Gephyrophillia | Not An Update #6 - Farewell Toonami

Originally Posted on 09/21/2008 by Jeff Harris

"Bang."

They often say if you've got to go, you've got to leave with a bang, and, after 11 years, that's how Toonami ended. A permanent shutdown by D and Flash. Final words from the host that had been a part of Toonami in many incarnations for a little over nine years. One final flight off into space, just as Clyde 49 was launched more than a decade ago. And a quiet yet strong, sad yet content "Bang."

I'm not mad, frothing at the mouth, or angry about the end of something that has been a part of my life for over a decade. Don't get it twisted, I am frustrated by the lackluster treatment Toonami has endured from Cartoon Network over the past couple of years, but I'm no longer obsessed with that anger. I've been aware of Toonami's end for a while now, so, probably the blow wasn't as strong for me as it was for a lot of people. Correction, as it IS for a lot of people.

You know what's telling about the end of Toonami? A whole lot of people respected it throughout the years, and a lot of people who had been badmouthing the block have been very vocal about their sadness about the block's end. Toonami was the block that helped create the modern anime industry in North America, and after Saturday, anime fans are finally acknowledging its impact. Toonami was one of the most influential programming blocks ever created. It came around at probably the perfect time: the growth of the internet, the creation of the DVD, and the rebirth of the anime industry, the latter of which was brought on largely because of Toonami. Without Toonami, there wouldn't be a FUNimation, let alone a FUNimation Channel. Bandai would still be primarily seen as a toymaker in the States. There wouldn't be an Adult Swim. There wouldn't be countless copycats like Anime Unleashed, Made in Japan, Ani-Monday, or Jetix. Toonami has outlasted everything that tried to emulate it, including the aforementioned Jetix (it's dust in February), and other Cartoon Network-made blocks that tried to topple it, including Saturday (commonly known as SVES) and Miguzi. Toonami has endured, but the powers that be at Cartoon Network felt that the block had nothing more to gives. As a result, September 20, 2008 will be long remembered as a date which will live in infamy for Toonami fans.

Now, for all those people calling for a campaign to return Toonami, stop. Many have tried, myself included, but a lot of us now realize (some after months and years of optimism that it will get better) that Toonami is now nothing more than a memory. How you remember it is up to you. For me, Toonami was a calling. Something about it screamed originality, innovation, and rebellion from the norm. On the surface, yes, it was a cable programming block, but to those that actually tuned in to watch, it was much more than that. It was an experience to see something that you couldn't see elsewhere. It presented animation without dumbing down the viewers. It didn't fill your head with unnecessary school knowledge, but it did give viewers advice on this strange journey called life. There has been four generations of Toonami viewers that has been there in the good times and the bad times. I don't dwell on the bad times too much these days. Just the good times.

The first time you saw Clyde 49 blast off into space.

The first time you saw Lion-O lift up the Sword of Omens, a group of young explorers power up a mythical machine, a group of teens take on an old adversary one final time, and a young pilot make his first flight on a transforming machine.

The first time you witnessed a ditzy teenage girl transform into a powerful defender of the cosmos, a young boy with phenomenal power grow from a mere bookworm to one of the planet's greatest fighters, five teens in mystical armor take on demonic warriors, and a war between citizens of a computer world and an omnipotent User who plays games with them.

The first time you saw TOM walk into the Absolution.

The first time you saw one of the last survivors of an extinct race transformed into perfection, rebels and soldiers fighting against each other for their own beliefs and causes, alien girls fighting over the love of a meek boy, many end-of-the-world scenarios, dark knights, men of steel, masters of the universe, robot fighters, pirates of space and sea, samurais, ninjas, fighting demons and creatures, serious and comedic gamers, a guy fighting with nose hair that defies definition, and a boy that can transform into a myriad of alien creatures at his command.

The final time you saw TOM jump and fly off with a bang.

These are the things I will remember Toonami by. That, and the fact that Toonami inspired me to leap head first into the internet.

The X Bridge was the first site I created online. Way back in 1998, The X Bridge, then known as CN2 Toonami Realm (it became CNX Toonami Revolution less than a year later), was one of the first Toonami fansites online and is one of the few original sites remaining online in some incarnation. Others either moved on or left for other interests. I expanded beyond Toonami back in 1999, but it remained a part of the site's core, as it will even beyond Toonami's cancellation. TICA Base will remain a permanent memorial for the block that pretty much changed the industry, though it probably won't used the name. You can't just shake off something that has been a part of your consciousness for a third of your life as Toonami had been for me.

As America woke up to a world without Toonami, let's not dwell on the bad times. Remember the good. Remember those afternoons you spent watching Thundercats, Voltron, Jonny Quest, Robotech, Sailor Moon, ReBoot, DBZ, Gundam, Temchi, Outlaw Star, Batman Beyond, The Big O, Zoids, He-Man, and Transformers, and those Saturday nights watching Yu Yu Hakusho, Zatch Bell, Bo^7, Justice League Unlimited, IGPX, Megas XLR, four weeks of Miyazaki films, Hellboy, One Piece, Samurai Jack, and Naruto.

It was a blast, wasn't it?

I refuse to shed any tears for the end of Toonami and will forever remember its greatness. I will remember the fine men and women who were a part of its creation and production, most notably Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco (the block's creators), the crew at Williams Street who designed, guided, and inspired every facet of the block's feel for the rest of us, the voice of Toonami, Peter Cullen, and C. Martin Croker, Sonny Strait, Sally Timms, and Steve Blum, your hosts for 11 years. Thank you all for your fine work, from "Right here" to "Bang."

It's not going to be the same without Toonami, but we all have to move on. If we don't have our good memories, then the block's end wouldn't have meant as much as it had.

This is not an update. This is me saying a final good-bye to Toonami.

Jeff Harris,
Webmaster, The X Bridge.