Support NeoGAF

[Raxus]

You can't start a long running plot intensive show 200 episodes in and not expect people to be completely lost. This isn't like DBZ where knowledge of DB isn't really needed or even Naruto Shippuden which does an amazing job or recapping every little thing you needed to know over and over and over again. One Piece should have started from episode 1 as to give all the new AS/Toonami watchers a fresh chance with a more mature dub regardless of if they had seen the 4kids dub or not.

We do have 7 main characters and a whole wikipedia page of recurring characters. Not to mention a whole array of devil fruit powers, types, snails, Grand Line...I really need to whip out a chart to explain everything.

That aside things should be focused as we will spend most of the time in Enies Lobby at CP9 headquarters until the arc ends.

Bah, I dunno why I got off on a tangent, sorry. I guess I am a little forlorn seeing One Piece on the chopping block.

 

[BassForever]

Well, what is done is done, just pray that One Piece doesn't get replaced with Fairy Tail or something.

I'd be okay with this, as I've never seen the Fairy Tail anime and that show would probably do a lot better as they'd air it from episode 1. That and I've seen OP many many times :X OP >>>>>>> FT though

I feel like once Deadman Wonderland finishes, most of the shows will get pushed back an 1/2 hour to have another premiere happen. I can't imagine them having any repeats happening for some time.

Hate to say it, but considering we know how well SAO did, we might need SAO2 to help bring back some of the viewers.

Or they could just cut off that half hour and make Toonami only 3 hours

 

[TheAbsolution]

Holy fuck, what a cut.
Damn.
What we're the ratings this week?

 

[Imperial Bishop]

Moving One Piece to 2:30 is ridiculous. It's been doing better than Gurren in its old timeslot. I don't understand this shake up one bit.

 

[B-Dubs]

Awwww, WHAT THE FUCK?!

We lost 11:30 and 3-5 AM. This is terrible. Were ratings really that bad that Toonami's runtime had to be almost cut IN HALF?

Maybe the money they were spending on those shows wasn't worth the ratings they were getting for the back half. Most of it was free, yea, but some of it wasn't and they might have figured they could get similar-ish ratings with cheaper shows.

Moving One Piece to 2:30 is ridiculous. It's been doing better than Gurren in its old timeslot. I don't understand this shake up one bit.

It might be a money thing, Gurren is almost done and probably cost more than One Piece so it goes further up in the line-up.

 

[BassForever]

Moving One Piece to 2:30 is ridiculous. It's been doing better than Gurren in its old timeslot. I don't understand this shake up one bit.

One Piece always has a big drop off from the shows before it I imagine they're trying to ease how much the ratings drop each slot and OP has always been the biggest offender of that. Plus when GL gets replaced by SAO s2 or some other really popular show it'll do way better then OP most likely

 

[Zonic]

Moving One Piece to 2:30 is ridiculous. It's been doing better than Gurren in its old timeslot. I don't understand this shake up one bit.

Part of me thinks it's because Gurren Lagann has a little over a month left, so then maybe a new show can take its place.

 

[Grexeno]

If we want to think positively about this, 6.5 hours may have been overkill anyway.

 

[Imperial Bishop]

Maybe the money they were spending on those shows wasn't worth the ratings they were getting for the back half. Most of it was free, yea, but some of it wasn't and they might have figured they could get similar-ish ratings with cheaper shows.

Maybe that's it, but I'm starting to doubt that. There have been too many sudden changes to the lineup and we know that schedule changes don't fly well with viewers.

I don't want to be pessimistic, but unless Toonami gets another popular show soon, I don't think the block is going to last the rest of 2015.

 

[Crocodile]

It's a damn fucking shame that all the odd decisions many in here were calling Toonami out on (reruns at the top, One Piece recaps, etc.) ended up really hurting the block. Permanently losing the rights to a lot of shows like Symbiotic Titan probably didn't help either has it became harder to fill the back half too. Once things start shrinking, its REALLY hard to them to grow again. Considering how poor most of AS regular programing is, you can be guaranteed that the back half will be replaced by crap or the 45th airing of a particular show on the weekly schedule. Honestly pretty depressing. Especially the loss of the 11:30 slot.

You can't start a long running plot intensive show 200 episodes in and not expect people to be completely lost. This isn't like DBZ where knowledge of DB isn't really needed or even Naruto Shippuden which does an amazing job or recapping every little thing you needed to know over and over and over again. One Piece should have started from episode 1 as to give all the new AS/Toonami watchers a fresh chance with a more mature dub regardless of if they had seen the 4kids dub or not.

Even hardcore One Piece fans agree the show doesn't get "good" for like 30+ episodes which is a bit of a hard sell. No HD plus the inability to sell it as "episodes premiering on American TV for the first time ever" means I'm not convincing starting from episode 1 would have produced better results.

So basically, the death of Toonami on Adult Swim may come down to what we originally feared: some exec said "why don't we just show a bunch of Family Guy episodes instead?"

I mean that was always kind of the fear. AS could probably replace their entire lineup with Family Guy and get better ratings :/

 

[Moaradin]

If we want to think positively about this, 6.5 hours may have been overkill anyway.

Personally I never watched the back half of the block anyways since it was too damn late and it was all repeats, but I'm still worried about the block. Losing 11:30 especially blows.

 

[Shard]

Oh right, Toonami telling us to not panic because they are not going anywhere just isn't going to hold water when half the block just got cut.

 

[ASSauLTxMasTER]

 

[Imperial Bishop]

It might be a money thing, Gurren is almost done and probably cost more than One Piece so it goes further up in the line-up.

Gurren has aired on Sci-Fi years ago, the dub isn't fresh. One Piece is airing never-before-seen-on-US-television episodes that have been recently dubbed. I don't see how it could cost more.

One Piece always has a big drop off from the shows before it I imagine they're trying to ease how much the ratings drop each slot and OP has always been the biggest offender of that. Plus when GL gets replaced by SAO s2 or some other really popular show it'll do way better then OP most likely

Kai has had similar drops from AOT for a few weeks, and Inuyasha has even outperformed Shippuden on occassion.
Some are quick to call out OP for losing 100k viewers, but don't make a fuss when it happens after AOT or Kai.

 

[B-Dubs]

Maybe that's it, but I'm starting to doubt that. There have been too many sudden changes to the lineup and we know that schedule changes don't fly well with viewers.

I don't want to be pessimistic, but unless Toonami gets another popular show soon, I don't think the block is going to last the rest of 2015.

Part of me thinks they just got a new executive who wants to try and shake things up to see if he can make more money. I do think that if we had gone straight into SAO2 or KLK after Titan finished airing new episodes we could have avoided this (the loss of 11:30) though. I don't think the ratings have been too bad considering the time and what the old ratings were like, before all the pentamils.

Gurren has aired on Sci-Fi years ago, the dub isn't fresh. One Piece is airing never-before-seen-on-US-television episodes that have been recently dubbed. I don't see how it could cost more.

The entire run of One Piece that has been dubbed costs as much on DVD and BluRay as all of Gurren does. Aniplex dude, Aniplex. I'm surprised by nothing with them.

 

[BassForever]

http://www.kyle93.co.uk/i/39bf2.png

Small victory in KotH doing worse then anything else on the block

 

[Grexeno]

What the fuck, outside of the drops in the front half, those ratings don't look bad at all deep into the night.

 

[B-Dubs]

What the fuck, outside of the drops in the front half, those ratings don't look bad at all deep into the night.

I'm telling you guys, probably a new executive above DeMarco wants to try and make a mark by boosting ratings or profits in the backhalf.

EDIT: The drop from Inuyasha to One Piece may as well not even exist, it's 7k or so. Gurren must be costing them a fortune for this change to make any sense.

 

[Raxus]

Shocking, DBZ holds the ratings.

Also shocking, people see Naruto and run for the hills.

Why did the bump One Piece down. Even when it was doing recaps it was somehow moving faster than Naruto. Hell it's first episode back from 5 recaps is mostly recap and it felt like lightning compared to Naruto. I am hitting stage 2 people! ANGER!

Also, King of the Hill still did shit at 5:30.

 

[BassForever]

What the fuck, outside of the drops in the front half, those ratings don't look bad at all deep into the night.

Damage was probably already done, only thing we can hope for is for the premier slots to do really well and for whatever crap AS puts on afterwards to do really poorly

 

[Zonic]

Least we got double million?

Seems having DBZ Kai at the start worked out well, especially since the show seems to be starting to get better/more nostalgic with Vegeta & Nappa arriving.

If Kill la Kill gets over a million or at least close, then hopefully that'll be a good sign.

 

[Grexeno]

Guys, we should probably accept that Naruto Shippuden is not driving away viewers.

 

[LOLDSFAN]

Removing the fat and leaving just the good stuff?

But in all seriousness it's a little sad to see Toonami getting cut up like this, but it's probably for the best.

 

[Crocodile]

Those ratings look fine but I seriously doubt this past weeks ratings had much influence on this "decision".

Oh right, Toonami telling us to not panic because they are not going anywhere just isn't going to hold water when half the block just got cut.

Pretty much :/

I'm telling you guys, probably a new executive above DeMarco wants to try and make a mark by boosting ratings or profits in the backhalf.

That's pretty much how Toonami died the first time isn't it?

 

[Grexeno]

That's pretty much how Toonami died the first time isn't it?

This time with the added factors of the rise of legitimate anime streaming options, plus a society that is cutting cable in ever-increasing numbers, especially young people, who you may recall are the target audience.

 

[Mature]

I don't suppose someone has a link to the ratings compiled in a convenient place, do they?

 

[Zonic]

Guys, we should probably accept that Naruto Shippuden is not driving away viewers.

Honestly, considering how damn popular Naruto is, I'd say it kind helps bring the viewers in, even if all I hear about it when I come in for the show after it is how about it's so slow.

 

[ckohler]

The Great Toonami Culling of 2015.

If we want to think positively about this, 6.5 hours may have been overkill anyway.

I kinda agree. If I'm really honest about it, I wasn't watching those repeat shows anyway. A slimmer Toonami could mean benefits in the quality of the bumps and fewer timeslots could mean more higher-profile shows filling those slots down the road.

I'm optimistic.

 

[Imperial Bishop]

Unless I'm reading this wrong, Shippuden and Inuyasha got the biggest drops of the night.
Yet, someone thinks keeping both next to each other is fine.

Part of me thinks they just got a new executive who wants to try and shake things up to see if he can make more money. I do think that if we had gone straight into SAO2 or KLK after Titan finished airing new episodes we could have avoided this (the loss of 11:30) though. I don't think the ratings have been too bad considering the time and what the old ratings were like, before all the pentamils.

I hope it's this, because that's the only way any of this makes a lick of sense.

The entire run of One Piece that has been dubbed costs as much on DVD and BluRay as all of Gurren does. Aniplex dude, Aniplex. I'm surprised by nothing with them.

It depends on what release of Gurren Lagann you're talking about. And even then, I don't believe that/

 

[Grexeno]

Oh right, Toonami telling us to not panic because they are not going anywhere just isn't going to hold water when half the block just got cut.

This is DeMarco's MO: never ever consider that you could improve ratings by doing something different, or heaven forbid, not showing something.

 

[Zonic]

I kinda agree. If I'm really honest about it, I wasn't watching those repeat shows anyway. A slimmer Toonami could mean benefits in the quality of the bumps and fewer timeslots could mean more higher-profile shows filling those slots down the road.

I'm optimistic.

Yeah, I never watched the repeats, save for Space Dandy, and I gotta agree with you. Fewer shows to work with means they might have more time & focus they can put towards those hours.

Maybe viewers will come back & it'll be slightly longer again, if not just so they can bring back their popular reruns like Cowboy Bebop. Like mentioned before, when Toonami returned, it was this exact time length and it was able to grow from there. Maybe not AS long as it was before, but just enough so they can get shows they know people will keep rewatching.

 

[Grexeno]

Christ, now I'm scared the whole thing could be canceled by this time next week. Once you start cutting the block in the back half, it's pretty easy to just cut the whole thing for the same reasons.

 

[Shard]

Well, they did arguably get rid of the weaker end of the block, I just hope this new alleged nimbleness they claim is true.

 

[LOLDSFAN]

The ratings for this week are actually pretty good in comparison for the last couple weeks.

Guys, we should probably accept that Naruto Shippuden is not driving away viewers.

MikeMyers and I have accepted this for a long time.

I don't suppose someone has a link to the ratings compiled in a convenient place, do they?

The Toonami Wiki has the ratings compiled.

http://toonami.wikia.com/wiki/Toonami_Ratings

 

[Crocodile]

I didn't stay up every night but the nights I did I liked having those shows as background noise or talking about them or related stuff in here. Now that's gone

This is DeMarco's MO: never ever consider that you could improve ratings by doing something different, or heaven forbid, not showing something.

I kind of want to see somebody confront him about some of the recent mistakes (AoT reruns at front, One Piece recaps, Hellsing snafu, etc.) and how they likely hurt the block but he seems the type of person to EXPLODE in rage in response and it wouldn't be a good or productive look.

 

[Imperial Bishop]

It was a fun pipe-dream while it lasted, but this is a sign of the beginning of the end.
Oh well. Can't say we didn't try.

 

[Grexeno]

I kind of want to see somebody confront him about some of the recent mistakes (AoT reruns at front, One Piece recaps, Hellsing snafu, etc.) and how they likely hurt the block but he seems the type of person to EXPLODE in rage in response and it wouldn't be a good or productive look.

DeMarco:

 

[Jarate]

;-; guys what happens if Toonami dies

 

[ckohler]

Christ, now I'm scared the whole thing could be canceled by this time next week. Once you start cutting the block in the back half, it's pretty easy to just cut the whole thing for the same reasons.

Nah man. The way that Tumbler post sounded this is the way things are going to be going forward. The shakeup has occurred and now it's a 3 1/2 hour challenge.

 

[Grexeno]

Nah man. The way that Tumbler post sounded this is the way things are going to be going forward.

This is what they were sounding like when they announced they were losing the 5-6 hour.

 

[Zonic]

Class is starting soon, so before I go, I just wanna say I seriously hope it stays for at least the rest of the year. It's hard to find time in college to watch anime, especially for something like DBZ Kai or One Piece, so having that Saturday night put aside was a nice break. It was made even better by this community & the commentary.

I think I'll be more disappointed that there won't be any more live commentary from our community if it gets cancelled. Sure, I could just get the DVDs or view them online or whatever & watch them on my own when I find the spare time, but it wouldn't be as fun anymore without this group.

I'd say it'll be even more disappointing than the previous cancellation, especially considering some of the great shows that aired over the years.

But like some of us said, it seems that it might still be airing for a while, just with less shows. For the time being, that's the best I can hope for if it means that Toonami & this community can continue existing.

 

[Shard]

Indeed, I know spin control when I see it, some of my work is in PR.

 

[LOLDSFAN]

Lol did you guys see the tags in the Tumblr post?

toonami toonami schedule adult swim deflategate

 

[Grexeno]

Lol did you guys see the tags in the Tumblr post?

Is there nothing the New England Patriots can't ruin?

 

[Imperial Bishop]

This will be Toonami two weeks from now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCAX4cgszCU

 

[bigkrev]

Toonami has never struck me as something that was built to last- it's targeted to an older audience than Adult Swim is (which targets teenagers), which is reflected in it's placement (Saturday nights, the night they assume Adult Swim's target is out not watching TV.). As people get older, their tolerance for staying up late lowers. It also doesn't help that they aren't able to build new fans- people are willing to show up for premiers of shows that have some amount of buzz, but do not stick around once the show finishes (it's likely most of these people just DVR the show they want to watch), and the idea of bringing younger people in has probably been killed by the way people consume anime now- with there being basically nothing on normal TV anymore, the way most people are going to discover it is through a service like Crunchyroll, and if you are already watching on a streaming service, why are you going to tune in to see it dubbed? The reason most people are in this thread is because they had some experience with dubbed anime in their younger years that led to some sort of appreciation for it- kids these days have nowhere to get that.

And speaking of people on the internet raging? It doesn't mean anything. 48 hours after #CancelWWENetwork was the number 1 trend on twitter in America, WWE announces they finally got to 1 Million subscribers, 2 weeks before their investor call where they normally announce the number. The people who care enough to bitch on the interent are barely even a vocal minority- they are more of a vocal statistical deviation not significant enough to mean anything.

 

[Grexeno]

This will be Toonami two weeks from now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCAX4cgszCU

DeMarco: Don't worry guys, Toonami isn't going anywhere. We've even still got the Intruder 2, the comic, and NEW SHOWS coming this year!

DeMarco 2 weeks later: Well, all good things must come to an end.

 

[Mature]

It was a fun pipe-dream while it lasted, but this is a sign of the beginning of the end.
Oh well. Can't say we didn't try.

I mean, it's been on for nearly three years. That's not really a dream.

 

[MetatronM]

That is a gargantuan drop for Shippuden. I'm not sure I understand what it's still doing near the front of the block.


Anyway, I don't believe this lineup shuffle is going to survive for too long. They've tried mixing things up and cutting back Action like this before. It never sticks, because everything else does just as terribly in those timeslots if not worse. It's because there aren't shows around them that drive people to continue watching, unlike the way things are on every other night for Adult Swim, and they never show anything in those slots where you're like "oh man, gotta DVR it," so they don't even get that minor boost that some anime shows do. They're just orphaned old Adult Swim reruns in the dead of the deadest night of the week. So they always fail. That's why the anime block has managed to last close to 14 years on Adult Swim despite the obvious logic that showing comedy shows that consistently rate higher during the entire rest of the week ought to do better.

Also, one of the big reasons they would specifically be doing this now (which is also the same reason why KLK is debuting when it is) is because this is February sweeps. Somebody above DeMarco thinks they need to make a big shakeup to drive up revenue.

My guess is you'll a major change again, and possibly a restoration of some of the back end of the block, around May sweeps.

 

[Shard]

Kill la Kill, saving anime, saving Toonami.