Toonami: Talk about Cartoon Network/[adult swim]'s best anime block here!

[DestinyOfDeoxys]

Does anyone still watches Toonami on [adult swim]? I would love to talk to fans of this awesome 90's block from Cartoon Network here.

 

[Chibster]

Yeah, I still do! It's fun staying up and it's even better when there is an anime you are looking forward to watch.

 

[DestinyOfDeoxys]

Sweet! I remember the opening from the first Midnight Run. The music is so...nostaglia-like deep space-y.

 

[Silverwynde]

I've been trying to keep up with Bleach but have yet to watch any of Space Dandy. Anyone know if Space Dandy's any good?

I'd love to finish up Sword Art Online, but it comes on way to late for me and I have to work most Sundays. =/

 

[Dolce]

Woops I didn't read this thread title correctly, but anyways anime exclusive discussion belongs in Land of the Rising Sun. So to anyone who reads this and wonders why it was moved from Entertainment, Inc. there's your answer.

Otherwise don't mind me and happy posting!

 

[Hidden Mew]

I watch Toonami on Adult Swim, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the block back when it was airing on Cartoon Network proper. I saw it sometimes, although I think more regularly once it started to air Pokemon Chronicles and Yu-Gi-Oh GX on its lineup, but I wasn't really into it back in its prime. I started to watch it mainly out of support for the crew behind it since they were trying hard to keep it going after the April Fools Day run. Plus, I never thought that Toonami would be put back on the air after it was taken off, so I was just surprised that something like this actually happened to begin with.

The current lineup isn't quite enjoyable for me though. The only show that I watch that I actually like is One Piece. I haven't seen all of the episodes because I don't have the time to watch hundreds of episodes, especially when I already follow the Pokemon anime, but the action is great, the characters are good and it can be quite emotionally effective. It's basically a good Shonen series and I really enjoy it. The pacing can be really slow at times, especially at the start of an arc, but that isn't too surprising. I don't follow Bleach or Shippuden, so I basically ignore those shows.

Space Dandy isn't really bad per say. It's just that I was expecting something more than "Dandy and his crew on wacky adventures where there is no such thing as continuity" after all the hype they were giving it. The humor is a bit too dry for my tastes and the characters aren't particularly interesting to make up for it. The animation is terrific, the music is great and I did enjoy the one fairly serious toned episode they had a couple of weeks ago. It's worth checking out at least a couple of episodes to see if it is more appealing. Soul Eater is decent at best. The fights can be pretty good, most of the music is nice and I like the designs for the setting. Most of the characters are uninteresting with Black Star being so unlikable with his arrogance and constant need to be the center of attention. The pacing also seems pretty off in the later half of the series, especially with how much they drag on the subplots. If they had stopped at twenty-six episodes instead of making it last nearly twice as long, it might have been a stronger series.

I absolutely hate Sword Art Online. I primarily watched it just to see how bad it was after hearing so much negativity about it and it's pretty bad right from the start. The writing is sloppy, the characters are bland, the pacing is terrible, especially in the early episodes where they jump months ahead with no transitions, the romance feels more like it's pushed down the audience's throat rather than anything genuinely touching or romantic, Kirito is a Gary-Stu, practically every female character falls for him for no good reason, the major victories, particularly against the villains, are anticlimactic due to how they rely on a deus ex machina and the villain from the first arc forgot why he became a mass murderer. Despite all that, I didn't really start to hate the series until the second half. The incest subplot and a couple of scenes, particularly in the second to last episode, made the series go from tolerable bad to insultingly bad for me. I would have dropped this series, but after coming so far, I plan on watching the last episode just to get it done with and because I try to finish shows that I start watching. This is just one of the worst shows I've ever seen and I honestly don't see why it's so popular. Outside of the animation and music, it doesn't do anything particularly well and even the technical aspects aren't really enough to save it.

My limit is usually staying up until 2:30AM or 3AM to watch the shows. I usually don't have much to do on Sundays, but I still don't want to stay up all night, especially when most of the shows in the later hours aren't too appealing for me. The only other shows I've liked that they've aired since Toonami's revival have been Casshern Sins and FLCL. Casshern Sins starts off pretty slow and they probably could have cut out about five or six episodes, but the second half is a major improvement, the storyline is interesting and the conclusion was rather satisfying. FLCL was a bit too weird for my taste at times, but it was an interesting story and I liked how they showed a lot about the characters not only through their actions, but through the dialogue. Deadman Wonderland was surprisingly decent, mainly because I normally don't like heavy violence, but feeling so bad for the main character and being curious about the storyline made me check it out for its whole run. It wasn't something that I would say that I really enjoyed or want to see again. Most of the characters do come off as a bit bland and it just stops rather than ends. Eureka 7 was mostly boring to me. It had some really good moments and emotional scenes, but it just dragged on too long and most of the characters weren't too engaging. Waiting until the second half to actually explain anything also wasn't really a good choice. Unlike with Sword Art Online, I can see why it would be appealing to other people due to those good moments and the storyline, when it actually got to explaining anything, was good too. If it was maybe ten or fifteen episodes shorter, it might have been stronger.

 

[DestinyOfDeoxys]

It's so sad to not have Toonami anymore in Australia's Cartoon Network (;-

BUT, [adult swim] is still a block in Australia, but it's relocated to the Comedy Channel (the Australian version of Comedy Central) and SOME of the anime from pre-Toonami revival [adult swim] is shown in the Australian version of Syfy. Other anime like Naturo and Pokemon are still shown on CN Australia though.

If only Toonami returned to Australia...but that will never happen at all.

 

[jcogginsa]

Woops I didn't read this thread title correctly, but anyways anime exclusive discussion belongs in Land of the Rising Sun. So to anyone who reads this and wonders why it was moved from Entertainment, Inc. there's your answer.

Otherwise don't mind me and happy posting!

Toonami isn't anime only, Anime is just what it's most well known for

 

[DestinyOfDeoxys]

You're right. They featured Powerpuff Girls, Reboot and Sym-Bionic Titan, just to name a few.

 

[Dolce]

Toonami isn't anime only, Anime is just what it's most well known for

I know that, I used to watch Toonami years ago and try to now a days when it's on. Aside from that the title says talk about the newest anime block so it seems like a better fit here and it is still a part of Ent, Inc. anyways. So I honestly don't think will effect this thread much at all discussion wise.

But I really don't watch TV now a days myself so I don't know half the shows that are currently airing. I watched more frequently when Tenchi Muyo GXP was airing, and Deadman Wonderland but not much after that. I hear decent things about Space Dandy but never actually seen it. And I've already watched Bleach, Sword Art Online, Soul Eater, and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood of my own accord which maybe why I don't tune in as much.

And honestly I'm not a huge fan of long airing series like Naruto, so I can't bring myself to watch that. And yeah I know Bleach is long, but I found it more intriguing really.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I really didn't care for Tenchi Muyo GXP. I've never seen any of the other Tenchi series, but based on what I saw, it was just pretty bad in my opinion. The comedy was painfully bad, the characters were boring, I couldn't see why people were falling all over Seina and it was just not engaging in the slightest. It's one of the few shows I didn't finish watching all the way through. I only got through the first four or five episodes before dropping it. If I do drop a show, it's usually within its early few episodes. It also helped that it moved to 3AM around that point. I don't know if I would have continued watching it if it didn't move to a later timeslot, but it certainly wasn't worth staying up until 3:30AM.

I didn't see much of it, but I kind of liked the little bits I saw of Big O when they aired it too. It was the second season, so I didn't know much about what was going on, but it was interesting. If they can get the first season, I'd probably check it out, depending on what time it airs.

 

[Adil]

Two words: One Piece.

I'm glad they started from 207. Then again, starting from the beginning might have been better for the new fans but considering the length of the series, 207 (the HD era) was a smart choice.
Once they are done re-airing Naruto's first 52 episodes at 2:30am, it'll be nice if they air OP from the beginning on that timeslot. Old episodes might be cheaper and this way new fans can watch it from the beginning, along with the ongoing Water 7 arc.

 

[Elysion]

The Toonami on Adult Swim began at around 12 so I couldn't bother especially since it airs the shonen stuff that I don't care for first.

I do bother watching Space Dandy though because it airs around 11:30.

 

[Team Gaara]

I watch as much of Toonami as I can before bed, having been quite a fan when it aired years ago. I wish I could watch all of it, because I seriously would if I could. It'd allow me to see some Anime I don't watch on my own, like Bleach, but do watch when I get the 5-10 minutes of it I can watch before I have to go to bed. I wish it could come on Friday nights when I'd certainly be able to stay up watching it. The most I ever saw was some of Cowboy Bepop and Inuyasha before having to catch an early flight over the summer.

Space Dandy is...well, I find it pretty stupid in the long run. I mean, I like the show and find it entertaining, and plan to watch the episodes I haven't seen the entire duration of, but...it's just another one of those Anime that somehow mixes in overly busty and sexualized women into what seems like an otherwise interesting concept. Luckily, of the couple of full episodes I've seen, that isn't really a problem, with the episode mostly focusing on something else (a race in the most recent one). Still, I'd prefer if there was more to the main concept of show. It's clear, though, that this is just one of those Anime that doesn't follow any kind of actual plot.

Missing Naruto does suck, but I watch it on my own, anyway, so the only thing I'm missing is the feeling of getting to see it on genuine TV. Same for One Piece. I actually got to see a bit of it this past Sunday and was surprised to see it is currently in the arc I'm on in my own time, just a few episodes behind me. Still would like to actually see them on TV.

While I didn't actually see it on Toonami, I did enjoy the English Dub of Deadman Wonderland, which I'd seen in Japanese a while back. I'm not really familiar with anything else that's shown on Toonami other than these shows, Cowboy Bebop, Soul Eater, FullMetal Alchemist, and Inuyasha.

In short, while I am glad Toonami is back, and certainly hope it stays, I'm just a bit disappointed I can't actually watch it.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Two words: One Piece.

I'm glad they started from 207. Then again, starting from the beginning might have been better for the new fans but considering the length of the series, 207 (the HD era) was a smart choice.
Once they are done re-airing Naruto's first 52 episodes at 2:30am, it'll be nice if they air OP from the beginning on that timeslot. Old episodes might be cheaper and this way new fans can watch it from the beginning, along with the ongoing Water 7 arc.

I think that the only way I would have been okay with them starting at the beginning would be if they could have aired an hour of One Piece so that they could cover more episodes. Starting that far long into the series probably made it difficult to new viewers to watch it, but I agree that it was better in the long run. Putting One Piece from the start after they finish airing the first fifty two episodes of Naruto would be nice, but I'd be okay with them getting a new show there instead. I would love it if Toonami could get a Midnight Run weekday block where they could air One Piece and Shippuden. While I don't follow Shippuden, I know that it is ridiculously long too and both series could benefit from having a weekday slot. That's pretty unlikely to happen unfortunately, but I would be happy if they could ever do that.

I forgot that I also enjoyed watching IGPX. I can see why it might not be too appealing to other since it doesn't provide as much action as one would think for a show produced by Toonami, but it worked really well as a slice of life kind of show and the personal drama was handled really well for the most part. It was pretty engaging to watch. I also enjoyed almost all of the movies they aired last month. I actually didn't care much for Akira. The animation was fantastic and the voice acting was terrific, but I thought that the story and characters kind of fell flat by comparison. Not to mention it just stops rather suddenly instead of ending. Summer Wars was wonderful. The characters were fun, the family felt pretty realistic, the emotional moments were well done and the climax being basically Digimon Our War Game worked pretty well due to the good characterizations and setup the movie had. The FMA movie was good and a fitting end to the original series, even though only a few characters actually got any closure. Trigun Badland Rumbles was so much fun. It was pretty much an extended episode of the series, but considering how good the show was and that the movie basically captured the show's strengths, especially with how likable Vash is, that wasn't so much of a problem at all.