Toonami

[Daikun]

Okay, this promo made me laugh.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB3iaCUaDHk&feature=player_embedded

That was badass!

Nice job, Steve!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Saturday night's Toonami block also scored success: new episodes of One Piece (1 a.m.) and Soul Eater (1:30 a.m.) ranked #1 in their respective timeslots among all targeted young adults and men, Bleach (12 a.m.) ranked #1 in its timeslot among adults 18-34 and men 18-24 & 18-34, and Naruto (12:30 a.m.) ranked #1 in its timeslot among adults and men 18-24 & 18-34. All new episodes within the anime block earned impressive double-digit growth across adults 18-34 & 18-49 and all targeted men  ranging between 15% and 348%  vs. the same time period last year.

12:00a Bleach 977,000
12:30a Naruto 961,000
1:00a One Piece 995,000
1:30a Soul Eater 981,000

[gunswordfist]

I know I haven't posted on these forums at all since, like, November or something, but I've got a lot to talk about and I might as well talk about it here.

Apparently, there's a rumor going around that Soul Eater, my 23rd favorite anime, could be replacing Samurai 7 on Febuary 16th.

I don't know if you guys like Soul Eater or not, since it's, you know, shonen, (I'm sure that Foggle hates it), but if this is true then it'll be the best aquisition the block has made since it's revival. Although Soul Eater is only an above-average shonen series (and its ending is stupid as hell), it's well-animated, popular, relatively recent, nicely paced, and light enough to fit next to Naruto and Thundercats while also being dark enough to make it stand out next to them. Its 51 episode length means Toonami's got a premiering show that'll last a full year, which means they won't have to worry about replacing the other shows for the time being. Oh, and it should get good ratings, better than Samurai 7. Picture it folks. 4 shows on Toonami that get over a million viewers. Good stuff.

Personally, though, I sorta hope this isn't true. While I loved the show when I originally watched it, and it's a good show and a damn better shonen series than Naruto and Bleach (overall), it doesn't hold up quite well enough in comparison to my other anime favorites like Case Closed and Yu Yu Hakusho. More importantly, it means that a NEW series, created after 2010, recently dubbed, will not be comming to Toonami yet. I think we will get Michiko to Hachin on Toonami at some point because it's a Watannabe series, but I really think Toonami needs a fresher series now rather than later, preferably one not released on dvd beforehand (or at least less than six months beforehand). So, I can't really be excited for Soul Eater if it really is comming to Toonami, but I will watch, and I DO and WILL enjoy it, but I really hope the show replacing Thundercats in March will be NEW, not "new."

Also, I'll say it again and will continue to say it untill it happens, Toonami needs to air Black Lagoon. I don't love the show, it's certaintly not one of my top 25 favorite anime, but it's undeniably bad-ass and is the kind of show Toonami NEEDS. They might as well cough up the money for Inuyasha: The Final Act too. I don't like the anime version, but it'll get good ratings and has better animation and pacing than Naruto and Bleach, in my opinion.

Besides those, they should put Batman: The Brave and the Bold on Toonami. They might as well since neither Cartoon Network or Boomerang are airing it, and it'd bring more variety to the block.

I like Toonami, by the way. I don't care what you guys think about it not being how it was in the glory days, the promos and music videos and bumps are awesome and define exactly what makes Toonami so great. Besides, the lineup is waaaaaayyy better than the lineups in 1997-1998, 2002, and 2006-2008. It's at least on par with the Fall 2005 lineup. I don't watch it every week, and haven't kept up with any of the shows except Tenchi Muyo! GXP (your guess is as good as mine on why), but besides Bleach I don't think any of the shows on the block are awful and the rising ratings for the block are a positive sign that many people, Toonami fans or not, feel the same way. I wan't better shows on Toonami, for sure, but the fact that they put so much effort into the block (especially when compared to [adult swim] action), prevents me from being indifferent to or hating Toonami 2012.

Seriously though. Black Lagoon. On Toonami. Now.

Ah sweet, another Case Closed fan.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

12:00a Bleach 977,000
12:30a Naruto 961,000
1:00a One Piece 995,000
1:30a Soul Eater 981,000

While its probably just this first episode and maybe a few more that'll experience fairly high ratings due to all of the hype built up around One Piece's return (I'm pretty sure those numbers will drop soon), I have to admit that I'm also quite pleased to see One Piece doing better than Naruto and Bleach for once, even if its only something that will be short-lived. Though, you have to keep in mind that Naruto is airing re-runs that most fans have probably already seen countless times. Were this Naruto Shippuden, it would probably get much higher ratings. That isn't to say that its ratings are reflective of its quality, but that's just the fact of the matter, since that would be newer material for the fans of the English dub.

[LumRanmaYasha]

While its probably just this first episode and maybe a few more that'll experience fairly high ratings due to all of the hype built up around One Piece's return (I'm pretty sure those numbers will drop soon), I have to admit that I'm also quite pleased to see One Piece doing better than Naruto and Bleach for once, even if its only something that will be short-lived. Though, you have to keep in mind that Naruto is airing re-runs that most fans have probably already seen countless times. Were this Naruto Shippuden, it would probably get much higher ratings. That isn't to say that its ratings are reflective of its quality, but that's just the fact of the matter, since that would be newer material for the fans of the English dub.

One Piece has gotten quite a bit of hype, but mostly inside the confines of the block itself. The promos for it haven't really aired much more frequently outside the block than many other of Toonami's previous acquisitions, at least from what I saw.

Naruto has managed to beat Bleach in the ratings a couples of times, actually, even though it is just reruns. New Shippuden would do better, of course, likely markedly better, but the original Naruto reruns are competing well in target and total viewers against other shows in it's timeslot and with Bleach.

One Piece's premiere stands out to me because, not only is it the highest series premiere Toonami 2012 has had so far, it is the first series airing in the 1am timeslot that has managed to beat Bleach in the ratings, even if it was only slightly. Also, the fact that pretty much all of One Piece's viewers stuck around for Soul Eater signals to me that most people that watched the show that night watched it all the way through, and even though the episode was likely confusing to those who haven't seen the series before, I think it made enough good impressions to retain sizable viewers for the future. After all, the premiere episodes of the series Toonami has aired have never been the highest they've managed to get throughout their run, with their ceilings generally being at least a good 200k viewers higher. I don't expect One Piece beating Bleach and Naruto to be a continuing trend (this week being memorial day weekend will mean all of the shows on the block will have poor ratings anyway), but I am more confident that One Piece will hold consistent ratings in it's timeslot now.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Oh, wow. The key adult 18-49 demographic ratings for the One Piece/Soul Eater hour are even more impressive...

1. Cleveland Show, 10:30 PM - 0.76
2. Family Guy, 10 PM - 0.69
3. Soul Eater, 1:30 AM - 0.50
4. One Piece, 1 AM - 0.50
5. Boondocks, 11:30 PM - 0.48
6. Black Dynamite, 11 PM - 0.48
7. Naruto, 12:30 AM - 0.41
8. Bleach, 12 AM - 0.41
9. Family Guy, 9:30 PM - 0.39
10. Thundercats, 3 AM - 0.29
11. Eureka 7, 2:30 AM - 0.29
12. IGPX, 2 AM - 0.26
13. Sym-Bionic Titan, 3:30 AM - 0.24
14. Full Metal Alchemist, 4 AM - 0.23
15. InuYasha, 5:30 AM - 0.21
16. InuYasha, 5 AM - 0.20
17. Cowboy Bebop, 4:30 AM - 0.20

On a tangent, look at the drop between Soul Eater and IGPX...

[Rynnec]

Yeah, IGPX looks like it won't be impressing anyone. Granted, it won't be as big a bomb as it was before.

That's great for One Piece and Soul Eater though!

[Daxdiv]

I'm actually happy that One Piece beat out Bleach and Naruto this week. Though I think the Bleach episode was a silly filler or something about making a movie and Naruto was that test episode. I think next week's Naruto might be that clip show episode when Naruto moved to a different time slot in Japan and tried to get people up to speed or something. *Checks an episode list* Yep, unless Toonami is skipping that one, I imagine that nothing of value will be lost ratings wise.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Bleach, even during the worst of it's fillers on the block, has always been the ceiling of the block's key adult and total viewers and nothing until Naruto (which came around during it's canon portions) has been able to match or surpass it within the block. One Piece and Soul Eater beating the two of them at all in both is thus quite significant. No show airing after Bleach and Naruto, Soul Eater in the previous weeks included, has managed to topple their dominance as the highest rated shows in the block. What's more, they beat the 11pm Black Dynamite/Boondocks hour too, again unprecedented for any show airing in the 1am hour since the block's return. I have to wonder, with the best of both series yet to come, if these ratings might remain consistent for the 1am hour, and if that will be the final factor that will lead to the expansion of Toonami into the 11pm hour.

And IGPX's drop is unacceptable. I think the show is okay so far myself, but with that kind of performance after the high performing Soul Eater I could very well see it getting shafted down to the 3am hour a la Tenchi Muyo! GXP.

[gunswordfist]

Is Naruto mostly uncut on Toonami or is it straight up replays of its old Toonami afternoon run? I still don't have CN.

[Rynnec]

Uncut, and advertised as such.

[gunswordfist]

Uncut, and advertised as such.

Get these motherfucking foxes off of my motherfucking plane.

[Daxdiv]

Well we're getting Sword Art Online in the summer. Whoever fed/joked about that idea is bad and should feel bad.

[LumRanmaYasha]

 

WHY, TOONAMI? WHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?

[Daikun]

With any luck, they'll probably air it at 2AM or later when everyone's asleep since they're airing premieres during the other first two hours of the block.

If #ExpandToonami fails before August, this could be a good thing.

Let's face it: Soul Eater and the Big 3 are really all they need to keep strong, consistent ratings. SAO will just be filler after Eureka 7 ends.