“It’s clear to me, now. We’re going. [Where?] Anywhere but here. To a better place, where you and me belong.“
– Orga Itsuka, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (Ep.01)
“Checked a few items off my bucket list tonight thanks to #GundamIBO. This is a dream. Thanks for all your support, folks!”
– Kyle McCarley, the voice of Mikazuki
The Toonami Trending Rundown for June 4-5, 2016. Back in March 6, 2000, Toonami premiered a series known as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, the first time ever that a Gundam series had aired on US television. Gundam Wing instantly became a massive success, becoming one of Toonami’s most popular and acclaimed shows of all time and became a gateway drug to the Gundam franchise in general for many, myself included. Alongside with the success of both DBZ and Sailor Moon among others, Gundam Wing’s success helped jumpstart Toonami’s first golden age, and by extension, the golden age for the anime industry in the early 2000’s.
Fast foward to today, and Gundam’s back with a vengeance with Iron Blooded Orphans. Toonami’s social media buzz was great in response this week, as every show save for Parasyte trended during the East Coast, while #HunterXHunter also trended during the West Coast airing. And of course, for the main event of the evening, #GundamIBO as well as #IronBloodedOrphans trended for a good part of the block during the East Coast airing, making sure Gundam’s return to American television came in a high note.
Hunter x Hunter’s buzz was even enough to be Nielsen Social’s 3rd most tweeted about show on the day of June 4, 2016, the third time at least to our knowledge (the others being during Space Dandy’s Season 2 premiere and Kill la Kill’s finale) that a Toonami show has been able to do so. A little trivia fact on the matter: All 3 of these occasions have happened during the June-August “Summer season” period and each show has aired during the 12:30 am Eastern timeslot. With the frequency and difficulty of it happening, having even one show hit Nielsen’s top 5 could be considered a victory for the block as a whole.
Iron Blooded Orphans will run for 25 weeks (not counting any preemptions) but it was announced after the show ended in Japan that a 2nd season is in the works set to premiere there in the fall. According to Jason and the crew whether season 2 airs on Toonami once the dub is ready will depend on the show’s demand and ratings performance. Granted, with folks craving for more Gundam after its drought from US shores, not to mention that other Toonami shows that were in a similar situation have succeeded enough to justify a continuation when the time arrives (SAO II and Shippuden being such notable examples and it’s very likely Attack on Titan II, DBZ Buu Saga and Super, and SAO III among others will join them as well at some point), I personally think it shouldn’t be an problem, but as with any show, if you want to see more Gundam, keep tuning in as always and let Toonami know on their Tumblr ask box.
As the greatest would say, impossible is nothing, and Gundam’s return to Toonami and for that matter the revival of Toonami and growing success of the block and the shows it has aired is a fine example of that. Until next week, stay gold, we wish a Happy Ramadan to our Muslim Toonami Faithful, and our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the passing of Muhammad Ali. May his soul rest in peace.
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Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.
United States Trends:
- #Toonami [#21]
- #DBZKai [#21]
- #GundamIBO [#15]
- #IronBloodedOrphans [#25]
- #HunterXHunter (Also during the West Coast airing) [#15]
- #SamuraiChamploo [#22]
- #Shippuden [#25]
- #OnePiece [#20]
Tweet Counts:
- #Toonami [4,924 tweets]
- #DBZKai [1,711 tweets]
- #GundamIBO [4,539 tweets]
- #HunterXHunter [3,343 tweets]
- #SamuraiChamploo [1,557 tweets]
- #OnePiece [6,452 tweets]
Special thanks to @myanimewaifu and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.
Edit 6/7 @ 6:45 pm PDT: Added section of Hunter x Hunter making Nielsen Social’s Top 5 on that day. Note that Nielsen Social now shows their daily Top 5 on the weekends on the following Monday. If you see a trend or see a Toonami show on Nielsen Social’s top 5 and we haven’t reported it, feel free to let me know on my twitter.
Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.