Toonami... Where are you?

Go back some years ago. The earliest year being 1997. Your home from work, but most likely school. But you dont turn on the tv just yet. No you wait. You wait for that glorious block schedule, usually no later than 4. You get hyped. You recall what happened last time. And then you turn on the tv. You go to the channel your fingers have memorized....

TOONAMI

So what is Toonami? Toonami, in my opinion, started the afternoon block of action packed cartoons.

Especially Anime. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon (yes I watched some of that too), Gundam Wing...

And dont forget the ones from here at home, Batman the Animated Series, in fact anything Batman, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Samurai Jack....

And the great classics that will never go away; Thundercats, He-man, Voltron even the short lived Silver Hawks.

And  even gifts from good ol' Canada eh, REBOOT!

So... what happened? Where did it all go?

It all started with a simple theme intro. And the first host of this cartoon block. Moltar from Space Ghost, in space ship...

And the action commenced on March the 17th, 1997. And our generation was introduced to anime. And the otaku generation was born.

We were fascinated. Compelled. Both by amazing never before seen art and stories that made you constantly think "what? what happens next?" A martial arts master can shoot energy beams from his hands and fly on a cloud. An awkward teen-aged girl can become a superheroine. Both girls and guys were HOOKED.

The american shows hooked an even larger audience. The american shows CN produced brought in a more mature look. These shows dealt with mature and slightly adult stories of intrigue, action, inner conflict, and real life changing decisions in the ongoing battle against good and evil.

Plus, thanks to shows like Batman The Animated Series, it revolutionized the way animated stories are told and made.

And of course they added a perfect dash of nostalgia, with the older showsfrom the 80s and back (my favorite being Thundercats). And this is where the newer generation became fans of the old.

Then in summer of 1999, Toonami was relaunched with a new host Tom. Just in time for the start of the new millenium.

Toonami kept reformatting itself. And it was still loved by many. More anime. More action. They even gave a side story to explain the constant changes to the formats and Tom...

But then... the years went on....

the interes in anime through Cartoon Network started to fade....

And CN was losing money. And gaining rights to air anime on cable is expensive, as well as going through the trouble of dubbing the shows (which doesnt make sense to me personally. I mean, the animation is done, all you do is add new voices, and censor it to a point where its still good but not as good as it should be)

Toonami officially cancelled on March 17, 2008.

The host Tom, voiced by the great voice actor Steve Blum, now reduced to this:

had this to say;

"Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you who made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang."

They had to appeal to a different audience, and quickly. They didnt have time to wait for the newer generation to catch up to the content already made. So they basically pooped out whatever they thought the kids would like.

Unfortunately, this is too easy, because if its new, and the TV says the show is popular, then the younger kids would HAVE to like it. Because this is the first thing they see. And they like the first thing flashy they warp their minds onto.

The Japanese perfected the technique of feeding children what they "enforce" as "the thing that everyone likes". Case in point, most children's anime like pokemon or yu-gi-oh. Its constantly aired on the network to a point where you dont escape it. Then it features someone young with some type of item or pet that gives power. This allows marketing for toys, games, and collectible cards. And of course, you add a lesson to each episode about loyalty, friendship, and laughing at the end, while milking "kid friendly epic-ness"

This technique is the tool of the media moguls to make money off youth. But thats a blog for another time..