Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #29

Originally Posted on 02/15/2003 by Jeff Harris

Did you know that there's a special event the week of February 24?

During this special event, you will see the best mecha series ever to grace the screens, from the granddaddy of them all Gigantor to the ultimate classic which probably introduced a generation of fans to anime known as Robotech, to the best ADV Films have to offer, Martian Successor Nadesico, Dai-Guard, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, to future classics like Low Brow and The Iron Giant.

You didn't hear about Giant Robot Week?

Guess you've only been watching Toonami Super Saturday.

All you know is on March 1, Cartoon Network is introducing a Saturday Prime Time lineup which will consist of great old-school properties like Superfriends, Transformers Armada, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and the 80s version of G.I. Joe, anime like Zoids/0, Dragonball, and the brand new series .hack//SIGN, and DC Comics-inspired shows Superman, Justice League, and Batman Beyond. Oh, yeah, it has a pair of scab shows from 4Kids' WB! that are WAY too commercialized and overconcentrated for their own good.

No, this isn't Toonami. The faithful thought it was going to be Toonami-branded, but the infusion of the primordial goo that had infected the Cartoon Network prime-time lineup and the mind of the beast has denied us the Saturday prime-time lineup. This is known as the Saturday Video Entertainment System.

We call it "generic."

Why did they call it the Saturday Video Entertainment System? Well, perhaps it's to spark of nostalgia for the 80s, which may explain the Atari-era graphics they're using to advertise the lineup. Afterall, the children the 80s played with power! Maybe it's calling itself the SVES because of the game connection a bulk of the lineup has, from .hack//SIGN to that other show with the cute little pocket monsters. Or, maybe they're calling it the SVES because of one simple thing:

IT'S NOT TOONAMI!

I mean, come on. Why'd they have to put Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh on three times on Saturday (in addition to it's weekly airing on 4Kids' WB!, SVES is airing them TWICE in one night)? Why'd they change the lineup three times in one year? And since this isn't Toonami, then why in the blue hell did they shave the 4-5 PM EST/PST hour from the Toonami lineup?

Is it because they want to tick off the loyal viewers everytime we feel things are going right? It's not that hard to believe, since after the announcement of Giant Robot Week, we heard that Toonami was losing an hour (and gaining Yu Yu Hakusho in the process), and after the announcement of the new look of Toonami and the premiere of Rurouni Kenshin, we get the new and unimproved SVES lineup. Is it because they actually want viewers to look at Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh on 4Kids' WB in that time slot? Well, let's see . . . both shows are on the SVES lineup and both shows oozed on the prime-time lineup on Cartoon Network, so it's not that unfantomable. Or does Cartoon Network and Toonami want to do what the promos have been saying for years, "build a better cartoon show?" Think about that . . . a whole lot of Toonami properties are found on SVES. Dragonball is considered to be the best-treated of the franchise, but overall, it's kind of light on action. Same with Zoids/0 and, to a point, .hack//SIGN. Jaded otakus often complained about the American-made shows on the block, which explains why MOTU, Armada, G.I. Joe, and the DC Comics shows are now on SVES, and they're now getting their wish of an all-anime Toonami starting March 17.

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? The coupmaster's pushing his favorite brand of ooze on the populace, just to appease his favorite New York-based gods at 4Kids. Shameful tactics, if you ask me, but then again, nobody did. 329 days . . . and counting.

Until we are one, later.
Jeff Harris
CNX Creator/Webmaster
February 15, 2003