Funimation DVD Discussion III (Please Check First Post for FAQ)

gum gum jet bazooka11

Well, I watched two episodes of the set per week. So I'd just rewatch the old episodes throughout the week. Usually right before bed. Also, I watch it with my girlfriend and my friend. So that's two (or at least one) extra viewings right there. One Piece is a nice thing to go to sleep with.

Also, I multitask while watching.

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God, I can't even tell you how many times I'm going to watch this coming set. You don't want to know.
For me, only Tsubasa's Acid Tokyo Arc comes anywhere near Water 7 in terms of phenomenal arcs. And even that isn't all that close.
I'd really recommend that series, but clamp's art style can be a bit messy. And the story gets convoluted, great as it may be.

Awesome and I sometimes watch one piece with my girlfriend, she seems to like it quite a bit. I really don't blame you for watching this set over and over, I may watch it as soon as i get it and then again on christmas eve or something. I am currently reading Tsubasa and it seems pretty cool so will defenitely have to keep going with it if you beleive it is in the same league as the mighty water 7.

Incidentally this is Stephanie Youngs latest facebook status( though i'm sure many of you may have seen it)

"Still a bit emotional after our One Piece session today. Robin is breaking my heart! We have a band gig tonight, but afterwards I need to curl up on the couch with a blanket, my guy, my puppy, and a cup of tea. Things are getting DEEP!"

! Seems they may be up to the infamous "I want to live" part.

Zephray

Tsubasa takes an insane turn at volume 16. AT that point, you won't be able to stop reading it.

Man, I wonder if she cried like Sonny did.

I hope the commentaries on this set are equally great- I mean, I hope they at least feature Sonny talking about crying in the booth.

Maron

Nothing big but just noticed FUNi updated the banner to Season Four Voyage 3 on the site instead of Voyage 2.

Zephray

I'm definitely betting it ships early next week.

Maron

If not early next week then definitely late since we'd be getting it early December under normal circumstances.

o-chan

I always felt that Water 7 as a whole was a huge turning point for One Piece overall. In both the anime and manga it was the arc that made me keep up with the series on a consistent basis. It's also one of the last HUGE arcs in the series that is decently animated and paced, a lot of the A list animators truly grew into their own here including Naoki Tate, Noboru Koizumi, Eisaku Inoue, and I think this is where Natoshi Shida started to come around. This arc is kind of the swan song of everything that made One Piece an excellent anime because after this arc the director changed, the pacing became more drawn out, and the art direction seems to be awkward at best (not bad but also not as good as it should be). This arc resolved a lot of building plot lines since Alabasta and resolves them only to set up elements that are still being carried out in the current episodes.

Overall, first time viewers are in for a treat!

Elan_Morin

@gum:

Incidentally this is Stephanie Youngs latest facebook status( though i'm sure many of you may have seen it)

"Still a bit emotional after our One Piece session today. Robin is breaking my heart! We have a band gig tonight, but afterwards I need to curl up on the couch with a blanket, my guy, my puppy, and a cup of tea. Things are getting DEEP!"

! Seems they may be up to the infamous "I want to live" part.

Things like this is why I've said that they will never give up on One Piece….they just love it way too much and why we should just not worry at all that they will drop the series at some point (assuming such a decision is under their control).

Zephray

Dunno if the timing means anything, but rightstuf finally put up the cover of the set.

O-chan, I think I mentioned before how this is the last arc with good pacing. :( and this is definitely the turning point for One Piece, hell, two

! FRIENDS leave the crew.

I've been glorifying this arc since I introduced my girlfriend to One Piece a few years back. (We just celebrated our three year anniversary, which means I probably introduced her to one piece, oh, almost three years ago.) She's afraid it won't live up to the expectations I've set. She's in for a surprise. Water 7 is really the arc when one piece stops being self contained and really blows up into something great.

Demon Rin

@Zephray:

Dunno if the timing means anything, but rightstuf finally put up the cover of the set. O-chan, I think I mentioned before how this is the last arc with good pacing. :( and this is definitely the turning point for One Piece, hell, two

! Crewmates leave the crew.

Fix'd to remove stupid.

And yeah, This arc slowly turns from 2 chapter per episode pacing to 1 per episode in the post EL portion and it never goes back sadly.

Zephray

This post is deleted!

Demon Rin

It's still the use of a term in English that h as no place being used in English.

Zephray

Bah. People mix languages all the time. Nakama better captures the idea than crew mates. From what I understand, nakama also means friends, which is really the more important aspect.

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Plus, if people don't know what nakama means, it further stops it from being spoiled. And if people don't know what nakama means, but know the events, they'll learn something.

Demon Rin

@Zephray:

Bah. People mix languages all the time. Nakama better captures the idea than crew mates. From what I understand, nakama also means friends, which is really the more important aspect.

It has absolutely no reason whatsoever to be left in Japanese. Doing so gives the word undue importance and perpetuates the myth across the fanbase that the word "Better Captures the idea than Crewmates".

"Nakama" means "[Part of] a Group". In Japan you call your coworkers your "Nakama", even that smelly guy who nobody likes who mumbles to himself incoherently. That's why in the One Piece world, one can play a game called a "Davy Back Fight" where one fights and the outcome means you literally FORCE someone to be your "Nakama".

"Friendship" is a big deal in the One Piece world, but Oda uses several different words to communicate that notion.
Koby and Luffy are "Tomodachi"
Calgara and Norland are "Shinyū"
Nami is Lola's "Furendo" (The English word "Friend")
When Nami and Lola's relationship was referred to in Japanese, it was "Yujo"
Toei referred to Merry as the Strawhat's "Tomo" in an episode title.
Bon Kurei calls Luffy "dachi"
Whitebeard wants a "Family" INSTEAD of "Nakama", showing that the word isn't nearly as strong as "Family"

Giving the word "Nakama" undue importance cheapens the message. "The Message of 'friendship' and Oda's intended theme only get across better if you use a special word" That's insulting and insinuates that Oda is a bad writer.

Luffy's "Nakama" are important to him, and the word doesn't mean a single thing. Chopper was Foxy's "Nakama" for a short period of time (Robin too in the anime, but I'm not counting that) and they just accepted it. They decided they wanted to get Chopper back, but nobody contested the fact that Chopper was, in fact, Foxy's "Nakama". There were no grandiose speeches about how "Chopper may be on your CREW (ichimi) now, but he'll NEVER be your Nakama!".
They never did that because the word is literally worthless on its own. It means Crewmate, end of story.
Luffy's crewmates are important to them because of what they've been through together and what they mean to one another. Not because of a magical special super word that is being used.

No, I'm going to kill the myth that that word is special if it kills me in the process.

@Zephray:

Plus, if people don't know what nakama means, it further stops it from being spoiled. And if people don't know what nakama means, but know the events, they'll learn something.

But why teach them something that's so incredibly false?

MasterKingJC

@Zephray:

O-chan, I think I mentioned before how this is the last arc with good pacing.

From what I remember, Sabaody Archipelago was the last arc with very good pacing.

Zephray

My mistake, good sir! I suppose I did not understand the meaning of the word! Thank you for setting me straight. I will correct it promptly.

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@MasterKingJC:

From what I remember, Sabaody Archipelago was the last arc with very good pacing.

If you look at the chapter to episode ratio in the arcs section of the One Piece wiki, you'll understand what we mean. But I do agree with you that the pacing got even worse after Sabaody.

Demon Rin

@Zephray:

My mistake, good madam! I suppose I did not understand the meaning of the word! Thank you for setting me straight. I will correct it promptly.

Another correction, but I promise I won't do another tl;dr post about this one

o-chan

@MasterKingJC:

From what I remember, Sabaody Archipelago was the last arc with very good pacing.

A lot of people site Sabaody as the last arc where Toei gave a crap when in came to pacing and animation, it was the last time Naoki Tate was used on a regular basis (animating two very important moments in the series). After Sabaody newer animators were brought into the series, Hisada Kazuya officially became the series character designer (which is odd because the original character designer Noboru Koizumi left during Enies Lobby) and the animation style of the show became overall far more conservative. Where episodes 1-195 had a more simplified artistic design it pulled off some animation techniques and camera layouts that brought a unique flavor to the show. The simplistic style also allowed for all the animators work to come off more consistent so while Naoki Tate and Eisaku Inoue's episodes stood out they weren't like the game changer status when it came to animation work on episodes. Episodes 196 to 405 had incorporated a brighter color palette and took more after the animation style of Movies 4 and 5. The problem with this upgrade is it made the weaker animators (Yokoyama) work standout while the better animation directors took full advantage of the improved budget. Water Seven is also where key animators like Ishizuka were promoted to animation director, and the established animators had a teams of good key and inbetweeners which made a lot of the episodes directed by Inoue or Tate also have Movie 6 or 7 animation quality. This peaked at the end of Thriller Bark and continued through Saobody but after episode 405 the pacing and animation just became less consistent.

Suffice to say it seems to be the general consensus around these parts that Toei became cheapskates with the series and instead of giving the series consistent quality animation for canon episodes (which is what both Naruto and Bleach do succeed in). They felt that since One Piece pretty much prints it's own money in Japan they only invest in the animation during key "moments" in the TV anime (and sometimes they don't always get that right), the opening songs, or whenever there is a TV special or movie. You could also say the animation shifts are also reflected in the pacing some episodes have great direction and pacing, some episodes it's obvious they're wasting time.

Overall Water Seven as a whole was when One Piece could be safely recommended to strangers to get them into the show, after this point I have a harder time justifying the anime in terms of overall quality.

Zephray

I'll comment on more of those points later, but for now, I like your thesis that the show being popular actually hurts its animation quality. That makes sense and I like it, but I'm not sure we have the evidence to claim it.

Galaxy 9000

It's mainly just Toei deciding to not spend the money on the actual show, but rather the movies and specials.

ARC-1300

@Galaxy:

It's mainly just Toei deciding to not spend the money on the actual show, but rather the movies and specials.

Which makes sense because it is more easier to spend money in a movie (a one time deal),then on the TV series. (Which from the looks of the manga,we have no idea of when it is going to end.

shinpanman

@o-chan:

Long awesome explanation.

Just wanted to give my 100% agreement to your assessment. I don't even watch the anime beyond Thriller Bark anymore because of the pacing and style issues. Also I miss Koizumi. I mean, he wasn't completely on model but he had an expressive flair that helped OP translate well to animation. All the recent stuff looks too stiff.

Chopperrules

@gum:

Awesome and I sometimes watch one piece with my girlfriend, she seems to like it quite a bit. I really don't blame you for watching this set over and over, I may watch it as soon as i get it and then again on christmas eve or something. I am currently reading Tsubasa and it seems pretty cool so will defenitely have to keep going with it if you beleive it is in the same league as the mighty water 7.

Incidentally this is Stephanie Youngs latest facebook status( though i'm sure many of you may have seen it)

"Still a bit emotional after our One Piece session today. Robin is breaking my heart! We have a band gig tonight, but afterwards I need to curl up on the couch with a blanket, my guy, my puppy, and a cup of tea. Things are getting DEEP!"

! Seems they may be up to the infamous "I want to live" part.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I know they got Enies Lobby already, but are they already recording up to that scene?! AWESOME… Go One Piece Fanboy mode

Zephray

Alright, so here's the thing:
I originally thought that pacing's biggest factor was how many chapters were in an episode. But I've finally been watching subbed One Piece. Once the 2 year skip happened, I started watching the sub- this was my first exposure to its horrid pacing. A few weeks ago, I saw an episode that had great pacing. It was either episode 568 or 569, let me know if you figure it out. I figured, wow, they finally filled an episode with more than a single chapter. When I checked the statistics on the One Piece wiki, I discovered that it only had a chapter worth of material, even less than the preceding episodes. This shocked me. I went to this site to see that other viewers also appreciated this episode. I think someone mentioned that they knew the director from other works.
Moral of the story: The director factors into the pacing even more than the chapter ratio, shockingly enough.

So what is One Piece's anime's problem? Bad directors, apparently. Are the good directors that expensive?

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@Galaxy:

It's mainly just Toei deciding to not spend the money on the actual show, but rather the movies and specials.

Right, right, but it's more complicated than this, I think.

People follow cannon material, but you certainly have to give them a real reason to follow filler films and specials. Hence the whole arc rewrites (movie 8, nami special, etc).

So what we're all saying is that it's all downhill from here. Hopefully, english will make the episodes better and feel quicker. It's also good that I haven't seen these coming episodes. I'm just happy that the pacing got bad after the water seven arc instead of before it. The animation for the W7 arc certainly seems better than the rest of the series as well… And I completely agree with shinpanman about the fishmen island episodes feeling flat/stiff in terms of animation.

God, this is why I don't watch commercial entertainment. It just isn't art anymore. The disturbing thing is that one piece is art, but it's degraded in the animation adaptation because of commercial entertainment. People wish for the good things to become popular, but commercialism ruins these popular things. commercial entertainment = entertainment for the masses, made to appeal to the masses and earn as much money as possible.

Galaxy 9000

@Zephray:

Alright, so here's the thing:
I originally thought that pacing's biggest factor was how many chapters were in an episode. But I've finally been watching subbed One Piece. Once the 2 year skip happened, I started watching the sub- this was my first exposure to its horrid pacing. A few weeks ago, I saw an episode that had great pacing. It was either episode 568 or 569, let me know if you figure it out. I figured, wow, they finally filled an episode with more than a single chapter. When I checked the statistics on the One Piece wiki, I discovered that it only had a chapter worth of material, even less than the preceding episodes. This shocked me. I went to this site to see that other viewers also appreciated this episode. I think someone mentioned that they knew the director from other works.
Moral of the story: The director factors into the pacing even more than the chapter ratio, shockingly enough.

So what is One Piece's anime's problem? Bad directors, apparently. Are the good directors that expensive?

570 was the one with good animation + pacing (1 chapter, but definitely enjoyable).

563 actually covered a good 1.5 chapters.. but was still pretty draggy.
564 covered like 1.3 chapters, and was decent, but not as good as 570.
566 covered 1.5 chapters as well, but once again, was a draggy mess.
Then 567 was 1.3 or so, and was pretty meh (just like 564).

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@Zephray:

Alright, so here's the thing:
Right, right, but it's more complicated than this, I think.

People follow cannon material, but you certainly have to give them a real reason to follow filler films and specials. Hence the whole arc rewrites (movie 8, nami special, etc).

Well yes of course. These specials are fine for them to do, but the regular anime should not suffer so greatly because of it.

o-chan

@ARC-1300:

Which makes sense because it is more easier to spend money in a movie (a one time deal),then on the TV series. (Which from the looks of the manga,we have no idea of when it is going to end.

There's a few problems with this ideology. Following quite a few anime series over the years when a series gets popular enough and the funding gets better usually it becomes much easier to outsource good animators for both the TV series and movies. Some good Toei related examples from the 90's:

The first Sailor Moon movie during the second season (R) had some great animation but the corresponding season suffered animation wise towards the halfway point until the finale. But in the third season (S) the series got a budget upgrade and both the season and movie of that year had consistent and great animation. Similar situation happened to the multiple DB/DBZ movies over the course of the show. In more recent examples you don't see series like Bleach, Naruto, and HunterXHunter suffer in the animation department because of the theatrical releases. Given it's popularity there's NO excuse for the TV series to have such a reserved budget.

Also, keeping things within Toei all their good animators are invested in shows like the Precure metaseries, Digimon, Saint Seiya Omega, Toriko, and random Dragon Ball Z projects. All of these shows use animation way better than One Piece does.

@shinpanman:

Just wanted to give my 100% agreement to your assessment. I don't even watch the anime beyond Thriller Bark anymore because of the pacing and style issues. Also I miss Koizumi. I mean, he wasn't completely on model but he had an expressive flair that helped OP translate well to animation. All the recent stuff looks too stiff.

I actually feel that Hisada does keep things more in line with the manga designs which is a change I actually appreciate. Yes, Koizumi had a rounder and more expressive style which fit in line with everything up to Sabaody. I don't think the problem is Hisada as far as the stiffness because there are moments later in the series where when good animators handle certain scenes you can see a example of what the series would be like under better animators. I just really think they need to fire the current TV series director and bring in someone who can handle pacing better.

BUT returning this to the Funimation DVD topic I think new viewers are going to really like this arc because from a writing standpoint I feel this is where Oda's writing was also at it's strongest.

O-chan

Zephray

Woah, in the time it took to add to my post, two new posts showed up. Please go back and read the rest of my post!

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Zephray: When I checked the statistics on the One Piece wiki, I discovered that it only had a chapter worth of material, even less than the preceding episodes.

@Galaxy:

570 was the one with good animation + pacing (1 chapter, but definitely enjoyable).

563 actually covered a good 1.5 chapters.. but was still pretty draggy.
564 covered like 1.3 chapters, and was decent, but not as good as 570.
566 covered 1.5 chapters as well, but once again, was a draggy mess.
Then 567 was 1.3 or so, and was pretty meh (just like 564).

Thank you for proving my statement with your detailed post. An episode with less original material was paced better than several episodes with more original material.

Maron

@shinpanman:

Just wanted to give my 100% agreement to your assessment. I don't even watch the anime beyond Thriller Bark anymore because of the pacing and style issues. Also I miss Koizumi. I mean, he wasn't completely on model but he had an expressive flair that helped OP translate well to animation. All the recent stuff looks too stiff.

Hm, first I ever heard of that. I've always loved Koizumi's style and never once found it to be off-model, care to cite a few examples of it?

And man has it been a treat to see his animation in the crisp quality of these Season 4 DVDs. I doubt I'd rewatch the last rollerskating episode of the Foxy Davy Back filler round if it wasn't for him.

Galaxy 9000

@Zephray:

So what we're all saying is that it's all downhill from here. Hopefully, english will make the episodes better and feel quicker. It's also good that I haven't seen these coming episodes. I'm just happy that the pacing got bad after the water seven arc instead of before it. The animation for the W7 arc certainly seems better than the rest of the series as well… And I completely agree with o-chan about the fishmen island episodes feeling flat in terms of animation.

Yeah, just watching the series go from great pacing and animation to a slow paced mess in about a 20-30 episode span is very depressing.
Although I'm sure if English can make Dragon Ball Z feel more enjoyable, it will here too. It's something completely new and you get to look forward to new voices and how Funi will handle certain scenes.

Zephray

@o-chan:

BUT returning this to the Funimation DVD topic I think new viewers are going to really like this arc because from a writing standpoint I feel this is where Oda's writing was also at it's strongest.

O-chan

Yes, ma'am. This is the reason why everyone worships the water 7 arc. It's almost the breaking point for the crew. I'd argue that it's the climax of the series if Paramount War didn't exist. It's certainly the climax of the characters' developments.

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Man, all this talk has really shot my confidence that I'll enjoy the rest of the OP anime. My hope is that two things will make the pacing better / less noticeable:

English voices and Funimations approach of the material. - This could certainly make scenes more entertaining (reactions, for example) and make it feel a bit faster/eventful.
13 episode sets. - Watching one episode a week helps to make a show feel slower paced than it actually is.

I want to repost this because it probably got overlooked due to a late edit:

God, this is why I don't watch commercial entertainment. It just isn't art anymore. The disturbing thing is that one piece is art, but it's degraded in the animation adaptation because of commercial entertainment. People wish for the good things to become popular, but commercialism ruins these popular things.
commercial entertainment = entertainment for the masses, made to appeal to the masses and earn as much money as possible.

Chopperrules

The thing about pacing is it's either six months of filler after every major arc or the way they are doing it now. Not many people would like six months of filler. There are some bad episodes here and there, but I have not enjoyed the anime any less than I used to overall.

grunk

Honestly they should just do a "shonen hour" and just switch back and forth between arcs of different manga and just give them the proper treatment.. but that's not buisness saavy

o-chan

@Zephray:

Yes, ma'am. This is the reason why everyone worships the water 7 arc. It's almost the breaking point for the crew. I'd argue that it's the climax of the series if Paramount War didn't exist. It's certainly the climax of the characters' developments.

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Man, all this talk has really shot my confidence that I'll enjoy the rest of the OP anime. My hope is that two things will make the pacing better / less noticeable:

English voices and Funimations approach of the material. - This could certainly make scenes more entertaining (reactions, for example) and make it feel a bit faster/eventful.

13 episode sets. - Watching one episode a week helps to make a show feel slower paced than it actually is.

Actually those two things will be the selling parts for the later part of the show:

1). There is actually a perfect example of this in the Season 4 sets.
During the Davy Back Fight when Foxy got Chopper I believe in the subtitled version Robin stated:

"Maybe he's a collector of pelts."

While in the dub the line was more like:

"Maybe he has a thing for furries."

There's just certain dialogue that has some spicier moments in the dub, and that might make the difference maker in later episodes.

The thirteen episode sets actually do make arcs go by faster. Most of the pacing complaints are also because those of us who watch the series on a weekly basis it feels like it takes longer for things to happen, especially after Episode 405.

O-chan

shinpanman

@Maron:

Hm, first I ever heard of that. I've always loved Koizumi's style and never once found it to be off-model, care to cite a few examples of it?

And man has it been a treat to see his animation in the crisp quality of these Season 4 DVDs. I doubt I'd rewatch the last rollerskating episode of the Foxy Davy Back filler round if it wasn't for him.

Don't get me wrong, I love Koizumi. He's definitely top three for me, but he has a unique take on Oda's style. I guess one place it tends to stick out to me is in the characters' profiles. He tends to flatten them out and the overall body proportions are more like that of a normal person's than in Oda's drawings.

Here's one comparison if it helps:

!

It is hard to think of him as being off model since the whole first portion of the anime is based on his model, him being the character designer, but honestly I thought it was a really good thing. Even when he tried to stick more closely to Oda in Water 7 his work had a liveliness to it.

Okay, enough off-topic animation talk.

@Galaxy:

I'm sure if English can make Dragon Ball Z feel more enjoyable, it will here too.

wait, what?

Chopperrules

That's another thing too. Aside from some of the episodes with extremely long recaps (which doesn't happen too often now-a-days, thankfully) and the long openings that can easily be skipped for those who don't want to sit through it each time, I think many of us will find the anime episodes watched in a marathon will feel far better paced. If it worked for Alabasta, Skypiea, and Davy Back Fight, it's gonna work here too. Just trust me on this.

Galaxy 9000

@shinpanman:

wait, what?

I'm referring to how the pace of One Piece becomes equal to DBZ around this point (though still not as terrible). As I stated earlier, the English dub will be like watching something new (due to voices and certain scenes), just as watching the English dub of DBZ may have done the same for some people.

Zephray

I'm guessing that thanksgiving, Black Friday, and cyber Monday are going to slow down the shipping, if not rightstuf as well. They're probably getting plenty of orders for items that are readily available at this time, which take priority over early releases. Plus, it generally just adds to their business, making the wait time once they receive the set even longer. Taking all that into account, I'm starting to think that expecting it at the end of next week is hopeful. But I shall hope!

O-chan, you restated everything I said!

Snowmint

Naruto has returned to toonami. Hopefully one piece will find its way there soon.

demonkicksanji

@Snowmint:

Naruto has returned to toonami. Hopefully one piece will find its way there soon.

Seriously? What's it replacing? If this is true, then OP better get on Toonami some time in the future. ^^

Raccy

You have to realize though that that's Naruto… CN has always liked Naruto... while One Piece was mostly shafted, even when Naruto was airing.

Maron

CN hated Naruto around the time they were ending it and Toonami in general though, but yeah in it's heyday they loved it. Thing is these aren't CN's decisions but those of Williams Street/Adult Swim, and we know that while Jason DeMarco is not the one in charge of acquisitions, he does still get to have a say in the matter and has shown he loves OP and wants to see it return to the network.

You could certaily argue that between the two Naruto is by far the safest choice.

Zephray

That pisses me off. Goddamn Naruto

Maron

Why? Dude, if Naruto can get on this is great news for One Piece as far as I see it. I mean, it tears down the whole idea some people have that Toonami Swim has to consist exclusively of darker and edgier content then what would've been on Toonami CN. I mean sure they're airing it uncut to give it a bit of that edge anyway (which is perfect) but shows like Naruto and OP are looked at as kid's series in Japan so I was a bit worried they might've been a little hesitant to go that route on an Adult Swim block.

demonkicksanji

If the issue was getting "kiddier" anime on Toonami Swim…I'd rather watch Bobobo over Naruto. Don't know why, but I've been in the mood for watching that. I'll tune in for Naruto to show support to Toonami Swim, but it's for the overall hope of getting OP back on. ^^

Chopperrules

@Zephray:

That pisses me off. Goddamn Naruto

Any anime getting back on Toonami is good for the business. Even if you don't like Naruto, it shouldn't piss you off that much. I want One Piece to do better as well, but things will take time.

Snowmint

Wasent naruto one of those expensive shows that this new toonami didn't have the budget for getting? Hopefully one piece comes back that way we can use this new twitter/ advanced YouTube world to promote it.

Maron

Yeah, they previously said they didn't have it in their budget so this sounds like good news for Toonami Swim itself, along with the whole movie night thing coming in the near future. I'm sure this'll get them more money for licensing shows like One Piece sometime soon.

Electrivire

Hopefully this just means that they're testing the waters for other long-runners such as One Piece. crosses fingers as hard as he can

Maron

With the schedule update it's obvious they're trying to draw in the Bleach crowd too. Two longrunners back to back sounds pretty awesome to me. It'd be a dream come true to see the "big 3" air together.

Zephray

They spent all their budget on Naruto. One Piece won't show up for a while. Especially with this news that ratings were to blame for its original cancellation. Though it'll be better rated these days.

firecrouch · Blog last updated 01/31/2013:

@Zephray:

They spent all their budget on Naruto. One Piece won't show up for a while. Especially with this news that ratings were to blame for its original cancellation. Though it'll be better rated these days.

First off, do you know their budget? Back when Toonami's return was first announced we were under the impression they couldn't even get "Naruto". Second, licensing prices aren't the only factor that go into whether a show gets picked up. I learned that from a recent interview the Toonami Faithful podcat had with the VP of animation at VIZ. Fourth, I don't think we'll see "One Piece" for a while either, but then again I didn't think we'd see "Naruto" in 2012. Anything could happen. Fifth, "Naruto" got great ratings, it's obvious the ratings for Toonami got sluggish once Cartoon Network stopped giving a shit about it, or perhaps when the heads of Cartoon Network changed and they mishandled it.

As far as what the ratings will be? Probably not as high as what they were before, and of course they'll be focused on a different demographic. But in respect to where and how it's being aired, at 12:30 a.m. for the 18-35 year-old demographic, I have pretty good expectations.