Toonami

[LumRanmaYasha]

The show probably wouldn't do good in ratings, either way, but if nothing else I'll definitely be watching it now that the English dub is starting off from where I left off on it.

One Piece didn't do awful in ratings when it was on Cartoon Network. I'm not sure how well it will do, but I believe that it can at least get over a million consistently, at least once they start airing Water 7+Enies Lobby.

I don't think that OP sells all that well for FUNimation, despite the quality effort that they put into it.

If it wasn't selling for them they would have dropped it already. They've had no qualms with dropping other long running series before, as this Case Closed, Sgt. Frog, and Shin Chan fan can tell you. Also it's one of the top 5 anime on Hulu, so it's moderately popular at the least.

[Rynnec]

One Piece will probably do better than Soul Eater. Whether it can get Naruto and Bleach size ratings is another matter.

[LumRanmaYasha]

One Piece will probably do better than Soul Eater. Whether it can get Naruto and Bleach size ratings is another matter.

I doubt it. One Piece never achieved Naruto size ratings on Cartoon Network, but it did do well enough to be kept around until it was already decided Toonami would be cancelled. So doing better than Soul Eater's average would be just fine, since that show does around a million usually. Of course, it's really a matter of viewer retention. Right now, Soul Eater seems to lose 150-200,000 viewers from Naruto. I'd hope One Piece would only lose around 100,000 or even less, but as long as it doesn't drop more than 250,000 viewers from Naruto it'll be fine.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well, tonight is the night the new look premieres. Wonder how the new format's going to be like. I might stay up for the first 2.5 hours just to catch IGPX and get the feel of the new look.

Man, it's hard to believe that it's almost been a year already since Toonami came back. They've come a long way, and the future looks bright. With Bleach and Naruto surpassing or matching the Black Dynamite and The Boondocks ratings before them, expansion also seems to be in the cards  soon too.

For anyone interested, Ishtar over at Toonzone made an archive of every Saturday night Toonami lineup since the block was relegated to Saturdays on April 17 2004. ALL OF THEM. It's worth checking out if you want to glance at older times and see how the block has changed over the years.

http://itachiishtar.tumblr.com/ToonamiSchedules

[Peanutbutter]

I'm still enjoying Soul Eater. Something about the protagonists makes them enjoyable unlike other anime series out there where they can be too obnoxious. It helps too that it doesn't take anything too seriously, and the humor is funny.

I have to say, I watched all of IGPX back when it came on, but I don't like it. I don't hate it either, but its one of a few shows I can say didn't click with me. I liked the initial shorts where the robots fought each other, but I found the series generic and too filled up with Sports Team Show cliches. That being said, if Toonami still does well and expands I hope someday we might can see them take another crack at an original series.


And I still wouldn't mind seeing Megas XLR again.

[Kiddington]

Eh, it was okay. At least Sara's back, so I had something of a nostalgia blast again, for one night anyway.

Judging by my Twitter feed, you'd think IGPX was the GREATEST FUCKING SHOW IN THE UNIVERSE ALSO PETER CULLEN'S HERE AND SAYS STUFF AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH, but honestly... I dunno. It was okay I guess. Didn't really blow me away or anything. Guess I probably should give it a couple more kicks at the can before passing final judgement, though.

I dunno, man. I'm just not feeling the Toonami comeback like I thought I would. I guess the AFD stunt and subsequent excitement was just the nostalgia talking more than anything. I try to watch this block, but I just can't get into any of this stuff (unless I feel like combing over Bebop for the millionth time, but that only goes so far). Meh. 

[Nel_Annette]

Like Eureka 7, IGPX was boring when it originally aired and it's boring now. Never understood where the heaps of praise come from.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I'm starting to believe that most people who watch Toonami don't really care if the show is actually good so much as it has TOM and the Absolution in-between. IGPX was always a boring show and no amount of marketing will change that.

[Avaitor]

I'm starting to believe that most people who watch Toonami don't really care if the show is actually good so much as it has TOM and the Absolution in-between. IGPX was always a boring show and no amount of marketing will change that.

Pretty much.

I love TOM and I think it's cool that Sara's back, but I haven't cared in a while.

[Lord Dalek]

IGPX was crap when it aired. I don't think 7 years of being locked up in rights hell has improved its smell.

[Rynnec]

I'm starting to believe that most people who watch Toonami don't really care if the show is actually good so much as it has TOM and the Absolution in-between. IGPX was always a boring show and no amount of marketing will change that.

IGPX has always had its fans though. Same with Eureka 7. Deadman, S7, and GXP are more peculiar though.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm starting to believe that most people who watch Toonami don't really care if the show is actually good so much as it has TOM and the Absolution in-between. IGPX was always a boring show and no amount of marketing will change that.

I love Toonami, and think they have done a great job in livening up the action/anime lineup so much under a year's time, and think they are going in solid direction. That said, I don't watch Toonami every week, and I only watch what I like. I have no intention of watching shows I do not like on Toonami, which is why I don't watch Bleach, Naruto, or Tenchi GXP (I did try to keep up with those last two for a couple weeks before jumping ship, though). As it stands now,  I only watch Soul Eater, Thundercats, and IGPX on Toonami, because I do like the first two (most of the time, anyway) and I haven't seen IGPX before and from that first episode it looks to be decent enough for me to give it a few more episodes.

When they were on, I did watch Casshern Sins, and Samurai 7 because I liked them and thought they were decent shows. I'm honestly surprised by most of the hate and criticism for Samurai 7 because while it wasn't necessarily top tier material for me personally, it was still an action-packed and engaging show that was fun to keep up with. As for Casshern Sins, I ended up not watching a lot of the episodes, but the ones I did watch weren't bad at all and a couple of them were mildly touching. The only show on Toonami that I didn't like but watched anyway was Deadman Wonderland because my brother liked it and the show was fun in a "over-the-top melodramatic" sort of way. 

IGPX has always had its fans though. Same with Eureka 7. Deadman, S7, and GXP are more peculiar though.

From what I can see, people like Deadman Wonderland because it's violence is over the top and they get a kick out of the gore. Samurai 7 is a solid show, and I still an not sure why it has so many haters even if it made the questionable decision to remake Kurosawa's masterpiece with Samurai v. Giant Robot battles. Tenchi Muyo! GXP...yeah, I'm not sure why people would keep up with that show, like at all. It's not funny, it's not action-packed, it's not interesting,  it doesn't have good characters, it's just dull. It's not Wulin Warriors or D.I.C.E bad, but it's mediocre at best. The only redeeming factor it has is that it gets good ratings for it's timeslot which helps keep the second half of the block solid in the ratings most weeks. 

I truly think most people who watch Toonami are actually casual viewers. I do not see hardcore anime fans caring about Toonami all that much. Most of the anime fans that I know in real life do not watch Toonami. A lot of them still didn't know it was back until I mentioned it to them. I think it's fair to assume that the hardcore viewer base of Toonami is relatively small compared to the casual viewer base, and Toonami has succeeded in capturing the interest of this latter group. It might not be the Toonami brand itself that interests them, but the shows and packaging together seem to do the job of getting casual viewers to stick around longer and check out the shows. I would say that Cowboy Bebop and InuYasha reruns have been performing solidly, surprisingly so, for this reason. While I know there are a lot of diligent Toonami fans who take the six hour challenge every night ( my little brother is one of them), I still think that most people who watch Toonami are casual viewers who don't really care about anime or Toonami so much as the shows they find to be "good" and like to watch.

[Rynnec]

I personally found Samurai 7 to be rather dull and boring. It had its charm, but it wasn't really anything to write home about. A show about Samurai vs Mecha should not be that dull.

I think you're right on the money on most of Toonami's audience being casual viewers.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

I'd actually love to watch IGPX and Sym-bionic Titan again.

What I can't wrap my head around is how people could sit through an hour of Bleach and Naruto.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I'd actually love to watch IGPX and Sym-bionic Titan again.

What I can't wrap my head around is how people could sit through an hour of Bleach and Naruto.

Because... I don't even know. Ask Sketch or Tactless about that.