Adult Swim/YMMV

• And the Fandom Rejoiced: Despite Adult Swim's reputation as a Trolling Creator; especially when Cartoon Network's Network Decay became evident, the block has nevertheless occasionally given fans something to cheer about.
  • For the anime fans those who are tired of "boring" Shonen anime or perhaps have lost hope in Adult Swim, the announcement of Durarara!! airing should make some people happy.
  • The Oblongs returning to production.
  • And, guess what's getting another season...
  • On April 1st, 2012, Toonami was "revived" for one day on Adult Swim, complete with new lines for TOM, Bleach added to the lineup as the hook, the premiere of the third Tenchi Muyo OVA, their old bumps and a game review of Mass Effect 3. Even better, Steven Blum hinted at the chance that this could grow to an actual block again, and Adult Swim is considering to bring it back for good.. Needless to say, the internet (especially social networking sites) practically exploded with sheer joy.
  • Lost hope in Cartoon Network for it's insane live action push? We'll I've got some good news: Toonami is back, bitches.
• Animation Age Ghetto: Partly averted. Why partly you ask? Considering that the Anime block is not as strong as the Comedy block...at least according to Adult Swim, some might argue that this is proof that the ghetto is still quite strong...at least when it comes to non-comedic titles.
• Base Breaker: The introduction of Gold Episodes on their website. Essentially they're the same thing as the full episodes they used to show, except now they're only available to subscribers of a very small handful of cable/satellite providers. If you're not a member of the eight providers covered so far and you miss an episode the day it airs, guess what? Now you're screwed until it airs again in reruns. Considering just how small the provider pool is, coupled with the fact that the site's FAQ states that the purpose of switching to Gold Episodes is to reward cable/satellite subscribers, many fans consider this yet another golden middle finger towards its viewers.
• Broken Base: The Anime fans vs the Comedy fans, enough said. Not to mention within the comedy fanbase, Animated vs. Live-Action...as well as Original Programming vs. Syndicated/Imported.
• Comedy Ghetto: Inverted. In fact, conversely, the work has to be comedy in order for it to be successful and given love. Just compare the state of the Anime block with all the other blocks for instance.
• Complaining About People Not Liking the Show: Done by Adult Swim themselves of all people. Hate Tim and Eric, or any of the live-action programming? Prepare for Adult Swim to make fun of you, and call you a loser.
• Creator's Pet: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. With the treatment these guys get, it often seems as if Adult Swim in the Network Decay era is more or less run by these two.
• Crowning Moment of Awesome/Heartwarming: Toonami being brought back for April Fool's Day. And then, of course, the return of Toonami itself.
• Dude, Not Funny: Adult Swim has gotten this reaction at times due to their amount of Take Thats to the audience. Not that this stops Adult Swim from making fun of those complaints.
• The Firefly Effect: With all the Executive Meddling going on when it comes to Adult Swim's lineup, especially since the Network Decay started, it wouldn't be surprising if there are people out there that are feeling this effect.
• Gateway Series: Adult Swim is (or depending on who you ask, was) well-known for bringing more exposure to mature Anime series as well as rescuing other shows from death or complete obscurity.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: There was once a obscure bump in the past, making fun of the fact that Toonami claimed to be cooler than Adult Swim, and had a pretty comical rivalry. (Despite being made by Williams Street), cut to 2012, where Toonami has been Uncancelled and brought over to Adult Swim.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • For New Years Weekend of 2006/2007, Adult Swim decided to have a marathon of nothing but Bleach Episodes. About a week later they ran a bump saying that because of the low ratings they wouldn't be doing anymore Anime Marathons. Seemed like a quick jab right? Cut to couple years later where Anime have been shoved to the dead hours on only Saturday Nights. Since then they did Bleach marathons on Christmas and New Years Eve on 2011. Things might be looking up?
  • "We knew adults really didn’t care about the quality of animation. With children, if you had something brightly colored and moving, you could make it go. But with adults, they become bored pretty quickly with the dancing brooms unless it’s exceedingly well done. From the start, words were more important than pictures."

That quote was said by Mike Lazzo in 2004. Sounds like nothing right? Flash forward to 2007, the Boston Bomb Scare occurs and Cartoon Network undergoes the most infamous form of Network Decay since MTV transitioned away from music videos.

• Jumping the Shark / Seasonal Rot: A good number of fans have noted that Adult Swim's bumpers have been less funny and more insulting today in comparison to when Adult Swim first started using them.
  • Uncanny Valley: During the height of Adult Swim's Network Decay, most of the bumps on Saturday nights that Adult Swim plays between anime can be really weird and creepy, especially the ones they use from an old film meant to educate children on self-image for schools in the 70s called "If Mirrors Could Speak" (for those of you still clueless, it's the ones that show kids with clown makeup on) It was already bad enough on its own, but Adult Swim throws creepy cgi versions of their characters from their original shows in the background, although those aren't nearly as bad as the Asian robot's face bump they show (which takes the cake as Adult Swim's most weird and creepiest bump on Saturday). Fortunately, the Anime lineup got a reprieve from this when Toonami returned and got replaced with much more friendlier bumpers.
• Just Here for Godzilla, or in this case, Just Here For Family Guy:
  • A lot of people watch Adult Swim mainly just to see Family Guy. Some of them also stick around to see American Dad and Robot Chicken, also shows by Seth MacFarlane and Seth Green.
  • Futurama was also a big attraction for Adult Swim before it moved to Comedy Central.
  • Adult Swim was also one of the two go-to blocks for Anime on Cartoon Network (the other being Toonami)...until Network Decay settled in.
• Misblamed: Adult Swim is often blamed for the lack of Season 3 for The Big O, when in fact, it was Cartoon Network who refused to fund the third season, despite successful ratings on Adult Swim. Was this before or after the Deus Ex Machina ending of season 2? Who knows, although this doesn't stops Adult Swim from promising to never make any more new episodes.
• Periphery Demographic: Adult Swim's main target is the 18-39 demographic. Quite a large number of its viewers however are under 18. This is especially very evident when it comes to the viewership of their more popular comedies as well as the Anime lineup. Heck, it can even be safe to say that many of Adult Swim’s longtime and former viewers did start watching when they were kids.
• Too Good to Last: In addition to the huge list of shows that were screwed by Adult Swim...
  • Moral Orel : Sadly cancelled after only 3 seasons because it got too dark. The only claymation able to make you cry.
  • Titan Maximum, which, despite being a ratings behemoth, was unceremoniously cancelled not by Adult Swim, but by creator Seth Green, simply because he'd rather focus on his Cash Cow Franchise, Robot Chicken. To say that fans were pissed is a severe understatement, and the noticeably lower quality of Robot Chicken season 5 hasn't helped much.
• Vindicated by Cable: Adult Swim is responsible for the revivals of shows like Family Guy, Futurama, Home Movies, and The Big O.
• What Do You Mean It's for Kids?: Many of the anime shows Adult Swim has shown are shonen series aimed at younger audiences in Japan. Examples include Yu Yu Hakusho (which got moved to Toonami), Inuyasha (which almost aired on Toonami but couldn't pass standards and practices back in 2002), Case Closed (bombed because viewers could tell it was a kids' show, albeit a gruesome one), and Kekkaishi (which in all likelihood would have aired on Toonami had the block existed). Darker and more fitting with the block but still teen-oriented are shows like Fullmetal Alchemist and its remake Brotherhood, Death Note, and arguably Neon Genesis Evangelion (though the latter's no longer marketed to younger viewers in a Japan).
• What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: Of course considering that the block is on Cartoon Network, this has certainly gotten this reaction at times.
• What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: All of their original series, and many of their bumpers and scheduling decisions. The "Off the Air" segments, big time.
• Win Back the Crowd: Much like the situation with Network Decay, Adult Swim have been doing this around the same time Cartoon Network started to as well, with the resurrection of Toonami and a good influx of anime and animated comedy, with even more to come.

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Adult Swim