Skypia does have really good pay offs, but even when I read it in the manga, when it was completely finished, it felt long and like it dragged on, I cant imagine how it felt for those who had to read it waiting for a chapter each week.
(The most recent arc in the anime) and it is like Skypia 2.0.
It moved just as slow, if not slower, it was a curbstomp arc in the manga making the slow pace all the more frustrating, and it introduces a ton of elements that won't pay off for 50-100 episodes if not more. It was a shame too because the history there COULD have made for a much cooler villain and characters. I think the only thing I like about the arc was cry-hoshi. I am sure it will pay off soon but until then I am waiting for the payoffs.
Here's what I see...the gap after Tenchi's ending is exactly long enough to bring in a 13 episode series to replace it and have that show end the same night as Eureka. That opens up a full hour of time. This is when you bring One Piece in. You can put an hour of One Piece after the Bleach/Naruto/Soul Eater combo.
That's a LITTLE late for as major a show as One Piece, but it minimizes any ratings impact that might come if you start from episode 1, it leaves Soul Eater in place to allow something new to cycle in when that ends (which would be only 6 months away at that point), and it still leaves a very usable hour for either lesser new shows or repeats of things like Thundercats and Titan. If you really need to give something new a more prime slot, One Piece's hour could slot in at 2.
If you assume all of this, One Piece would be reaching Arabasta right around the time Bleach ends, and it would be wrapping up Skypiea when Naruto hits filler hell in 2015. If it has a stable audience by that point, it would be able to easily move right into the midnight slot by then as it hit Water 7 and anchor the block from there.
Basically, having an hour for One Piece would only really be an "issue" for its first year on the air, but it's a looooooong term investment to air it, so it might be worth the trouble.
^The above scenario would leave far too much of the block stuck in long shows and reruns of classics, so I would give FMA's block to new shows, and cut down Cowboy Bebop/GITS to 30 minutes.
Skypeia is a super slow burn and probably the worst arc in the series (I'd say the first half of Thriller Bark is the worst out of anything, but the second half makes up for it and then some). It would be a pain to get through, even at two episodes a week
Of course, if you can take over the 11 pm hour, this problem pretty much solves itself, though honestly I don't know if that would be maintainable. Bleach is really dependent on shows like Boondocks having big audiences, and the rest of the block is dependent on Bleach keeping that audience. I don't know that One Piece can do that for the block at this point.
I believe Bleach has pulled in better total viewer numbers than the current 11pm shows, which could mean nothing or could mean the same is happening in the demo. If that continues to be the case, bump up Bleach/Naruto to 11pm and then slot the rest accordingly.
I also feel that if they were not trying to be competitive against ADHD, they wouldn't be revamping Toonami's look from the ground up just 10 months after launch. The block's getting a lot of love for its ratings performance in Turner PR (even praising GXP!), so I feel this is going to be where they plant their flag in that fight.
Skypeia is a super slow burn and probably the worst arc in the series (I'd say the first half of Thriller Bark is the worst out of anything, but the second half makes up for it and then some). It would be a pain to get through, even at two episodes a week
Hahaha. Thriller Bark. One huge disaster then BOOM non-stop awesomeness towards the end.
If I had to rank the first arcs.
Water 7/Enies>Alabasta>Arlong>Skypia>Strawhat Intro (first 10-20 episodes)
I'll defend Skypia to death because it does have very major payoffs and it has some great fights with the Trial of Balls and Eneru being the highlights. It is a shame there is so much fat in the arc that weighs it down.
(The most recent arc in the anime) and it is like Skypia 2.0.
It moved just as slow, if not slower, it was a curbstomp arc in the manga making the slow pace all the more frustrating, and it introduces a ton of elements that won't pay off for 50-100 episodes if not more. It was a shame too because the history there COULD have made for a much cooler villain and characters. I think the only thing I like about the arc was cry-hoshi. I am sure it will pay off soon but until then I am waiting for the payoffs.
I think fishman island arc hurts even more because :
1) This is something that most fans of the series hyped up for themselves for a long time as a location that would be awesome to see and experience.(though personally I never was super hyped) .
2) The "payoffs" feel way too apparent this time around and with the sacrifice of what people wanted to be a really amazing arc especially after a time skip.
Bleach
Naruto
Soul Eater
One Piece
One Piece
GXP Replacement
Eureka Seven, switches with Thundercats/Titan to repeat
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Thundercats/Titan rotation
Ghost in the Shell, then Second Gig, then Bebop again
InuYasha
InuYasha
^The above scenario would leave far too much of the block stuck in long shows and reruns of classics, so I would give FMA's block to new shows, and cut down Cowboy Bebop/GITS to 30 minutes.
Well remember I'm assuming One Piece doesn't come in until mid-August. You'll still have the summer to have at least one new show come in to replace Tenchi and maybe some cycling around with some of the other slots too (for example, something will likely replace Titan when its repeat run ends in July).
So you're still going to have things cycling around, and you would still have at least an open hour to play with after bringing an hour of One Piece in even if everything "permanent" stayed in place. At that point there would only be 6 months left of Soul Eater, too, or one 26 episode show's length. I don't think that would be a deal breaker if the block was somewhat static for 6 months (and even then you'd still have room between One Piece and Fullmetal to shuffle things around and mix things up, and Cowboy Bebop will probably get a rest somewhere in there, we already know FLCL is supposed to get on the air sometime this year).
After that the "problem" of tying up air time becomes less and less as you go as One Piece gets deeper and deeper into its real money story arcs and more of the major shounen shows either end or approach their ends. Another thing to remember is that Inuyasha would be ending next summer before Bleach ends, so there might be some shuffling at the back end of the block too.
So really, I don't think an hour of One Piece is impossible to do here. It does mean being SLIGHTLY less flexible than this incarnation of Toonami has been thus far, but not by much, and it would still be FAR more flexible than the previous ASA block was.
I just assumed once Inuyasha finished that would be the perfect springboard to start airing the final season. It is only 26 episodes and it should draw a number.
Bleach
Naruto
Soul Eater
One Piece
One Piece
GXP Replacement
Eureka Seven, switches with Thundercats/Titan to repeat
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Thundercats/Titan rotation
Ghost in the Shell, then Second Gig, then Bebop again
InuYasha
InuYasha
I just assumed once Inuyasha finished that would be the perfect springboard to start airing the final season. It is only 26 episodes and it should draw a number.
I just assumed once Inuyasha finished that would be the perfect springboard to start airing the final season. It is only 26 episodes and it should draw a number.
I just assumed once Inuyasha finished that would be the perfect springboard to start airing the final season. It is only 26 episodes and it should draw a number.
The violence is against monsters, so there should be no problem on that front. The only nudity is already covered so that won't have to be mosaiced. We won't really know until it airs, and it's possible something may be cut for time, but nothing I know of should be cut.
Wow, they actually picked up One Piece? Unless you're already a fan of that series I find it hard to want to be excited about that. Toonami will be losing a timeslot to a saturated Goliath for years.
I just assumed once Inuyasha finished that would be the perfect springboard to start airing the final season. It is only 26 episodes and it should draw a number.
Inuyasha is probably one of the only series in which i seriously regret changing to the manga for. Way more filler and i recall the ending still being super far off from when they ended the first anime.
Seda, thanks much for all that info-blogging! It was actually worth going back the pages, and catching up on
Which can't be said for muc of the other repetitive stuff that cycles through here...
The info is all very appreciated, as well as the first-hand experience and such.
New Tom looks great, pretty "mature" color wise, can't wait to see how the world looks around him. I'd design something like that... so of course I like it, ha. A new Tom and new Absolution is much more than I would expected. New bumbs, style, refreshed logo... yay, more stuff to draw for my weekly Toonami Thread on Miiverse
Haven't seen all of EVA 1.11 yet, saw parts at a con years ago, purchased it on DVD... and have yet to watch it. So yay, next Saturday!
I'm pretty cool with One Piece getting on the block eventually, Though shudder at how long it'll take to get RELEVANT. Wonder if they'll be able to do things like Cross-Promo with the Pirate Warriors games releases?
As far as shonen on Toonami... I'd love to see some more mature stuff, as in more adult characters, and shows that aren't simply judged on "WAS THERE A FIGHT THIS EPISODE??? NO? FILLER!", like every Shonen... things like Bebop, Ghost in the Shell (wonder if they want the new one?), or even Monster (I enjoyed watching Tenma's trials on SyFy), where the main cast deals with things from a more developed perspective, and I rather enjoy stories like Jet's "Black Dog Serenade" from Bebop, every once in a while...
Hmm, maybe I should start posting my Toonami Sketch Dump Miiverse pics in this thread each week... it's fun drawing along with the shows
Anyway, I'm not shocked you like Inuyasha. It really isn't as bad as people say it is. Yes it's so Japanese it hurts, but it's well put together, a compelling cast, and the original super-troll.
The Chuunin Exams are done in a couple of parts. First is a written exam, which the episodes are pretty stupid. Then they have to go through a forest, which can drag a bit, but we meet another villain and stuff (this part is okay). Then basically a tournament (in two parts) after that. That's when when things get better.
I didn't really enjoy my watching of Naruto until the tournament part of the Chuunin Exams. Naruto, in general, drag (like most any several hundred episode shounen) but it's good parts, as said before, are legitimately good. Those are like episode 35 and later.
