#although jojo did give me that one in the final ep

[invisiblegarters]

Well damn. I just know I'm going to go through the entirety of this show wanting these two to kiss on the mouth and be cruelly thwarted at every turn.

[zizeschmizes]

that familiar feeling. | solo

WHO: lauren zizes (& the zizes bro squad)

WHAT: a post-thanksgiving dinner hangout, with bonus chaotic sibling energy.

WHEN: 11/28; evening

WHERE: zizes home; new orleans, la.

The last guest was long gone, and the cleanup had been, as always, a family effort. Everyone doing their part to return the house back to some kind of order. Everyone had a job, and Lauren, stickler for organization that she was, had been tasked with putting away the leftovers in a reasonable and tidy manner. 

It was a wonder there was any food left; her mother, as per usual had gone overboard. But it was for good reason. As tradition, their dinner usually included some of her brothers' teammates, the guys unable to travel home for the holiday, for whatever reason. There were five of them this year, nice guys who complimented the cooking and talked football with her father and charmed her mother and younger brothers. At least they'd been expected, their places planned for at the dinner table.

If anything she was the anomaly. The interloper, the surprise guest showing up unexpectedly. After landing at the airport, she'd taken a Lyft home, laughing at the look of surprise on her father's face when he opened the front door. She hadn't discussed her plans with anyone; staying at Ginsburg had been the idea...until the drama, most of it not hers, but the small part that was, it was enough to convince her that a break was necessary. Feeling tired, overworked, and wanting to be in a setting that felt familiar seemed too good to pass up. 

The food was packed up, the kitchen was clean, the guests were gone, her parents had retired to bed, and Lauren could finally change into comfy clothes and settle in a favorite spot. In the den, on the massive sectional, sandwiched between two of her favorite people. Her younger brothers had been especially excited to see her, nearly tackling her in a combo hug, towering over her in a way that made her chest ache because she missed them so much. They stuck close to her, surprising considering the last thing most 15 year old boys wanted was to be babied by their big sister, but here they were. João, taller than she'd remembered, sprawled on the sofa, body taking up a good amount of room while his head rested on Lauren's lap. 

He kept dozing off, unfocused on the show they were supposed to be watching, his content state heightened by Lauren's fingers combing through his dark brown curls. Matheus, however, was the total opposite of his twin, squished beside Lauren and talking animatedly about the show, which had been his pick and Lauren had to admit she was more focused on his commentary than the actual plot. Matty had a way of making everything feel more elaborate, injecting a streak of dramatic flair typical in the Zizes household. Lauren missed it. The noise and nonsense she'd grown so familiar with, different from the college atmosphere that had been her reality for the past few months. 

Their chatter was interrupted by Gabe, yanking the remote from Matty's grasp and tumbling over the back of the couch, nearly landing on top of the younger boy who luckily had the good sense to roll out of the way, landing on the floor between the coffee table and the couch. 

"Seriously?" Lauren glanced over at Gabe, who managed to balance a large bowl in the middle of his chaotic entrance, never spilling a chip as he stuck his landing. 

"What? He moved. That Zizes instinct comin' through." Matty seemed no worse for wear, making a comfortable spot on the floor and accepting the bowl of Doritos when Gabe passed it down, his gaze never leaving the television screen. 

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Y'all are ridiculous. You could’ve broken his damn neck.” Her grumble was cut short when, out of nowhere, a hand came whizzing by. João, reaching overhead, past Lauren to grab a handful of chips, shoveling them in his mouth with a loud crunching noise. “Dammit, Jojo! You almost hit me.” 

His ‘sorry’ was muffled by chewing and Lauren scowled waiting a beat before bopping him on the forehead. 

“Next time just ask for the bowl, dummy. How are y’all still eatin’ after all that food?” 

Gabe shrugged and sank lower in his seat, enough to prop his sock covered feet on the coffee table. “I’m a growing boy. I ain’t wanna dig around in all those bowls. You got the fridge locked up. Chips was easier.” He offered her the bowl as a peace offering and despite her glare, it didn’t stop her from swiping a few. Dark eyes, much like her own glanced at the screen and he frowned. “What the hell are y’all watching?” 

“Matty picked. I think it’s some Star Wars thing?” 

There came a huff from the floor, and Matheus lifted his head from her knee. “It’s ‘The Mandalorian’, Lo. I said that twenty minutes ago.” 

“Okay, so I was right. It was a Star Wars thing.” 

Gabe snorted beside her. “Turn it off, I haven’t watched the first ep yet, I don’t wanna be spoiled.” 

Lauren reached for a few more chips, grabbing a handful and pointing with her pinky at Gabe’s lap. “You have the remote, genius. Just switch it to something everybody wants to watch. Don’t put on those NatGeo docs, bout to put everybody to sleep.” 

Matty laughed. “Jojo’s already asleep.” 

“No I’m not!” came the sleep-filled reply from her sweatpants-covered lap and Lauren looked down at her little brother, who was busy wiping crumbs from his face. “Lo, you’re getting Dorito dust on me.” 

“Yeah well that’s what you get for almost smackin’ me, we’re even.” She rubbed her fingers together, laughing at his grumbling because despite it, she knew he wasn’t moving. “Where’s Nono?” she asked Gabe, who was still busy browsing through Netflix and vetoing Matty’s suggestions. 

“Think he’s still talking to Zara on the phone. Makin’ plans to link up after practice.” Gabe tossed the remote to Matty, and turned his full attention on Lauren. “You stayin’ for the game on Saturday? Watch us bust some Aggie ass?”

Lauren nibbled at her bottom lip. She'd forgotten about the possibility of a football game. Already figuring it would be a reality for winter break, in her haste to get away from Ginsburg for the holiday, it had slipped her mind. 

"My flight back to school is Saturday," she replied, unsure if she was relieved or annoyed. At herself. More than likely at the situation. Dinner had been spent literally surrounded by football, her brother teammates piled into the large dining room they only ever used for holidays and big parties. And at first, Lauren had completely disappeared amongst the talk of plays and stats and names, occasionally cracking a smile at a stray joke, her grin growing when her eyes happened to catch her father's. Her parents seemed happy to see her. Her father clutched her tightly and kissed her forehead, the warmth behind it making her feel most at home. 

And she supposed her mother, with her busy to-do list that involved ordering the rest of them around with chopping and shopping and cleaning and organizing didn't have much time for her usual spiel. Again, the surprise drop in was good for something. She'd managed a quick kiss to her daughter's cheek and promptly sent her on an errand. Lauren figured come Christmastime, she wouldn't be so lucky. 

For his part, Gabe took the news of her departure easily. Then again, that was his way. Of all her brothers, the two were more alike, in looks and temperament. Where Antonio was the quiet, responsible type, Gabe was loud, the center of attention and quick with a joke. The two of them bumped heads, but never really outright clashed, trading snarky comments back and forth until a peace offering (usually food) was suggested. 

“There’s always games,” he replied easily. “You’ll catch another one.” They turned their attention back to the television, where Matty had found something else to watch (Black Panther) and managed to snatch the bowl of chips from his older brother, setting it beside him so he could share with his twin. 

“Thanks, for not giving me shit about it.” 

Gabe shook his head. “It’s just football, Lozinha. I realize sayin’ that’s a cardinal sin ‘round here. But you haven’t been into this shit since we were in high school. It’s cool. Although…” he turned to his sister, big grin on his handsome face and Lauren knew it was bound to be something that would no doubt annoy her. “If you did show up, I know of at least three dudes who’d be pretty hype about that.” 

She made a face. “Please don’t push me off on your football pals, it’s so weird. Not to mention unnecessary.” 

“You say ‘unnecessary’, I say Cameron was staring hard and it wasn’t the turkey he was eyeballin’.” 

Lauren rolled her eyes, her annoyance only rising at Gabe’s loud laughter, but smiled when the twins both shushed him. She had noticed Cameron, catching her eyes whenever she looked up and making sure they were seated beside each other at dinner. 

He was sweet enough, a junior linebacker studying sports medicine with dreams of being a physical therapist, and he listened attentively while she talked about Ginsburg and her major. Their conversation had been pleasant, but it was a typical dinner talk: polite and surface-level and though she enjoyed it, hadn’t thought much more about it, especially when she had other matters to attend to, mainly cleaning. A total gentleman, he bid her goodnight and leaned in for a hug, a one-armed gesture that ended with a gentle squeeze of her hip, which...okay that might’ve been forward...but she didn’t dwell on it, simply brushing it off as friendly.

“Yeah, that’s not happening. He’s nice but he lives here. I’m at Ginsburg. Plus I’m not really looking for that right now.” 

“Uh-huh…” Gabe trailed off, studying his sister’s profile. “Soooo, is that ‘cause you already have something? And when are you gonna let me talk to your crew? Do they know you’ve got a hot single brother? Like come on, what good is having a sister if I can’t hit on your fine ass friends?”

“That is a lot of stupid happening in one sentence,” she replied, laughing. “I’m not letting my friends anywhere near you. Besides, you already got a school-full of folks you can charm, get outta my friends list.” 

“Jeez, be selfish. But you could be keeping me from the love of my life. I hope you’re happy.” 

“My one mission’s to make your ass miserable so yep, I’m pretty content right now.” 

Gabe snorted. “It’s possible you came back a bigger pain in the ass.”

“It’s a required Gins elective. Bad Bitch 101.” Lauren flipped her hair, laughing when João grumbled about being jostled. She ruffled his hair, letting her fingers linger to card gently through his curls. 

“Are you two done?” Matheus grumbled from below. “We’re tryin’ to watch something here.” 

“Yeah whatever,” Gabe said, leaning forward to bop his younger brother on the shoulder. “You’ve seen this like a million times. Gimme the chips and put on something we all wanna watch.” 

“I don’t mind watching it,” came a voice from behind and Lauren looked up to see Antonio entering the den, tumbling over the back of the sectional much like Gabe did, settling beside his brother, and throwing an arm over the back of the couch. 

“Are y’all incapable of sitting on the couch like regular folk? I mean, damn.” Her question was met by a chorus of boos and Gabe, having recovered the chip bowl threw a Dorito at her, which she promptly caught in her mouth. 

“Nice. Learned that from one of those Ginsburg’s electives?” 

Lauren shook her head. “Nah, just that Zizes instinct comin’ through.” Grinning, she leaned her head on Gabe’s shoulder, finally focusing on the Wakandian action on-screen as her brothers passed the bowl between them, feeling completely at ease in the familiarity of it all. She really missed this.

[animesavior]

"Eren, stop, that isn't true [that you're a worthless little kid]. Hey, thank you. I've been meaning to tell you that. For fighting, for always standing by me. Thank you. For pushing through, for showing me how to live with purpose. I'm greatful. My scarf, for always wrapping it around me. Thank you."

-          Mikasa Ackerman, Attack on Titan (Ep. 37)

"Mikasa, I will always wrap your scarf, always and forever. That's a promise."

-          Eren Jaeger

The Toonami Trending Rundown for July 22-23, 2017. A milestone night for the better cartoon show as the nerd world celebrates San Diego Comic-Con week, with Attack on Titan completing season 2 as Eren looks for revenge on the Titan that killed his mother, while Hunter x Hunter begins the Greed Island story arc as Gon returns to his quest of getting in the game, and Hinata defends Naruto while he is down in his battle against Pain, among other great moments.

On Twitter, both Dragon Ball shows, Attack on Titan, Lupin the 3rd, and Naruto Shippuden would trend during their respective East Coast airings, as well as Attack On Titan and Lupin the 3rd during or after their respective West Coast airings. Dragon Ball Super would also trend on tumblr. Unfortunately, Hunter x Hunter coming up short in making the trends ends its 60 week trending streak that has gone since week 1 (excluding holidays when the show wasn’t the marathon). It was fun while it lasted. On the other hand, this isn’t bad, considering that we’ve also heard reports from viewers that there were several glitches that hindered DirectTV users from viewing that night’s Toonami broadcast.

Finally, Dragon Ball Super’s buzz would help get the show on Nielsen Social’s top 5 most talked about shows on Twitter and Facebook on the day for the 14th time in the show’s present run, making it to the #2 spot. This is the 27th time a Toonami show has reached this list since we started recording this feat.

There’s not much to say to what hasn’t been said about Attack on Titan by now. One of the smash hit anime franchises to be released this decade upon the anime’s original release in Japan in 2013 (and later its original Toonami run the following year), the AOT franchise has become one of biggest of the many symbols of anime’s resurgence during this decade. Although there was no doubt a sequel would be made following season 1’s successful run, much like any popular anime based off a long running manga, creators have to worry about catching up to where the manga is currently (most manga artists usually release a new chapter once a month, and an episode of a regular anime can easily cover several chapters) that the anime runs out of material.

Unlike most Shonen Jump shows and much like One Punch Man and Sword Art Online, Titan’s producers opted to have a hiatus between seasons to prevent having to do any filler arcs and with fans clamoring for more, a Gecko Ending (a la Akame, Soul Eater, and the original FMA) was out of the question. Unfortunately the wait would take 4 years (3 for those who jumped on during Toonami’s airing) for a season 2 to materialize. But good things come to those who wait, and season 2 would make its debut on April 1st in Japan. Toonami viewers didn’t have to wait this time around for the dub, as during that same day, it was announced that AOT season 2 would indeed be getting a broadcast dub from Funimation, which made its debut on April 22.

While the season has received much acclaim from fans as Eren and the scouts come one step closer to finding the truth of the Titans, it hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies…then again, it never is for the scout regiment. Some Attack on Titan fans had concerns over the 12 episode count in season 2. There hasn’t been an official reason behind this, but according to animator and insider Thomas Romain, shortages of animator talent combined with high demand for newer shows and scheduling issues has made it very difficult if not impossible for many studios to greenlight high quality anime seasons/series that’s longer than 12 episodes in recent years. Indeed, many successful non-Shonen Jump shows nowadays have been presented in seasons or cours of 12 or so episodes at a time, with an off-season in between. Durarara x2 and My Hero Academia are such notable examples of this, and the new FLCL coming next year will also be doing something similar with its new seasons. No doubt, this is something the industry will have to correct if it wishes to continue growing, but as fans, there’s not much we can do other than help out the industry and support it through legal matters (Buying DVDs and official merchandise, watching on Toonami and other legal sources, and the like).

And of course there’s the big elephant in the room. While ratings, DVD/Blu-Ray sales in Japan, and general interest both inside and outside Toonami’s scope are pretty satisfactory to good, they are much to be desired compared to the juggernaut ratings and buzz seen worldwide in season 1. Some of this can be explained with ratings erosion happening across all of television as viewing sources and viewing habits diversify, but many have pointed out that trying to keep interest for a show in this so-called “instant gratification” era, with hundreds of new franchises being released and continued every year, it can be very difficult for a show to keep its momentum going with a long hiatus. And with a 4 year wait since the last season, its no surprise that many have been slow to catch back on.

We’ve seen a bit of a correlation in that regard to our trending records. During the show’s run of season 2, the hashtag #AttackOnTitan trended in the US on Twitter on every week with the exception of week 8 and week 10 but did trend as well during the 4th of July weekend marathon. In addition, #AttackOnTitanSeason2 trended during week 1 as well as during two occasions during the run-up to the premiere, and we also received a character trend in Eren during week 9. Attack on Titan would also trend on tumblr during 9 of the shows 12 weeks as well as during the April Fools announcement and during the 4th of July weekend marathon.

Regardless of these issues, the Attack on Titan franchise overall continues to go strong, and Wit Studios is presently hard at work producing Season 3, set for release in Spring 2018. And with series creator Hajime Isayama set to wrap up the manga pretty soon, we could very well see the show’s end within the next few years, depending on how things go.

Whether Toonami will be bringing back Titan for Season 3 onwards is something to be determined as the time comes, but with the ratings and overall interest by viewers and the investment in the show from Toonami themselves, I think it would be a real stunner if Toonami doesn’t run Attack on Titan to its end. Of course, if you do wish to help the cause in seeing season 3 and perhaps beyond, continue to give you support to the show and the anime industry overall, and of course, let Toonami and Funimation know you want to see more Attack on Titan on the better cartoon show. And as the wait for season 3 begins, season 2 will have an encore run at 3am for those late to the party or want to re-watch in anticipation. If you’re late to the party, use it wisely as not every Toonami show is given this opportunity to win over latecomers.

Whatever happens next in Eren’s quest to vanquish the Titans, I’m pretty sure it should be a good one.

I was in Comic-Con myself this past week to help get you guys the latest Toonami news from San Diego, and unfortunately because of that among other personal reasons, this trending rundown was released later than usual. Our apologies for the inconvenience. There was some notable news that directly involved the better cartoon show from San Diego. Announced during the Toonami Pre-Flight taping at Comic Con, Toonami revealed the next Total Immersion Event, Countdown, set to air sometime in the fall.

It also should be noted that also during the panel, Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin mentioned that there was gonna be a special announcement for the block that was pulled back at the last second for as of yet unknown reasons. However, the following week’s Toonami, in addition to the return of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure with the premiere of Stardust Crusaders, saw an expansion (which was announced just a day after Comic Con ended) with every present show moving up their respective timeslots by 30 minutes (Ex. Dragon Ball Super now airs at 11pm while GITS:SAC airs at 2:30am). Not long after that, Toonami announced the return of Outlaw Star beginning on August 19th. It’s unknown if that was the announcement all along or if more things are coming down the pipes, but nonetheless this fall will have plenty to look out for ahead.

We’ll have a full report on the events from SDCC ahead as well as the following week’s trending rundown hopefully sometime later today, but for now, we’ll see you again next time for another round of the better cartoon show.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

#Toonami [#5]

#DragonBallSuper [#25]

#DBZKai [#24]

#AttackOnTitan [#6]

#LupinThe3rd [#6]

#Shippuden [#10]

Tweet Counts:

#Toonami [3,609 tweets]

#AttackOnTitan [4,422 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#dragon ball super

Notes and Other Statistics:

#DBZKai: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @Kirbopher started the trend in the US.

#AttackOnTitan: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @JessicaCalvello and @CliffordChapin started the trend in the US.

#LupinThe3rd @WhoTrendedIT reported that @AlphaOmegaSin started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @mmorse1017 and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

[animesavior]

“Let me guess, you're gonna say "Did you planned this too, JoJo?" Why are you even asking? I set the trap and you walked right into it. All of this went down like clockwork. (I just got lucky, but thinking I outsmarted him will drive Kars nuts.)”

-          Joseph Joestar, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Ep. 26)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for April 15-16, 2017. It was a big milestone night as Toonami’s 20th anniversary celebrations come to its conclusion. We reach the midway point of Samurai Jack, while we also commemorate a full year of Hunter x Hunter airing on Toonami as Kurapika has his memorable battle against Uvogin, and Dragon Ball Super completes the Battle of Gods saga. And of course, we end off JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Battle Tendency story arc, and thus season 1 as well, with a bang.

On Twitter, every show successfully trended during their respective East Coast airings, as well as Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super during their respective West Coast airings. In addition, JoJo’s, Samurai Jack, and Dragon Ball Super would also trend on tumblr.

Samurai Jack’s buzz also produced a character trend with the Scotsman as he recruits an army together to attack Aku’s palace. Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned as Aku easily steamrolls the army and blows the Scotsman to bones, though with some Celtic magic, he returns as a Force Ghost now hoping to regroup and find Jack before doing it all over again.

This week also marked the conclusion of the 5 part mini-series Sand Whale and Me. Whether you thought it was either a fun short or it just gave you an excuse to have an extra 5 minute bathroom and/or snack break, this one was rather interesting experiment from Adult Swim and Production IG to say the least. Of course, Adult Swim does like having experimental programming every now and then, and it should be interesting what else they might have in mind down the line. If you want to re-watch Sand Whale and Me from the beginning, click here to check it out on Adult Swim’s site.

As the 20th anniversary celebrations come to a close, we look forward to what the future brings, including the return of the Titans. Toonami also showcased the promo for the broadcast dub of the new season of Attack on Titan, which the buzz of its return would make #AttackOnTitanSeason2 trend on Twitter and #AttackOnTitan trend on tumblr partly as a result. You can check it out below.

Also occurring this Saturday, Sword Art Online will be returning to the movies, as the dub for Ordinal Scale will be showcased in select theaters. If you’re planning on going, we hope you enjoy this one.

Ever since its original debut in Shonen Jump in 1987, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has grown to become a best selling manga series, spanning 8 story arcs and over 118 volumes and counting. (To put in perspective, Naruto ended at 72 volumes while One Piece is at 84 and counting.) Despite its popularity, it wasn’t until fairly recently that the manga would be exported to western shores, and while JoJo’s has had a few OVAs and movies in the 90’s and 2000’s, the franchise never got its big break in the anime scene until this very anime was released in Japan in 2012.

Despite the show’s boom in popularity following the anime’s release, and despite the high demand from JoJo fans to eventually see this in the better cartoon show, it would take 4 more years for its break on Toonami to materialize. For one, it took until Fall 2015 for a dub to be produced by Warner Bros. And despite being in the same parent company as Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting, Warner was not willing to partner up with Toonami to air JoJo's unless they were willing to pay a fortune for broadcast rights.

It seemed that JoJo’s was doomed to never make it to Toonami at one point. But JoJo fans would never give up, and as we’ve seen time and again, nothing is impossible for the better cartoon show. Due to various reasons, Warner would eventually transfer the dubbing and US distribution rights to Viz Media, whom have much better relations with Toonami, and during Comic-Con 2016, we finally got the announcement that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure would finally make it to the better cartoon show, which began airing on October 15th.

9 episodes of Jonathan trying to stop Dio from world domination followed by 17 episodes of Joseph, Caesar, and Lisa Lisa stopping the Pillar Men, and this season of JoJo’s is now in the books. During the show’s run, the hashtag #JoJosBizarreAdventure successfully trended in the US during all 25 weeks of its run, including during the Christmas 2016 marathon as well as this week’s doubleheader finale. In 7 of those occasions, the show also trended worldwide. JoJo’s buzz also produced a character trend in Lisa Lisa as her character was being introduced.

So now the wait begins for part 3, Stardust Crusaders, which is presently being dubbed by Viz Media. We’re presently not sure when this dub will be ready or when and if Toonami will be renewing the series, but with a good ratings performance for Season 1, demand from the fans for more JoJo’s, and Jason and the crew liking the series, the odds look pretty good that Stardust Crusaders will eventually make it to Toonami airwaves at some point. At this point, it’s up to Toonami, Viz, and the Japanese distributors to get the deal done. Hopefully the wait will be a lot shorter than the one for season 1 this time around.

With Stardust Cusaders up next, Diamond is Unbreakable down the line, in addition to at least 5 more story arcs still to be animated, JoJo’s looks to be a show we’ll be enjoying for perhaps years to come. Whatever the Joestar family has for us next, I’m sure it’ll be a fun ride.

Tune in next week as Attack on Titan returns to Toonami with the long awaited English broadcast dub premiere of Season 2 at 12:30am Eastern, while Samurai Jack shows off its second half, and Dragon Ball Super begins the Resurrection F saga (although do keep in mind that Super tends to have a “breather episode” or two in between arcs before getting to the real biz), among other great moments. And of course, Tokyo Ghoul will continue airing on its regular scheduled time at 1am.

Until next week, enjoy the playoffs and stay gold as always.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

Toonami/#Toonami [#4]

#AttackOnTitanSeason2 [#7]

#SamuraiJack (Also during the West Coast airing) [#6]

The Scotsman (From Samurai Jack) [#7]

#DragonBallSuper (Also during the primetime presentation and the West Coast airing) [#3]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#7]

#DBZKai [#6]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#4]

#HunterXHunter [#5]

#GundamUnicorn [#5]

#Shippuden [#7]

#GhostInTheShell [#4]

Tweet Counts:

Toonami [9,357 tweets]

#Toonami [5,115 tweets]

#SamuraiJack [7,128 tweets]

#DragonBallSuper [3,570 tweets]

#DBZKai [1,566 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [5,561 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [2,779 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#attack on titan

#samurai jack

#dragon ball super

#jojos bizarre adventure

Notes and Other Statistics:

#DBZKai: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @FUNimation started the trend in the US.

#HunterXHunter: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @ErikaHarlacher started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @coreymbarnes, @jmb70056, and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

[animesavior]

“Even an adventurous crew like this one deserves a calm and relaxing day now and then. How many years…no, how many decades has it been since I could just sit around and take an afternoon nap in the sun without a care in the world? While I wondered the seas alone, I would lay my head down, not knowing if it was day or night, and dream of my long lost comrades…and Laboon. However it was precious little solice for when I awoke the fleeting joy became a press of loneliness. Yet, what could I do but repeat the cycle again. In those days I could find peace neither in slumber, nor in my waking hours. But now, if I listened carefully…I can hear my new friends all around me. I know I died and I am now nothing but bones but…I’m so very happy to still be alive. […] I’ve no doubt that this time of quiet will soon be replaced by the roaring sounds of adventure, a prospect I welcome wholeheartedly. But now, it’s a moment to rest one’s bones. Laboon, it seems that the next time we meet, I’ll have quite a few stories to share, old friend. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming of you, and I hope you’ll keep waiting on me.”

-          Brook, One Piece (Ep. 384)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 18-19, 2017. A big milestone for the better cartoon show this week as Toonami celebrates its 20th anniversary. And it would be a night to remember with some great moments including Jack getting chased down by the Daughters of Aku, and while trying to excape he kills one of them, learning that Aku’s loyalists aren’t all just “nuts and bolts”. Meanwhile, Beerus ramps up his power, hoping to see the full potential of Goku’s SSJ God abilities, and we end off Toonami’s current run of One Piece as Brook settles down and attempts to fit in as the newest member of the Strawhats.

On Twitter, Toonami and every show would successfully trend in the US and Worldwide during their respective East Coast airings, in addition to both #Toonami20, which was a hashtag used to commemorate the 20th anniversary, as well as #SandWhaleAndMe, as Toonami showcased the first part of the 5 part miniseries by Production IG. In addition, being One Piece’s final night, fans would make sure that show would go out with a bang, as #OnePiece would trend from the duration of its East Coast airing to its West Coast airing. Samurai Jack would also produce a character trend for the very first time with Aku, as 50 years on and after destroying all the known portals back to the past and hoping he would eventually die of old age to no avail, Aku has pretty much lost all motivation to try and kill Jack.

On Tumblr, both Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super would reach its trending list in addition to Tokyo Ghoul, as Toonami showcased a promo for its upcoming debut next week.

Finally, in a first for Toonami programming in the social media scene, both Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super would make the top two positions on Nielsen Social’s top 5 most talked about shows on Twitter and Facebook, the 16th and 17th time a Toonami show has made it onto the list since we started recording this feat. This would also be the second week in a row for Samurai Jack to reach the list in addition to becoming the 2nd time a show has reached the #1 spot, meanwhile this would be the 9th time in the 11 weeks it has aired so far that Super has made it onto the list.

Among some of the other features to commemorate the 20th anniversary, Adult Swim along with Titmouse created this short film titled "Exquisite Corpse". You can check it out below.

As the Spa Island mini-arc comes to a close, it pains for me to say that unfortunately due to flagging ratings, high costs in airing the show further, and perhaps a need to shake things up programming wise, among other things, Toonami has pulled the plug on One Piece’s run on the better cartoon show.

Initially as One Piece made its grand return to the block in 2013, things were great as Toonami enjoyed great ratings and social media buzz for the show alongside its Big 3 Shonen Jump counterparts in Bleach and Naruto. But as time marched on, ratings began to lag for multiple reasons, and by 2015 One Piece fell all the way down the schedule from 1am all the way to 2:30am and eventually being the lowest rated show on the block besides the rerun (and sometimes even being out-beaten by the rerun). At that point, the signs were probably there that the show’s days as a Toonami show were numbered. Granted, despite its shortcomings ratings wise, we all thought it was at least doing well enough to stay, and it did for a while, though we know now that it was no longer the case.

Quite a few factors likely played a role in One Piece’s demise. Some blame One Piece starting on episode 207 instead of episode 1, as newer viewers didn’t get to experience the events in those earlier episodes. To use a recently aired example, when Brook recalled his days with Laboon, Toonami never got to showcase the Strawhats encounter with Laboon, so the emotional aspects could’ve been lost with some people. Meanwhile, some blame the show not being able to catch up with the pace of the most recent dub episodes, being aired once a week. And although this is subjective, others have also commented that the show’s “goofy” feel and artstyle, for lack of a better term, could make it hard for some to take the show seriously, especially in regards to the show’s emotional moments.

Of course, One Piece’s sheer length may have played a part in its eventual demise. The show is presently up to 782 episodes and counting, which is getting right up there among the lengths of soap operas, and combined with the franchise having some heavy continuity, no doubt that some have been turned away because of the commitment. I myself was even turned away initially into One Piece because of this until Toonami’s airing got me interested. And even for those that are committed, with Toonami so far behind from where Funimation is at with the dub, much less where Japan is at (we ended at 384), along with the show only airing once a week and the show itself having no end in sight, it would have been near-impossible to catch up. Hence, this is why many decided to binge watch the series at their own pace instead, and this would show in the ratings.

And on that same note, there has been a bit of a backlash lately in regards to the amount of long runners on Toonami. When JoJo came on late last year, every single show on at the time save for Gundam and the 3am rerun would last on Toonami for at least two years. That doesn’t really give much room for a turnaround to get newer shows unless an expansion is in the cards, which we are seeing with the 11pm timeslot. While long runners do help with consistency to the block’s ratings, and no doubt the reason these shows are long is because of their immense popularity and demand for more, it doesn’t help if the popularity and overall buzz of said shows wear down. Both One Piece and Naruto have had some ratings fatigue as of late for various reasons, which is partly why they ended up at the back end of the block for the last few years. Meanwhile Hunter x Hunter fans have pleaded to Jason and the crew to keep that show at least at 1:30am for fear that it could suffer the same fate. And while JoJo’s and Gundam are doing fine for now, we feel that they could be doing much better. If you want Stardust Crusaders and IBO Season 2 to come to town, giving those shows the ratings support will help.

While Jason has promised more shows are still to come, possibly with expansion, but in regards to One Piece, it might have opened the can of worms in regards to cost considerations. With the direction things were going, One Piece would likely have been pushed to 3am or later to make way for those new shows. With most fans too tired to watch past 3am unless they used a DVR, the programming department at Toonami likely unable to pay high costs for a show so late, and Funimation and Toei likely unable to lower the renewal costs, Toonami decided it just wasn’t worth it anymore.

The problem could also go all the way back to the show’s days when 4Kids was the distributor. First impressions can often play a big role if a show becomes a smash hit or not, and with 4Kids poor handling of the show, fans were understandably turned off, and those first impressions among newer viewers were squandered. When Funimation took control, it would be too little, too late, as Toonami cancellation and the days of CN Real was upon the channel, and One Piece had to go elsewhere to gain its fanbase. One Piece would eventually rebound and gain immense popularity through other means and eventually another Toonami airing, but in comparison, the likes of DBZ and Naruto each received much better first impressions from both the Toonami and general audiences and both franchises currently benefit from massive nostalgic fanbases to this day in the US, something which we are seeing with the continued success of Dragon Ball Super and the hype for the upcoming Boruto series respectively.

In the end, for one reason or another, One Piece just never caught on among the Toonami and general American audiences as much as we hoped and various factors each played a role in One Piece’s hopes of staying on Toonami unsustainable. Combined with the demand for more variety from viewers and the need to keep Toonami growing overall, it was no surprise that changes had to be made. While I’m sure One Piece’s Toonami viewers and even the Toonami crew themselves did everything they could to make the show work, there just wasn’t enough support to realistically keep the ship going without Toonami running into significant problems both financing and timeslot wise at some point. And as we all know, the growth and health of Toonami as a whole is much more important than one single show.

While One Piece is a beloved show to many of us, and will likely continue to be for years to come, the reality is that Toonami just can’t continue airing a show if millions of people don’t agree and watch it week after week on the better cartoon show. While the One Piece fandom is anything but a vocal minority, with millions continuing to enjoy the manga and the show on streaming sites and disc sales around the world, in regards to Toonami viewership, even Jason DeMarco himself has mentioned that “One Piece fans have been far more vocal about the show on the internet than they are focused on watching the show on TV”.

And as Jason himself has regularly said, television is a democracy and people vote with their eyeballs. It’s the reason why Naruto Shippuden, despite having the same issues with not being able to catch up with the dub and constant complaints about filler, wasn’t put on the chopping block as well, for now at least. It’s the reason why the likes of Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online have been big hits both inside and outside Toonami’s reach despite discontent from the vocal minority of detractors (as we have seen with the success of Ordinal Scale in theaters for instance), and will both likely be back at some point to air their respective sequels. And it’s a big reason Toonami mainly focuses on action oriented anime and cartoons, as the likes of slice of life, sports anime, and live action, while big on other outlets, were pretty much flops when Toonami experimented with such shows. In this case, while there were plenty of eyeballs watching, there just weren’t enough watching per week to keep One Piece running much longer.

Consider this to be a big wakeup call to fans of every current and prospective show on the block, that if a show makes it on Toonami, it has to pull through when it comes to both Nielsen ratings and overall buzz. If the show does well, all will be good as we’ll get to enjoy the show in its entirety, and if a sequel were to come, the odds will be good if not all but assured that the show will return. If not, changes will be made and another show will get its chance instead, as we saw with One Piece leaving and Tokyo Ghoul on its way. It doesn’t matter what the critics think of a show, or what your opinion might be. The moral of this story is that if you truly want a show to stay, continue to watch and enjoy, but don’t be complacent and not watch thinking it will be there forever. As the old saying goes, you don’t know what you got until it is gone.

Personally as a fan who got into One Piece via Toonami, it is pretty disappointing to ponder what could have been for this franchise, but what it did do for Toonami social media wise is one worth celebrating. During its nearly 4 year presence, One Piece would use its opportunity the best it could and no doubt fans made sure their voices were heard. The hashtag #OnePiece would trend in some capacity a grand total of 137 weeks including 19 times during the Long Ring Long arc, 29 times during the Water 7 arc, 39 times during Enies Lobby (including a marathon during Christmas 2015 showcasing the finale of that arc), 11 times during the Lovely Land arc, 35 weeks during Thriller Bark, and was a perfect 3 for 3 during the Spa Island Arc.

The show also produced 26 different character/in-show content trends, some of which occurred multiple times, including 19 characters (Arlong, Brook, Chopper (including Chopper Man), Franky, Foxy, Kuma, Laboon, Luffy (Including Afro Luffy), Nami, Robin, Olvia, Sanji, Saul, Shanks, Sniper King, Spandam, Usopp, and Zoro), 2 attacks, (Buster Call and Third Gear), 1 response to an event (RIP Merry), and 3 story arc names (Enies Lobby, Impel Down (Which we never got to), and Water 7).

No doubt One Piece is a part of that great legacy Toonami has made that made millions of people into anime fans and for their respective success, Toonami owes a lot for One Piece, and One Piece owes a lot to Toonami. Unfortunately, things weren’t going as well as we all hoped and Toonami decided it was best to part ways. While no show can be able to fully replace One Piece, we do hope you continue to support the block going forward or at least the shows you enjoy as it continues to showcase great anime to American audiences. Sometimes change can be good and if Toonami can use this opportunity to keep bringing in new shows, the loss of this show will at least sting less. And who knows, we could be seeing the next generation of top tier anime air here soon enough that could inspire fans both new and old like One Piece did for us.

That all being said, we have seen time and again that nothing is impossible for the better cartoon show and perhaps one day One Piece could return to Toonami stronger than ever. We saw it when Toonami first brought back One Piece back in 2013, and who’s to say it can’t happen again when conditions improve? For now, if you want to continue watching One Piece, check out the DVDs/BluRays and Manga as well as checking out new episodes on FunimationNow and Crunchyroll. Funimation is presently hard at work with dubbing season 9, and while Toonami won’t be there to commemorate One Piece’s future milestones at least for now, the franchise’s popularity looks a lot stronger than before Toonami joined the fray. It will be interesting to see where the One Piece franchise goes in the years ahead as the quest to find One Piece continues.

So on behalf of the Toonami Faithful, bon voyage, Strawhats and thanks for the memories. We’ll miss you.

Starting out as a mere idea by Mike Lazzo, Sean Atkins, and Jason DeMarco, Toonami has grown over the past 20 years to be a major phenomenon and has played a major role for why Anime is as popular as it is today. I personally started watching Toonami when I was a young kid around 1998-ish when I stumbled into Cartoon Network one afternoon as Toonami was airing Sailor Moon. While back then, it was strange to be enjoying a “girl show”, I was instantly hooked, and along with DBZ, the ThunderCats, and later Gundam Wing, I became intrigued and later became a fan with what would we all know today as anime.

We may or may not have realized it at the time, but Toonami turned out to be something special as it helped jumpstart a golden age for the anime industry as many shows were created and/or brought over to American shores partly in response to Toonami’s success. Of course, we reaped the benefits of this golden age, as we were introduced to a plethora of both anime and action cartoons, many of which we have grown to love, and some we still enjoy today. The four dark years when Toonami was off the air aside, the block was, is, and likely will continue to be a “gateway drug” for millions of anime fans, and perhaps more to come.

What makes Toonami successful, at least to me, is that it is not necessarily one show. What makes up Toonami is the 9 great action anime/cartoons that it presently airs now, plus the hundreds of shows that it aired in the past, as well as the many shows that will make its way to the block in the future (whether there are new franchises or sequels to popular Toonami shows), not to mention the packaging and adventures of TOM and SARA. From its smash hits to its underrated gems, Toonami has always had something for everyone. Add in the occasional music video, movie or animated short, game review, or other special feature Toonami has every week, and you got something millions tune in or DVR weekly every Saturday.

If Toonami taught us anything these past few years, it’s that nothing really is impossible. A few years ago, it was thought to be impossible that Samurai Jack would get a 5th season. Fast-forward to today, and here we are, talking about what’s next. Hell, Toonami returning was a miracle in itself. While many have sought a return during its hiatus, the dream never became realistic until Mike Lazzo and the Adult Swim crew decided to run Toonami and some of its past shows during April Fool’s Day 2012 and possibly see if there was interest. The response was a clear yes, and so here we are today seeing Toonami continuing to do as they do best.

And of course, the future looks bright for the better cartoon show in the months and years ahead. With Samurai Jack’s return continuing to impress and FLCL’s return also on the horizon, more original productions might be on the pipelines ahead. New acquisitions will also await, whether they are smash hits or underrated gems, each hoping to see their full potential in the west, including Tokyo Ghoul which begins next week. Previously successful Toonami shows including Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist, One Punch Man and Sword Art Online among others will be among those to watch for in regards to Toonami potentially airing their respective sequels at some point ahead. And of course, barring any other dips in popularity and cancellations, the likes of Dragon Ball, Gundam, Hunter x Hunter, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Naruto each looks to continue to impress Toonami audiences for months if not years to come. Of course, if you have anything in mind for Toonami to show, we always recommend you sending your show requests on appropriate outlets (ex. their Facebook and tumblr message boxes). You may never know if millions of other folks, the distributors, and the Toonami crew will agree and try to make it happen.

The next 20 years or so will be one to look forward to and we could see a lot more to come ahead. And if you ask me, the success of Toonami, its partners, and even its competitors will all play a key role for the future prospects of anime and action cartoons in the west in the years ahead. Could we see a second season of another beloved Toonami show? Further expansion? A comeback for movies? The next anime boom if it’s not happening already? Or could it all just come crashing down in the end? Nothing is certain, but nothing is impossible, and we could be seeing some great things ahead. Of course, it takes two to tango, and if you do wish to keep Toonami going for another 20 years, keep supporting Toonami and the anime industry overall as always.

We continue on creating that legacy this Saturday, as Tokyo Ghoul will make its long awaited debut on the better cartoon show at 1am, while Gundam Unicorn will showcase its second half at its new time at 2am, and Naruto Shippuden will continue on at 2:30am. On behalf of the Toonami Faithful, thanks for all the memories, and here’s to many more.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

Toonami/#Toonami [#4]

#Toonami20 [#1]

#SamuraiJack [#1]

Aku (From Samurai Jack) [#2]

#DragonBallSuper (Also during the primetime presentation) [#1]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#1]

#DBZKai [#1]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#2]

#GundamUnicorn [#1]

#HunterXHunter [#1]

#Shippuden [#2]

#OnePiece (Also during the West Coast airing) [#1]

#GhostInTheSHell [#1]

Worldwide Trends:

#Toonami20 [#2]

#SamuraiJack [#3]

Aku (From Samurai Jack) [#4]

#DragonBallSuper [#7]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#8]

#DBZKai [#8]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#8]

#GundamUnicorn [#7]

#HunterXHunter [#8]

#Shippuden [#8]

#OnePiece [#1]

#GhostInTheSHell [#7]

Tweet Counts:

Toonami [13.9k tweets]

#Toonami [7,729 tweets]

#SamuraiJack [10.2k tweets]

#DragonBallSuper [4,800 tweets]

#DBZKai [1,767 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [2,027 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [2,259 tweets]

#OnePiece [6,100 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#tokyo ghoul

#samurai jack

#dragon ball super

Notes and Other Statistics:

#Toonami: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @blumspew and @adultswim started the trend in the US.

#DBZKai: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @FUNimation started the trend in the US.

#HunterXHunter: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @VIZMedia started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @coreymbarnes​, @jmb70056​, @TheNextHokage and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Eat Up. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.