The Toonami Audience Takeover Bracket was an online competition that pitted 64 former and current Toonami series against one another in an NCAA tournament style bracket over 4 weeks (Tuesdays and Saturdays at 5:00 PM) from October 13-November 7, 2020. Each matchup saw two series face off against each other with the winner of each matchup selected by fans via an Instagram vote.
Most of the Toonami series that made up the bracket were anime series (other than Ballmastrz: 9009) that aired on the block during its run on Adult Swim (2012-2020). However, since Adult Swim's Toonami hadn't technically showed 64 anime series, a few series from the April Fools broadcast in 2012 were included even though only one episode of each series aired. The idea of an Audience Takeover Bracket came after Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin made their own brackets on Toonami: Pre-Flight earlier in the year. However, DeMarco and Austin included American and Japanese series from Toonami's entire existence (1997-2020) on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim in their brackets.
In the first episode Max set the bracket matchups with guests Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin by playing a randomized Space Invaders style game. However, he first seeded the top 4 "heavy hitters" in the 4 divisions of the bracket. These top 4 series were Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Bleach and My Hero Academia. The rest of the bracket was randomized so, unlike the NCAA tournament, there wasn't a seeding system.
The tournament was live-streamed on adultswim.com and YouTube over 4 weeks (2 episodes each week) resulting in Cowboy Bebop being announced the winner and receiving a marathon on Saturday, December 26, 2020 that was programmed by the viewer (Coolkevin54 of swimpedia) that submitted the bracket with the most correct choices. Viewers could also call in during the livestream to give their opinions.
Full Bracket[]
Bracket Divisions[]
The following are alphabetical lists of which Toonami series were in each bracket.
North Bracket[]
- Astro Boy
- Black Clover
- Black Lagoon
- Blue Exorcist
- Dimension W
- Dr. Stone
- Fire Force
- Michiko & Hatchin
- My Hero Academia
- Parasyte -the maxim-
- Samurai 7
- Space Dandy
- Sword Art Online
- Tenchi Muyo!
- Tenchi Muyo! GXP
- Trigun
East Bracket[]
- Ballmastrz: 9009
- Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
- Casshern Sins
- Dragon Ball Z
- FLCL
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- IGPX
- InuYasha
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- Kick-Heart
- Kill la Kill
- One Piece
- Paranoia Agent
- Pop Team Epic
- Samurai Champloo
- Soul Eater
South Bracket[]
- Assassination Classroom
- Bleach
- Demon Slayer
- Dragon Ball Z Kai
- Eureka Seven
- Food Wars!
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG
- Gigantor
- Gurren Lagann
- Lupin the Third: Part V
- Megalo Box
- Mob Psycho 100
- Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096
- Naruto
- Outlaw Star
West Bracket[]
- Akame Ga Kill!
- Attack on Titan
- The Big O
- Blue Submarine No. 6
- Cowboy Bebop
- Deadman Wonderland
- Dragon Ball Super
- Gundam Wing
- Hellsing Ultimate
- Hunter x Hunter
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
- Naruto Shippuden
- One Punch Man
- The Promised Neverland
- Tokyo Ghoul
Episodes[]
Episode 1[]
Air date: October 13, 2020
In episode 1 Max Simone set the bracket with guests Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin by playing a randomized Space Invaders style game.
Episode 2[]
Air date: October 17, 2020
Max has Dana Swanson, voice of SARA, make her picks for the tournament based solely on the name of the series. Also, Max interviews Steve Blum, voice of TOM. Official voting for the round of 64 began.
Episode 3[]
Air date: October 20, 2020
Max chats with Kim Manning and Tim Lyu before revealing the winners of the round of 64.
Episode 4[]
Air date: October 24, 2020
Max chats with Christy Karakas, creator of Ballmastrz: 9009, and Evan D'Elia, who created the interactive bracket. The winners of the round of 32 were revealed.
Episode 5[]
Air date: October 27, 2020
Max chats with the YouTube collective Anime Balls Deep (Sid, Adil and Yusuf) before revealing the winners of the round of 16.
Episode 6[]
Air date: October 31, 2020
Max and guest, YouTuber Swagkage, chat about anime before the final 4 series left in the bracket (My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball Z, Demon Slayer and Cowboy Bebop) were revealed.
Episode 7[]
Air date: November 3, 2020
Max chats with Paul Pescrillo and SKETCH from Toonami Faithful before revealing the final 2 (Cowboy Bebop and Dragon Ball Z).
Episode 8[]
Air date: November 7, 2020
Max is joined by returning guests Dana Swanson and Christy Karakas to discuss the finale among other things. Cowboy Bebop shocked the world and was declared the winner over Dragon Ball Z. Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin then gave their opinions on the result in a prerecorded message.
Guest/Commentators[]
- Max Simone - Host of the Toonami Audience Takeover Bracket and creator of Gemusetto: Death Beat(s) (episode 1-8)
- Sarah Platock - producer of the Toonami Audience Takeover Bracket (episodes 1-8)
- Jason DeMarco - co-creator of Toonami/VP and Creative Director for on-air at Adult Swim (episode 1 & 8)
- Gill Austin - former Cartoon Network intern/Sr. Creative Director for Adult Swim On-Air (episode 1 & 8)
- Dana Swanson - voice of SARA (episode 2 & 8)
- Steve Blum - voice of TOM (episode 2)
- Kim Manning - Head of Programming for Adult Swim/Toonami (episode 3)
- Tim Lyu - Crunchyroll host/writer (episode 3)
- Christy Karakas - creator of Superjail and Ballmastrz: 9009 (episode 4)
- Evan D'Elia - created the interactive bracket (episode 4)
- Sid - Anime Balls Deep YouTube channel (episode 5)
- Adil - Anime Balls Deep YouTube channel (episode 5)
- Yusuf - Anime Balls Deep YouTube channel (episode 5)
- Swagkage - YouTuber (episode 6)
- Paul Pescrillo - toonamifaithful.com (episode 7)
- SKETCH - toonamifaithful.com (episode 7)
Gallery[]
