August 31.

Evangelion 2.22 will be nearly 4 hours long.

Scratch that. Zap2It is showing a different schedule. Eva 2.22 ends at 2:15 instead, which makes a lot more sense.

[Avaitor]

Alright, that makes sense!

[gunswordfist]

Let's see:
11: HXH
11:30: Heat Guy J
12:00: Cowboy Bebop
12:30: Outlaw Star
1: Trigun
1:30:  Yu yu Hakusho
2: Lupin The Third
2:30: Case Closed

The old school anime and space cowboy blocks would be great. I wanted to add Big O but no space. Maybe switch it after Heat Guy J's run.

[Daikun]

My dream schedule:

11:00PM - One Piece (Seasons 1-3, full hour every week)
12:00AM - Bleach
12:30AM - Naruto
1:00AM - One Piece (new episodes)
1:30AM - Soul Eater
2:00AM - Yu Yu Hakusho (uncut)
2:30AM - Outlaw Star (uncut)
3:00AM - Motorcity
3:30AM - Big O (both seasons)
4:00AM - Trigun
4:30AM - Cowboy Bebop
5:00AM - Sym-Bionic Titan
5:30AM - Inuyasha

[Rynnec]

My as well post mine:

11:00 - Bleach/Hunter x Hunter
11:30 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure/Attack On Titan
12:00 - Puella Magi Madoka Magica/ Fate Zero
12:30 - Black Lagoon
1:00 - Lagrange: Flower of Rinne
1:30 - Megas XLR
2:00 - Spawn TAS/ Devil May Cry
2:30 - Outlaw Star
3:00 - Trigun
3:30 - Cowboy Bebop
4:00 - Gatchaman
4:30 - Voltron

A slash indicates what show will replace the previous one once it ends.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Crap I totally forgot about JoJo, and by that I don't just mean that its a potentially good fit for Toonami, but also that I need to get back to watching it. Well, maybe I'll just skip the anime and go directly into reading the manga.

Fate Zero is also a good option which I forgot to consider.

As for Madoka Magica, while its definitely a great show, I purposely didn't put it on the list if only because it doesn't feel like a "Toonami" show as much as it does an "Adult Swim" kind of show, if that makes any sense (its the same reason for why I wouldn't include shows like Monster). Its not really anything like Sailor Moon, and it certainly isn't an action-based show, so for the kind of show it is, I don't know how well it fits in with Toonami's usual line-up, but for what its worth, I certainly wouldn't complain about any schedule that was airing Madoka Magica, regardless of whether it fit or not.

The idea of having replacement shows for once a show finishes is definitely a great idea. Here's my list of updated stuff for after a certain period of time in which I would need to air new material after certain shows finished their runs:

11:00 PM - Toriko (I haven't watched that much of it, but its probably important to have a popular show at the beginning)
11:30 PM - One Piece (Because it'll NEVER run out of new episodes to air )
12:00 AM - Black Lagoon/The Second Barrage
12:30 AM - Fate Zero
1:00   AM - Case Closed
1:30   AM - Rurouni Kenshin (only up to the end of the Kyoto arc)
2:00   AM - Saint Seiya
2:30   AM - Zoids: Chaotic Century/Guardian Force
3:00   AM - Either the DC line-up which I mentioned, or stick with the movies

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Let me take a swing at it.

11:00 PM - One Piece
11:30 PM - Bleach
12:00 PM - Naruto
12:30 PM - Hunter X Hunter (2011)/Attack On Titan/JoJo/something else recent
1:00 PM - Big O/ Full Metal Panic/ The Second Raid
1:30 PM - Megas XLR/Motorcity
2:00 PM - Fate Zero
2:30 PM - Trigun/Outlaw Star
3:00 PM - Yu Yu Hakusho/Other older shonen
3:30 PM - Cowboy Bebop
4:00 PM - Black Lagoon/Spawn: TAS
4:30 PM - Samurai Jack/Sym-Bionic Titan
5:00 PM - Batman: TAS/Batman Beyond
5:30 PM - Superman: TAS/Justice League

[gunswordfist]

Ah sweet, Titan love. I can't believe I forgot about Black Lagoon and I'd love to see Megas, Saint Seiya and Supes/JL on there too.

[VLordGTZ]

Here's mine:
11:00 - One Piece
11:30- Hunter x Hunter 2011
12:00 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2012
12:30 - Fate/Zero
1:00 - Black Lagoon
1:30 - Attack on Titan
2:00 -  Madoka Magica
2:30- D. Grayman
3:00 - Samurai Champloo
3:30 - Big O
4:00- Cowboy Bebop
4:30- Ghost in the Shell: SAC
5:00- Yu Yu Hakusho (1 hour)

[LumRanmaYasha]

I would have suggested that they could replace Bebop with it, but looking at Cartoon X's recent post about their Q&A, it looks like they'd never get rid of Bebop if they could help it. The thing is, I love Bebop as much as the next person, but come on, so many people have already seen the show, and I myself have seen it at least half a dozen times over by now. It could stand to be replaced, in all honesty.

I dunno, Cowboy Bebop is just such a classic show, that I think it deserves to be aired at least once a week, and they'll always be new people discovering it and such, so it'd work out ratings wise. I do think it could stand to take a break once in a while though, but at least one run a year isn't bad in my opinion.

As far as Trigun goes, they'd certainty would like to air it again, but to pick it up again would mean spending money that could be used to pick up a newer, previously not broadcasted on Toonami/[adult swim] show. That trade-off is the primary reason they aren't keen to pick up a lot of previously run titles from their past. If FUNimation was willing to sell the rights for a cheaper rate, then maybe they'd go for it, but as long as it costs as much as acquiring a new or unaired show, then they probably won't be picking it up again anytime soon.


As far as my personal "dream" Toonami line-up goes, honestly, if I had my way, Toonami would be airing stuff I hadn't ever seen before. What I loved about the shows on Toonami I enjoyed as a kid, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Zatch Bell, Justice League, and even Naruto back when I could tolerate it, was the enjoyment of seeing something new to you, anticipating a new episode week after week, seeing where things go at a slow, leisurely rate, which is an experience I always enjoy and value, and would make the most fun use of my time, personally. In the age of internet streaming, this is pretty much impossible now, as I've seen a plethora of shows, but last year I got to experience Casshern Sins and Samurai 7 through Toonami, and only Toonami, and I really enjoyed the ride. Like I said, it's impossible to have a Toonami lineup composed of things I haven't seen that would be feasible in any capacity, but that would be my ideal "dream" lineup.

As far as a more schedulable "dream" lineup, assuming the six-hour time limit, unlimited funds to basically replace almost everything on the block right now, the fact no other network is willing to give these shows a slot, plausibility, not including currently unliscensed shows like Hunter X Hunter 2011 and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure ( I would LOVE both on the block, but even in my fantasies I limit myself to what "could happen" in the moment and not what could happen despite), not including shows that have been licensed but haven't been dubbed enough yet like Blood Lad and Gargantia, and giving Bebop a break, mine would look sort of like this:

12:00 InuYasha: The Final Act 
12:30 Tiger and Bunny
1:00 One Piece
1:30 Mitchiko to Hatchin
2:00 Fate/Zero
2:30 Black Lagoon
3:00 Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine
3:30 Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
4:00 Fullmetal Panic!
4:30 The Big O
5:00 Sgt. Frog
5:30 Ranma 1/2

This is more of a "balanced" kind of "dream" lineup. Ideally I would rather  have all adult, "mature" shows on the block, the majority of the programs being stuff like Monster and Serial Experiments Lain, but I like to work with limitations, and to have a "dream" Toonami, airing all "premieres" of shows I like/haven't watched but think I'll like, then this is what I'd go with.

The first hour is the Viz media casual audience friendly hour. The Final Act is there because ratings have shown that despite being repeated incessantly for 10 years, InuYasha reruns still being in good numbers, so I'd feel premieres of The Final Act, the only part of the anime adaption I actually like in any capacity (seriously, I hated InuYasha as a kid, but after reading the manga last year, and then trying to watch it again, I realized the anime is just one of those adaptions that sucks at making the source material look good, like the Toriko and Excel Saga animes. Final Act turned out all right, though, so I'd like to see it on Toonami at some point, just so that the entire story in played out in anime form on tv in the U.S.). Tiger and Bunny could be a pretty big hit among casuals considering it's concept and plot, so I think it'd be a great choice for early in the block. Basically the point of this hour would be to draw in a good chunk of casual viewers, much like the point of Bleach and Naruto's hour is now, except unlike those two, these shows are actually good.

The 1am hour has not theme and just continues the momentum of the beginning. One Piece is at 1am simply because One Piece at 1am is kinda cool, but also because it's just a good anchor for the ratings momentum. Mitchiko to Hatchin is one of those shows that I think would do fantastic if they ever aired it because it's a Watannabe show with a similar tone to Bebop's, so that's pretty self-explanatory.

The 2am hour is where things start to get more "adult" with some real kick-ass shows, and then the 3am hour is basically for shows that they would have to edit more severely if the aired them any earlier, but could still air with a reasonable amount of edits at that time. The 4am hour is the Giant Robot Hour which I think they want to have in the block at all times. The Big O is there because it's the only Sentai property that they have that I think would ever get on Toonami and I know they want something of their on the block, but you can replace it with Gun X Sword or Gurren Lagann or more ideally a Gundam series when that franchise gets rescued, or even Megas XLR as unlikely as that is, and it'd be just as good an hour if not better. The final hour is basically a transition hour with lighter action/comedy shows. Since Gintama's never getting dubbed, Devil and Blood Lad haven't been started to be dubbed, and Bobobo ain't likely to come back, I went with Sgt. Frog which I simply want to get on tv so that FUNimation will at least dub up to the Keroro Platoon vs. Gaururu Platoon battle, and Ranma 1/2 because I know they wanted to air it back and the day and it's one of DeMarco's favorite animes and it's going to get relevant again thanks to rereleases of both the anime AND manga next year, so why not?

Most of the stuff in my list is either new for me (as in I haven't seen them but want to), new to the network, new to television (or at least a to a network most people actually have), dub premieres, all of the above or a combination of all of the above. I love several classics from Gigantor to Dragonball to Trigun, but I'd rather watch a Toonami with shows I haven't seen before or haven't seen in dubbed form before or at the very least haven't been seen on tv before otherwise, but obviously I would still watch Outlaw Star and Trigun if they ever decided to put 'em back on, since I love those shows.

Even though I LOVE Case Closed, they said a while back on the Tumblr they don't want to air it because they don't think it fits, so even though this is only a dream schedule, I can't bring myself to even consider it. Dammit, will I ever get to see episodes with Ai Haibara/Anita Hailey dubbed? 

Madoka Magica is one of my favorites too, but I don't like the dub, so while I would still love it on the block, in my personal fantasy dream schedule I'd prefer other stuff.

EK's movie of the week idea is awesome, but personally movies mean more to me as occasional things rather than a weekly occurrence, so while I'd love a movie month, I personally wouldn't care for movies year-round.

I didn't put any DC shows because even though I would like to see several of them on the block, they don't want their shows anywhere near Toonami for brand image purposes, much like Cartoon Network with Samurai Jack. If they ever change their mind on that, though, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Batman: The Brave and the Bold would be good places to start until The Hub relinquishes their rights to Batman: The Animated Series.

Scratch that. Zap2It is showing a different schedule. Eva 2.22 ends at 2:15 instead, which makes a lot more sense.

Yeah, I kinda thought that was the case.

11:00 PM - Toriko (I haven't watched that much of it, but its probably important to have a popular show at the beginning)

FUCK. NO.

The Toriko manga, while not a top favorite of mine, is quite good. Lots of fun adventure and sense of humor, in direct contrast to some of the most brutal, violent, gory, and intense battles in modern shonen manga that can even sometimes make your jaw drop. The anime? It ruins it, worse than Toei has ever ruined anything ever. Poor pacing, filler, annoying anime-only characters, some of the worst animation in any of Toei's work, and the kicker? They censor the hell out of the battles in the series, and extend them with copious padding, coupled with the aforementioned subpar animation. Toriko vs. Tommyrod is an epic, intense fight in the manga, but in the anime it's as boring as drying paint.

I'd recommend the Toriko manga to anyone looking for a fun battle adventure manga along the lines of One Piece, with the warning that the series doesn't really get great until Toriko v. Grinpatch in volume 7. But the anime is terrible as an adaption, and while I guess I wouldn't mind it if it got on Vortexx or something, I don't want it anywhere near Toonami.

[Daikun]

Oh hi, Iago!

[gunswordfist]

Lol @ me naming Lupin but not even thinking of Fujiko Mine.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I dunno, Cowboy Bebop is just such a classic show, that I think it deserves to be aired at least once a week, and they'll always be new people discovering it and such, so it'd work out ratings wise. I do think it could stand to take a break once in a while though, but at least one run a year isn't bad in my opinion.

Sure, its a good show, but the same can be said about a lot of shows. It doesn't mean that you need to re-run the hell out of it all the time. By now there are enough people who have become fans of Cowboy Bebop that you won't be getting too many new fans these days just by airing it at some obscure time. At least give some other shows a chance. Cowboy Bebop has been reran for YEARS on CN (it was always on Adult Swim before Toonami, so its been around for a while). In contrast, it has been YEARS since shows like Outlaw Star and Trigun have aired on CN, so you could theoretically pull in a lot more new fans for those shows that have had less exposure as of late than you could for a show that's as well-known as Cowboy Bebop.

As far as Trigun goes, they'd certainty would like to air it again, but to pick it up again would mean spending money that could be used to pick up a newer, previously not broadcasted on Toonami/[adult swim] show. That trade-off is the primary reason they aren't keen to pick up a lot of previously run titles from their past. If FUNimation was willing to sell the rights for a cheaper rate, then maybe they'd go for it, but as long as it costs as much as acquiring a new or unaired show, then they probably won't be picking it up again anytime soon.

I have no problem with that logic, but as you can remember, my point was that it could be used to replace Cowboy Bebop, which is where our opinions differ. I disagree that Cowboy Bebop should keep running on Toonami, on the grounds that its an older show that a lot of people have already seen to death, and its not worth it to keep it going just for the few people who haven't yet seen it (they could just buy the upcoming Blu-Rays if they are so inclined to view it for themselves). Its much more practical to give another one of the older shows a shot in its place.

This is more of a "balanced" kind of "dream" lineup. Ideally I would rather  have all adult, "mature" shows on the block, the majority of the programs being stuff like Monster and Serial Experiments Lain

Except that's not what Toonami was ever about. What you're describing is an ideal Adult Swim block. Toonami always had a central theme, and its primarily about shows that are fun and entertaining. That doesn't mean that they can't be adult as well, but stuff like Monster, as much as I love it, is not a series well-suited to a block like Toonami. The same goes for stuff like Madoka Magica.

FUCK. NO.

The Toriko manga, while not a top favorite of mine, is quite good. Lots of fun adventure and sense of humor, in direct contrast to some of the most brutal, violent, gory, and intense battles in modern shonen manga that can even sometimes make your jaw drop. The anime? It ruins it, worse than Toei has ever ruined anything ever. Poor pacing, filler, annoying anime-only characters, some of the worst animation in any of Toei's work, and the kicker? They censor the hell out of the battles in the series, and extend them with copious padding, coupled with the aforementioned subpar animation. Toriko vs. Tommyrod is an epic, intense fight in the manga, but in the anime they flat out ruined it.

As opposed to the anime adaptations of Naruto and Bleach which do the same thing, except that they are based on already bad manga? I'm aware of Toei's track record of ruining anime (they did it long before Toriko for DBZ), but I'd rather take a bad adaptation of a good manga over a bad adaptation of a shitty one.