August 9th, 2008: Moribito - Learning From Gundam Wing?
I know this is Toonami Fan, and not Adult Swim Fan. However, I’d like to talk about a show that is coming to Adult Swim soon, but could have been on Toonami. As you’ll see later, if Cartoon Network was willing to take an old page from the Toonami playbook, they could have their cake & eat it too. The show premiering in late August on Adult Swim is Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit, but it could air as Seirei no Moribito. It’s based on the first of a series of young adult/teen novels written by Nahoko Uehashi. Scholastic has published the translation by Cathy Hirano this summer.
Scholastic aims this series at the teen reading audience in 7-12th grade. That translates to the 12-17 television demographic. However, Toonami targets (for now) 6-11 (1-6th graders). Most shows for 12-17 (TV-14) wind up on Adult Swim by default, even though AS’s target is 18-34 (college/young adult & beyond). In addition, Cartoon Network, but not necessarily Adult Swim, acquired the television rights from Geneon before they stopped distributing anime in the U.S. When Media Blasters rescued the license, they still had the agreement with Cartoon Network to broadcast the show.
But where could it be aired? There were some scenes that were too violent for Toonami, yet a lot that were not violent enough for Adult Swim. Most of the action violence is similar to Toonami’s current anchor, the TV-PG V Naruto. So what could Cartoon Network do? Here are 2 examples of CN’s dilemma. The first clip is definitely TV-14 V material & is why the show will be on Adult Swim:
The second clip has the action that reminds most people of Naruto:
Okay, maybe not the knee to the groin… Still, even if Moribito was acquired for Adult Swim, not only most of the violence is tame for it, but the overall tone is not the gritty, dark type of show that the “network” is currently airing, like Code Geass or Death Note. It’s a tone like a quest or a fantasy adventure. It’s more like an older version of… Avatar: The Last Airbender. With that show recently finished & its episodes being repeated on Nicktoons Network, Avatar leaves an action void on Nickelodeon. A void that could be filled on Toonami. Also, even though Avatar is rated TV-Y7 FV & its target is 6-11, it skews to older viewers. Like Toonami currently does… but Nickelodeon has no problem with older viewers watching Avatar. Or even Spongebob Squarepants...
I will give credit to Andrew here for changing my mind about Moribito. Due to the extremely violent clips, I thought it belonged on Adult Swim. But as I look closer, I can see that with the right editing, it could easily fit next to Naruto. Heck, Naruto is already edited for Toonami & unless I compare uncut episodes to the “Toonami cuts”, I can’t tell much difference. Also, the Avatar-like tone could bring fans of that show as well as readers of the novel to Toonami. But, isn’t it too late? Moribito as an uncut TV-14 V show is destined for Adult Swim. Couldn’t it do better? Remember what I said at the beginning about “have your cake & eat it too”?
In 2000, Toonami did something unique that no other block or network had done before, or has done since. Besides the daytime block that showed only TV-Y7 FV shows, Toonami also had Midnight Run. It was a nightly hour of shows that proved people, especially older viewers, would stay up late to watch action cartoons. A new anime, Gundam Wing, introduced the Gundam universe to America & was very successful. Here’s the grand experiment: Gundam Wing was shown cut to TV-Y7 FV in the daytime, and the same episode was shown uncut at night as TV-PG V. Gundam Wing Uncut & Midnight Run helped pave the way for Adult Swim and late-night anime on television.
So what about Moribito? Simple, really; air a TV-PG V “Toonami cut” after Naruto or a similar anime or show, then have Adult Swim show the uncut TV-14 V version later. With the current timing, however, showing the same episode may not be possible. If Cartoon Network/Adult Swim were willing, they could wait a month or 2 before starting the “Toonami cut”. Willingness is what matters & why this idea is a fantasy... in more ways than one. Although the Cartoon Network of 2000 was innovative & didn’t care about demographics, the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim of today is tentative & more focused on 6-11 & 18-34 year olds.
So it won’t happen… even though the Gundam Wing experiment was successful. Finally, Gundam Wing promos not only advertised the show at its daylight time, but the uncut version on late-night. TV-PG V was cutting-edge for CN in 2000, but today it’s the standard for Naruto. Here’s another fantasy, because of how CN/AS operates. Cartoon Network & Adult Swim don’t promo shows on each other’s “network”, primarily so CN can avoid protests from the Parents’ Television Council (PTC) or the American Family Association (AFA). But what if Toonami was interrupted by “[another network]” just after the “Toonami cut” of Moribito? Imagine the promo bump for the next Toonami show interrupted by static, and this:
It’s an [adult swim] bump in spirit, but not in name. No mention of where you can find “[another network]”, and no encouraging 6-11 year-olds to watch a TV-14 show. Just tell “older brother & sister” to watch… & maybe tell you the good parts. Sadly, I ended this with “[fantasy swim]” instead of “[another network]” because Adult Swim made a change that has doomed this show. Instead of keeping Saturdays all-anime & keeping Moribito at a semi-decent time, an hour of comedy will be back, anime premieres are pushed back & Moribito is buried at 1:30 AM ET/PT. If Adult Swim doesn’t care about the show, Toonami should get a crack at it at a better time… but it’s too much work for Cartoon Network.
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