Gephyrophillia #2

Originally Posted on 07/17/2008 by Jeff Harris

Welcome back to Gephyrophilia, the weekly editorial page of BXT: Absolution Station.

It's been a pretty interesting week for yours truly. Got my hands on Kyle Baker's latest book, which I reviewed here and read a great interview with the Blaster Master of Toonami, Jason DeMarco, at Toonami Fan. Despite what the Boardies in my corner of the net feel, it was indeed a great interview.

Yes, Jason talked in depth about the history and legacy of Toonami as well as talked about the origins of TOM, why we won't see the reason why an origin for the current incarnation (sounds like a fan-fic assignment for someone willing to do so), why they're no longer involved with the acquisition process of Toonami, and why we'll probably never see a four-hour Toonami ever again.

Yes, it may seem that we may actually be in the final days of Toonami after all, and a recent post at Sci-Fi Wire reveals the whole master plan of transforming Friday nights into the fantasy-adventure night has been scrapped in favor of changing Saturday into a fantasy-adventure night. The night will be anchored by the highly-anticipated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and will feature the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold in the mix. No word on whether Naruto will remain a part of the night or if the show I feel will become a sleeper hit, The Secret Saturdays, will become part of the mix. It'd be a shame if they wouldn't, but Jason did fortell of originals coming to the night in the interview at The Fan.

And I think that's a sure bet.

Really. Hear me out. Cartoon Network needs more original animation on their lineup. The fact that Toonami had been pretty much hijacked by outside studios and distributors may have been a factor for its decline in recent years. Yes, Toonami has been in a state of flux really since the end of Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans, two shows produced by sibling studio Warner Bros. Animation. The only legitimate hit Toonami has had is Naruto, but as the proceeding years have proved, one show does not a block make. The fans of the block, at least those that remained, either became embittered, cranky types or really optimistic about the future because the present was so bad. I'll be the first to admit I was in the center of those two types.

I launched the Revolution 11 campaign to convince Cartoon Network to save Toonami, though realistically, I knew the end was near for Toonami, at least in brand identity. The initiatives in the campaign were the following:

- Toonami should be the home of every major action animation premiere on Cartoon Network

- Toonami should be restored to four hours every week.

- "Work like hell and advertise" beyond the confines of the block.

- A reinvention of the night, even if it means removing the familiar Toonami elements (including TOM).

- A block with variety instead of one with more of the same.

Yeah, that was the mission of Revo - - - wait a minute.

Cartoon Network is repositioning Saturdays as the major action night of the network. It'll be at least three or four hours. They're promoting the new block outside the network and the block itself. The night's being reinvented with a possible removal of familiar elements. The block is going to have a variety of shows instead of just Japanese animation.

Did . . . did we win? Was Revolution 11 a success after all? It would seem that way. It may not be Toonami, but it does indeed seem that most of the initiatives R11 asked for is now a reality. But that could be just a coincidence. After all, they were planning on doing all of this on Friday nights.

Nothing lasts forever, Jason said, in the television business. If this is indeed Toonami's twilight, I'm not shedding any tears, especially when something truly better is taking its place.

See you next week. New extras will come next week as well. Cover stories come every month. Send feedback to this section and any other article to me at the boards and through e-mail at the side

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
The X Bridge Creator/Webmaster
July 17, 2008