September 21, 2008

• Only Toonami (1997-2008)

  September 20th will now be, for me, a day that will live in infamy. Be warned; this update will be discussing anime. If that’s not your cup of tea then feel free to ignore the following wall of text.

  Toonami, Cartoon Network’s primer block of action animation and anime, was canceled.

  When news of that reached me, I went a little numb inside. The vast majority of my anime indulgence was a direct result of my watching Toonami since I first began in 1998. I cannot even begin to describe to you the joy I felt as I came home each day from junior, and subsequently high school to watch Toonami from 5 pm until 7. Those two (and sometimes three) hours found me completely engrossed in shows that would soon become some of my all time favorite anime, including Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo, The Big O and more. Even more than that though, I remember that watching Toonami wasn’t the same as watching any other form of animated entertainment at the time. They had original videos, eyecatches, openings for the anime series, and even special showcases called Total Immersion events involving Toonami’s host TOM. The memories I associate with what I call Toonami’s “golden era” (somewhere around the time DBZ premiered until Toonami moved from weekday afternoons to Saturday nights) are some of my fondest from childhood. Even simple things, like talking with my only other anime friend in high school about the shows, and getting extremely excited when we saw the 15 second promos for the new seasons of DBZ. I remember watching Blue Submarine No. 6 during a particularly chilly week in early Fall, being captivated by the story and the animation quality for its time. I remember the times I’d be sitting in Math class completely oblivious to whatever Ms. Berndhart was saying, because my mind was still going over the latest plot twist in Gundam Wing, and the anticipation of that day’s new episode was just too overwhelming for me to worry about some trivial algebraic equations. I can go on, and on.

  But as it is the nature of things to end, Toonami’s was certainly not the one I’d evisioned. The block took a nosedive in quality after it shifted to Saturday nights, because the audience (people in my age group) weren’t there anymore. It was almost as if CN didn’t want us anymore; catering to younger audience with various 4Kids properties like Pokemon, Duel Masters and YuGiOh. No longer did it seem to have the charm it once had, like a diamond ring that has lost its lustre. Change is inevitable, but the unceremonious dismissal of a franchise that provided quality anime (not to mention introducing anime to new US audiences) was simply disheartening. The VHS tapes of classic Toonami programs I made are now vintage; relics of an era where it was exciting to be a fan of a Cartoon Network that cared more about quality than quantity.

  I understand that this may mean nothing to the vast majority of you…but to those who share my sentiment and feel as I have felt about Toonami, I’m sure I’ve gotten to you. In a childhood of myriad ups and downs, I have Toonami to thank for the moments where I got to escape from it all, and feel fortunate to be an anime fan.

  Toonami: March 19th, 1997 – September 20th, 2008

  Later.

                                                                                                SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY…

  • 12:40 am
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