Funi TV Discussion (Saturday Night/Sunday Morning 1:00 a.m., USA Toonami)

RomeIsHome25

Was just about to say this, it's really surprising. Maybe Toonami loosened up or FUNi loosened up. JoJo still has it's opening cut though so I don't get it, maybe it's just for FUNi shows, is Kai's cut?

Usually the first time a new opening airs, they air it in full. Afterwards, every showing gets cut down.

Except for the first show on the line-up (which has been DBZ Kai for a while now, and soon to be DBSuper). That one always keeps it's openings in full.

There have been some exceptions. LIke Space Dandy, Black Lagoon and Inuyasha The Final Act always keeping their openings in full regardless of where they are on the line-up. But usually they just air it in full the first time and then cut it down for the rest.

PinkoPico

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

Was just about to say this, it's really surprising. Maybe Toonami loosened up or FUNi loosened up.

I guess they didn't know how to make a proper edit from it without screwing it up and decided to leave it unedited, which they should've done before with the others.

JoJo still has it's opening cut though so I don't get it, maybe it's just for FUNi shows, is Kai's cut?

Kai's remain unedited. I don't understand the reason for making intros shorter myself. It's pretty dumb.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@RomeIsHome25:

Usually the first time a new opening airs, they air it in full. Afterwards, every showing gets cut down.

Except for the first show on the line-up (which has been DBZ Kai for a while now, and soon to be DBSuper). That one always keeps it's openings in full.

There have been some exceptions. LIke Space Dandy, Black Lagoon and Inuyasha The Final Act always keeping their openings in full regardless of where they are on the line-up. But usually they just air it in full the first time and then cut it down for the rest.

Jungle P was edited from the first time it appeared so I'm sure the We Are remix will stay in tact

Galaxy 9000

@RomeIsHome25:

Usually the first time a new opening airs, they air it in full. Afterwards, every showing gets cut down.

Every previous One Piece opening has been edited down from the start.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@PinkoPico:

Kai's remain unedited. I don't understand the reason for making intros shorter myself. It's pretty dumb.

Not that I agree with it, but it's purely for advertising related reasons. A 2:30 opening cuts into that, substantially.

Hopefully We Are stays untouched, or they actually cut it correctly.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@Galaxy:

Every previous One Piece opening has been edited down from the start.

Thought so, this is great. It must be FUNi not editing the OP's down anymore which is great. It's awesome that they've realized there's really no point to it

G1Ravage

I'm sure this was a mistake. It happens now and then, like the eye catchers sneaking in.

RomeIsHome25

It's only recently they've started doing that. I watch Toonami almost every night so I know what I'm saying. As of recently, First time the opening airs it airs intact, further showings they cut it down. That's the new rule.

It's happened with JoJo opening 1, HxH opening 1 and 2, Gundam IBO opening 1 and 2, One Punch Man opening 1 and several other more recent shows or openings .

I mean yeah it could be a mistake, but I'm more inclined to believe it's what I said due to recent shows.

And obviously they cut it down due to advertisement space. America shows more commercials than Japan typically, so usually, shows don't run as long (well ones that occupy a 30 min time slot anyway)

So yeah… don't get your hopes up on the full opening staying.

o-chan

@RomeIsHome25:

It's only recently they've started doing that. I watch Toonami almost every night so I know what I'm saying. As of recently, First time the opening airs it airs intact, further showings they cut it down. That's the new rule.

It's happened with JoJo opening 1, HxH opening 1 and 2, Gundam IBO opening 1 and 2, One Punch Man opening 1 and several other more recent shows or openings .

I mean yeah it could be a mistake, but I'm more inclined to believe it's what I said due to recent shows.

And obviously they cut it down due to advertisement space. America shows more commercials than Japan typically, so usually, shows don't run as long (well ones that occupy a 30 min time slot anyway)

So yeah… don't get your hopes up on the full opening staying.

I watch Toonami every night too and I'm backing this statement up. Toonami's current standard is to only have an uncut opening for the first show on the block, Shippuden gets NO openings (we did get a 10 second edit of the Pain opening for a few weeks) and everything else gets an edited opening sans the first run. Their a little more arbitrary with EDs and I know Jojo has played uncut Roundabout for its entire run.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

That's stupid to be honest, might as well not even play the openings. I'm disappointed, I'm hoping that it stays long but I guess I'll see because I'll be watching Toonami weekly starting January 7th (when the regular schedule returns) because of Dragon Ball Super and Kai The Final Chapters.

RomeIsHome25

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

That's stupid to be honest, might as well not even play the openings. I'm disappointed, I'm hoping that it stays long but I guess I'll see because I'll be watching Toonami weekly starting January 7th (when the regular schedule returns) because of Dragon Ball Super and Kai The Final Chapters.

It's pretty common knowledge that this is done for advertising space. Basically, they HAVE to shorten the run-time of the overall show to run their required amount of advertisements. It's better to cut down the intros than to cut down the actual episodes.

Lol its kinda perplexing to me that some of you don't know that. Especially since some of you are calling the practice stupid when you don't even know why they do it in the first place.

I mean, wuh? Lol

PinkoPico

@Galaxy:

Not that I agree with it, but it's purely for advertising related reasons. A 2:30 opening cuts into that, substantially.

Less commercials would've save enough time.

RomeIsHome25

@PinkoPico:

Less commercials would've save enough time.

That's not how it works. This is a business we're talking about here. A very generous business that still airs anime when just about every other network has deemed the medium useless and unprofitable (Why do you think Toonami is just about the only place that still airs anime? There's a good reason). We should be thankful just for that.

Nonetheless, they still need a certain amount of commercial time to earn their ad-revenue and stay on air. So 30 min time-slots can't have shows that exceed 24 minutes on a regular basis (which most anime do, because Japan doesn't air as many commercials – different place).

Hence, why they cut down the openings/endings and remove the eye-catchers and next-episode previews entirely.

Gregory12

Over on another blog, I am a regular commentator on they do an OP/ED of the day. Today's was "Sayonara Bye Bye", the second ED from Yu Yu Hakusho. The author commented that it was the TV size since there wasn't a full version to be found in English. That got me wondering what songs Funi has done over their long years of making dubs. I did some Googleing and found discussion threads about recent song dubs and videos but nowhere was I able to find a full list of all the ones they've done. Does anyone know if something like this exists?

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@RomeIsHome25:

It's pretty common knowledge that this is done for advertising space. Basically, they HAVE to shorten the run-time of the overall show to run their required amount of advertisements. It's better to cut down the intros than to cut down the actual episodes.

Lol its kinda perplexing to me that some of you don't know that. Especially since some of you are calling the practice stupid when you don't even know why they do it in the first place.

I mean, wuh? Lol

If they can run the opening in full at the start, then they can do it for it's full run. Stop with that condescending attitude buddy, thanks

RomeIsHome25

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

If they can run the opening in full at the start, then they can do it for it's full run. Stop with that condescending attitude buddy, thanks

Ooh the cringe is real with this one.

No. No they can't. Like I said, they have to show a specific amount of ads. Every now and then they can air a full opening. But they can't (or rather won't due to wanting ad-revenue) do it every night with all the shows other than the first one.

I mean, jeez dude, you obviously don't know how the American tv business works, why argue the point? That's what I'm confused about. It's fine if you don't know. Just admit it and move on. Don't try to debate about things you aren't educated about.

EDIT: https://soundcloud.com/toonamifaithfulpodcast/toonami-faithful-exclusive-17-jason-demarcos-state-of-toonami-address-2015

If you check out that link there's an interview with the head of Toonami, Jason Demarco. He explains why they have to cut down the openings. That part of the conversation starts at the 15:30 mark.

Actually, that's something else I forgot about - Toonami is a trademark block. They like to air bonus content like game reviews, custom promos, music videos and various other things, which is a contributing reason for their success. That cuts into advertisement space, as well. So if we wanted full openings and endings, they'd have to omit the things that give Toonami it's personality. Effectively not making it Toonami anymore.

o-chan

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

If they can run the opening in full at the start, then they can do it for it's full run. Stop with that condescending attitude buddy, thanks

Honestly it's not a condescending attitude. Even I kind of hear this very entitled voice from these posters who are like "Why can't Toonami just air the openings?" and in my head I'm going "Why can't you just buy the DVD/Blu-rays or watch it on Hulu if it matters to you that much?" Toonami didn't have to come back at all, and there's been many instances since it's return that the people running it have given in to fan demand (for example when they were running Space Dandy enough negative reactions on Twitter made DeMarco decide to run the uncut OP). Toonami is like a gateway for gaining new fans though, if you like what you see support the commercial release.

@RomeIsHome25:

Ooh the cringe is real with this one.

No. No they can't. Like I said, they have to show a specific amount of ads. Every now and then they can air a full opening. But they can't (or rather won't due to wanting ad-revenue) do it every night with all the shows other than the first one.

I mean, jeez dude, you obviously don't know how the American tv business works, why argue the point? That's what I'm confused about. It's fine if you don't know. Just admit it and move on. Don't try to debate about things you aren't educated about.

EDIT: https://soundcloud.com/toonamifaithfulpodcast/toonami-faithful-exclusive-17-jason-demarcos-state-of-toonami-address-2015

If you check out that link there's an interview with the head of Toonami, Jason Demarco. He explains why they have to cut down the openings. That part of the conversation starts at the 15:30 mark.

Actually, that's something else I forgot about - Toonami is a trademark block. They like to air bonus content like game reviews, custom promos, music videos and various other things, which is a contributing reason for their success. That cuts into advertisement space, as well. So if we wanted full openings and endings, they'd have to omit the things that give Toonami it's personality. Effectively not making it Toonami anymore.

Exactly. Now I do admit my little sour point with the block is that there does seem to be some intentional bias against the Shippuden OPs which don't get ANY airtime only because I feel that's one of the best parts of the show and shows off a lot of the top tier animators talents (they also didn't like the Bleach ones but it took right before the series ended before they started cutting them), but hey I watch Toonami because it's fun and it's a nice Saturday night live-tweeting experience.

PinkoPico

@RomeIsHome25:

That's not how it works. This is a business we're talking about here. A very generous business that still airs anime when just about every other network has deemed the medium useless and unprofitable (Why do you think Toonami is just about the only place that still airs anime? There's a good reason). We should be thankful just for that.

Nonetheless, they still need a certain amount of commercial time to earn their ad-revenue and stay on air. So 30 min time-slots can't have shows that exceed 24 minutes on a regular basis (which most anime do, because Japan doesn't air as many commercials – different place).

Hence, why they cut down the openings/endings and remove the eye-catchers and next-episode previews entirely.

Sorry, let me reiterate my former point of view. I meant what I said before, however, what I forgot to bring up was [im]probabilities of limiting ads varying upon said networks.
Didn't mean to take my comment the wrong way.

Mr. Luffy

I have to agree that cutting the openings is a far lesser evil than traditional syndication packages, which cut actual content from the episodes to make ad time. And by association, better than some networks that tweak the actual playspeed of content so each segment ends sooner (as in "subtly" fast forwarding it) though that is generally older content.

ARC-1300

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

If they can run the opening in full at the start, then they can do it for it's full run. Stop with that condescending attitude buddy, thanks

Why are you even getting angry anyway? It's not that big a deal. Would you rather them cut out the content of the show instead? I'll bet that would get you really streamed. And rightfully so, we're lucky anime is even on TV at all.

Shakidna_

I would much rather they cut the "Wealth, fame, power" segment or trim down the 7 minute recaps.

PinkoPico

Once again, no One Piece tonight. There is another marathon on DBZ Kai, airing the Cell episodes again to follow up for the Buu Saga next week.

So One Piece should be back on the air next weekend.

PinkoPico

Oh boy. Well, it looks like the opening has been edited as suspected. And I have to say, that… was not a good edit.

RomeIsHome25

Yep. As I said.

Sloppy edit, though. It shouldn't have been hard to edit down this song. -__-

PinkoPico

This is bleh.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

One Piece is leaving Toonami

Sano

This post is deleted!

Sano

Well…. that's some bad news. Aleast we still are getting the dvd release for the series.

dpstatic

I'm legitimately disappointed, I really enjoyed having the show on TV, and watching it every week. Hopefully it may come back someday, in the not too near future. I was looking forward to Sabaody so much too.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

They had a listing for the Sabaody Archipelago arc on my cable provider a week ago so it must've been a late decision

Count Mario

I kind of wish that they cancelled it at the end of the Sabaody Archipelago arc, as if to suggest that's literally how the series ends for Toonami-exclusive viewers.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

This isn't the end of the series in America, just saying that before it gets in anyone's head

o-chan

@Sano:

Well…. that's some bad news. Aleast we still are getting the dvd release for the series.

After seeing this news I can't help but feel this brings up several questions on the well being of Toonami as a whole. My immediate thoughts:

1. This definitely will impact the Western fandom and affect exposing new viewers to the show. Toonami was the BEST mianstream exposure the series could have gotten and while I'm glad they cycled through the anime's best material people who were already put off by it being too long will also use the excuse that it even failed twice on Toonami now.

2. I knew they had to pull something when the block became all long runners. They worked out the DBZ Kai and Super issue but you still have Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Gundam Unicorn, Hunter X Hunter and Shippuden dominating the block. I originally assumed Jojo was going to be the next "open" spot once Part 2 ended. With Gundam I felt another Gundam show would take it's place (IBO Season 2 being the likely contender, followed by Thunderbolt and Origins).

3. So we lost the Toonami airing and pairing that with the delay in the TimeSkip season being released I can't help be a little…concerned about the status on One Piece in America a bit. I wasn't worried when there was a break in the TV Series releases but Toonami was one of the major pushes to expose the show to other fans.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@o-chan:

After seeing this news I can't help but feel this brings up several questions on the well being of Toonami as a whole. My immediate thoughts:

1. This definitely will impact the Western fandom and affect exposing new viewers to the show. Toonami was the BEST mianstream exposure the series could have gotten and while I'm glad they cycled through the anime's best material people who were already put off by it being too long will also use the excuse that it even failed twice on Toonami now.

2. I knew they had to pull something when the block became all long runners. They worked out the DBZ Kai and Super issue but you still have Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Gundam Unicorn, Hunter X Hunter and Shippuden dominating the block. I originally assumed Jojo was going to be the next "open" spot once Part 2 ended. With Gundam I felt another Gundam show would take it's place (IBO Season 2 being the likely contender, followed by Thunderbolt and Origins).
3. So we lost the Toonami airing and pairing that with the delay in the TimeSkip season being released I can't help be a little…concerned about the status on One Piece in America a bit. I wasn't worried when there was a break in the TV Series releases but Toonami was one of the major pushes to expose the show to other fans.

I sincerely doubt that it's even an issue, they called it one of their staples a few months ago

dpstatic

@Count:

I kind of wish that they cancelled it at the end of the Sabaody Archipelago arc, as if to suggest that's literally how the series ends for Toonami-exclusive viewers.

That would be hilarious!

I feel like One Piece kind of got screwed over a bit on Toonami, with it's timeslot constantly being changed, until it ended up at the super late timeslot it's currently at. And now One Piece is getting the boot. However,

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

They had a listing for the Sabaody Archipelago arc on my cable provider a week ago so it must've been a late decision

this gives me hope that it's only on a temporary leave.

Sano

I doubt delay for Season 9 is due to this. The last several seasons, the new season of One Piece dvds usually comes out at the beginning of the Summer.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

As I said; This isn't the end of the series in America, just saying that before it gets in anyone's head. We've still got the DVDs and simulcast

MugiMikey

This sucks, but it was on too late and the poor pacing of the past hundred or so episodes probably didn't help. At least we still have Crunchyroll and the DVDs, which are both farther ahead of the US TV airing and I'm sure people who have gained interest in the show through Toonami skipped ahead anyway.

I'd even go as far to say that One Piece being on Crunchyroll and Hulu does more to promote awareness of the show in the west than airing one episode at a time every Saturday night at like 2 or 3 AM on Toonami.

Kinda hate to say it, but this loss doesn't feel nearly as drastic as it did in 2008. Those were tough times, but a lot has changed in the past ten years. One Piece will be fine.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@Mikey:

This sucks, but it was on too late and the poor pacing of the past hundred or so episodes probably didn't help. At least we still have Crunchyroll and the DVDs, which are both farther ahead of the US TV airing and I'm sure people who have gained interest in the show through Toonami skipped ahead anyway.

I'd even go as far to say that One Piece being on Crunchyroll does more to promote awareness of the show in the west than airing one episode at a time every Saturday night at like 2 or 3 AM on Toonami.

Kinda hate to say it, but loss doesn't feel nearly as drastic as it was in 2008. One Piece will be fine.

Exactly, I wish it was still on and had a better timeslot but its fine without it thanks to FUNi, Crunchyroll and Toei. Turner slept on a great series, two times now

cloudrivera

Does Crunchyroll have the dub version?

MugiMikey

@TheGreatCaptainUsopp:

Exactly, I wish it was still on and had a better timeslot but its fine without it thanks to FUNi, Crunchyroll and Toei. Turner slept on a great series, two times now

I dunno… I wouldn't say they slept on a "great series." They gave it a second chance and it didn't work out. I LOVE One Piece, but I feel that they passed the mark long ago where the show becomes really hard to watch week by week, especially to casual viewers. The show used to be on at an earlier timeslot, and gradually kept getting pushed back until it stayed in a graveyard timeslot. This tells me that even at a better timeslot, it didn't perform well enough to stay there. What I'm saying is I don't think the contemporary pacing and timeslot was suitable to pull in new viewers to the show properly-- it's much better suited for binge watching or streaming, because then you don't have to wait another week for 15-20 minutes of new content.

If it was on every weekday I'm sure it would have done a lot better.

VeemonJosh

If anything, this seems like a fitting point to stop. Toonami brought the show back with Foxy, and it's closing out with Foxy.

Plus it would've been difficult story-wise to pull it at any point after this for a good long while without it feeling like a slap in the face. Here, the viewer is left on a positive note, and are free to discover for themselves what happens next.

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@Mikey:

I dunno… I wouldn't say they slept on a "great series." They gave it a second chance and it didn't work out. I LOVE One Piece, but I feel that they passed the mark long ago where the show becomes really hard to watch week by week, especially to casual viewers. The show used to be on at an earlier timeslot, and gradually kept getting pushed back until it stayed in a graveyard timeslot. This tells me that even at a better timeslot, it didn't perform well enough to stay there. What I'm saying is I don't think the contemporary pacing and timeslot was suitable to pull in new viewers to the show properly-- it's much better suited for binge watching or streaming, because then you don't have to wait another week for 15-20 minutes of new content.

If it was on every weekday I'm sure it would have done a lot better.

Yeah, streaming is becoming more popular than TV anyways

Sano

Yeah, Streaming shows and binge watching is pretty much the way to watch tv shows now days. One Piece is pretty much one of the most popular shows on crunchyroll besides Dragon Ball Super and Naruto.

playercena5241

dam. why does it have to be like this.

FUCK JASON DEMARCO.

Nitwit

Huh? I wonder if someone at Funimation will make a statement about it before many fans create conspiracy videos about OP….

You know how crazy the fanbase can be outside of forums and YouTube channels. lol

Wes

Maybe Funimation will simuldub it for their streaming service now..

TheGreatCaptainUsopp

@Wes:

Maybe Funimation will simuldub it for their streaming service now..

I'm all for that personally

MugiMikey

@Nitwit:

Huh? I wonder if someone at Funimation will make a statement about it before many fans create conspiracy videos about OP….

You know how crazy the fanbase can be outside of forums and YouTube channels. lol

They probably won't. It makes perfect sense why they'd take a show off the air after giving it multiple chances and leaving it to essentially rot in a graveyard slot. I'm surprised it was there for as long as it was, to be honest.

Funimation never even said anything about it in 2008 when it was originally removed. That deserved an actual answer IMO. I just remember a few people in the anime industry saying Cartoon Network "hated" anime and Nicktoons would get One Piece. It was more cryptic then, but I think our answer is pretty clear now.

Nobodyman

This is pretty much me right now

midod

I’m mildly disappointed by this but…eh, whatever. At this point it was clear that One Piece was just taking up space for them, so I can’t say it surprises me (in fact, I’m kind of surprised it lasted this long). At a practically dead 2:30 timeslot it’s not like it would have been reaching a wider general audience or bringing in any new fans for the show, so its removal isn’t really any sort of noteworthy loss. Being aired on TV was pretty much just a nice, small addition to coincide with the DVD releases and streaming, as I’m pretty sure those did a better job promoting and exposing new viewers to the show than its TV airings did.

Admittedly I was hoping it could continue to stay on Toonami; even if it the timeslot arrangement wasn’t anything special (and even though I didn’t catch it that often) just the fact that One Piece was being aired on American TV was a cool notion. But this series has proven it can maintain itself without a noteworthy presence on TV (or none at all), so………meh.