Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #123

Originally Posted on 01/24/2005 by Jeff Harris

There's only one thing to prompt me to use my derelic computer which sounds like metal going through a garbage disposal filled with nails and broken glass.

No, it's not the fact that Miguzi is on every day of the week. Contrary to what the average Toonamitaku might think, that's actually a good thing, although they could have really diversified the weekend installments by adding more than just Rave Master.

No, it's not the fact that FUNimation was recently purchased by an entertainment firm that nobody knows anything about, not unlike IDT Entertainment (a firm that owns Film Roman, Mainframe, and Manga Entertainment) or Classic Media (who owns Golden Books Entertainment, Harvey Entertainment, UPA Entertainment, and characters like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog, and Lassie).

No, it's not me ranting about when Nickelodeon is going to air Avatar, one of the most promising animated shows to ever grace the network in its 26-year history. It's been almost a year since the series was announced, and they have unfortunately seemed to shelve it for stupid reasons.

It's the fact that Cartoon Network has committed the ultimate act of stupidity and arrogance, and it has really pissed me off. Since April 17, 2004, Dragon Ball GT was a major part of the revamped weekly Toonami lineup. Since the summer of that year, Toonami has aired the entire series with the exception of the "lost" episodes. You remember the lost episodes, don't you? If you don't, these are the episodes which were more quest-oriented (not unlike Dragon Ball) than the latter half of the series, which was more epic fight-oriented (not unlike Dragon Ball Z). The powers that be at FUNimation felt that American audiences wanted the action first rather than the quest because we're testosterone junkies. So, as a result, we witnessed the Baby Saga, the Super Android 17 Saga, and the final saga, which perfectly combined the quest and epic fight storylines that made DB and DBZ so great. When Goku used the Spirit Bomb to end all Spirit Bombs this weekend to defeat the ultimate villian and the original Shenron came out of the blue, it was a prelude to the final episode, when Goku makes a fateful decision and the whole Dragon Ball saga has a true finale, unlike the traditional wedding at the end of the comedic Dragon Ball and the idiotic ending of DBZ which has Goku flying off with Uub to train him and leaving his family and friends in the process. When DBGT ends, you can tell the entire story is over.

Instead of showing Until We Meet Again, Cartoon Network has decided to air the first of the "lost" episodes and airing the whole show in order leading up to the final episode. In other words, we're going to have to wait a whole other year and some weeks to see the episode we were supposed to watch this weekend. That's just damned stupid. I can't say it any clearer than that. Regular viewers were already ticked that Yu Yu Hakusho has gone all the way back to the first season of episodes, just as THAT series was heading to a climax. If anything, YYH should have gone back to the first Toguro storyline rather than all the way back to the beginning. Afterall, Toonami only has a limited time period each week, and there are more than 52 hours for YYH by itself, let alone both YYH and DBGT. The only reason I tolerated YYH's sudden halt is because there's only several episodes to go on that series. What's inexcusable is that Dragon Ball GT only had ONE episode to go before starting the show over with the lost episodes included. ONE EPISODE!

What Cartoon Network should have done was to begin the "lost episodes" after the Super Android Saga was over when Pan discovered that the Dragon Balls now had cracks in them. That episode should have been a strong cliffhanger to end the current run on as well as a place to start airing the "lost episodes." Not only would they have the lost episodes in rotation, but they could have actually had the final saga of the series ready to end the Dragon Ball saga properly. But alas, the powers that be at Cartoon Network decided to relaunch the series with only one episode to go. The arrogance of the network's newest promos saying "We'll end the series when we're ready" is just appalling and insulting to the viewers of both the series and Toonami itself. Everybody that saw DBGT this past weekend will be expecting to see the final episode of that series. Instead, they'll now be treated to a "new" first episode of DBGT and will now have to wait over a year to see the last episode that they were supposed to have seen that weekend.

Not exactly a good PR move, Cartoon Network. Hope you have enough people to handle an influx of complaints.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
The X Bridge Webmaster/EiC/Lead Writer
January 24, 2005

POSTSCRIPT: Funny thing about this article. Four days after I wrote this article, an interesting e-mail came across my inbox. I didn't read it until a week later because, well, my old machine had puttered out. Needless to say, it made my day.

Hey Jeff. My name is Jason DeMarco- I'm the Associate Creative Director for Toonami/Miguzi. I just wanted to drop you a line to say "thanks" for your most recent XBridge posting. I read it the other day, and was shocked. You see, at Toonami and Miguzi, we're so busy making stuff that sadly we don't always have the time to watch every episode of each show inside our blocks. So when the weekly programming grid said that this coming Saturday was the start of "DBGT: the Lost Episodes", we naturally assumed that the last DBGT had aired last Saturday. But after checking out your site, I realized that the last episode had aparrently fallen through the cracks. I checked into it, and it appears to be one of those situations where no one was paying attention. Thank God you were. So now, we've found that final episode (#64), and we're going to be airing it this Saturday, and push "The Lost Episodes" back a week. Just thought you might want to know there was no malice aforethought, just sheer stupidity (as sad as that is). As much as we try to make Toonami great, we need guys like you when we (or in this case other departments) fall asleep at the switch. Thanks again, and let me know if you ever need anything.

-Jason DeMarco

Told you there were good guys working at Williams Street, and Jason's one of the best.

- jh, 07/10/09