Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #166

Originally Posted onn 02/27/2008 by Jeff Harris

Where is Toonami?

You look at that and tell yourself "Well, that's a silly question. It's on Cartoon Network." And yes, that's the answer on the surface, but the truth be told is that the answer is not all that crystal clear.

Yes, Toonami on broadcasted weekly on Saturday nights on Cartoon Network, but you can also argue that Toonami is broadcasted weakly on Saturday nights on Cartoon Network, and has been for some time now.

The cancellation of Yu Yu Hakusho was the first step in 2005. Then came Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Batman, the live-action movie, in late 2005 that threatened to take away the mark of Toonami being the home of the finest action cartoons on the planet. The shifting of IGPX from Saturday nights to after midnight on Fridays was cause for alarm. Then came the Pokemon invasion of 2006 that infected the core block and Jetstream. But in 2007, the weakness was out in the open with lackluster makeover. It caused half of the block to be gone.in favor of an older live-action series that failed to give me goosebumps and later a pair of brave, yet cowardly dogs. Even the return of ghosts of the past, heroes whose story was told many moons ago, failed to impress me.

Hope came in the form of a malable pirate wearing a straw hat, once abandoned by a parasitic organization that aims to be just for kids only to return to its roots with a group whose first name is fun. Now that a widely popular series hit a cycle of episodes that aren't very popular, the pirates were seen as hope.

Now news of its imminent departure is sweeping through the fandom, replace by a new series from the creator of Dragon Ball Z and another collectable game-based series closing out the night. Needless to say, people aren't very happy.

It's been a while since I've done this, but bear with me.

It's time for a call to arms.

Toonami hasn't seen the best of days in a long time, and with this recent update of sorts, one wonders what the future of the block will be in the months to come. It's obvious that Cartoon Network doesn't give a damn about Toonami if recent actions can be believed. It's also obvious that Toonami is slowly becoming the trash bin for every anime property that isn't Pokemon nor Adult Swim. They barely even acknowledge Toonami's very existance on-air anymore, so one would believe that its days are numbered. And the casual viewer wouldn't even notice if it was gone.

We would.

It's unimaginable to think that a high-profile action property like Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be anywhere BUT the premiere action-animation block of Cartoon Network, but the fact that people are questioning it is troubling.

It's unthinkable to imagine a world without Toonami, but the more Cartoon Network ignores it, the more likely it may become.

Toonami fans have stood by watching the block's highs and lows. Nowadays, we're seeing more lows than highs, and we've been . . . lackadicial. We've become stagnant. Reactive. Inactive. Bored. Frustrated.

And angry.

Our anger has gotten to the point of being laughable to outsiders. "Toonami sucks anyway," they say. "Watch Adult Swim, it's better," they say. "Watch Sci-Fi," they say. "Why do you care about Toonami anyway?" they ask.

I care because Toonami is still relevant. It was one of the first programming blocks that the viewers felt like it was a part of. The viewers were connected with the block, and the block's creators were connected to the viewers. That's probably because those responsible for Toonami ARE just like us and not soulless suits looking to just program everything they want to just for money. The suits took over the block from the people, and the effects are only now being felt.

I care because Toonami molded an entire industry. Before Toonami, the anime industry was still pretty much contained in underground fan clubs, obscured from public view, and still considered a cult industry. Toonami gave Japanese animation an outlet not limited to early weekday mornings or late, late nights heavily pixelated. Small distributors like FUNimation, Bandai, Pioneer, and Viz became power players while everybody else fought to catch up. The anime industry owes a lot to Toonami, and that debt has yet to be fully paid.

I care because I'm sick of Toonami being treated like a third-rate block in its own home. Toonami is barely mentioned outside of fan forums these days, not even on Cartoon Network. They spend more time plugging mugging brats and live-action abominations than the animation that makes the network Cartoon Network. I never ever thought I'd utter the words "Bring back the third hour" ever again, because I thought the era of nonsense was past us. Sadly, I was wrong.

I care. I know you care. If you care, you know it's time for a revolution. A revolution of thought. A revolution of heart. A revolution of action.

I've been observing and chronicling Toonami for almost a decade, and I've never seen it in such disarray in all these years. In an era when so many has given up on it, I think anyone who ever cared about Toonami should speak up. If Toonami had affected you before, now is the time to help save it for the future generations. Arise. Make the stand. Save Toonami.

It's time for a revolution. Not a revolution of mere thoughts or empty promises. Nobody's planning on just doing nothing. Action speaks louder than words. Hit them where it hurts. Support the shows of the block. The network doesn't recognize our existance. It's about time they do. The audience that Toonami was supposed to be catered to should be the ones to lead the charge, but those older should also speak out.

It's time for a revolution. Time for a return to normalcy, a four-hour all-animation block of action cartoons every Saturday night. A block that's diverse and not just concentrating on one show. Time for an atmosphere that actually looks like it gives a damn about its appearance and not catered to the low spectrum of the viewing audience. Time for a recognition that Toonami IS the premier action-animation block on Cartoon Network. Not second best. Not third. THE best.

It's time for a revolution.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
The X Bridge Creator/Webmaster
February 27, 2008