“There’s alot more to people than evil thoughts and bad deeds. There’s bravery. Everybody has that, right in here.”
– Maka Albarn, Soul Eater (Episode 51)
The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 15-16, 2014. Bit of a rough night for trending with UFC 171 and some technical issues with Twitter, preventing some folks from getting trends at all, but Toonami did well in regards to social media buzz regardless to send Soul Eater out with a bang as every show except for Ghost In The Shell, IGPX, and Star Wars TCW trended in the US (though “Star Wars” trended); and Soul Eater and Samurai Jack also trended worldwide. We also got a character trend with Sakura as she successfully managed to heal Kankuro from Sasori’s poison. And in addition, tonight’s new promo was one for Toonami’s newest show, Black Lagoon, and that trended both in the US and Worldwide as a result.
Soul Eater trending retrospective:
With the successful completion of 51 weeks of Soul Eater, this is its overall performance:
Legend: US, Worldwide, US & Worldwide, Mobile App
- #SoulEater/Soul Eater: (2/16-17/13), (2/23-24/13), (3/2-3/13), (3/9-10/13), (3/23-24/13), (3/30-31/13), (4/6-7/13), (4/13-14/13), (4/20-21/13), (4/27-28/13), (5/11-12/13), (5/18-19/13), (5/25-26/13), (6/1-2/13), (6/8-9/13), (6/15-16/13), (6/22-23/13), (6/29-30/13), (7/6-7/13), (7/13-14/13), (7/20-21/13), (7/27-28/13), (8/10-11/13), (8/17-18/13), (8/24-25/13), (9/7-8/13), (9/14-15/13), (9/21-22/13), (9/28-29/13), (10/5-6/13), (10/12-13/13), (10/20-21/13), (10/26-27/13), (11/2-3/13), (11/9-10/13), (11/16-17/13), (11/23-24/13 [2167]), (11/30-12/1/13 [2071]), (1/4-5/14), (1/18-19/14), (1/25-26/14), (2/1-2/14), (2/8-9/14) , (2/15-16/14) , (2/22-23/14), (3/1-2/14) , (3/8-9/14) , (3/15-16/14)
- Crona: (6/8-9/13), (7/6-7/13), (9/28-29/13), (11/23-24/13), (2/1-2/14)
- Black Star: (2/23-24/13), (4/27-28/13), (5/18-19/13), (5/25-26/13), (7/27-28/13), (8/17-18/13), (9/7-8/13), (9/28-29/13), (10/5-6/13), (10/12-13/13), (10/26-27/13), (11/16-17/13), (2/1-2/14), (2/8-9/14), (2/15-16/14), (3/8-9/14)
- Blair: (5/25-26/13)
- Excalibur: (4/20-21/13), (6/15-16/13), (10/5-6/13), (2/8-9/14)
- Genie Hunter: (11/2-3/13)
- Lord Death: (2/15-16/14) , (2/22-23/14)
- Medusa: (9/14-15/13)
- Poor Crona: (9/28-29/13)
- Reaper Chop: (11/30-12/1/13)
- Stein: (6/8-9/13), (11/9-10/13)
- Tsubaki: (5/4-5/13)
This was definitely one heck of a year for the Soul Eater franchise, with the completion of the original manga, Soul Eater Not!, and of course it’s successful run on Toonami. In terms of social media buzz, Soul Eater managed to trend on Twitter for all but 3 weeks of it’s run.
If Soul Eater has a notable legacy during its run on Toonami, it may be that it opened the floodgates for Character and In-Show content trends. Back in 2012, were were lucky to get one of these trends every month. Nowadays you pretty much expect at least one every week. In Soul Eater’s case, a record total of 8 different characters (Crona in 5 occasions, Black Star in a record 16 occasions, Blair, Excalibur in 4 occasions, Lord Death in 2 consecutive weeks, Medusa, Stein in 2 occasions, and Tsubaki), 2 attacks (Genie Hunter and Reaper Chop), and one reaction phrase (Poor Crona) all trended at some point or another during it’s run.
You can say that Character and In Show content trends represent how engaged viewers are into the show (and because of that, plays a integral part on what show and image is used for the weekly header), and Soul Eater fans sure delivered in this regard, and Toonami sure helped made some new fans along the way. Black Lagoon sure is gonna have a lot of shoes to fill in this regard, and let’s hope it does. Nevertheless, thanks for the memories, Soul Eater, and we wish all the best for Soul Eater Not! and a possible remake in the future.
For those interested in some further statistics, I have made a statistics page showcasing Toonami’s trending throughout the years since I started making this rundown back in October 2012.
Regarding potential Toonami shows:
In Sword Art Online news, it was announced yesterday that the Phantom Bullet arc will be kicking off (subbed) sometime this July. Whether you loved or hated the first season, I can assure you that SAO-mania will be restarting real soon. In the meantime, if you missed it or want to rewatch Season 1 in anticipation, SAO is available on Netflix as well as on DVD and Blu-Ray.
In Sailor Moon news, after months of delays, we finally got some info regarding the new series. The series will be titled Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal and will premiere in July on Niconico. According to producer Atsutoshi Umezawa, they aren’t “remaking the previous anime, but adapting the original manga and starting from scratch again.”
And keeping with the topic of shows returning, it was announced just yesterday that Durarara will finally be getting a second season. A release date is yet to be announced.
Finally, in regards to Attack on Titan, the odds-on favorite for Toonami’s next acquisition, Funimation this past week has revealed the cast for the dub, and the first half is set to be released on DVD this June. The voice actor for Eren will be announced next week at Anime Boston. Of course, I should mention that this time last year, we learned about SAO’s US broadcasting fate. Will we see lightning strike twice? Stay tuned, and for those that are going to Boston, enjoy the con.
And Finally:
This Monday as we celebrate Saint Patrick’s day, Toonami will be 17 years old. Thanks for all the memories over the years, and we hope the future is one to look forward to for both the block and anime as a whole.
In the meantime, tune in next week, as Black Lagoon makes it’s grand debut on Toonami at 2am Eastern. In addition, we’re only 6 weeks away from the finale of Bleach’s Gotei 13 Invading Army, to say nothing about the other shows. Also, I can’t completely confirm this, but it is rumored that Space Dandy’s season finale is 2 weeks away, though another set of episodes will be coming in a later date. Don’t have any sources for this at the moment, but be on the lookout for any possible developments. See you again next week, and in the words of Maka, stay brave.
Legend: 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 mobile app trends, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.
US Trends:
- Toonami/#Toonami (During Bleach, Blue Exorcist, Soul Eater, Naruto, Samurai Jack, IGPX, Star Wars TCW, and Sym-Bionic Titan) [#1]
- #BlackLagoon (During Bleach) [#1]
- #SpaceDandy [#8]
- #Bleach [#5]
- #NarutoShippuden [#5]
- Sakura (From Naruto Shippuden) [#8]
- #OnePiece [#3]
- #BlueExorcist [#2]
- #SoulEater/Soul Eater [#2]
- #Naruto [#3]
- #FMABrotherhood [#1]
- #SamuraiJack/Samurai Jack [#1]
- Star Wars [#9]
- #SymBionicTitan [#2]
Worldwide Trends:
- #BlackLagoon (During Bleach) [#6]
- Soul Eater [#9]
- Samurai Jack [#9]
Mobile App Trends:
- Toonami/#Toonami (During One Piece and Sym-Bionic Titan) [#4. Tweet Count Unknown]
- #BlackLagoon (During Bleach) [#3. Tweet Count Unknown]
- #Bleach [#4. Tweet Count Unknown]
- #NarutoShippuden [#6. Tweet Count Unknown]
- Soul Eater [#8. Tweet Count Unknown]
- #FMABrotherhood [#3. Tweet Count Unknown]
- Samurai Jack [#1. Tweet Count Unknown]
Special thanks to @Andy_Salcedo, @DatDamnPR, @KyonoYoshi, @MykeJinX89, @TheNextHokage, @VTraks, and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.
Take what you can, give nothing back. Except bullets. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.