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New York Comic Con took place this past week, and amongst the festivities in the Big Apple, we received some new news and trailers for shows that could potentially make their way to Toonami in the coming months, including those for Primal Season 3, Rooster Fighter, and One Punch Man season 3. Also a lineup update for the block for the next few weeks as Dan Da Dan season 1 makes its conclusion.
During the Primal panel last Thursday, Adult Swim revealed a new trailer for season 3 of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, with the announcement that the new season will make its premiere in January 2026.
Unfortunately for Spear, the end result of his battle with the Viking chieftain in the season 2 finale required a lot of sacrifices on his part, to say the least. Back at SDCC 2023, Genndy noted that he was looking into moving Primal towards an anthology format for successive seasons. But at least for now, Tartakovsky has since decided to continue Spear and Fang’s storyline, revealing that Spear will return as the show’s protagonist…this time as a zombie.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Genndy Tartakovsky confirms that the new season ‘it’s not a reboot’, stating “I just spent 20 episodes having people care [about Spear], and then I kill off the main character, which is okay, but then, what are my options? The other stuff I was doing wasn’t feeling quite right, maybe because I hadn’t finished the story. And because we had that “Plague of Madness” episode in the first season where it was a zombie dinosaur, this is part of our world. It’s pulp. It’s the ultimate pulpy thing, the undead.”
Genndy also told Entertainment Weekly that he got inspiration from pulp stories like Conan and Solomon Kane to deliver a story about zombie Spear, and the details on how he became a zombie will be revealed as the show progresses. Fang, Mira, and their respective children will also make their return for the new season.
Unlike Toonami originals and some Adult Swim action works, Primal has previously premiered its new episodes on Thursday nights on Adult Swim proper rather than Toonami Saturdays, although encore airings do air on Toonami two days later. Whether this will be the case for season 3 come January is to be determined, but we will keep you posted.
Viz Media meanwhile released some cluckin’ new information on Friday for the next Toonami original series, Rooster Fighter by Shu Sakuratani. This includes a new English Dub trailer coinciding with the announcement of the show’s main cast.
The cast for Rooster Fighter in English will include:
- Patrick Seitz as Keiji (Dio in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Franky in One Piece)
- Luci Christian as Elizabeth (Nami in One Piece, Ochaco Uraraka in My Hero Academia)
- Kimoy Lee as Piyoko (Syrup in Witch Watch)
- Robbie Daymond as Keisuke (Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru in Sailor Moon, Megumi in Jujutsu Kaisen)
- Roger Rose as Morio (Takumi in Fire Emblem Fates)
It was also revealed that the first opening theme for the show will be “What’s a Hero?” by DARUMA Rollin’. The song is available to hear on YouTube in the video below, and is already available for streaming and digital purchase on various digital music stores.
Alongside the announcements, fans lucky enough to be in the panel room got to see a special world premiere of the first episode dubbed in English. Robbie Daymond, the voice of Keisuke, also attended as a panelist. Rooster Fighter is scheduled to premiere on Toonami this Spring 2026, with specific dates to be announced.
https://x.com/RoosterFighter_/status/1977094350317433222
One-Punch Man also made its return last weekend after a six-year hiatus, as the show’s long awaited third season made its broadcast debut in Japan during the weekend. To commemorate the new season, Viz Media hosted a One Punch Man panel on Sunday, where attendees got to see a special screening of the Season 3 premiere episode.
https://x.com/VIZMedia/status/1978568687062778005
Viz Media has confirmed that the English cast will be reprising their roles for season 3, including Max Mittleman as Saitama and Greg Chun as Garou. No word yet on when that will be released, or when/if Saitama and co will make his return to Toonami at this time.
Toonami had previously premiered the English dub of both seasons 1 and 2 when they were released in 2016 and 2019 respectively, and given the previous history and success of One Punch Man on the better cartoon show, no doubt season 3 will be one to watch out for in regards to a Toonami airing in the near future. We’ll keep you posted on the developments ahead. As with all potential shows, if you do wish to see One Punch Man return to the block for season 3, keep supporting the show and the block overall as always and let Toonami and Viz Media know on their social media pages. In the meantime, those wishing to watch the simulcast can check it out on Hulu.
Finally, Toonami also aired the final episode of Dan Da Dan season 1 last week, which itself would end on a cliffhanger. Those watching the show via the simulcast know that both production and airing of season 2 has already been wrapped up back in September, and studio Science Saru is already hard at work producing season 3. Despite this, Toonami itself will not be airing Season 2 right away, with no word on when the block will have the green light to premiere the second season at this time.
As Jason Demarco noted shortly before the acquisition announcement of Dan Da Dan back in July, Japanese creators and distributors are increasing wanting more of a say into how their shows are being marketed. Meaning that for stuff Toonami produces to promote a show (such as promos, topicals, and music videos), Toonami needs to get final approval from the respective show’s producers, which of course takes additional time and money. This among other things would slow down the acquisition process for Dan Da Dan, with its Toonami premiere around eight months after the original simulcast in October 2024. And the same likely is the case for season 2 of Dandadan, and other potential new and returning shows Toonami is working on acquiring. Unfortunately, this means we’re gonna have to be patient once again for its return.
In the meantime, Bleach will move up to 12:30 a.m. while Dan Da Dan will begin reruns at 2:30 a.m. at least for October 18th. And Blue Exorcist will see a doubleheader for the next few weeks at the 1:00 a.m. ET/PT hour, with the exception of the night of October 25. On that night, only Dragon Ball Daima and Bleach will premiere episodes at the midnight hour, the remainder of the block will see a marathon of all four episodes of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki as part of Halloween week festivities.
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And the night of November 1-2 will see the end of Daylight Savings, so the “bonus DST hour” following One Piece will see an encore airing of all three episodes of FLCL Shoegaze, followed by the Rick and Morty short “Rick and Morty vs Genocoder”, before Naruto completes the night at 3.
What are your thoughts on the news from NYCC? Are you looking forward to Primal and Rooster Fighter? Are you hoping both One Punch Man and Dan Da Dan make a timely return to the better cartoon show? Let us know by commenting below or directly on our social media.
