Line #127 Headscratchers/Toonami


1	* Why are the ships called '''Absolution'''?
2	** Why would the makers of Creator/{{Toonami}} call a starship a synonym for "forgiveness"? Maybe they thought Toonami might not last and were asking to be forgiven ahead of time. Maybe they were saying:
3	-->'''Creator''': We know we're creating something really cool, but it might be taken away by the higher-ups, so we are asking for your forgiveness now instead of later.
4	** Maybe they just picked it because [[RuleofCool it sounded cool]].
5	** Possible FridgeBrilliance: Remember, The Absolution wasn't [=TOM=]'s ship, it was ''Moltar's'', who is a former criminal and prisoner on Ghost Planet.
6
7	* What were the events that prompted the changes between the third and fourth incarnations of the popular host TOM?
8	** While the first and third incarnation's SuperHeroOrigin stories were shown in comic form and the second incarnation had a DeathByOriginStory, the fourth incarnation of TOM had no such introduction and no on-air nor online explanation behind the sudden and drastic changes. NothingIsTheSameAnymore.
9	*** Of course, during the 2012 April Fools' Day stunt, the third incarnation of TOM returned with no notes about what happened before, fully embracing the FirstLawOfResurrection.
10	*** The 11/3/12 edition of Toonami confirmed they were different units, but still hasn't explained the changeover.
11	*** There's currently a webcomic in the works which will explain everything.
12
13	* I'm not questioning the revival; I love it. But I'm wondering how it's being pulled off. According to various sources, Toonami's currently got a rather small budget. I know Steve Blum [[DoingItForTheArt isn't working for much because it's something he really wants to do]], but how is the current team making new bumpers? Isn't CGI really expensive?
14	** It's rather simple, really--''lots'' of reused footage. You'll notice, for example, that the animation for the week three intro is the same as the first two, just with TOM talking instead of [="#BringBackToonami"=] playing, and that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1LKkCB5-5w this animation]] gets reused for damn near everything and only needed to be rendered once. His lack of mouth also helps. Beyond that, you'll notice the majority of the TOM segments are his voice playing over anime footage. The short answer is they can afford it because it's being used sparsely.
15	*** Also CGI has been becoming cheaper and cheaper throughout the years. That is why it is now viable to have simple Youtube videos (such as Freddiew's) with fairly good CGI.
16	*** The redone Toonami has gotten by with shows that were cheap or easy to get, yet have been, for the most part, quite good. Once it got to this point, it was pulling in the funds so it can start taking on the big hits (''Naruto'', ''Soul Eater'', ''One Piece'' and ''Sword Art'') to make it its current juggernaut status of late Saturday/Early Sunday TV.
17
18	* It's awesome that Toonami got revived and all, though why on Adult Swim and not regular Cartoon Network?
19	** I'm extremely late answering this, but the reason is because the original Toonami's fanbase was grown-up (or almost grown up) by the time it was revived. As such, instead of trying to appeal to a new slew of kids, it appeals to their old fans by airing more mature shows and just being more grown-up in general since these fans don't really want to see censored kid-friendly anime anymore. Hence why the block is on [adult swim].
20
21	* How does Toonami manage to make hits out of misses? Dragon Ball and ''Sailor Moon'' bombed when they first came to America, ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' didn't do so well on Toonami and ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'' flopped, yet those series do well on Toonami. I'm sure there are other examples I don't have....how does Toonami do it?
22	** ''DBZ'' and ''Anime/SailorMoon'' not only got the advantage of finally airing on a network that had a specific niche (they premiered and bombed in syndication and on Creator/USANetwork, respectively), but being packaged with similar American shows to make them go down easier. ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' first aired during [as] anime's "wilderness years" and wasn't particularly well-promoted--though it's worth noting that it's still not a "hit", and rides pretty close to the other reruns. And ''Deadman Wonderland'' was clearly made with more American sensibilities in mind, so of course it'd have more appeal over here than in its native Japan.
23
24	* How can Toonami air ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars''? Disney just got the rights to it.
25	** This troper believes that Creator/CartoonNetwork or Creator/AdultSwim extended/renewed the rights to air it.
26	** From their tumblr 'They [Disney] bought the rights to future Clone Wars stuff, but CN still has the rights to run the series it co-funded, for now.'
27
28	* Does Toonami still have rights to any of its April Fools Day programing? Particularly Dragon Ball Z, which I have been told a hundred odd times is ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob\|SquarePants}}'' property now.
29	** When the April Fools Day stunt was pulled off, the Toonami crew basically asked if they could "borrow" a single episode from a show, and the distributors basically gave them the episodes for free. However, when the block came back, the distributors wouldn't give them the shows themselves. In other words, no, they currently don't have the rights to said shows (especially ''Dragon Ball Z'', which is currently owned by Nickelodeon along with the rest of the ''Dragon Ball'' series) sans ''Bleach''.
30	*** The shows weren't given for free, but rather in exchange for free promotions of the DVD sets of the shows acquired for the evening.
31
32	* Does Toonami still have the rights to older programs it aired, such as ''Deadman'' or ''Casshern''? I know they still can air ''Sym-Bionic'' and ''Stand Alone'', but what about all its other finished run programs? (Bar ''Thundercats'', which I know they no longer have.)
33	** We're not privy to the details of the deals that were made to acquire those.
34
35	* Can Toonami reference any programs it aired that it doesn't have. Like lets say they get a new version of ''Sailor Moon'', can they say "If only we had Goku too..."?
36	** They were able to take a jab at American Dragon Jake Long without any negative repercussions. They probably could reference a past show if they wanted to.
37
38	* I've heard conflicting thoughts about this, and I'd like some definite confirmation. Is Toonami restricted to picking up just shows owned by Creator/{{Funimation}} and Creator/VizMedia (with the exceptions being the Creator/AniplexUSA-owned ''VisualNovel/SwordArtOnline'' and formerly owned Creator/BandaiEntertainment shows like ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' and ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''), or are they able to pick up shows from any distributor (such as Creator/SentaiFilmworks, Creator/MediaBlasters, Creator/DiscotekMedia, etc.) and just haven't bothered to do so yet (the crew has said that there's nothing wrong between Toonami and Sentai Filmworks, in case there are any doubts about those two working together)?
39	** It is based on who is selling.
40	*** That... doesn't really answer my question.
41	** There are no rules on Toonami's end restricting who they are allowed to buy shows from, no.
42	** Keep in mind also that Sentai Filmworks has few action shows under its belt, and those they do have may not be popular enough to get the ratings that Toonami wants.
43	** Sentai finally licensed a show to Toonami in 2015 with ''Manga/AkameGaKill''
44
45	* What makes a Toonami program a "hit" or not? In the revival; there are seven programs who have made million view hits on episodes; ''Bleach'', ''Naruto'', ''One Piece'', ''Soul Eater'', ''Sword Art Online'', ''Deadman Wonderland'' and ''Thundercats''. What makes them better than other programs in the early parts of the block; like ''GXP'', ''Samurai 7'', ''IGPX'', ''Sym-Bionic Titan'' and ''Casshern Sins''? It is just the timeslot? Or is there something more? (Note that now Space Dandy and Blue Exorcist are among the eight million hitters)
46	** For the first six you mentioned, they're all part of the shonen genre, meaning they already appeal to a wide and large demographic (it helps that ''Bleach'', ''Naruto'', and ''One Piece'' are ''insanely'' popular). As for ''[=ThunderCats=]'', it did air right after Naruto for some time, so it managed to hold onto a lot of viewers.
47
48	* How do you tell the difference between a show that is former Toonami (GXP, Eureka) and those that are 'on regular rotation' (Sym-Bionic, Big O)
49	** Shows in regular rotation are shows that Toonami isn't currently showing, but still has the right to. Former shows are ones that stopped airing because their rights expired.
50	*** Yes, but how do we know which are which?
51	** When a show leaves the lineup, the Toonami Tumblr usually says whether it will be back or not. Toonami has the rights permanently for Big O Season 2 and Sym-Bionic, for example, and the rights for GITS and FLCL have been continuously renewed since they first played on Adult Swim.
52
53	* The crew recently announced that ''Naruto Shippuden'' would be premiering in January. My question is how they're able to air it now when they previously couldn't. ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', I can understand, since it's a Cartoon Network show that they can air despite Disney owning ''Star Wars'' now, but Disney had an iron grip on ''Shippuden'' and wasn't intent on letting go (even if they weren't getting much use out of it). Did Viz Media have anything to do with this?
54	** Perhaps they have an agreement, review our games and show our Star Wars product for us, and you can have Shippuden. Wouldn't be surprised if Toonami will be obliged to review a Disney Game (Perhaps Kingdom Hearts 1.5)
55	*** Not 1.5, 2.5. They want the game that's coming out reviewed, not the one that's been out for a few months already.
56
57	* Why are western shows based on DC Comics properties (''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'', etc.) not considered eligible choices for Toonami? The closest thing I've heard to an answer is that DC Comics doesn't want to be associated with an adult TV network, but I seriously doubt that for two reasons…
58	## Their line of WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies. All of the movies, so far, have been rated PG-13 and are usually aimed more towards older audiences than young kids. Some of them are actually pretty damn dark, with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' pushing their PG-13 ratings way past the limit.
59	## I don't know how big of a part they played in it, but DC Comics (along with Warner Bros.) did collaborate with Creator/AdultSwim to make the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AOI79rLovI Robot Chicken DC Comics Special]]''. Anyone who's seen ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' knows that that show is the complete opposite of kid-friendly.
60	*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4kDOKIQg4 Okay, now it just feels like [adult swim] is rubbing it in our faces.]]
61	** It's not a DC thing, it's a Cartoon Network thing. [adult swim] isn't allowed to air anything that's currently airing on Cartoon Network or Boomerang, to help ensure younger kids don't see it on the schedule and become encouraged to check out [as] as a result.
62	*** That would be a valid point... if it weren't for the fact that the shows I mentioned aren't airing on Cartoon Network anymore (granted, ''Beware the Batman'' was "confirmed" to return in January... but there's a reason why I put the word "confirmed" in quotes). Even if they were still airing, that doesn't immediately destroy their chances of airing on Toonami. Take a look at ''Samurai Jack''. The crew said they couldn't air it because it was airing on Boomerang, but now it's coming to Toonami, presumably because it's being taken off of Boomerang's schedule. And one last tidbit: this does nothing to affect the chance of the ''movies'' airing.
63	*** Actually ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is still airing on Boomerang...grated it's on at 3:30 AM weekends only.
64	*** They're still in reruns, and are presumably considered to be a lot more profitable there than they would be airing at odd hours of the morning. Can't speak to the movies, though.
65	*** Just checked [[http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/schedule/index.html?atclk_vn=vn_link_tvschedule the regular Cartoon Network schedule]]. Other than ''Teen Titans Go!'', none of the DC Nation shows or ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' appeared on that schedule. I even checked [[http://www.locatetv.com/listings/boomerang#10-Feb-2014 the schedule for Boomerang]], just in case, and the only show rerunning there is the original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''. Fine, but that doesn't discount the other shows.
66	** Now that ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' is coming to Toonami, there's literally ''no excuse'' for the rest of the DC Nation shows (sans ''Teen Titans Go!'') and other DC Comics shows to be ineligible choices.
67	*** That's not how licensing works. Just because they got the license to air one show doesn't mean that they automatically get the rights to air everything DC Animation ever created.
68	*** The general consensus among Toonami fans was that DC Comics shows were considered impossible for Toonami to license and air. ''Beware the Batman'' coming to Toonami proves that said consensus is false, and that DC Comics shows ''do'' have a chance if Toonami shows interest and attempts to license them for airing.
69	*** That is still making the assumption that DC is interested in airing them on Tonami. ''Beware the Batman'' is also not the best choice since that is a series that is practically brand new and thus DC has an interest in airing it. All the other shows are old, concluded, and for the most part tied into the old DCAU; not exactly something you want fans pining for when you're about to roll out a new DCAU. Yes it's not smart business practice, but we could take up this entire page pointing out everything they did in defiance of common sense.
70
71	* How did they manage to lose the rights to ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011''? Warner Brothers is owned by Time Warner, the same company that owns Cartoon Network!
72	** The fact that it's a Japanese co-production probably complicated things. Even if it didn't, Time Warner has an incredibly labyrinthine internal structure that tends to hinder communication between its various branches, so its possible TC disappeared for the same kinda fuzzy reason DC shows are dropping like flies.
73
74	* So we now know that TOM 4.0 is a separate character than the other TOMs, and that he's been around all this time. .....What's he been UP to?!
75	** I did see a fan video that suggested [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35OBWr2i4oU he was a part of the Legion of Doom]], but I somehow doubt that is the case
76
77	* How broad is the 'do not air the same programs across CN/As line rule? For a bad example, could Toonami air Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ while CN airs the new Powerpuff Girls, or (A better and far more likely example) air Pokemon Origins for a movie event while CN airs Pokemon regular?
78	** They're running ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''.
79
80	* Why air ''Samurai Jack'' at 4:00 AM? The show hasn't aired in reruns on Boomerang nearly as long as ''FLCL'' has on [adult swim], yet ''FLCL'' was aired at 2:30 AM. Since they hyped up the return for the show quite a bit, [[NegatedMomentOfAwesome airing it at 4:00 AM renders all that hype worthless]]. Not only that, but the 4:00 AM hour is the deadest hour of the night, so the excuse of airing it as a transition from Toonami to Cartoon Network means jack shit in this situation.
81	** Perhaps they want to see if they can change it?
82
83	* Why has no Pokemon game ever been reviewed by Toonami?
84	** Two possible explanations...
85	## The crew aren't fans of the Pokemon games (they've stated that they only review games that they like).
86	## Most of the recent Pokemon games are on the 3DS, and they haven't found a way to record footage off a 3DS (though they're able to record Wii U games like ''Pikmin 3'', so they might find a way eventually).
87	** It could be that they just don't review handheld games - they've never reviewed any 3DS or Vita games to my knowledge. Although since the next Pokemon games are coming out for the Switch, and seeing as how they've reviewed ''Breath of the Wild'', it's possible it's now a matter of time.
88
89	* Does Toonami have the rights to IGPX permanentely like they do with Sym-Bionic and Big O?
90	** I believe so. Cartoon Network wrote-off the series but the Toonami crew go them back. Not sure if Discotek Media's rights to the home video releases affect the show.
91
92	* Let's say that the Star Wars rights stay with Toonami up to the end of Season 5. Can Toonami air Season 6?
93	** Not happening.
94
95	* Why is ''Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood'' still airing? It's been around since [adult swim] started airing it in 2010 and Toonami came back in 2012, it's completed at least two runs already, and it's ''still'' airing, at this point having the distinction of being the only show (besides the long-running ''Bleach'') to have aired on Toonami since the block came back. It has essentially become the next ''[[AdoredByTheNetwork Cowboy Bebop]]'', which is ''not'' a good thing. It's especially jarring since the crew has had chances to remove the show (a good example being when ''Beware the Batman'' was announced to start airing... and ''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'' [[ScrewedByTheNetwork was chosen for removal instead]]), but has repeatedly refused to do so.
96	** You're asking the wrong people. It can be a whole heap of reasons; it might be bringing in the ratings and thus unwise to remove. It could be they are contractually obliged to keep showing it. It could be that the license for other shows expire so they remove those ones instead. They might be using it as a substitute ''Dragon Ball Z'' which they don't have the rights to, and back in the day (when I was actually able to watch it before leaving the US) DBZ was a permanent fixture for years. But really the only people who could actually answer your questions would be the people at Tonami and Cartoon Network.
97	*** DBZ was also much longer, at over 200 episodes.
98
99	* What exactly is the purpose of Toonami in universe? Why does a space ship need to transmit cartoons?
100	** Well this is where you bring out the MST3KMantra and suspend your disbelief. For a fan guess, it transmits cartoons across the galaxy as a sort of central hub, and that is basically what TOM is built to do.
101
102	* In their latest Q&A, the crew said that the rights to the first season of ''The Big O'' were unavailable (in response to a question asking if [adult swim] wrote the rights to that season off a la Cartoon Network and ''Megas XLR'')... which simply isn't true, since the whole show's been rescued by Sentai Filmworks. Why are they suddenly denying the existence of Sentai Filmworks? Are they hinting at something? Did something behind the scenes happen between Sentai and Toonami? Am I missing something here regarding rights?
103	** Despite what constant overblown internet rumors have been saying for years, Toonami and ADV/Sentai don't have anything against each other. Toonami only has a limited amount of slots for premiers, and already has plenty of options to fill those slots with shows from the 3 licensors they already work with. They just don't have any reason to be interesting in working with Sentai, and its not like Sentai is coming to them like Aniplex did with SAO.
104	*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IASVPQK4BCc Sentai Filmworks (or at least, a representative of them) said that they'd love to have their shows on Toonami]], and it's also not like Sentai doesn't have shows that would fit Toonami (hell, that same video mentions ''Log Horizon'' and ''Majestic Prince''). And Toonami having limited slots for premieres isn't a good excuse. Not only could you use that same excuse for any other licensing company, but with the world premiere of ''Space Dandy'', the block ''expanded'' to air about a half-hour earlier. Granted, that's more up to [adult swim] than the actual production crew behind Toonami, but it's still possible that Toonami could expand a bit further.
105
106	* What's going to happen once ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' ends its current run? Will the show rerun at 11:30 PM (which, mind you, didn't really work out for ''Anime/SpaceDandy'' ratings wise when its first season was airing), or are they going to move it down to the later half of the block (hopefully replacing ''Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood'' instead of ''Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig'' if that happens) and, assuming Toonami gets to keep the slot, put a new show at 11:30 PM (''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' has been confirmed to air at 12:00 AM, so it has to be something else)?
107	** Hard to say at the present time.
108
109	* Did Toonami still have the rights to ''Deadman Wonderland'' even after all that time it spent off the air, or did they have to buy the rights a second time just so they could bring it back?
110	** They lost the rights after its first run in 2012, but Funimation is apparently doing them a favor by letting them run it again (which probably means this run was either free or very cheap).
111
112	* Okay, so Toonami was having a bad run of things, so they loose an hour out of the blue. I get that. What I don't get, is why they lost two more hours not even a week after they are informed of loosing the first hour!?
113	This is around the time ratings for the block usually come in. Last week, despite us livetweeting #watchtoonami like mad, the ratings probably didn't change, Programming saw that, flipped their s*, and pulled more hours from them also at the last minute.
114	** Ironically, the ratings for the 24th were actually somewhat high (seeing as both Kai and Naruto got over a million hits, Inuyasha and One Piece got 800,000 and no show dipped under 600,000)
115	*** I got nothin then.
116
117	* This probably has very little to do with Toonami, but what's with [adult swim] suddenly giving ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' an encore timeslot after essentially cutting Toonami in half?
118	** Adult Swim is strange. Their schedule is never stable.
119
120	* Why are Blue Exorcist and Hellsing Ultimate still labeled under Adult Swim's page when programs that are no longer on Toonami's run before the loss of the later hours (Soul Eater, Sword Art Online and Black Lagoon for example) aren't?
121	** Hellsing Ultimate is no longer listed but it is possible that Toonami acquired longer streaming rights for Aniplex shows such as Blue Exorcist, Gurren Lagann, and Sword Art Online II.
122
123	* What shows can't Toonami air and why? Why can't Toonami air Green Lantern the Animated Series and Young Justice (despite getting Beware the Batman), Panty and Stocking, Transformers Prime and reair Bobobo (and anything else they have mentioned that they can't air)
124	** ScrewedByTheLawyers, with the occasional possibility of ExecutiveVeto. For the most accurate answer of why a network may not be allowed to air a certain shot, ask a lawyer. But for what a non-lawyer knows right now, some of those shows might have been written off by Cartoon Network, which seems to be something along the lines of allowing the network to save money on its taxes or otherwise have the government foot part of the bill by counting as a loss the money not made back by a certain investment, in this case a show that cost money to produce but didn't make that money back in advertisement or merchandising revenue, but at the cost of [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the show being legally impossible for the network or any of its affiliates to air ever again]]. That's why WesternAnimation/MegasXLR couldn't come back to Toonami even back when there was still a big collection of reruns in the second half of the night, it was written off by the company. They [[LoopholeAbuse found a way around it]] for Anime/IGPXImmortalGrandPrix, but that was a special case involving a complex production deal. For other older shows, they may have had the rights at one point but have lost them between then and now, and those rights may be currently unavailable. For more recent shows, it could have been [[ExecutiveVeto forbidden by the higher-ups]] for various reasons on which we can only speculate, or exclusive rights to the show could simply be owned by another outlet.
125	** Just for fun, lets go down the list. Green Lantern the Animated Series is probably dead to the network (and I wouldn't be surprised if they wrote it off like they did Beware the Batman and Thundercats), Young Justice is currently on (and probably exclusive to) DC's streaming service, DeMarco has publicly stated he hates Panty and Stocking and refuses to air it, Transformers Prime is too old, aimed at youngsters, and long past the point where Hasbro would want it to still be seen, and Bobobo is too old and has a love/hate reputation within the fanbase.
126
127	* During Intruder 2, is TOM 1 alive or dead? When the original series aired in 2000 and TOM 1 was eaten, a promo aired narrated by Peter Cullen stating that TOM was dead. Here, the Intruder now can speak and has some form of intelligence presumably from TOM 1's matrix. Were the remaining parts of TOM 1 revived back to life overtime as the Intruder assimilated his body, or is TOM 1 still dead and the Intruder is merely using his corpse/eaten remains as an outer shell?
128	** The Intruder and TOM 1 morphed together upon the latter's death, which grants The Intruder the speak and gain TOM 1's intelligence.
129	* What exactly is that high-pitched screaming sound played during the Intruder 2 'corrupted' bumps between SARA being taken offline and the Absolution being destroyed?
130	* Why the hell are they rerunning season 2 of Primal over and over?! Even if you argue that they're getting ready for Genndy Tartikovsky's newest show- why only air season2? The show has 2 seasons, 10 eps each. If they reran it starting from season 1, that would be a nice 20 weeks! But it's getting tiring with the constant airing of the second season, which didn't even have that great of an ending! This is about the 6th time they're rerunning the same 10 episodes! Is Genndy paying DeMarco under the table or something?!
131	----
132	-->[[Creator/{{Toonami}} ONLY Toonami.]]

Context Headscratchers / Toonami