The latest Toonami schedule update for March dropped Friday with a surprising twist to an otherwise disappointing lineup, which begins this week. March 1st will open with FLCL: Grunge at Midnight, followed by an Adult Swim original called Common Side Effects at 12:30, Blue Exorcist continuing at 1:00 a.m, One Piece at 1:30, Dragon Ball Z Kai at 2:00, ending with the Toonami Rewind replays of both Naruto and Sailor Moon at 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. respectively. On March 15th, FLCL:Shoegaze will replace Grunge at the Midnight slot, as predicted. It should also be noted that Kai will be restarting the first season from episode 1 after it finishes playing episode 47.
Common Side Effects is unexpected, but given the trend of Toonami primarily airing series they already own it makes a certain amount of sense. This adult animated series, which is currently premiering on the regular Adult Swim block on Sundays at 11:30 p.m., is a mystery/conspiracy thriller that follows two high school friends named Marshall and Frances who discover a legendary mushroom which can allegedly cure all illnesses. As the two continue to investigate they uncover a larger conspiracy by a powerful pharmaceutical company to cover up all existence of this miracle mushroom.
The series, created by Joe Bennet and Steve Hely, began airing on the 2nd of February this year and consists of ten episodes. The animation style is reminiscent of the popular sci-fi animated series Scavengers Reign, also created by Bennet, making it a great fit for Adult Swim. It’s hard to say whether or not it will be a great fit for Toonami, but it does look to be a better fit for the block than most of the current AS originals, given that it has a mix of action and comedy and an overarching plot. Thus far it’s been received well by fans and critics alike, with high ratings on IGN, IMDb, and Rotten Tomatoes.
In some ways, it makes perfect sense for the network to (re)use an original animated series on Toonami, but I can’t help but echo my earlier sentiments that whoever is designing this lineup is doing so in the cheapest way possible (note the replay of DBZ Kai season 1 yet again) while not fundamentally understanding what the Toonami audience actually craves. It’s also highly likely that the audience of Toonami who would be interested in the show are already watching it during it’s regular airtime, so it’s somewhat redundant to air it during the block as well, especially once it’s half-over.
For now we will be watching this block alongside the Toonami community and continue to hope that Spring will bring forth a more engaging, action-focused lineup.
Excited to see Common Side Effects join the block? Let us know by commenting below or directly on our social media. Also, follow us on @ToonamiNews or ToonamiFaithful.bsky.social, and subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud for future content and breaking news updates.
Kuro is a staff writer and editor for ToonamiFaithful.com. Feel free to follow her on Twitter @HappyKuroKitty or on BlueSky @happykurokitty.bsky.social.