It’s been a wild week for Toonami fans! From Dr. Stone‘s second season returning after a brief absence, Adult Swim celebrating 20 years on the air, and One Piece receiving a live-action treatment, read on to learn more about all things Toonami from the past week
Adult Swim celebrated its twentieth anniversary this week! The new home for Toonami has become a cultural hub for animation ever since it has been around, and fans took the time to show their love. From all their original comedy series like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Venture Bros., to Home Movies and Rick & Morty, this company has been delivering fantastic series and projects for years. Toonami Faithful would like to say: thank you, Adult Swim. Not only for entertaining us all these years, but also for reviving the cartoon block we cherish so much.
Additonally, Adult Swim has made the first dubbed episode of Fena: Pirate Princess available on their YouTube channel for a limited time! Currently, the only way to watch dubbed episodes of Fena is live on Toonami and via Adult Swim’s website, which requires having a TV service provider to stream, making this a special treat for those who have not yet seen the series dubbed in English.
Are you interested in watching more Gundam? Well, you’re in luck because on Sep. 7, some iconic series of the property will be on FUNimation’s streaming service (FUNimationNow). Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (Toonami favorites) will become more accessible for those who have wondered what sparked the love for all things Gundam. And worry not, you can catch them either dubbed in English or with subtitles. It’s worth a watch, and if you’re curious about learning more in-depth about Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, we’ve reviewed it, which you can check in the links provided!
The latest My Hero Academia film World Heroes’ Mission, continues to make waves at the Japanese box office. After being in fifth place, the movie jumped back to reclaim the number one spot! Much like our excitement for films of other anime series we love (Demon Slayer, for example), we are curious as to why this motion picture has been grabbing as much attention as it has. Of course, U.S. won’t have to wait long as it will make its way stateside this Oct. 29.
The official Lupin the Third Twitter account revealed more details on the new series this week. The word mystery is the name of the game for this new season, and the added element of Sherlock Holmes going up against Lupin has made the prospects of the different story exhilarating. Slated to debut Oct. 9, the staff behind the scenes to create this story is nothing short of extraordinary, and many Lupin the Third fans have to be salivating at what it will turn out to be.
More Demon Slayer footage? You heard that right! The official website for Demon Slayer announced that five special compilations of the anime’s first season with new footage will air on five separate nights in Japan to prepare for the second season’s premiere later this year. Featuring new ending scenes, next episode previews, and key visuals for each arc in the first season, the newly edited episodes will provide old fans the opportunity to reminisce upon Tanjiro’s journey. They will bring new fans up to speed before the next installment begins.
Netflix continues to green-light productions inspired by anime. Titles like Death Note and Cowboy Bebop recently got the treatment, but now it will be One Piece’s turn. The company revealed a script with the logo, and many fans are talking about this latest announcement. While the consensus is that a live-action adaptation of an anime is typically insufficient, fans are curious at how this will pan out. And also makes us wonder, how much money does Netflix have to keep doing these anime-inspired productions?
And for those wondering about One Piece, author Eiichiro Oda was photographed while drawing at his work desk with the words “The story is in its final stage.” As fans celebrate One Piece having 100 volumes (such a crazy number), many are excited about how the story will conclude. Oda has been quoted that the series is rapidly reaching its climax, lasting about four or five years more back in 2020. And for anime fans around the world, it has to be shocking to see that the finale is approaching!
Shitan receives a message via carrier pigeon that the crew of the Bonito II must set sail to Orleans to investigate their newfound knowledge from the burgomaster in Fena: Pirate Princess. Once they arrive, they discover an abandoned temple excavation site. Fena leads her crew into the temple, where they find out winding catacombs beneath the surface. As they traverse further into the tunnels, Fena appears to be led by an invisible force, and she tells her crewmates that she remembers visiting this place before. They discover a glowing altar with a slot for the clear stone, which Karin finds Roman numerals inscribed within it. Meanwhile, Fena wanders from the group to Joan of Arc’s grave, where she wonders why she was called to this place. Suddenly, Grace O’Malley and her pirates appear and take Fena hostage. They accuse the Bonito II crew of being descendants of the Goblin Knights, a mercenary-for-hire group that committed horrible acts of violence in past wars. The pirates escape with Fena and the numbers, and Grace warns the others not to get in the way of their quest to find El Dorado. Editor-in-chief CJ reviews the episode in full, which you can read here. After an awkward attempt at a family dinner, the Todorokis, Bakugo, and Midoriya part ways in My Hero Academia. However, as Natsuo Todoroki leaves his father’s home, he is abducted by Ending, a villain captured by Endeavor years prior. Ending also attacks Endeavor and the boys in their car using his Whitelines Quirk. Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki spring into action, but just as he is about to make chase, Endeavor hesitates because he is afraid his son will never speak to him again if he intervenes. After the boys make quick work of Ending, Endeavor embraces Natsuo and Bakugo, simultaneously proud of his interns, and is relieved that his son is unharmed. Bakugo points out that they met their mentor’s challenge of beating a villain faster than him and Endeavor thanks them for acting so quickly when he could not. He apologizes to Natsuo and tells him that all he wants to do is atone for his actions, even if Natsuo decides to never forgive him. Later, Endeavor informs Fuyumi and Natsuo that he will build a house for their mother to live in when she is discharged from the hospital, where she and their children can live apart from him.
Moroha, Setsuna, and Towa encounter a pair of conjoined demon twins fighting to the death in Yashahime: Demon Half-Princess. Kinka and Ginka, the Ka demon clan members, learn that the sisters have rainbow pearls and plot to steal them to enhance their powers. They possess Towa and Setsuna, force them to fight, and extract the pearls from their eyes. When they present the pearls to their queen, Joka, she kills Ginka and takes the silver rainbow pearl. As she battles Joka, Setsuna sees brief visions of a memory from her childhood. She joins forces with Kinka, using his fire breathing with her naginata to destroy Joka. As he begins to fade from existence, Kinka grieves over his brother’s lifeless body and declares that he gave him a reason to continue living despite their frequent conflict. Setsuna and Towa retrieve their pearls just as Moroha arrives, with Towa taking to heart the importance of her bond with Setsuna. Both teams are recovering after the second bout of the regimental food war in Food Wars! The Fourth Plate. Tsukasa and Rindo are completely drained, so much so that Tsukasa declines participating in the third bout so that he has proper time to rest. Team Yukihira adjusts their strategy since their initial plan to eliminate the top members of Central failed. Momo Akanegakubo visits them the night before the bout as a warning, showing off the stack of student IDs stuffed within her kitty plush toy. The third bout begins the next day, as Soma, Megumi, and Takumi face off against Saito, Momo, and Eizan.
The battle against the Dark Triad moves to the Heart Kingdom in Black Clover. Dante reveals that he needs Captain Yami’s dark magic and William Vengeance’s tree magic to activate the Tree of Qliphoth, which would allow demons to enter the human world freely. Meanwhile, Vanica and her Dark Disciples descend upon the Heart Kingdom. Halbet, one of Vanica’s disciples, defeats Potrof and destroys crops and farmland. Charmy is enraged at the loss of good food and her teacher, so she summons her monstrous sheep to take down Halbet. However, Halbet uses her long locks to keep the sheep at bay and captures Charmy. Suddenly, she calls a giant monster who throws Halbet into a pot, cooks her hair, and eats it like spaghetti. Charmy then lands a barrage of punches, dealing a finishing blow to the Dark Disciple. Despite her efforts and the other magic knights, Vanica infiltrates the castle and meets Lolopechika face to face. Kakashi retrieves Kinoe from one of Orochimaru’s hideouts in Naruto: Shippuden, but snakes suddenly attack them, a giant serpent who swallows Kinoe whole. Kakashi rescues him by killing the snake and cutting it open. However, the snake emits a venomous fog that weakens Kakashi. Kinoe moves him to safety and administers an antidote. When Kakashi awakens, he finds a note from Kinoe detailing his plan to fool Danzo with a wooden decoy eye since he could not steal Kakashi’s Sharingan after all. His plan fails, and Danzo places a juinjutsu seal on Kinoe’s tongue, which forbids him from revealing the truth about Root and his mission so long as Danzo is alive. Later, the Third Hokage sends Kakashi and Yuugao to summon Danzo, but he and his Root shinobi attack them. Luckily, Hiruzen arrives to stop Danzo’s assault, and he persuades him to allow Kinoe to join the ANBU. Danzo agrees, and Kakashi helps introduce Kinoe to the other ANBU members under his new name, Tenzo.
Dr. Stone’s second season begins with the story of how the world fell into ruin and erased all traces of science and technological advancement (in case you may have forgotten from the previous season). This time, Senku has his sights set on tackling space technology, starting with freeze-dried ramen that can be carried and stored efficiently during the upcoming battle. The freeze-dried ramen is a hit among the members of the Science Kingdom. As he savors the result of his work, Senku reflects on his life before the petrification. Goku has achieved Perfected Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball Super, with mere moments remaining on the clock in the Tournament of Power. Jiren warns Goku not to get cocky with his extraordinary power boost, but he quickly finds that Goku has easily outclassed him with this technique. He declares that he will be victorious over Goku in a rage, and he summons a large burst of ki. Vegeta realizes that Jiren has awakened his true power, which was hidden away by the traumatic events of his childhood. Jiren blasts Goku with a large energy beam, knocking the Saiyan flat on his back. Goku struggles to get back on his feet, but he refuses to give up since his team is counting on him to win. He tells Jiren that he won’t forgive someone who hurts his friends, and he lands one final blow on his opponent. However, he is not entirely out of energy and stamina, and he collapses. Just as Jiren is about to charge a finishing blow and win the match, Frieza suddenly attacks him from behind. Android 17, who was believed to have self-destructed earlier in the fight, also appears and attacks. It is now up to them to assure Universe 7’s victory, as Goku lies unconscious in the arena.
On the newest episode of the Toonami Faithful Podcast, host Andrew “Sketch” Hingson is joined by Darrell Maddox, Varun “VLordGTZ” Gupta, and Umeko Long to talk about the first 17 episodes (season five) of My Hero Academia. The conversation covers the Joint Training Battle between Class 1A and Class 1B, most of the Endeavor Agency arc, some fun filler episodes, and two awkward family dinners with the Todoroki family. Many Toonami fans are enjoying this current season, and our esteemed guests do what they can to break it all down!
Another two episodes of Fena: Pirate Princess wraps up? Curious about what’s been going on with the series? Thankfully, Sketch was able to host yet another podcast episode, this time for FenaCast. He is joined by Bryan “LaserKid” Johnson and Celia Rose as they talk about all the cute moments littered in the series and figure out the mystery of the stone that began Fena’s journey. Also, you might want to listen to this episode to hear Celia swoon more over Shitan and Yukimaru. It’s a fun discussion and one Fena: Pirate Princess fans will want to hear.
Fans are stuck on a cliffhanger after an emotional end to the latest episode of Fena: Pirate Princess. While the visuals continue to astound Editor-in-Chief CJ Maffris, he continues to applaud the lore crumbs left in this episode. Particularly about this “witch’s influence,” as well as the Goblin Pirate reputation. Curious what CJ had to say? Check out his latest review to be up to date on the series!
Many Toonami fans have to be excited learning that Dr. Stone started its encore run on the block this week. Staff writer LaserKid wrote a retrospective talking about everyone’s favorite stone-age doctors during its debut airing. He takes readers down memory lane about all the highs, social media chatter, and some aspects that felt weaker than what he is accustomed to in Dr. Stone. It is a must-read for any fans, and hopefully, you have a chance to check it out!
Director of Social Media Celia Rose, Chad from the Macross Mecha Manual, and EXO from Macross Fan Central continue their Rebuild of Evangelion discussion with the second film in the series, You Can (Not) Advance. Warning: there will be SPOILERS, so listen with caution if you have not yet seen the Rebuild films.
Last Week staff members VLordGTZ, Marion “microwaevy” Pèna, and Sakaki published a new episode of their podcast project, Saturday Night Shoggy (without telling us how rude). The gang discusses the classic manga Getter Robo by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai in this latest episode. Those familiar with some of Nagai’s other works (Cutie Honey and Devilman, to name a few) should give this a listen, considering how knowledgeable this cast is about manga and authors.
Did you enjoy this week’s Toonami? Let us know by commenting below or directly on our social media. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can listen to the Toonami Faithful Podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify, etc. for interviews, discussions, and breaking news updates. Listen at the link below or on your podcast platform of choice:
C.J Maffris is the Editor-in-Chief at Toonamifaithful.com. He also produced and directed the Toonami documentary, What Toonami Means To Me. Feel free to follow CJ on Twitter @SeaJayMaffris
Celia Rose is the Director of Social Media for ToonamiFaithful.com. Feel free to follow Celia Rose on Twitter @planetstwinkle.