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So this might turn into a wall of text. But I wanted to express my thoughts of last night's Toonami run and try and get my hand on y'all's feelings on the matter.

So, first of all, I hope everyone watched. Or at least a lot of people here watched. Adult Swim needs every viewer they can get. And while I'm thinking about it, I hear that the ratings won't be out until the middle of the week. I hate to say it, but I'm worried they didn't fare as well as 4/1's Toonami run, especially later into the night. That's really just my guess though; we'll just have to see.

On to the block itself. I thought the new TOM animations were fine, even if they weren't extremely ambitious. Further, I thought the use of the old material was well done; the last thing I saw before going to sleep was the Absolution fly by the camera as some old atmospheric music played. It was a cool moment. The review wasn't bad either, and the game they took a look at actually seemed interesting.

To put it a little more succinctly, the Toonami frame given to the shows was pretty cool. Not a lot of surprises, but not bad.

On to the issue of the budget. And I'll talk about the programs themselves a little here. Look, I know Toonami currently has a budget of, like, $50. Turner, from what I understand, doesn't believe in the block, and I know that Steve Blum is voicing TOM for next to nothing, though he could be asking for a huge paycheck. Normally I wouldn't be worried about this, but without more money, they can't put on everyone's favorite shows, or get out of that horrible time slot. And without classic shows which cost tons to get a hold of, the block will lose viewers. Part of Toonami's appeal (I'd be willing to say the majority of the appeal) is in nostalgia. They can't pander to a new generation of fans at midnight on a Saturday, and the old generation of fans wants DBZ, Gundam, Outlaw Star and the like on. Deadman Wonderland and Casshern Sins would fit well on Adult Swim Action, but aren't the type of programs people think of when they think Toonami. I think choosing a really graphic, dark show followed by a melancholy and somewhat confusing show isn't gonna get people excited about turning on the TV on Saturday, and that's going to be a serious problem. They need to have viewers to make viewers, and neither of the premieres seemed to generate week in and week out loyalty. Of course, this is pure speculation on my part; everyone here could be PUMPED about the new stuff. I dunno. Tell me what you think.

Now I do have a question. How the crap did they get cleared to play those nostalgia filled shows on April Fool's? Other networks have DBZ and friends locked up, right?

Anyway, the shows themselves, in a little more detail.
Bleach- was Bleach. Not the best, but not the worst thing I've ever seen. If nothing else, it's safe, and I'd bet it got the highest ratings pretty easily.
Deadman Wonderland- Holy CRAP this one was dark. And I mean DARK. I was kinda hoping they'd try to bring back Toonami with something sorta fun, but HOLY CRAP. Again, not a bad show, but waaay too much for me personally. ….I'll probably still watch it every week, however.
Casshern Sins- Gloomy and confusing. Still enjoyed it, (I mean, I like seeing anime on TV in general) but I don't want to be as confused as I was during The Big O again. Has potential, but unless the plodding explanations speed up, this'll be a ratings sinkhole.
FMA:B- I really like this show, but I'm worried people are gonna get sick of seeing it.
GITS:S.A.C. 2nd GIG- A little disappointed by this one; I've never been able to get in to GITS in any form. Hopefully everyone else disagrees and the show soars, but I'm not so sure.
Cowboy Bebop- I also love this show, but it has the same problem as Fullmetal Alchemist-overexposure.

All in all, it wasn't really what I wanted so much, but I understand Adult Swim's predicament, and I can sympathize with them. Nothing was terrible, but this return was hardly the love letter the fans got on 4/1. I just hope they can get more money, so I'll continue to tell people: Watch the block. Just leave your TV on if nothing else. I'm not thrilled by what I saw, but I get that you've got to walk before you run. I'm just glad to see TOM back on TV, and I want to tell people to KEEP WATCHING THE BLOCK to keep him there. It'll improve with time.

TL;DR Version/ Bottom Line: Toonami didn't come back the way we all wanted it to, but for now, that's okay. It's understandable. Let's just be patient with the return for a while. Keep watching, even the boring stuff. I'm scared the new stuff might alienate a more casual audience, and I really hope I'm wrong on this, but it's very possible the ratings just drop off a cliff starting next week. I mean, I've got no hard evidence, so let me know: what did YOU think of last night, if you caught it? I liked it personally, but I'm worried about its future. Prove me wrong.

I stopped watching Toonami the second bleach came on. Now i feel like a retard for not waiting for other shows to come on. O_O

ಠ_ಠ My face when Bleach came on.

>Is in England without Toonami

I feel like this is very similar to this thread or at least similar enough. But I guess it's different enough at the same time. But as it stands, let this one be the thread for Toonami-related discussion and let the other one die.

I think you're dead on, supermack. It didn't really seem like Toonami of old, and I think the big appeal of the April Fools' airing was the nostalgia. The current shows won't bring in the casual anime fan, and I think hardcore otaku will get their fix elsewhere (i.e. via the Internet that provides subtitles or they already own/have the series they like.) As such, it may not have the ratings that it had for the one-shot April 1st showing or that it had in its heyday. And if the current ratings over the next few weeks aren't strong enough, then they may not bother with paying Steve Blum or making new animations for T.O.M. and the Absolution.

The good news is that Deadman Wonderland was trending on Twitter last night, so that fared no worse than more popular shows did on 4/1. I watched it all of the way through, and I like the episodes well enough, but I am a bit more stoked about Toomami's return, in any capacity, than most casual anime fans.
 
I'll give my opinions of the shows as well.

Bleach: lol i dun watch that. It's too far along for me to know what's going on, so I had the show on, and just waited for the two new shows.

Deadman Wonderland: Yeah. That was pretty freakin' dark. But I actually enjoyed it. It's not what you'd expect from Toonami, but I think they may just be trying to boost ratings for the Saturday night anime block. I think this show could catch on, because I know exactly what's going on, and I like the premise.

Casshern Sins: Wish I could say the same for this show. Again, I agree with supermack, in that this sorta moved slowly and was a bit confusing. Melancholy is a suitable adjective for it, and it's not as fun as something like Zatch Bell!, DBZ, Naruto, the Tenchi series', the Zoids series, or even IGPX which all had action as well.

GITS:SAC 2nd Gig If I got the acronyms right, then I'd be impressed with myself. I liked this episode, but I have the same issue with it as I did with Fullmetal Alchemist and Cowboy Bebop. It didn't start with episode one (or at least I couldn't tell it was the beginning.) I don't know if they were already airing those three shows, so restarting them from the beginning wouldn't have made sense for those who were already loyal to the block. If Toonami's existence wasn't riding on it, then I'd probably watch it on a regular basis.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: This seemed to be something I could see in Toonami. It's still a little heavy, but it's something comfortable so far. I still can't grasp the full appeal of the show or why it was so popular though.

Cowboy Bebop: I differ from you on this, supermack. I think it's a great show to end with. I think that it's enough to keep people watching throughout the entire block, and the rest of the shows are enjoyable enough to keep watching if nothing else is on.

Personally, I'm an easy sell. I don't watch much TV, and I'd just be online otherwise. This is an improvement. With success, however, that is defined, Toonami will be able to get a better timeslot or will have more security for the current one (I have no problem with Toonami being in the Midnight Run timeslot.) They may also be able to get more shows or different ones as well. But I do share supermack's concern.

I'm sorry you know that feel.

I just don't like bleach. I mean the show used to be good but they just keep milking the plot for this unavoidable side-story bullshit with "OH NOES THE SOUL REAPERS GET ATTACKED BY SOME LARGE GROUP FOR SOME REASON WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT." And "QUICK GET ICHIGO AND HIS FRIEND TO HELP US NAO." Then "OH NOES ICHIGO LOST THE FIGHT WUT NOW?" To "ICHIGO AND HIS FRIEND MUST TRAIN EVEN MORE THAN THEY NEED TO" Then "ICHIGOYOU HARDLY WON THE FIGHT BUT YOU STILL DESERVE IT." To "LEZ ALL CLEAN UP EVERYTHING" Repeat. It's seriously making me sick to my stomach and it's something that i don't wanna sit through again. I'd rather slam my head in a car door and put my hand on a hot stove then watch the new series of bleach again.

End story/Rant

^ sigh…

Bleach is a formulaic, billion episode series that I don't care for much myself. I don't have the deep distaste others have for it, but it's just not an outstanding series. I was expressing my disbelief that you didn't stick around for the whole block, not your dislike of bleach. In the form of a hilarious gif.

Oh.

Can i go sit in the corner and feel stupid now?

Maybe you're right about Cowboy Bebop. People who have been watching the block for a long time now (such as myself) might not be too pleased with seeing it again. It's been playing every Saturday for well over a year now. Personally, I like it. It's one of my favorite shows ever. But if it's going to lose viewers, it should go. I just hope there are enough people who haven't seen it in a while or even never seen it to justify it being on the block. And to address your other point: yes, they picked up these shows in sequence to where they were last week, I guess to keep from losing whatever chunk of the viewers are following the show in sequence. Restarting FMAB, to someone who picked it up about half a year back, would be hugely annoying.

As for the timeslot, I sort of want it earlier, for the sake of exposure, and just so I can start sleeping those nights. Showing Deadman Wonderland at any earlier time than about midnight is going to be a problem considering the content. While I'm thinking about it, I thought is was weird that they gave a content warning before Casshern and GITS, but not Deadman. It was the only TV-MA program and it got no warning. But that's just splitting hairs, I suppose.

Basically what they're doing is rebranding their regular Saturday anime block in order to capitalize on the nostalgia created by Toonami. They're showing the same shit they always show, with TOM at the helm instead of nothing. I really think they need to add some new stuff or else this little experiment is going to meet a bad end.

Nah man, it's cool.

Have a cold one.

Well, they've only got so much to work with such scant funding. I think if they COULD show DBZ and friends, they would. Because that's obviously going to bring people in. But those shows are too expensive at the moment. Outside of shows they already own, their hands are tied. Aside from the premieres, of course, which I assume were relatively inexpensive. Just keep calm and support the block.

Wasn't it great, though?

I wonder if we'll EVER have it back…

If it can just survive here long enough, hopefully you will. How long was the original delay between the very first Toonami premiere here in the U.S. and the English premiere?

I had been expecting it to not be all that great to be quite honest. I knew that they were going to have to scrounge the funds, and that they wouldn't play the shows they used to.

That's why I loved it.

Now then… On to what I didn't love. The segments, the ones I remember from when I was a wee lad, were longer… They were probably hard-pressed for time, but… I wanted to see more of TOM and the ship, for old time's sake. That being said, I did enjoy the host segments they did have, so it wasn't a disappointment, really. My overall rating for the hosting segments is 7/10- not bad, not great.

Bleach. I want to like this show. I really do. Guys weilding swords and blowing stuff up with their spiritual pressure, it's a cool idea for a show. I just… Can't enjoy it. Regardless, they already had the rights to show Bleach, no doubt, so they saved a little coin for next time around.

Deadman Wonderland. Dark, macabre, unsettling, yet… Enjoyable. I don't know if I like gore now, or if the "story" so far grabbed me, but I actually liked it. I'll probably keep watching it, though I don't think it's exactly favorite series material, y'know? (I'm also relatively sure that Ganta's voice is an instrument of torture in some countries…)

Casshern Sins. Picture, if you will, the illegitimate child of Bomberman and Viewtiful Joe. This is what Casshern has to be. The storyline, or the part revealed to us by writer's aids posing as characters, is simple:

Casshern killed Luna, now everything's terrible and it's probably his fault. "Who's Luna?" you may ask, "Why'd he kill her?" Well, children, the writers of the story decided that it would be best to take Casshern's memory away, so… We don't know. What we do know is that Casshern can fight, and do it well. This, with the dark animation style that fits the show quite well, makes it at least worth a try. I think I'll keep on watching this series (though only to see if Casshern has a paternity test, because, I mean, look at him and tell me that he doesn't look like Viewtiful Joe made babies with Bomberman).

FMA Brotherhood. I love this series… It's just a good storyline to me. I think the reason they're playing isn't because of how good it is, rather it's because they already own a license to air it, like Bleach.

GITS SAC Second Gig. I didn't watch it- I never finished Ghost In the Shell, and I didn't want to get confused or spoiler myself. :/

Cowboy Bebop. One of my favorite anime, the reason I started listening to jazz, and quite possibly one of the only anime that the dub is better than the sub, this wasn't a bad choice for the block. Then again, it wasn't the best, either. This makes 3 series that they show regularly. Kind of a ripoff if you were expecting something new, but still a solid show.

All in all, I'm glad Toonami's back. This may be my optimism poking through, but I think it's only gonna get better from here on out.

> i live in canada where there is no toonami
> oh wait i have the internet and an HD screen

Never mind all is well.

Was gonna say this.

Yeah, I guess I neglected to mention that Casshern Sins' animation was pretty cool. Of the two new shows, this one was my preferred pick, though I fear they both have the potential to become problematic ratings-wise.

I'm not sure that TOM was actually on screen less than he was during the late TOM 3 era, though I suppose the bumps were less than they had been during earlier periods of Toonami. I think he didn't really appear less for each bump, but just that there were less spots for him to show up in, considering the block was only 3 hours long.

I wish I could share your optimism. I really do. But the only way it'll improve is if people put up with the new shows and reruns for longer than I think they'll be comfortable with. We'll just have to see. It's not totally hopeless, but the potential for failure is strong enough to worry me.

I've been hearing about this Toonami thing a lot… Is it wrong that I don't like anime? Sometimes I feel like all my opinions are wrong…

Just kidding you can not like things if you want, but I'm sure there has got to be one anime out there that you would like. Its statistically improbable that you would just hate all of them.

Bumping this thread for two reasons:

1) The ratings are out for last week, and I wanted to discuss.

2) It's coming on tonight, and I wanted to say a few things before then about the direction of the block.

Okay, so right down to business: the ratings. I held off as long as I could on this one, but the numbers are finally in. After seeing Jason DeMarco (guy in charge of Toonami) tweet that the ratings were "okay," and "not measuably better than last week," I got understandably worried. Then I saw another of his tweets confirming Toonami would stay on the air if the ratings held the way they were last Saturday. (Of course, that didn't mean any new material would be produced, but I digress.) Still wasn't feeling great about it, but here are the actual numbers:

Bleach: 1,060,000 (12 AM) and 580,000 (3 AM)
Deadman Wonderland: 860,000 (12:30 AM) and 557,000 (3:30 AM)
Casshern Sins: 796,000 (1 AM) and 488,000 (4 AM)

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood: 699,000 (1:30 AM) and 473,000 (4:30 AM)
Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig: 698,000 (2 AM) and 450,000 (5 AM)I
Cowboy Bebop: 669,000 (2:30 AM) and 419,000 (5:30 AM)

Source

And now….I'm feeling a little better. Those numbers are total viewers, not those in the precious young adult demographic, but still. Not bad. I was disappointed that Deadman and Casshern weren't higher, but I'm surprised the reruns did so well. I thought they'd be below 300k by the end of the night. Still, those numbers need to go up.

And this week makes or breaks the block, I think. I predict (again, with absolutely no expertise in the area) that one of two things happens: one, people just stop caring and we see ratings steadily decline. Toonami dies fairly quickly and quietly. Or, two, the new shows spark legitimate interest and the ratings hold steady and increase as more people take up interest. Then all that good stuff can happen that we've been discussing here. On a somewhat related note, I heard an absolutely unconfirmed rumor that DeMarco wants to see Gundam Wing back on the block.

But before anything else happens, before the new material comes rushing in, we see all the shows we love, and they get Toonami out of that late timeslot, the numbers need to go up. I also heard (again, this is completely unconfirmed) that DeMarco needs the shows to be consistently pulling in above 600k in the young adult demographic to continue with Toonami. We don't know if they pulled that or not last week, but considering the tweet confirming that the block would stay put given last week's ratings, maybe this is just a rumor after all.

Anyway, to the responses:

Are you going to watch Toonami tonight, or at least leave your TV on, or do you just not care?

What do you think of the numbers?

And, finally, what do you think is the future of the block?

I'm actually a bit discouraged by the numbers. It sounds like the numbers needed to keep Toonami airing as it is aren't there, unless it's doing terribly in periphery demographics. However, I think it could work out, as long as the costs stay down.

1. I will certainly be watching it. The Thunder-Spurs game should be over by then, and I'll need some celebratory anime to finish the night/consolation nostalgia to ease the pain.
2. I'm not sure if the Nielsen ratings accurately show if more people are watching (assuming that this is where the ratings are coming from.) Apparently, they always tap into the same sample with the equipment and ask them about what they watch. If those people aren't part of the Twitter crowd that showed increased interest, then maybe it's undershooting the actual viewers a bit. As they are represented, I'm not panicked, but I'm a bit worried.
3. As it stands, like I said, I'm still worried. More people could get into the newer shows as word gets around (I like Deadman Wonderland, and Casshern Sins isn't bad,) and if that's the case, then I think more people would stick around for the strong finishing combo of G.I.T.S., F.A.B., and Bebop, but that's not what my gut says.

Fortunately, my gut tends to be wrong, but it's often aligned with my head.

Watched this tonight and liked what I saw. Regarding the new shows, I thought Deadman Wonderland was pretty great but I probably laughed more than I should have because all I could think at the second half was "Superjail". I'm looking forward to seeing more of this. I liked Casshern Sins art style and it's neat because robots, but I can't think of much else to say about it.

Actually, tonight's Deadman Wonderland episode was better.

And we had about 20-2X CASSHERN said in Casshern Sins!

Now I'm hooked with both shows.