Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #21

Originally Posted on 01/24/2003 by Jeff Harris

This has to be the coldest week ever in the lower 48. I'm not just talking about the record and near-record low temperatures from New England to the midwest to the dirty south. It was particularly cold in Atlanta, and I'm not just talking about the temperature.

On Wednesday, Cartoon Network finally revealed what everybody under the sun already knew. On February 1, Bandai's latest contribution to the network's lineup, .hack//SIGN, makes its premiere on Saturday afternoons at 3 PM EST/PST. This would be welcome news considering that it's knee-deep in the Toonami Super Saturday lineup, right? Well, not according to the press release.

There's no mention whatsoever about Toonami.

None.

No mention of the weekday and Saturday blocks. No mention of the block's programming. Not even a notice about what the block's all about and its official webpage. For a show that many felt would be the jolt the Toonami block desperately needs, there is no association of .hack//SIGN to Toonami.

And that's cold.

Coldblooded, cold-hearted, and very inconsiderate. It's bad enough the block gets treated like it's the plague by the network. Sure, every now and then, we long-suffering fans are thrown a bone now and then. A new eyecatch here, a new video-game review there. I'm feeling empty around here, and I know I'm not the only one.

The fact is the omission of the Toonami name in the .hack//SIGN press release is just the latest hammer strike of the coffin marking the demise of Toonami. The brand's dillution on broadcast television, the alienation of the internet community by Cartoon Network, the lack of visual change on the block, the scheduling of the ultimate cutesy cartoon on the block, the constant attention on the (now) more popular Adult Swim anime franchise, the lack of new "videos" and music on the block, the removal of Midnight Run, the Saturday night "Batman bumper block," and now this omission are signs that the block may be heading for its final sunset. Perhaps the rumors that have circulated around the net since before Christmas might be true afterall. There's faint hope that changes will come, but we'll have to wait until the second week of February to see what the future holds.

Or maybe I was just too pessimistic.

There are no guarantees in this world, and nothing lasts forever. I'm not closing down shop anytime soon (I still have to open the Bridge in a couple of weeks), but I know for a fact that by year's end, there probably won't be a CNX. At least not in name, but definitely in spirit.

And what the heck was going on with the internet this weekend? A lot of sites were shut down, and my host was on perpetual lockdown. I almost thought that Toon Zone just upped and left. Let's just hope the worse is over for now.

Watch Serial Experiment Lain almost (but not quite) uncut on TechTV (well, the s-bomb goes off every now and then). Buy Newtype Vol. 2 No. 2 (i.e. issue #4) and check out the bottom reviews on p. 147 and 149 (TICA members at work!). Read books without pictures every once in a while. Big-time update on Monday here at the X. And for God's sake, step away from the computer, go outside, and enjoy life. In this crazy world, you'll never know what you'll miss until it's gone.

Until we are one, later.
Jeff Harris
CNX Creator/Webmaster
January 24, 2003