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This Saturday, September 9, Toonami will be broadcasting a double dose of premieres as viewers will be enjoying the World Premiere of FLCL: Grunge at midnight, following the English dub premiere of the first of a two-part finale for Attack on Titan: The Final Chapters.
Back during San Diego Comic-Con in July, Toonami announced that FLCL: Grunge, the upcoming fourth season of the FLCL franchise would be hitting Toonami airwaves this September 9th. FLCL Grunge will be available for streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max) and adultswim.com shortly following the broadcast.
FLCL: Grunge is directed by Hitoshi Takekiyo, with music by The Pillows. Compared to previous seasons, Grunge will be animated in CGI.
On Thursday, the official Twitter/X account for FLCL revealed the English Cast for FLCL: Grunge. Kari Wahlgren will once again return to the show to voice Haruko, joined by Casey Mongillo as Shin, Michelle Marie as Orinoko, and Luis Bermudez as Shonari. The full cast is as follows:
- Shin: Casey Mongillo
- Haruko: Kari Wahlgren
- Orinoko: Michelle Marie
- Shonari: Luis Bermudez
- Dainari: Marc Thompson
- Mayor: Dino Andrade
- Amarao: Aaron Laplante
- Shin’s Dad: Arthur Romeo
- Director: Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes
- ???: Maki Terashima-Furuta
- Keshibishi: Marc Thompson
The English dub is produced by NYAV Post and directed by Michael Sinterniklaas and Stephanie Sheh.
Luis Bermudez on Twitter: “I’m so proud to say I play Shonari in #FLCLGrunge! Endless heaps of gratitude to @MakiTerashima, @stephaniesheh, @MSinter and everyone @adultswim for putting their trust me. I hope you like it! pic.twitter.com/DQvWnDEIU1 / Twitter”
I’m so proud to say I play Shonari in #FLCLGrunge! Endless heaps of gratitude to @MakiTerashima, @stephaniesheh, @MSinter and everyone @adultswim for putting their trust me. I hope you like it! pic.twitter.com/DQvWnDEIU1
Michelle Marie on Twitter: “I’m beyond excited and honored to be the English voice of Orinoko in #FLCL: Grunge! FLCL!!!!!!! THE FLCL! I was a big fan of the original so this is so surreal! Thank you so much to @MakiTerashima @nyav_post @MSinter for having me! ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/fflqyY31UN / Twitter”
I’m beyond excited and honored to be the English voice of Orinoko in #FLCL: Grunge! FLCL!!!!!!! THE FLCL! I was a big fan of the original so this is so surreal! Thank you so much to @MakiTerashima @nyav_post @MSinter for having me! ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/fflqyY31UN
https://twitter.com/CaseyTheVA/status/1699921241136894258
Maki Terashima-Furuta, the president of Production I.G USA and a producer for the show, has also revealed that she will be voicing a character in Shoegaze, though her character’s identity will be revealed as the show progresses.
https://twitter.com/MakiTerashima/status/1699861426368836049
FLCL: Grunge, as with previous seasons of FLCL, is a SAG-AFTRA union dub. In the context of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, dubbing productions are not affected at this time, meaning that the cast and crew of FLCL are allowed to continue working on and promoting the show. SAG-AFTRA does encourage actors and fans to continue promoting non-struck unionized productions such as FLCL as a showcase of solidarity to “what the studios (that are being struck) are missing out on”. And especially given Crunchyroll’s union-busting antics and actor salary controversies, support for shows that feature unionized anime dubs also helps on that front.
Stephanie Sheh on Twitter: “Dubbing is not stricken work. And this show is union. So it is safe to watch! / Twitter”
Dubbing is not stricken work. And this show is union. So it is safe to watch!
The cast have also recorded messages to the FLCL audience to promote the upcoming season.
https://twitter.com/KariWahlgren/status/1700310884990833043
FLCL USA Official on Twitter: “Casey Mongillo as Shin. pic.twitter.com/VaQbmtUb1T / Twitter”
Casey Mongillo as Shin. pic.twitter.com/VaQbmtUb1T
FLCL USA Official on Twitter: “Michelle Marie as Orinoko. pic.twitter.com/Q3yNw75mXU / Twitter”
Michelle Marie as Orinoko. pic.twitter.com/Q3yNw75mXU
Luis Bermudez on Twitter: “Here’s Part 1/3 of the clip! https://t.co/KcHrYgFol2 pic.twitter.com/0h1JAbJ0bx / Twitter”
Here’s Part 1/3 of the clip! https://t.co/KcHrYgFol2 pic.twitter.com/0h1JAbJ0bx
In addition to Grunge, Toonami, alongside Production I.G and Studio NUT, is working on a fifth season of FLCL, titled FLCL: Shoegaze. Directed by Yutaka Uemura, Toonami has yet to reveal a release date for Shoegaze as of this writing.
Back in January, Studio MAPPA announced that the final nine chapters of the Attack on Titan manga would be adapted into two “special broadcast” episodes, the first premiering in Japan (and streaming on Crunchyroll) on March 4, 2023, while the second set to premiere in late 2023.
Toonami fans and dub viewers had to wait over five months for their turn and on August 11, Toonami would finally announce that the first of these final two episodes will be premiering on September 9 at 12:30 a.m. EDT/PDT, following the FLCL: Grunge Premiere.
As the Attack on Titan episode will be an hour and a half long (with commercials), One Piece will be taking the night off to make way. Naruto Shippuden however will air on its regularly scheduled time at 2:00 a.m., followed by an encore airing of My Hero Academia season 6 to finish off the night at 2:30 a.m.
Crunchyroll will also have the episode’s dub available on their service a day later, on September 10 at 10:30pm PDT.
Bryce Papenbrook will return to reprise his role as Eren, alongside Jessie James Grelle (formerly Joshua Grelle) as Armin, and Trina Nishimura as Mikasa. Mike McFarland will once again serve as ADR Director in addition to voicing Jean, and will be joined by Manny Aragon as the lead ADR Engineer. The full cast released by Crunchyroll is as follows:
- Eren Jaeger voiced by Bryce Papenbrook
- Armin Arlert voiced by Jessie James Grelle
- Mikasa Ackerman voiced by Trina Nishimura
- Jean Kirstein voiced by Mike McFarland
- Hanji Zoë voiced by Jessica Calvello
- Levi Ackerman voiced by Matthew Mercer
- Reiner Braun voiced by Robert McCollum
- Annie Leonhart voiced by Lauren Landa
- Connie Springer voiced by Clifford Chapin
- Pieck Finger voiced by Amber Lee Connors
- Gabi Braun voiced by Lindsay Seidel
- Falco Grice voiced by Bryson Baugus
- Zeke Jaeger voiced by Jason Liebrecht
https://twitter.com/MannyAragon_/status/1699491722013622417
Several months ago, Jason DeMarco has mentioned that there is at least one show that has yet to be announced and premiered on Toonami as they have not yet received the green light from the Japanese rights holders. When asked if Attack on Titan is that show, Jason responded: “Nope that was another thing but this has been in the works for more than 6 months. We kept having to push as it became six eps, then three, then a movie etc. We are just thrilled to have it.”
SPIRAL CURSE DEMARCO on Twitter: “Nope that was another thing but this has been in the works for more than 6 months. We kept having to push as it became six eps, then three, then a movie etc. We are just thrilled to have it. / Twitter”
Nope that was another thing but this has been in the works for more than 6 months. We kept having to push as it became six eps, then three, then a movie etc. We are just thrilled to have it.
Studio MAPPA has yet to reveal an exact date for when Part 2 of the special broadcast will air, so fans will need to wait for potentially several more months before the series finale reaches Toonami airwaves. Unfortunately, this will also mean that Toonami’s current programming drought will continue for the time being. On August 17, Toonami revealed the schedule for the following week on September 16. Following the premiere of episode 2 of FLCL Grunge at midnight, Toonami will broadcast an hour of One Piece from 12:30-1:30 a.m, followed by a doubleheader of Naruto Shippuden from 1:30-2:30 a.m, and My Hero Academia concluding the night at 2:30 a.m. It is unknown how many weeks this schedule is expected to last.
Are you looking forward to checking out FLCL and Attack on Titan tonight on Toonami? Sound off in the comments below or on our social media outlets.
