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I started this out in small chunks on twitter but I think it’s best I explain my predictions here rather than sticking to the small character limits that Twitter has to offer. Just as a disclaimer I have no clue what’s gonna happen this year like every year this prediction list is just a small glimpse at what I think will be happening for Toonami this year. What I may put on here may or may not happen but I find it fun to speculate about such things. First, things first let’s address the elephant in the room the block has only one slot for variety, but even then it’s limited to Gundam.
While I personally don’t mind it I can understand people getting bored of a same line up. I have no clue if once Battle Tendency ends Jojo will move onto Stardust Crusaders that isn’t an answer that I can find to be definitive. I think it can go either way. Really depends on how Battle Tendency holds up after DBZ Kai The Final Chapters. If it gets less or about the same as Phantom Blood they may take a break, but they could also push Gundam up a slot and move Jojo down to see how it fairs later. We shall see like I said it can go either way, but I’m not certain about Jojo’s future. I think it’d be for the best to take seasonal breaks and wait a bit to get to new content until going head first into new content.
Jojo isn’t Hunter X Hunter Jojo juggles different main protagonists and varied antagonists while Hunter deals with the same cast of characters throughout it’s entire run. Jojo can survive if it takes a break a luxury other shonen on the block do not have. Secondly, what show do I think will replace Jojo if Stardust Crusaders isn’t airing? I think we may see Aniplex back on the block. Note the I think because it really depends on what they have to offer.
If they have a dub for Blue Exorcist Kyoto Saga ready they could air that in late April and that would last them until late July. Of course what would replace that would be up in the air my guess is maybe something from Sentai but that is something I’m unsure of. Thirdly, how long will the block be in 2017. As of right now I think I’m confident that whenever Samurai Jack airs it’ll nab an early time slot making the block four and a half hours.
Even if it doesn’t get 11 pm I’m sure the block will accommodate for it by extending later. I’m also thinking that the block might be 5 hours if they want a show really badly I have my doubts that they wouldn’t strike while the irons hot. Like I mentioned before I have no clue if the block will extend for that long but I think it’s pretty clear 11:30-3:30 isn’t going to be standard. Also I have no way of knowing this for sure since as of right now no release date has been announced but if Jack is airing in March my guess it’ll air the same night as the Oshii Microseries.
This probably costed a lot of money to make and having Samurai Jack premiere the same night as it would probably be good. Once again nothing has been fully confirmed Jack is airing in March, but if it is it wouldn’t shock me if they team it up with the Sand Whale and Me. For other show predictions Attack on Titan S2 is probably in the early stages of a deal so that’s more than likely airing maybe in June. I don’t think April mostly because if Samurai Jack gets 11:00 PM they want another big title to replace it.
Despite all the delays behind season 2 of Attack on Titan it’s still a big name probably big enough to warrant them waiting to premiere the dub. Moving past Attack on Titan of course I think it’s pretty much confirmed that Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Season 2 will premiere sometime this year. The dub for it has already started production. So best guess is that 1 am will remain the Gundam slot for a while. So yeah it’ll more than likely be airing in June.
After it’s twenty six week run is done which that won’t end until about early 2018 the future of Gundam on Toonami will be interesting since Unicorn and Iron Blooded Orphans are more recent so it’ll be neat to see what will happen after Iron Blooded Orphans ends. As for other show considerations, Lupin The Third Part IV maybe on the table but who knows I think Jason wants it badly so it may end up on the block this year, but we shall see. As for Tokyo Ghoul I don’t think they will pursue it at all. I know people will point out that it fared well on Jason Demarco’s twitter poll and is still being highly requested.
However, if they wanted Tokyo Ghoul they probably could’ve gotten it at any point in time but choose not to. Of course I don’t know if they had other deals that went through before or they believe it wouldn’t benefit them from airing it. Who knows I personally believe they will not pursue it in anyway. As for Mob Psycho since that is currently on Funimation Now I have my doubts but who knows it could happen if Toonami still wants it but I think they’re mainly after One Punch Man Season 2 more than Mob, but once again we shall see if Mob will come or not.
Also I do believe that they will make an announcement about another original for the block possibly two. I believe they are working on something in the background past Fooly Cooly. What it might be I have no clue shot in the dark would be a reboot or sequel to an already existing series. It might be an original series but I think they’re gonna stick with sequels right now they may create an original down the line but not at this point. As for reruns I tend to believe that Fooly Cooly will air after Stand Alone Complex. So if I counted correctly Ghost in The Shell should end sometime in August more specifically on August 12th, which would probably mean FLCL S2 will premiere in October.
I think that does it for shows to close this section I do think this will be a very expensive year for Toonami probably a year with a lot of pricey acquisitions. Now that potential show announcements are out of the way what about the next Total Immersion Event will we see another Intruder. My best guess is no I think we’re leaving it off on Intruder III at least for now. I personally would love to see the return of Lockdown or Trapped in Hyperspace but I think it maybe something new that isn’t a sequel.
They may end up doing a sequel to a previous one, but who knows what they will do we’ll probably first hear about this either on Facebook or during a con maybe Momocon if they end up going this year. I think that does it for my personal prediction of what’s happening in 2017 for the block. I think theres gonna be lots to be excited for and I’m anticipating what’s coming next.
