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This is a response of a recent topic that the Toonami Faithful Podcasts did, that was suggested to them by Josh Knighten. I think it would be fun to do this as well so here’s my list, if I was able to build Toonami from scratch. Here are the rules that were stated on said podcast, I have to start the block at 10:30 PM and it has to end at 2:30 AM, I also cannot have any previous Toonami or Adult Swim Action series that aired. I am allowed one subtitled series if I choose to have one, with all that being said let me be begin with the first show that would kick off the night which would be….
10:30 PM Gintama
Yes, even though Season three is so far the only season to be dubbed. The fact of the matter is is that Toonami needs at least a few long runners they’ve been proven to work in the past in terms of holding down a slot and being a safety net. Even though Gintama has some Japanese culture in certain places, I don’t think it would catch the casual crowd off guard. Mainly, due to some of its humor being based around pop culture with parodying movies, video games, Shonen Jump titles, and other anime. I also think this would bounce off well after Family Guy for those who are still looking for comedy this early in the night. Even though currently seasons one and two are still held by Sentai Filmworks hopefully Crunchyroll can pick up the rest and continue dubbing it.
11 PM D Gray Man
Kinda keeping things a bit safe with long runners. Like I mentioned previously they work and manage to create a stable lineup. Even though D Gray Man is in a very weird place currently with the rest of the episodes subbed not being on Funimation Now remains a mystery. I can see this show being a nice fit for the block. While it isn’t as goofy as Gintama, D Gray Man in my opinion has a good cast of characters and a decent dub.
11:30 PM Magi
Yes, another shonen but not a very long one. Magi follows the adventures of Aladdin as he travels across the world. Along his travels he meets a colorful cast of characters and grows a great bond with them. Magi would last a little over a year on the block and would be a good fit. It has a lot of action that we can expect from shonen but also a lot of really well written characters that continue to grow more complex than when the show first began.
12 AM Food Wars
Hell yeah a midnight snack! Food Wars follows the journey of Soma a cook wanting to outperform his father but before he could do that he is shipped off to Tōtsuki Academy a high end culinary school that only the toughest can survive. With the help of his friends and his skills as a cook can he survive the hellish training or will he be chopped?! This show is the most insane battle shonen I’ve ever watch and no matter what it’s a show that’ll make anyone hungry. Not only that but it’s really fun and has very likeable main protagonists Soma may start out very arrogant but after the first few episodes he becomes a really likeable main protagonist and the other main characters are easy to identify with whether it be Megumi, Ikumi, or Erina.
12:30 AM Baccano
Moving from shonens now to something else Baccano! This show is set during the 1930’s in Chicago following a variety of people. A husband and wife thieving duo, a mobster, and a young upcoming mobster. The kicker they’re immortal thanks to an elixir made by an alchemist and soon that alchemist will find out the problem of making such a thing. This show is very western in its storytelling approach and feels like a sci fi gangster flick. Of course this would be the Fullmetal Alchemist of this Toonami just instead of 64 it’s only 16 episodes. With that being said it’s an amazing series that has an incredible dub, fantastic soundtrack, and great animation.
1 AM 91 Days
91 Days follows a revenge story about a young man killing a mobster for killing his entire family. It’s set in the 1930’s in Chicago during the prohibition era and the setting is it’s strongest aspect. It’s a wonderful drama that does have complex well thought out characters and a decent plot line. The dub is incredible, Austin Tindle as Angelo Lagusa is a standout in my opinion and it has a fantastic script by J Michael Tatum makes this a perfect show to air!
1:30 AM Angel Beats
Angel Beats follows a group of teens who died in their past life who are trying to figure out why they’re in this purgatory. The only connection they have is a girl named Angel what secrets does she hold and will it be the key to find a way out of this middle zone? While Angel Beats does have some light hearted comedy the show does focus on individual characters and it can get really sad by the end. The cast of characters are all great and diverse and while I wish they had more episodes to focus on some of them the characters that do get good development is decent. It’s an old show coming from 2009 and the dub isn’t perfect. Casting is hit or miss and the script isn’t perfect along with the lip flaps not matching in the dub. Still it’s a good show and something that would work at 1:30.
2 AM Mushi-Shi
Mushi Shi’s set between Edo and Meiji period Japan and features creatures called Mushi. With this a man whose name is Ginko travels around and get rid of them who have possessed other humans. I have very little knowledge about this show I haven’t watched it at all but from what I heard it’s an old but good episodic series. Personally even though it’s not super old it’s probably not that expensive to pick up and probably would do fine at a late time slot.
2:30 AM Ergo Proxy
Ergo Proxy follows Re-L who is an investigator that inspected murders. After one case she stumbles across two powerful creatures and the show transpires from their. Much like Mushi-Shi I know nothing about this series but considering its age I would imagine it not costing that much to air at the end of the block. At this point it’d be a low risk show to air and since it’s an old one it’ll round out the block and be the sci fi show to end it.
That about does it pretty much the Toonami I would build from scratch a mix of old and newer titles. Even though a good chunk of this list is shonen I think a good chunk of it are different from the usual DBZ or Naruto shonen that the block constantly airs and having some shorter seinen series on their helps with some verity.
