April 08th: There's Still Potential

So now what?

Cartoon Network just announced plans to start up a new action animation block, tagging it as a "fantasy / adventure bloc". it will be airing Ben 10: Alien Force along with three brand-new series: The Secret Saturdays, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It certainly is wonderful to see Cartoon Network is giving action animation its due, and I will completely support this new Friday night line-up in the fall. It is possible that this block is actually the next evolution of Toonami, but honestly I consider that to be too much to hope for.

So for the time being I will assume Toonami is not moving to Friday night. Which begs the question for all Toonami fans: where does Toonami fit into this situation? Well it seems to me that Toonami does not in fact fit into Cartoon Network's grand scheme anymore. At least not in the significant way that it once did. It isn't the premiere action block; it isn't even the only place they play anime. From a glance its only purpose seems to be to air Naruto week-in and week-out, and to offer extra slots for other anime CN might want to air.

It is quite disappointing that those four fresh North American animated action series will not be part of Toonami this year, but I suppose that's just the way the cookie crumbles. It is especially disappointing to realize that Toonami will not likely benefit from the excellent ratings the animated Star Wars will produce. Naruto and The Clone Wars would be a winning combination, but for whatever reason, CN has decided the two should not cross paths. Hopefully they will see the error in that decision someday.

I want to try to put some fears to rest.

I do not believe even for a second that Toonami is done for. Not yet. However, its future does not seem very good. With all the original action heading to Friday nights, along with major acquisitions like The Clone Wars and the new Batman team-up series, all that is left for Toonami is the remaining acquisitions, which are, of course...Japanese animation. Unfortunately, even most of the anime does not premiere on Toonami. Only Naruto has its premieres on Toonami now, and if One Piece never returns, then it's possible Naruto will remain the only premiere on Saturday night, while the remainder of the block is reruns from the Saturday morning block. There is the possibility that those shows will begin premiering on Toonami if the new Friday block does away with the Saturday morning action premieres, but honestly I'm not sure which would be worse: Toonami premiering poorly dubbed anime as standard content, or Toonami rerunning those poorly dubbed anime as filler.

That sounds awful right? But didn't the big guy once tell us "it's always darkest before dawn"?

Even without those great shows, CN could make Toonami great again. It would not take much to turn this thing around. And the first step could be airing Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit, which Media Blasters announced was airing on Cartoon Network. The thought had occurred to me that it has been forever and a day since we saw a short anime on Toonami. and we also have not seen a Media Blasters show on Toonami besides Rurouni Kenshin. Like Rurouni Kenshin, Moribito could be a notable step in the right direction. It is not guaranteed for Toonami at this point, as Adult Swim is also an option, but I would rather not see another show get burried on Saturday Adult Swim. A lot of people believe Moribito could be CN's answer to Avatar (at least in art style and story telling). I looks like a really classy show, and if Toonami did play it then it could be the beginning of a much better future for the block - as well as anime in America.

It is probably too much to hope for a full four hours again, but we could at least see the return of the 8PM hour if CN found some more shows that worked for Toonami. The reason why the block is in such poor shape is because CN cannot find another series to stick. I was hoping we could count on The Clone Wars to give Toonami a much-needed boost, but since those hopes have been denied we can only hope CN finds more series that interest their audience. Personally, I would like to see them combine the strength of Toonami and Adult Swim's action anime into a teen-targeted block airing on Saturday night. Since both of the blocks are struggling there really is no reason not to give that a try but I know they're not going to figure that out.

There is always the potential for a better Toonami, even if it is limited to anime. For now we will just have to wait and see, but I implore you not to give up. The lack of information regarding these changes at the network is staggering, and we probably do not know the whole story yet. Things can always change. CN needs a reminder that Toonami still has value. Toonami should be that Friday block, and perhaps our voices can help Toonami become it. SVES, Miguzi and several other blocks were all vanquished, but Toonami remains.

Toonami will continue to change with the times, it may become even weaker in the mean time but good things come to those who wait. And whether it's the network's action premiere block or not, Toonami can still continue to entertain us and the generations to come.

 

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