April 1st, 2008: Mackenzie's Rev 11 Open Letter

Until about a year and a half ago, Toonami has performed reliably, what with Naruto and a few others - mostly old Dragonball Z reruns and shows that came after Naruto in the lineup. But now... Why?

Is it the packaging? Not completely true, although there was a long dry period before new bumpers and promos finally appeared (just in time for Toonami's 11th anniversary) on March 15. Older viewers were turned off by the TOM redesign, however, and it seems that the block took a hit in the ratings just on account of the redesign alone. But really, there was no reason for the redesign whatsoever. It came out of nowhere and surprised people - in a negative way - and made us think "What just happened here?" But packaging isn't enough to kill a block by itself.

Is it the programs? If it was the fault of the programs, then why is Naruto a success? Why was Bobobo-bo-bobo the first show to finish a run on Toonami since Justice League Unlimited in early 2006? Why did One Piece's ratings increase after the dub switch? Why was Zatch Bell! able to keep a rerun-plagued Toonami alive practically by itself in early 2005? Why were series like Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, The Big O, Gundam Wing, Justice League, and Outlaw Star successful back in Toonami's heyday?

Is it the promotion (or lack thereof)? Not completely true again, but Toonami has been pathetically promoted over the last several months. (The lack of promotion for the epic Naruto/Sasuke fight was criminal.) It doesn't help, and can result in slowly atrophying ratings, as too few new viewers begin watching to make up older ones leaving or aging past the target demographic. Then what is it? Why is Toonami on the brink?

It is because of you, Cartoon Network. It is your fault.

This is not a rash accusation. This remark comes after years of watching sudden shifts occurring on the network itself, ill-advised decisions being made regarding Toonami, and ultimately the block being left in neglect.

Just look what happened to your new anime knight-in-shining-armor, Bakugan. You're making a lot of money off of merchandise for the show, and I congratulate you for making a good business decision in that regard. But look at the reaction Bakugan got when you tried to air it after Naruto. It performed so abysmally that it is the record-holder for "Quickest Removal in Toonami History"...at least for now. Toonami viewers used Bakugan to give a message you should realize: Toonami stopped being a children's block a long time ago, and nothing can turn it back.

Toonami has transformed into a block for tweens and teens, and any attempt to reverse this trend will result in more Bakugan-esque bombs.

Why do you seem infuriated with that?

That was your original intention back in 2004-2006, and viewers reacted to it well. Tweens got the message, and so did teens. Whether it was Hellboy, uncut Miyazak imovies, action-packed shonen such as Naruto, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Zatch Bell!, to the screwball antics of Bobobo-bo-bobo, Duel Masters, and Megas XLR, to the humanist sci-fi of IGPX and Gundam SEED, to classic superhero drama with Justice League and its sequel series Justice League Unlimited, Toonami cranked out quality products relentlessly. And with the authoritative voice of TOM 3 and the stylish new Sara guiding the proceedings, Toonami transformed Saturday nights into a great time to sit down in front of the TV.

And we lapped it all up. The block contained some of the few programs to premiere on Saturday, TV's dead night, and it worked.

Then you decided to go and turn the new, older viewers away. You tried to turn Toonami back into a children's block, with childish fare such as Pokemon Chronicles and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. A recklessly immature version of the Fantastic Four arrived next. Just now you tried Bakugan.

Guess what was the end result? None of them air today, and three of those four shows are confirmed bombs. When you made the decision to have Toonami appeal to tweens and teens back in 2004, there was no going back. You cannot seriously expect Toonami to appeal to younger viewers after more than two years of ignoring them and trying to attract an older audience.

Since mid-2006, you have tried to change Toonami's demographic from 9-14 and 12-17 to 6-11, the demographic for the rest of the network. It's clear, that after a year-and-a-half of experimenting with 4Kids Entertainment programming and the other TV-Y7FV programming, as well as the TOM revamp, that it's not going to work. The only thing to do now is to either build the block back up and attract the 9-14 and 12-17 constituencies that still loyally stick with Naruto...or to destroy the block completely, formally turning the whole network into an entity dedicated to the 6-11 demographic. I think most of your viewers would like to see the block rebuilt.

Why not?

You just placed Samurai Jack back on the block, despite its three-year absence from TV. It's a show that was bigger with tweens, teens, and adults than with children. You still have the programming to rebuild the block right now, with the shows you have as I type this. That's not to mention he multitude of unexplored programming out there are bursting with potential. Look at what you have or could easily have in the future:

Star Wars: Clone Wars: A truly cutting-edge CG cartoon that is practically a guaranteed miracle-worker for the ratings.

Naruto Shippudden: The sequel series to what is still the biggest non-Ben 10 franchise on Cartoon Network.

Storm Hawks: Even though it's struggling thanks to blunders and random factors, it started out fast and could be a giant hit.

Guardian of the Spirit: Which could possibly be to Toonami in 2008 what Outlaw Star was to Toonami in 2001.

Zoids Genesis: A show capable of reviving science fiction on Toonami.

Blue Dragon: Features character designs from the creator of Toonami's most legendary program, Dragonball Z.

Samurai Jack: Your Emmy-winning series is suddenly in the position of being experienced by a fresh audience for the first time since its debut in 2001.

You can even try Ben 10: Alien Force on Toonami, considering the show's more serious bent and its maturing veteran fans. That's to say nothing of the dozens upon dozens of series - old and new, anime and Western - that can easily fit into Toonami and transform into hits. You can even strike a balance between TOM 3 and TOM 4 to placate fans.

All you need to do is to first realize that Toonami can't return to what you want it to be. And then you need to turn what the block can do for you to your own advantage. You might be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Think about it.

From,
Mackenzie, AKA Macattack.

Thanks for reading.

 

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