March 2nd, 2008: Toonami - Just An Anime Block?

Today Andrew and I share our thoughts on the subject. We hope you'll come along for the show, and be sure to weigh in with your vote at our forums.

Nick

When I first started this place - back when Toonami Fan was more my own personal anime/Toonami blog than anything else - I wrote a couple of articles that dealt with anime in general. I reviewed Scrapped Princess, talked about some differences between Evangelion and RahXephon, and threw out a complaint against nebulous anime endings. Those articles have now disappeared, as the site has realized its true calling - Toonami retrospectives, commentary, and documentation. But while those articles were still available and I was just starting to get the word out, I received a criticism from reader and fellow fan CNGuy, talking about an anime bias.

"So you're not a Toonami fan; you're just a Japanese cartoon fan. You see, Toonami is (or rather WAS) for action animation, and your views seem very one-sided. Like I've had to explain in the past, I know Japanese cartoons are a part of Toonami, but when you make them the ONLY thing about Toonami, the Revolution has lost."

He had a valid point, and it made me stop and think for a moment. Thow much importance did I attach to anime, and how did I view Western animation's place on the block?

A month or two later, when Andrew brought up the same subject, I knew we had to do an article.

Indeed, one of the most controversial subjects you can bring up on any Toonami forum is whether or not Toonami is an anime block. Debate rages, with both sides very passionate about their opinions. And for good reason - the question deals with the core meaning of what Toonami is, and the answer affects how we look at the block's past, present, and future.

Let's do a little stream of conciousness.

Outlaw Star. DragonBall Z. Gundam Wing. Tenchi. Sailor Moon. ReBoot. Yu Yu Hakusho. Those are the series that instantly spring to mind when I think of Toonami, and all but one of them (ReBoot) are anime. Upon further reflection, a few Western properties come to mind: ThunderCats, Batman Beyond, maybe The Powerpuff Girls. But wait, there's also DragonBall, G Gundam, Ronin Warriors, and Blue Submarine No. 6. Again, all animes.

In my defense, I want to earnestly profess that I'm not a senseless anime fan. I don't watch anime for the sake of it - I watch shows that appeal to me, or ones that I believe demonstrate high production values and writing. In fact, I proudly profess that one of my favorite cartoons of all time is Batman: The Animated Series. That said, I must also say that...yes, Toonami is the house that anime built.

But is it an anime block? Not quite, and here's why. Looking at the Wikipedia list of Toonami shows, and disregarding the properties that only aired a few episodes or saw limited release, you get a pretty good idea of the Japanese/Western balance of power. I count just under 50 Western television series, OVAs, movies, and specials. On the other hand are almost 70 Japanese entries. It's not perfectly even, but if you take into account that a good number of those tallies for the anime side are DBZ and Pokemon movies, you start to get the clue: Toonami's not just about anime. A number of fantastic Western shows had a run on Toonami, ranging from The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest to Storm Hawks. The same goes for movies - four Batman features, two Hellboy specials, and even a pair of G.I. Joe OVAs.

But getting back to my earlier statement, anime has indeed been more instrumental in making Toonami popular and keeping people coming back day after day (or week after week). The fundamental shows on which Toonami built a dominating presence in the early stages - the aforementioned DBZ, Sailor Moon, and Gundam Wing - are all anime. Even now, the properties that keep Toonami's head above water, even when reduced to two hours a week, are anime. (One Piece and Naruto.) At every era in Toonami's history, it has been Japanese animation that have given Toonami the most attention and the strongest ratings. Are there exceptions? Yes, a few. When you look at the broader picture, however, I think it becomes clear that Toonami owes a lot to anime.

At the same time, no - Toonami is not an anime block. The key thing to remember is that there's a monumental difference between building on anime and being all about anime. Western animation isn't some sort of guest in the middle of a straight-from-the-Rising-Sun programming block. It's a vital part of an organization that's dedicated to action animation. That's right, not just action anime. Action animation in general, regardless of the country of origin.

To say anything else is, as CNGuy said in the beginning, deserting the Revolution. When Toonami talked about building a better cartoon show, expanding boundaries, and redefining norms, the vision was a place where shows were aired based on their quality. Realizing that vision has been a bumpy road with a few detours, but it certainly was there in the beginning. To try to pigeonhole Toonami purely as an anime distributor is a disastrous mindset, and excludes a host of fantastic domestic animation as well as the entire principle on which Toonami is based.

So there I stand. I acknowledge Toonami's anime roots, but I see the need to keep an open-mind and appraise future properties by their quality, not by their animation style.

What's your call, Andrew?

Andrew

Is Toonami an anime block?

That is indeed one of the most debated questions among Toonami fans. Cartoon Network obviously believes it is, because Toonami is where it typically premieres its animes (besides Pokemon), while non-anime runs outside of the block in more (or less) favorable slots. However, there have only been a few times in Toonami's 10+ year existence when it had a schedule comprised exclusively of anime. Usually there is at least one non-anime on the block. But since mid-October - when the schedule became two episodes of Naruto, one episode of One Piece, and one episode of DBZ - there hasn't been a non-Japanese show on Toonami.

Various viewers also consider Toonami to be an anime block because that's what they remember Toonami for, due to the era when Midnight Run was airing cutting-edge Japanese animation and most of the weekday block was from the land of the rising sun. (And the Rising Sun miniblock was itself promoted as "the most anime outside of Japan"). There is plenty of reason to consider Toonami to be an anime block. It certainly leans more towards that identity than any other at this point, but I would say Toonami isn't - or at least shouldn't be - an anime block.

To quote that old Toonami promo, Toonami is "the home of the best action cartoons on the planet". It just so happens that many of those great shows are from Japan. However, Toonami would have become stale long ago if it did not also offer great action-animation from other parts of the world. I have always believed that the best possible Toonami line-up is one with a fair balance of action-animation from all around the world. Over the years, Toonami has generally lived up to that ideal, but lately it seems to have lost the vision. Despite that, I believe non-Japanese animation still has a place on Toonami. Toonami needs non-Japanese action animation to truly thrive and offer the best line-up possible.

ReBoot, Megas XLR, The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, Thundercats, GI-Joe, He-Man, Samurai Jack, Teen Titans, and the entire DC animated universe belonged on Toonami just as much as Gundam, Sailor Moon, Naruto, One Piece, Kenshin, Dragonball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ronin Warriors, IGPX, Robotech and Voltron did. Granted, some of those anime are what people relate more to Toonami than any Western animated series, but what the casual viewers consider to be Toonami is not necessarily what the folks at Williams Street planned it to be. Toonami has had anime since day one (Voltron) and it is in a lot of ways "the house that anime built", but the number of Western animated series that have run on the block is more than substantial enough to say Toonami is not just a block for CN to run its latest anime acquisitions. They just happened to fit into the block quite nicely, and managed to do well there.

Toonami and anime have gone hand-in-hand over the years, and it's obvious that the current generation of otaku were hooked into the wonderful world of Japanese animation by Toonami's efforts to bring a vast selection of interesting titles to US airwaves. That audience has grown up to watch Adult Swim's action anime (and the Midnight Run was absolutely the concept that gave birth to that block.) Many of them still remember Toonami's "good old days" fondly, and naturally link most of those fond memories to Japanese animation. But even most of those otaku who got their first taste of Japanese animation thanks to Toonami can also remember that the likes of Batman, Superman, ReBoot, Thundercats and Samurai Jack were also a part of Toonami.

Adult Swim's action portion is an anime block through and through, and is currently recognized by the public and the industry as the anime block on Cartoon Network. Toonami is an action-animation block for younger viewers, and it doesn't matter where that animation comes from. All that matters is that it's great. Both Nick and CNGuy have already said it - to consider Toonami to be an anime block rather than a block for all types of action animation would be deserting the Revolution.

 

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