Adult Swim Anime Lineup

[King John XII]

I would be Oh so happy if AS replaced one of those horrible boring animes(Big O, Ghost in the Shell) with something cool like naruto or Dbz uncut or something we all haven't seen like High School of the Dead, Higurashu, or a favorite of mine Soul Eater.

This would just be dandy. 

[NumyMufn]

I happen to love those horrible boring animes  I'm reasonably certain they let the licenses lapse on both Naruto & the DBverse. There should be something new this year, and it will get a better time slot than those have. errr... it should anyway, Moribito sure didn't get treated well. 

[King John XII]

Well I'm sorry but I can't follow or get into either of those anime but regardless we do need new anime I would love to watch Soul Eater on AS.

And I feel like I should remember moribito it rings a bell.

[Daikun]

I'm willing to agree that Adult Swim doesn't update its Saturday lineup enough; the 2-6AM hours have been very stagnant for the past few years. It would be nice if they mixed in a few other shows in those slots, but it doesn't look like they'll be doing that anytime soon.

They should also be willing to pick up more shows often. Bleach is ending in Japan soon, so new episodes of just that won't be cutting it for long.

Personally, I also think Bleach is one of the most overrated shows to come to the U.S. They really need to get some new blood going on Saturdays, because right now, I haven't been interested in watching since Durarara!! ended.

[King John XII]

Aww. BLEACH is ending?! I mean I know he's close to Aizen but I was hoping for another story after that like how DBZ went. And why is bleach overrated I enjoy it alot like so much I'm buying a ps3 just so I can play the new bleach game. Also Durarara got like cancelled didn't it I don't think it was over, if it was cancelled I don't blame them it  was ok but not great like I couldn't stop watching but it just dragged on becoming very boring but there was the occasions hilarious moment/comment such as "What you get now, IS WHAT YOU DESERVE!" Or "Angel in the sky flashing her panties singing bee doo bee doo" or one of my favorites "Boobyliscious".

[Daikun]

We're not really sure whether Durarara!! really is over. Will it get a 2nd season? We don't know. The story does continue in the light novel, however.

Bleach is overrated because it has horrible pacing, an ear-piercing dub that sounds more like it belongs on Saturday mornings rather than an adult block, inconsistent (and sometimes downright awful) character writing, and mounds of needless filler.

[NumyMufn]

Thanks, I wasn't really clear on Durarara!! I knew they played all they had but there was no satisfactory resolution. Although, I'm often disappointed with how things end in anime. I just enjoy the ride enough to keep coming back for more. Anyway, I think it did well enough in the ratings that they would pick up another season if it became available.

(I'd like to pause here and point out that I avoid the action discussion folders because people get too worked up in there, including me  What information I've gleaned has been from schedule and ratings discussions.)

Moribito wasn't great on first viewing, but then it never got a full second run. It was engaging enough but they kept jostling it around the schedule, airing premieres at ungodly hours of the morning (eps 3 through 10 premiered at 5:30 am, no kidding.) It ran through the first ten episodes starting in August of 2008, then there were licensing issues of some sort so they re-ran those same ten episodes then dropped it in Jan 2009. In July 2009 they started over, ran through the entire series one time, alternating between 1am and 1:30am time slots and then at the end it disappeared forever. I personally don't generally get invested into a show on the first run, which is why I really miss having anime on weeknights. It just worked better for me in terms of 'soaking it in.'

INSERT ANY ANIME HERE is overrated because it has horrible pacing, an ear-piercing dub that sounds more like it belongs on Saturday mornings rather than an adult block, inconsistent (and sometimes downright awful) character writing, and mounds of needless filler.

I'm not trying to pick on you, Daikun, you are absolutely entitled to feel this way. This is just such a great nutshell example of what I've run into over the years. I've seen these exact complaints hundreds of times applied to almost any show out there. What it boils down to is the AS anime/action fans, while very passionate and outspoken, are a very niche group. So small that we can't support ratings for AS, but we cannot agree amongst ourselves what is 'good.' Saddest of all is how often these discussions degrade into flame fests, because we do feel so strongly about it and it becomes a matter of "I'm right, why can't you see that?" instead of "You make a good point, I can respect that."

Let's see... "Horrible Pacing" ... I don't know how much DBZ I watched before I realized I could miss five episodes, come back, and Goku would still be holding the same spirit bomb - it would just be a little bigger. Did I keep coming back? You betcha    It's still the Gold Standard of 'how long can we drag this out?' ...

"ear-piercing dub"... Lupin III comes to mind, no disrespect to Tony Oliver,  - I actually have a great deal of respect for the English dub actors - the aural and visual aesthetics of this production were, in my mind, lacking. I realized all too late just how cleverly written the damn thing was. I would LOVE to have it back. In the interest of conserving video tape I was cutting this one out even after I started collecting blocks of programming instead of 'single series on a tape' thinking. *stupid* *stupid* *stupid* ...

"belongs on Saturday mornings rather than an adult block" ~ this is tough. let's face it, many of these were written for kids, just not American kids. Over-sanitizing the dubs may be more of an economic decision thinking they'll get more mileage out of it peddling it to kids. I only caught a glimpse of what may be one of the worst cases of this, I was dissuaded early on from trying to watch the 4Kids dub of One Piece. I did catch one line that stuck with me, though, "I bet I can guess the vintage of this grape juice" ... vintage GRAPE JUICE?  was that really necessary?     I think dubs will always be a hot point, for varying reasons, starting from "nothing should ever be dubbed." The argument for Americanization vs literal translation was best illustrated for me with Shin Chan vs. Super Milk Chan. Shin Chan was much better received in terms of ratings and popularity, there weren't enough people up to their eyeballs in Japanese culture to appreciate Super Milk Chan as it was presented. Neither was up to the challenge of competing with the Fox & Friends ratings powerhouse comedy lineup (talk about stagnation! eeek!)

And my favorite, "mounds of needless filler" ... for a long time I told myself I didn't even know what this meant. But, I guess it goes back to "what do you want from your anime?" If you're a "tell me a story but cut to the chase" kinda guy I guess I could see getting impatient in short order. One could argue that 21 of the 26 episodes of Cowboy Bebop are nothing but filler. Ironically, I ran across someone who hates those remaining five episodes and won't watch them. (This is where I want to reach through the Internet and slap them silly because they haven't the vaguest clue of what that show is about....  but I digress...) This is actually someone on the other side of the coin who is completely vested in the characters and just wants to see them doing ... stuff. Anything, "show me another day in the life..." kind of stuff. As a creator, finding a perfect balance of characters, background, storyline, plot, subplots etc. is an impossibility because the perceptions of the audience are so wildly diverse. Is this character interesting enough to make people want to watch 100 episodes? Well, some people yes, others no. Rurouni Kenshin had about 100 episodes, I really enjoyed it but I could have done without the third arc... and I hated the end. I can't remember if CN even aired that third arc. I wouldn't have... but I'd watch the first two again. And they both finished without squeezing another major story in between, which is what Bleach seems to have done. (My attention dropped off way back during the Bount's story line) Sounds like InuYasha, that strung you along to finish with "and they kept searching"  Did they know they were gonna do
"Final Act" at that point? Or was "Final Act" made to stop the storming mob with torches & pitchforks? If you're going to leave them wanting more, I don't suggest taking ten years to do it. But that's me ...


Wow, what a post... Luuv would be proud 

tl;dr ~ anime is teh s uck

[Daikun]

"ear-piercing dub" ... "belongs on Saturday mornings rather than an adult block"

I actually meant that as one criticism, not two. I wasn't referring to the age demographic or censorship; I was referring to how the English voice cast sounded for this particular show.

I'm usually rather forgiving towards voice acting, but I absolutely despise the dub for Bleach. Every voice and delivery sounds like someone is rubbing a cheese grater on my ears.

[NumyMufn]

Like I said, I wasn't really addressing anything you specifically mentioned ~ it's just the sort of things that I've read a million times for every show that no one can agree on and the age thing does come up pretty often You just conveniently put so many of them in one place I couldn't pass it up.


hmmm... but since you brought it up, how does poor dub = Saturday morning?

[bumperella]

Rurouni Kenshin had about 100 episodes, I really enjoyed it but I could have done without the third arc... and I hated the end. I can't remember if CN even aired that third arc. I wouldn't have... but I'd watch the first two again.

I don't think they did.  If they did I didn't see it (read: record it).  They shuffled and hid shows around the time Rurouni Kenshin "finished", so I wouldn't be surprised if it (the 3^rd arc) aired at 5am with no one knowing it.

[Ryan D.]

@Nummy... You're crazy!   You shouldn't be able to write so much/know so much about anime series.  I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who wondered what the heck was going on with "Moribito".  I didn't have a DVR when it got bumped to the wee small hours.   Thought the animation was beautiful and the action scenes reminiscent of "Champloo".  Unfortunately, in my opinion, there just wasn't enough action.  I would have liked to have seen more fighting sequences.  It was a lot of talk at times, I think.   

"Inuyasha"... Thanks for bringing up that B.S. ending, Nummy!   What was that!?  I'm very passionate about my favorite animes but I'm not fully educated on some of the more mainstream stuff like "Inuyasha".  What's the deal with the "Final Act" thing.  The series completed after how many episodes on A.S.?  A hundred?  That was back in 2005?  Is the Inuyasha "Final Act" out already or still in development?  Were the films just fillers or continuations of the series?  I'm too lazy to go to google and find out.    

The Bleach dubs aren't great, I agree.  I like that show for some of the music (Shiro Sagisu (Spelling?) of NGE).  That opening theme song, Japanese girl band (Shojo by Scandal) it draws me in.  I think that opening music just ended.  They need to get back to the main story line desperately.  I do like the designs of their "Zanpactos" though.  Spelling?

Thanks for the posts everyone. This is an interesting read. 

[NumyMufn]

I believe it was the Bleach open just previous to the current one that always had me hearing "Steppin' Stone" by the Monkees   

I'm not really sure but I think Final Act has finished airing in Japan but an English dub is still in the works, maybe?  There has been much speculation that it will be one of the anime AS will pick up this year. About the movies, I don't know if I even saw all of them... but they just seemed like long beautifully drawn episodes. It's kinda how I feel about the Bebop movie, except in that case there was a major "hey, in case you didn't get it the first time" two-by-four to the head 'clue'

[is 'anime' a real word yet? would the acceptable plural be 'anime' ? 'animes' ? animi  ]


No, I wouldn't consider Moribito action packed. It's not a prerequisite for me but I totally get what you're saying. The one time I was truly disappointed, ...well, let me back up and say I am rarely sucked into a series with the first episode. I kind of watch with a cautious optimism, action OR comedy. On the rare occasion that I am it tends to be those series that everyone else hates ('Reign,' anyone?) So I'm watching the first episode of 'Trinity Blood' in a hotel room and I get so excited I start texting someone back home, "OMG! Were you watching? That was freakin' awesome!"
Well, it pretty much went downhill from there. I still liked it, but I LOVED what it COULD have been. I don't know if you saw it, but there's a fan review at the ASMB the sums up my feelings on that show beautifully. It is riddled with *SPOILERS* so click through at your own risk:

Trinity Blood: Spoilers and Irrational Anger
09-14-2007 09:32 PM

Vampires.
No.
Vampire War! In the FUTURE! That is golden!  That's good stuff.  Anime techno-fancy WITH vampires.
Vampire, future, wars against the Papacy? Holy crap, how could it fail?...

... believe it or not, I'm not done but I gotta reboot, I'm afraid I may have a failing disk crossing my fingers...

[NumyMufn]

*yeeeshh* that other computer is not looking so good 

...anywho...

Rurouni Kenshin had about 100 episodes, I really enjoyed it but I could have done without the third arc... and I hated the end. I can't remember if CN even aired that third arc. I wouldn't have... but I'd watch the first two again.

I don't think they did.  If they did I didn't see it (read: record it).  They shuffled and hid shows around the time Rurouni Kenshin "finished", so I wouldn't be surprised if it (the 3^rd arc) aired at 5am with no one knowing it.

I'm really not sure... I was pretty adamant about recording it, but at whatever point I broke down and bought the DVDs I probably stopped. I was amazed that the closing music they always used on CN was only on about, iono, six episodes it was really the best in my mind.

Mr. D, I looked around just a little about Final Act. The speculators are thinking no sooner than August of this year. Also, there seems to be a troll continually messing with the Wikipedia page on it so I wouldn't trust it unless there's a valid citation (pretty much applies to all of Wikipedia  but just so you know, there's an active saboteur.) 167 episodes of the original, 26 more in Final Act.

[Ryan D.]

Thanks for the info, Nummy!   I was really into "Trinity Blood" after the first couple episodes but again, I didn't have a DVR at the time.  I think it started airing later and later, kind of like "Moribito" did, at some point.  So I lost track of it.  Maybe I didn't miss much. 

I became a pretty big A.S. fan kind of early on.  It was right at the last couple episodes of "Tri-Gun" (2003-ish?).  I do remember being in my teens and seeing "Gundam" in a hotel room late one night in 2001 and wondering what in the world is this!?  What is Adult Swim!? It's about time I bought Tri-gun.  Do you or anyone else give that series a thumbs up before I do add it to my collection? 

[NumyMufn]

I give Trigun a big Ten Thumbs UP!!! That makes me all thumbs, I guess  When I first watched it, coming off Bebop I was less impressed than I should have been but I still loved it. I watched it again recently wondering if someone I know would enjoy it. (I had just made him watch Cowboy Bebop... that's actually a long story, but mostly I knew he'd have that existential conversation with me that the ASMB won't anymore.) It's more beautifully drawn than I remembered it being. I think my first impression of it had more to do with the desolate backdrops involved, but when there is detail it's quite nice. I know a few people who found Vash's goofiness to be off-putting, but it sets up a stark contrast with his reality that's part of the beauty of the show. This is also the show that also made me decide to start paying attention from the beginning when something new comes on I tend to watch from across the room while on the computer most of the time. I think it was half over when the girls see him with his shirt off for the first time and I was like, "Whoa... I need to go back and catch up."

But then, going back to not agreeing on what's 'good,' I tried watching Neon Genesis Evangelion from the beginning paying close attention... I was bored to tears. And all I ever heard was how great it was. So I dropped off and started watching from across the room... then realized toward the end that something was coming that was going to be a major spoiler and I hadn't been keeping up so I quit watching until I could catch up ... but I never did   

I watched most of Trinity Blood on the old Friday Night Fix, so I don't recall schedule juggling issues. Back then you could watch a premiere before it aired on TV. You should read that review, it expresses all my frustration but is hysterically written   I can't recommend spending money on it but if it's on something like Netflix where it's not really an expense you may want to give it a whirl. But then, if your time is at a premium I'm sure someone could recommend something better to spend it on.