R.I.P: Toonami 1997-2008

As I was searching forums to see how Anime Weekend Atlanta went, I came across some shocking news: Toonami is dead! :O I was shocked, but apparently it was announced at one of the panels. :( This news has greatly sadden me, as I think Toonami was a great tool that spreading the love of anime to many people. Granted most of us hate dubbing and cringe at the scene deleting, it still got our foot into the door and left us wanting more. That and the fact it was 11 years old also shocked me 0_0 Have I been into anime that long already?!


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This truly is not a good sign for the anime industry with their sales already falling due to….fan subbers (BAD SUBBERS). Granted I have not been watching Toonami religiously for a while now, it and Adult Swim introduced many anime titles to the U.S. There are already rumors Adult Swim is cutting back on the anime they show. This generation of anime watchers want anime and they want it NOW! Without a channel to watch their favorite shows, they will turn to the internet to get their fix (more drug references.) I think that whoever is in charge of this change is making a big mistake. The anime community has grown over the years and they are getting younger all the time, making them a very marketable audience. The other shows on Cartoon Network seem to run together with their themes of worthlessness and awful drawing (the only one I can think of is Chowder, but they are other stupid shows that look exactly the same with the same nonsense plot).If Cartoon Network thinks they are saving money from licensing and red tape, I hope they have fun producing mind numbing shows to their limited audience.

I have bittersweet memories of Toonami. I remember walking home faster from school just so I could make it in time for my favorite show (THUNDERCATS HO!!!!!...back when Ho was not used in that manner :P). I would say wow, that show looks too weird….then would watch every episode after it. :O it really was my first step into the anime world and the hundreds of departed dollars from my wallet. I remember Tom, back you know…when there was just regular Tom, not 3 or 4 (I really did not like Moltar so I tended to change the channel when he was on). It is like when a restaurant closes down that you have not been to in a while, you still feel sad remembering all the times you had fun there…and knowing you can never go back.

Here is a look back to the shows I wanted on Toonami. :(

.hack//SIGN- I know they only aired a few episodes, but it got me interested in the series and the different music available.

Cardcaptors- KidsWB murdered the show I know. However, it got more people interested in the series which means lots more cosplayers for me to enjoy.

Dragon Ball Z- NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z: NAMEK WILL BLOW UP IN 20 SECONDS!!! Seriously, sometimes the plot was slow, but Dragon Ball Z was almost like..a gate way anime. Better than pot!

Gundam Wing-Gundam Wing was an awesome series! My friends and I had our favorite characters and wrote stories about them in high school all the time! “We shouldn’t be fighting at all!!!”. It actually was great dubbed.

Naruto-I watched a few episodes here and there. I think Naruto is what brought a lot of kids into the anime scene now…which may be a good or bad thing…

Outlaw Star- I still have this tapped (on VHS, gimmie a break and refrain from calling me old). I thought the plot was cool and interesting at the time (still do). I have seen the original version, so I am not sure if it was a good dub.

Pokémon- everyone has seen at least one episode of pokemon. If you say you haven’t, you are a liar!

Robotech- I was really young at the time, so much of the plot was probably lost on me. I believe this is the first series I watched where a MAIN CHARACTER died and I was in shock. 0_0

Sailor Moon-This is my anime that started it all! I actually thought this was a show I saw as a child before I went to school (the opening sequences looked familiar or it could have been the same, I really only remember 3 girls dancing, like at the very beginning). I know the dubbed for sailor moon was VERY bad. I didn’t know how bad it was until I went online and noticed it was anime not a cartoon. Yes folks, that is when I discovered anime existed. I spent a lot of time printing pictures out and reading about how there was this thing called “manga” in Japan. Then, on my 15th birthday (It might have been 14th) my father bought me Act One (Comic Volume 1) of sailor moon. He had found an anime shop and thought perhaps I would like it. Yep, the anime that started it all. (it may or may not have started by bootlegging anime style. Kids, you have it lucky nowadays. I have most of sailor moon fan subbed in VHS form!! BE GRATEFUL!).

Tenchi Muyo!- This was one of my husband’s favorite shows. I miss the days of add on bathing suits. :(it had a lot of different spin offs. Got us hooked enough on the series to buy three of the movies.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX-it was a lot easier to watch this series in the afternoon that getting up early on Saturday morning!

Blue Submarine No. 6-I really do not remember much of this series, but remember thinking wtf 0_0

So folks, it is not looking good for network anime. :( Soon there might be a blog here dedicated to Adult Swim. I have many awesome memories from the shows I watched and how it changed my life (dramatic much?!). Perhaps something bigger and better will come along and blow Toonami out of the water. Perhaps the anime industry will smarten up and devote an entire website to just streaming anime and charging people a monthly fee (except me of course). I will remember you fondly Toonami. Thanks for giving us all shows to talk about and a connection to that dream land we call Japan. You and Tom will be missed.

Until We Meet Again.

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