In a sudden surprise, last night it was announced(to us at least) that Jason Demarco, co-creator of the block, would be doing a AMA(Ask me anything) earlier today on Reddit.com’s Toonami sub section of the site. In this post, we will inform you all of anything information worth noting so you won’t have to go through the hundreds of comments yourselves...actually, Reddit mod “Wait What Happened” just made a Q&A so we will just post his, thanks man!
(Before we start, a huge thanks to Reddit Mod “Wait What Happened” for making all of this possible and for making the Q&A.)
Q:
1. Now that Funimation has US distribution rights for Cowboy Bebop will that affect [AS] the next time they try and renew their rights? 2. Most requested show for Toonami besides DBZ?
Thanks Jason you and the Toonami crew rock my face! Stay gold.
A:
1. It may! 2. Currently, Attack on Titan. Last year, Sword Art Online!
Q:
Jason, what would you say is the most misunderstood part of the Toonami process by the fans?
A:
OOOOH GOOD QUESTION. Picking shows and moving shows around in the rotation, EASILY.
Q:
What hoops do you have to jump through in particular?
A:
Sadly I can’t be completely transparent about how that business works, although I’d like to. I’m not allowed. Trade secrets etc!
Q:
What kind of leather are the chairs in your office?
A:
Rich, Corinthian leather
Q:
Speaking of Sentai Filmworks, I hear there’s some rumors about bad blood between the two of you. Is that true?
A:
Not true at all. Never listen to rumors.
Q:
1) Sunrise/Bandai recently released a lot of their properties that were in “license hell” to Funimation and Sentai for western distribution – and a lot of these titles were past Toonami favotires… Namely, Outlaw Star and Big O season 1… And Since Big O season 2 JUST started to air again on Toonami… Would you like to take this chance to say anything official about Big O season 1 returning and/or any of the other shows that have been rescued? Or is it still too early to say anything? 2) I don’t expect that’d you’d be able to comment on this specifically, but based on the kind of answer you give to the first question you might know something. so…
A:
Thanks! You’re right, it IS too early to say anything about those recently licensed titles. Obviously, if money is involved we sort of have no choice but to gravitate towards newer/higher profile shows, but we LOOOVE Gundam and Outlaw Star, so I’d never rule them out. I have not heard anything re: Gundam on our end, either, being totally honest. We’ll see I guess.
Q:
What would your long term and short term achievements be for Toonami in the future? What do you believe is the next “stop” on the constant journey of Toonami? We have a lot of people making stuff like fantasy schedules and ideal show acquisitions, which all have a personal agenda behind them, but we’ve never really asked what you consider is the “way forward” for Toonami.
A:
Well, for us, making more new TOM, SARA and Absolution animation is a constant struggle. Beyond that, we’d love to get the Clydes back on the air. We also want to be able to premiere more new shows, and perhaps even premiere something simultaneously in the US and Japan? And of course, expansion would be great…
Q:
Is there any show that you regret putting on toonami?
A:
Ha! I don’t “regret” anything, but that Tenchi GXP was not the show we hoped it would be. I’ll take an “L” on that one. Hahaha.
Q:
What would your dream lineup for toonami be?
A:
Hahah this is a tricky one. It would probably include FLCL, DBZ, Naruto Shippuden, Turn A Gundam, Gundam Wing, and some hot new stuff!
Q:
Do you think people think too much on upcoming shows rather than just enjoying what is on now?
A:
I think that’s natural and it doesn’t bother me (unless someone is belligerent). I do the same thing and I WORK at Toonami. But I also think we’ve got a solid lineup now, and the ratings have been bearing that out, thank goodness.
Q:
With Sentai Filmworks licensing The Big O Season 1, would it be possible to show it on Toonami?
A:
It’s too early to say. We’d for sure like to put it on, but of course it all comes down to money, right?
Q: If you’re really a lich then what’s your phylactery? Also, thanks for being one of the most awesome people alive?
A:
A LICH DOES NOT REVEAL THE LOCATION OF HIS PHYLACTERY TO MORTAL FOOLS. BEGONE! (casts spell)
Q:
In the 11 years you worked with Sean Akins were there ever times you 2 had disagreements on something you wanted to do for TOONAMI like sean wanted to do this but you had a different idea and wanted to go in a different direction?
A:
Ha! Oh, man. If only you could have been a fly on the wall. We disagreed many, many times, but always for the good of the block. We always agreed on the main mission, though! To make Toonami the best block on the planet.
Q:
Would you ever consider replacing Inuyasha when it ends and requiring Yu Yu Hakusho again (if you can of course!)? I feel like YYH has so much potential to return later at night and have an hour of that show or a half hour. It would be amazing and perfect for the other half of the block. Who doesn’t love YYH?
A:
Thanks! We love YYH and it’s certainly something we’d consider. It’s all about money.
Q:
Me and my fiancee (who had never seen dragonball) just went though the entire series. While the original DB is my favorite, I had never seen gt as I heard horrible things. Now that I have seen it, its really not that bad. What is your option on GT and overall favorite out of all three series?
A:
I am madly in love with Dragon Ball and think of it as one of the most perfect action/comedy shows ever made. DBZ ramps up the ass kicking in a great way, but I don’t love it QUITE as much. GT is okay, but you can clearly tell things are running out of steam.
Q: What’s your all time favorite anime?
A: FLCL, Lain, Future Boy Conan, Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing, Ranma 1/2, Star Blazers are all at the top for me.
Q:
what’s your favorite show that you’ve aired? Do you bring show ideas to others or do you take ideas for acquisitions from your staff? Is there any show that you’ve hated airing, but were forced to do so?
A:
Gill, Kim Manning and I pretty much gather and look at our options and decide what to air at this point. I can’t talk about a show I hated, but a show that I’m very happy we’re still airing is COWBOY BEBOP, of course!
Q:
Why are we not getting short shows on the block? I thought you guys were finally on track trying to pick up short shows after SAO, but I was wrong since you gave us another 100+ series (star wars). I’m afraid at this rate you’re going to rerun Soul Eater or SAO and then when Bleach is over you’ll rerun that. Are we at least going to see more short series in the future or is Toonami doomed with 50-100+ series? As of right now we have at least 7 shows over 50 episodes and that leaves no room for replacements for years almost. Thanks.
A:
“Short shows” and the idea of them being “Good for the block” seems to be an invention of the recent Toonami fandom. So far, stability has been waaay better for us in terms of ratings that “mixing it up,” as it were. We would never turn down a show for not having enough episodes, but I think it’s pretty dramatic to say anything longer than 26 eps “dooms” fans. We’re looking at all kinds of shows, and we may rotate some shorter shows in when we can. But it’s not a priority and it never has been.
Q:
Are you guys going to lose FMA Brotherhood in 2014? On a similar note I’ve been wondering how much longer you’ll have the rights to Cowboy Bebop, FLCL and InuYasha without renewing them again.
A:
I can’t tell you that info on here, sorry. We want to keep FLCL and Bebop FOREVER, I will say that.
Q:
Any progress on the Toonami comics talked about awhile back that would show the transition between Tom 3.0 to Tom 4.0?
A:
SLOOOOW progress, but yes, we’re still working on it!
Q:
It seems like the prospect of an uncut run of Clone Wars is getting people that I know interested (and they weren’t before they found that out). Is it still a possibility that you’ll be able to get those tapes?
A:
Sadly, it’s not a possibility. We tried to make that happen but it’s not something we will be allowed to do.
Q:
What animes do adult swim have the rights to but are not being aired right now?
A:
Sorry, can’t get into that on here!
Q:
With INUYASHA currently airing do you think at some point you guys might get your hands on INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT?
A:
We’d like to, but again, it’s all about money. We’ll see!
Q:
How do you feel about the current cartoons that CN has been broadcasting during the day?
A: I think the current CN is broadcasting at least two straight up classic cartoons now (Adventure Time and Regular Show), and has come other very good shows coming. CN is looking pretty good to me. Could use more action though! 🙂
Q:
A) Any plans on lopping off Inuyahsa to only a half hour to make room for another show somewhere in the block in near future?
B) The Ben 10 commercials that ran in Eureka 7… what was up with that?? Ben10/Ren10 became a meme on 4chan because it came like clockwork every week. I’m sure there was some agreement with Bandai involved but its somewhat of an urban legend that it was done somewhat intentionally. Silly ‘aint it? Any comment on it will do – I’m just curious about if you guys were even aware it had become an internet joke than anything.
A:
A) Not at present. B) It was part of our agreement with Bandai to be able to re-air the show.
Q:
On B – was it at their request or yours? A: It was at their request. (shrugs)
Q:
Are you guys going to lose FMA Brotherhood in 2014? On a similar note I’ve been wondering how much longer you’ll have the rights to Cowboy Bebop, FLCL and InuYasha without renewing them again.
A:
I can’t tell you that info on here, sorry. We want to keep FLCL and Bebop FOREVER, I will say that.
Q:
Hey Jason! Thanks so much for doing this! Do you have any plans for putting Space Dandy on Toonami? What’s it like to work at Cartoon Network and Adult swim? Who came up with name for Toonami?
A: Thank YOU! We are looking at Space Dandy and obviously with the track record of all involved, we feel like it’s got the potential to be great. WAAAY too early to say if it will be on Toonami, though. I came up with the Toonami name, I’m proud to say! It was one of a list of about 40 that Mike Lazzo and Rob Sorcher looked at. They liked “Toonami,” so there you go.
Q:
So a lot of the answers I’m seeing you give on shows are basically “if the money’s there”. Here’s a question – what can we do with ourselves in the meantime to help on that front – I.E. what does determine if the money is there or not? Does it factor only on ratings? In other words – what can we as a community do to ensure that you guys do end up getting the money you need to keep making Toonami better?
A:
KEEP KICKING BUTT ON TWITTERM FACEBOOK AND IN RATINGS, that’s the beginning and end of it. The longer we do consistently well, the more chance we have of getting a bigger budget!
Q:
Back when this was just an April Fools joke, did you expect to get such a huge reaction from the fans? I know that there are lots of factor when taking into account ratings, but you can’t deny that there has been growth in this last year. Did you ever expect that airing the block would cause such massive change? If you had an unlimited budget, what would you change about the block right now? What’s the most ambitious plan you have for the block right now?
A:
Thanks for sharing, that’s awesome! 1. NO! We had no idea! 2. NO! And we’re super happy about it! 3. We’d have ALL NEW SHOWS. ALL PREMIERES. Period.
Q:
Are there any plans for more movie nights after Eva airs? Also, how would you feel about a movie night not attached to a full series? Something like Summer Wars, for example.
A:
There will absolutely be more movie nights. And I LOVE Summer Wars! That said, we have to cater to our regular viewers, and show based movies make a lot of sense.
Q:
Why did you decide to do toonami Why isn’t Sword art online and Eureka 7 available for streaming? He misses/ed them alot because of falling asleep.
A:
I wanted a job and that’s the job I got! Rights issues that are determined by lawyers and ain’t got nothing to do with me. I feel your pain, sorry. Can you get a DVR?
Q:
2 question Do you think if Naruto was on Bleach’s time slot it would get the same or even better ratings. Asking because according to the week by week rating it’s rare for them to be more than 200,000 viewers apart and that may just be because the time they air. You guys say when picking a show to add to the block you use a few guideline to help you. How much does it cost, is it fit for the block and weather or not you guys enjoy the show. So what I’m wondering is has there been any show you guys decided not to get because you didn’t like the show?
A:
Naruto MIGHT do as well as Bleach in the same slot, but Bleach is doing so well we have no reason to find out, yet! And to answer your second question, there have been PLENTY of shows we decided not to air because we don’t like them!
Q:
What version of The Clones Wars did you end up with? The zoomed-in/chopped version that CN originally aired or the correct 2.35:1 version that is on the discs? Without getting into specifics, do you have to re-negotiate for shows if an HD version becomes available after the fact? I guess it’s more for your older series that I’m asking this since you went HD with new shows and I do appreciate that. Has there ever been any weird requests from distributors of shows you have aired? No details needed if you’re not able to say, just curious if they ever wanted anything outside the norm.
A:
We will be airing the same version that aired on Adult Swim a couple years back. Distributors never really request anything from us in terms of formatting, that’s really more of a fan thing.
Q:
A while back on the One Piece Podcast (onepiecepodcast.com) you did an interview and made the mention that you/the team/adult swim didn’t usually judge a show within its first three episodes and usually waited until it’s 10th before making any judgments about its ratings and so on (This is based on memory of the podcast but I think I’m right.) This strikes me as a little odd given that Tenchi GXP only ended up lasting 4 (or 5 depending on how you look at it) episodes before it was…unceremoniously(?) dumped to 2:30 am due to “ratings”. I’m a little confused how if you go by what you say even with the two bad weeks that is had on Nov 24th and Dec 1st 2012 it really shouldn’t have been pushed back that far until around ep 10-12 in which it could have come back to more level ratings. So I’m still a little lost as to how GXP ended up being the only show on the block to suffer a rather unnecessary knee-jerk reaction to bad ratings despite a show like One Piece getting 750k at a low and that’s consider ok. Why move the show when there was more than enough time to let it settle in? Was the fan reaction so bad to the show that it warranted the move regardless of future potential/good ratings? Is there any future possibility for similar show to even appear on Toonami given the rather harsh treatment that GXP had even if it did good so late? Beyond that I really appreciate everything you’ve done so far despite STILL not getting paid for it. Hopefully the block will get a little more variety but I’m just curious as to what really happened with GXP.
A:
Well, that’s not solely our decision, that’s something the network also has a POV on. SO if the network is having a bad week AND we have a show that’s been not doing great for a month, they might tell us to move it. Beyond that, 2:30 am is not “dumped” to us. I was referring to something like CANCELING a show more than simply moving it slightly later. And we don’t consider GXP being moved “harsh.” It did just fine at 2:30 and finished it’s entire run. I always consider a show finishing a WIN! 🙂