Well, Toonami had a fairly decent year. Even with 3 1/2 hours, we still had a lot of good stuff (and Dimension W) come to the block. And a bunch of good stuff (and Akame ga Kill!) leave the block. But we’ve had a ton of good news, and I’m gonna go over everything that happened this year, and my thoughts about what each show has brought to the block.
Dimension W
Despite what you may think about Dimension W (you can see my review here), one thing is clear: The door is now open for Broadcast Dubs to air on Toonami. And considering that in September, FUNimation partnered with Crunchyroll to produce dubs for the anime they’ve licensed, you can bet we could be seeing a few more Broadcast Dub on Toonami in the near future. *ahem*Attack on Titan Season 2*
Hunter × Hunter (2011)
Against my better judgment, Toonami picked up another long-runner. And honestly, I don’t really care how long a show is, as long as I enjoy it. And enjoying a show is all that should matter. Watching the show and enjoying it is certainly better than overanalyzing and procrastinating over how its ratings are. At the end of 2016, Hunter × Hunter has aired 31 of 148 episodes, so we still have a ways to go.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Since Toonami’s launch under [adult swim], we’ve had Dragon Ball, Naruto, and One Piece, but one other Toonami staple was still MIA until this year. Four years after, Gundam has finally returned to Toonami. And no one was probably more excited for this than I was. Despite what you may think of Iron-Blooded Orphans, and I admit that it’s not the ideal Gundam show, but I really couldn’t ask for anything else this year.
One-Punch Man
So just when you think Hunter × Hunter was all that Viz Media was gonna give Toonami this year, then came the smash-hit anime of 2015, One-Punch Man. Personally, I thought this didn’t bring much to the block, but it was still a fun show to watch. Since there’s a second season on the way, a Toonami airing for that is inevitable as soon as that’s available,
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
…And following after One-Punch Man was Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, which had a bizarre release history here. Last year it was unexpectedly announced for release on DVD by Warner Bros. with a dub. Before then, there were the first three episodes of Stardust Crusaders that were previewed at conventions. Then, it was released and even though the dub was fantastic, the release it turned out to be a barebones DVD with bootleg-ish packaging and presentation, stuffing too many episodes on a disc, and dubtitles. As you’d expect, it did not sell well and WB dropped it only for Viz to pick it up earlier this year and hopefully give it a better release and more exposure. As 2016 draws to a close, Toonami has aired the entirety of Phantom Blood and only one episode of Battle Tendency.
Children Who Chase Lost Voices
For the first time since 2014, we had a movie air on Toonami. A movie licensed by Sentai Filmworks. A movie directed by Makoto Shinkai, also known as one of “the next Miyazaki” or some shit like that. Often, the staff stressed that we would never see another movie on the block for quite a while, but Children Who Chase Lost Voices is definitely a movie; A movie that likely didn’t cost too much to air, and was mainly there to fill in the extra hour from Daylight Savings. Even so, could we be seeing more of Makoto Shinkai’s movies on Toonami in the future? Just a little food for thought.
Intruder III
We’ve had our second Toonami Immersion Event, another Intruder. Only without the eponymous antagonist. Honestly, I kinda wish this TIE was titled something other than Intruder III, maybe like “Escape from Shogo 162” or “Vindication” or something like that, but what are you gonna do? Anyhoo, there’s a new ship, a huge starship (it kinda looks a bit like a battleship to me) SARA now has an electronic Tinkerbell form; kinda like Yui from SAO if she wasn’t an annoying sack of diabetes and a complete cancer to the entire thing. And we got new space slug buddy. I’m calling it Silkie for now, because it looks kinda like Silkie from Teen Titans.
Next I’ll ask about the tough questions. Basically what direction Toonami could go in the first half 2017.
Where is Samurai Jack Season 5 and FLCL Seasons 2 and 3?
OK, so Samurai Jack Season 5 didn’t make its release window when we expected it to. I would imagine that it isn’t ready at the moment. But at the very least, we know it’s coming, and it’s making good progress. It’s only a matter of time until hear something. I predict we might get the next Samurai Jack news around late Winter/early Spring.
As for FLCL, it’s still about a year away so I wouldn’t worry about that yet. I do think that we might hear something about it the closer we get to its supposed release window.
What about Dragon Ball Super?
Yeah, Dragon Ball Super is making its way overseas at long last. About damn time, Toei. And of course the English dub is premiering on Toonami. Dragon Ball Super will air on [adult swim] starting January 7 at 8:00PM and 11:30PM, the latter being a rerun of the former. I’d imagine the earlier timeslot is for those who want to watch Dragon Ball Super, but isn’t up to waiting for Toonami. Anyway, I guess we can treat this as a little Toonami expansion.
…and Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters (The Majin Buu saga)?
Yeah, that’s coming too. It will premiere on Toonami on that same night as Dragon Ball Super, airing immediately after the Dragon Ball Super encore.
Will the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans air?
This is more or less a yes. However, the dub, as of this writing, is currently in production, which likely means it’ll be Toonami-bound as soon as Summer. So until it’s ready, we’ll have to settle with… Drumroll, please. *drumroll* Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, the televised version of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. The fact that Toonami is getting another Gundam show after one has finished should show that Iron-Blooded Orphans did well enough for Sunrise to continue supporting the block.
What about Attack on Titan Season 2?
Alright, so Attack on Titan Season 2 is dated to premiere in April 2017. Yes, it is indeed coming. *blows airhorns* But the colossal question is when will Toonami air it. Theoretically, we could see it in 2018, but since FUNimation started producing dubs earlier than usual, we might end up seeing it as soon as May.
Well, that’s all I gotta say. It’s been fun and hope for the best next year. Until then, stay go–HOLD IT!!! I almost forgot. 2017 is Toonami’s 20th Anniversary. Bet you can expect something that day as well.
[the jinxed darkstar blog] 