Gephyrophillia | Ask TXB #4

Originally Posted on 02/02/2007 by Jeff Harris

Aloha.

It's Groundhog Day here in the States, and, at the time that I wrote this article, I don't know/care whether Phil saw his shadow. Spring begins and winter ends in six weeks. Everybody's talking about the 3/17/07 teaser that came on during the Xiaolin Showdown marathon with a bulked up Clyde and a glowing TOM crest. If you've been under a rock these last ten year, March 17 marks the tenth anniversary of the premiere of Toonami. The fact that the network has begun teasing the occasion this early means that something might actually happen. Either that, or they love to tease the audience. Wait, that's Adult Swim. Speaking of the late-night block, a funny thing happened in Boston this week, but I'll talk about that elsewhere.

This week's Ask TXB has a lot to do with Adult Swim, but, thankfully, nothing to do with the Boston incident. It's from Mugen, a regular on the Toon Zone boards who wants me to enter the fray about the placement of a popular Shonen Jump series, and it's not Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Because, you know, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX isn't a popular show. I'm talking about Bleach, a show poised to be the main action franchise for Adult Swim for the forseeable future, until they could pick up another show that could possibly eclipse it. Enjoy:

Hi, Jeff. This is Mugen from the Toon Zone forums. I'm a big fan of Toonami and the block helped shaped my teenage years. Anyway, my question has to do with a show not on the block.The show in question is Bleach, which currently airs on Adult Swim. Now, the show is part of the popular Shonen Jump brand and makes up the current Big Four (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, and Prince of Tennis) of the SJ line.

However, there seems to be divide among some of the fans. On one side, you have the people who think Bleach should be on Toonami. They see the show as "not adult enough" for Adult Swim and that the show could easily air on Toonami with a TV-PG rating and some minor edits. On the other side, you have the people who prefer that Bleach stay on Adult Swim. Their reasoning is that the show is uncut and see it as the successor to InuYasha (BTW Jeff, I also like the show and I am also a male and I like women too =)).

Now, there was another Shonen Jump show that went through this. It was Yu Yu Hakusho. It started on AS, moved to Toonami, then had it's final episodes burned through at 5:30 am on a Saturday morning.

Now, we know both blocks wanted Bleach. According to TZ forum member, PAWS, he said both Toonami and AS wanted the show, it went behind closed doors and AS won.

Where do you stand on this issue? Would you prefer it on Toonami (with it's other SJ family), or do you prefer it stay on Adult Swim?

To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of on the fence on the subject of Bleach. I know that Bleach is a great series that came from the strong legacy of Shonen Jump, in the same class of other great SJ titles, including past ones released Stateside like Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Saint Seiya as well as current ones like Naruto, One Piece, Shaman King, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Hikaru no Go, Prince of Tennis, Black Cat, and soon Death Note (and possibly Eyeshield 21). I also know that it's a great series, from the same animation studio that brought you Yu Yu Hakusho. Hell, storywise, both properties are similar.

Bleach is currently growing in popularity in Japan as well as here in the States, so it would seem natural that the series would air on a higher profile programming block like Toonami. Yes, the show would work on Toonami with a few edits, but that's the main problem. Toonami is supposed to be a teen-oriented action block, and yet, shows on the block have to be edited to fit the standards. I don't understand WHY they have to be edited to air on Toonami, especially because it fits in the teen demographics without any problems. Cartoon Network, as I've stated many times over, needs to mature and stop catering to "just" kids. Animation shouldn't just be limited to children's entertainment. Toonami supposed to be targeted to older "tweens" as well as teens, but the placement of younger-skewing shows, particularly Pokemon and another Shonen Jump vet, Yu-Gi-Oh!, makes viewers wonder when (of if) the network will ever decide to target older audiences on Toonami. Sure, Naruto's the biggest show on the block, but it's a safe TV-PG, which, I have stated in the past, is nothing more than a slightly edgier TV-Y7. It's a tame, family-friendly rating, and that's all.

If anything, Cartoon Network should look to their northern neighbors and see Bionix, YTV's teen-oriented action block and the Canadian equivalent to Toonami. YTV managed to put Naruto, Samurai Jack, InuYasha, Bleach, Invader ZIM, Justice League Unlimited, Full Metal Alchemist, Stand Alone Complex, and many other diverse action shows on one block without much conflict (except, of course, complaints about the recently reduced number of Canadian shows on the block on one side and the types of Canadian shows on the block on the other side). Bionix works for YTV, and its example could inspire Toonami to mature.

Otherwise, I can't see Bleach ever coming on Toonami. As much as it would be nice to have yet another Shonen Jump series to add to Toonami's belt knotch, Adult Swim has more airtime (and alotted timeslots, albeit after midnight) on Cartoon Network. Sure, Toonami could air the series once a week, but, as Naruto has proved, one airing a week isn't enough for a show with a massive amount of episodes. Bleach currently has numerous episodes already completed in Japan, and it's still in production. The potential for more episodes is proof that Viz, Bleach's distributor, wants more airtime for the series in the future, and Toonami can't offer them that. It could be possible to see Bleach airing four nights per week in addition to their Saturday night slot by the summer of this year. Adult Swim gives them that opportunity while Toonami can't.

(By the way, you may have noticed that I'm referring to Toonami and Adult Swim as blocks on Cartoon Network because, despite The Network wanting to separate Adult Swim from CN in the ratings, Adult Swim is still a block on Cartoon Network with more airtime than Toonami.)

I feel that Bleach would be a great show to air on Toonami if they had more airtime and left it alone. However, since Cartoon Network refuses to allow Toonami reach its fullest potential, I feel that Adult Swim is the better home for the series.

For now.

Oh, before I leave this week, Mugen had a few words about the Adult Swim article I posted a couple of weeks ago, and I kind of agree with 85% of it. Not trying to excuse them from showing live-action though:

Also, this is kinda a response to the Adult Swim article. I think the reason why we don't see a lot of innovative programming in the action (or kinda comedy) side, is because AS doesn't have a big budget to work with.

They have mentioned this in the cards and it's one of the reasons why Futurama is going to Comedy Central, even though AS helped bring success to the show and it's the reason why it's getting a DTV in the Fall. As for live action, well unlike Cartoon Network, there is no "cartoon" in Adult Swim, so technically, they could air live-action shows (which they're doing with Saul of the Mole People).

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.