Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #67

Originally Posted on 06/09/2003 by Jeff Harris

Way back in the day, you could set your calendars to the goings on of Toonami. March, we'd get something new, July, we'd get a new Gundam series and a show so far out of the realm of possibility, a special event in September usually followed by a season premiere of Dragon Ball Z. Well, Toonami fans definitely got new in March with Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin.

There isn't a Gundam premiere in July, but a retro-remake Cyborg 009 is coming. Hopefully, those FUNi guys won't be so stingy in delaying the new season of Dragon Ball come fall. Of course, Toonami is the least concentrated block on Cartoon Network, as any viewer would see. Titans are premiering in a couple of weeks on SVES and a whole mess of shows are coming to Adult Swim from new episodes of Lupin that just ended last week to Kikaider's premiere tonight to Blue Gender and the return of The Big O in August. It's like the network's marquee action block is no longer on in daylight hours.

While I'm on the subject of Kikaider, a minor nitpick. No, I'm not pissed that it's not on Toonami (hell, I think Adult Swim IS the best place for it). I'm kind of ticked that in the major promo for the series premiere, the Adult Swim guys keep on referring the series as a remake of an anime. Untrue! The series began life as a manga in 1972 in Shukan Shonen Sunday. The comic was co-developed with a live-action sentai series Jinzo Ningen Kikaider from the masters of the genre, Toei. In 2000, the franchise was reinvented in animation form courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works. Kikaider: The Animation was supposed to be released last year domestically courtesy of Bandai, but something kept it back. Now, Kikaider makes its domestic debut on Cartoon Network tonight at midnight in the east and west, and if the limited episodes do well here, maybe CN will order the current series, Kikaider 01: The Animation. The remake of an anime? That's Cyborg 009. That's coming later.

Funds are kind of low, and I have way too many bills to pay and too many responsibilities to handle in the real world (which explains my unforseenable absences as of late). I'll try to get back to speed this week, even if it's just a Watch This Space article for the bulk of the week.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris
The Bridge Creator/Webmaster
June 9, 2003