Growing up in the 90's and early 2000's, every anime fan around that time was accustomed to this very standard live style. Or should I say, schedule. We woke up at the wee hours of the morning, and got ready to go and went to school. We spent the each day doing the usual crap: class, hanging out with friends, lunch, recess, and for some of us, after school activities. As we went through the few hours we spent at school, we all couldn't wait till the last bell rang and for our parents to come pick us up. Why? We HAD to be home before 5 PM. Yes we are all in our pre-teenage years with no real responsibilities like our....OH WHO THE HELL AM I KIDDING?! Being home before 5 PM was our responsibility and we damn sure made it so that our folks shared that responsibility by getting us home from school or whatever we were doing before that time. Toonami came on at 5 PM. What was Toonami? It was an action block that consisted of a mix of great Anime shows (such as Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, and my personal favorite Rurouni Kenshin) and American cartoons (such as Reboot, Batman Beyond, and Thundercats) hosted by the great TOM. I believe I am speaking for the majority of us when I say that at that time, those two hours of programming were indeed addicting and our conversations the following days after centered around around some of the popular shows of the two hour block.
If you missed out on Toonami the night before, you definitely were out of the loop when it was time to recap with your friends at breakfast or at lunch. It was THAT serious. Toonami was the two hours that we used to just escape from life. To be sucked in to the lives of our favorite characters. We made the beef Goku had with Freeza OUR BEEF with Freeza. We all piloted the Gundams in hope to end the war in space with OZ. We all wanted to beat the living crap out of Shishio with Kenshin. Hell, we even made TOM's issues on the Absolution our problem. I remember getting goosebumps watching the Intruder series. Toonami had that effect on us and as adults now, we will always remember those precious moments.
As we all know in 2008, Toonami went off the air. It sucked. This left a void in many hearts of the Toonami faitful's who tuned in daily. What were we going to do without Tom? What were we going to do without our block of Anime and American shows? These questions, probably many more went through the heads of many for awhile. Fortunately for us, we learned to cope and managed.
Since then thanks to Toonami and the other blocks that were popular at the time, we've been opened up to various amounts of Anime. The internet and other on demand services has also played a significant role in helping us get exposed to many anime as well. Thanks to Adult swim on demand, I was able to get into SCRYED, Anime Network exposed me to Raxhephon, Getbackers, ES Otherwise as well as a lot of other great series I had the pleasure of watching. In other words, I and probably you whose reading this, found ways to fill the void Toonami left. Still, nothing could actually take Toonami's place. Even Toonami aftermath. While I tune in to the site and appreciate how great of a job it does at airing all of the old classics as well as the commercials and promo's that aired at the time, It still doesn't really hit me the same as when I was a kid.
Suddenly on April 2012, things changed...
April of 2012 as many know was the night that Toonami mysteriously came back on the air as an April Fools prank and aired a lot of the shows from the original line up that we grew up with. I was happy as hell, so was a lot of Anime fans and Toonami faithful's who thought that the action block was dead! To throw Icing on the cake Adult swim told us that if we wanted the block back, we had to make noise using the #Bringbacktoonami hashtag on twitter. I, the Toonami faithful's And many Anime fans, even Richie Branson, took this Golden opportunity to try and bring back one of the many highlights of our childhoods. Yes, we've grown since then and have taken on many responsibilities but someway, somehow we would find a way to support the block once it came back. With endless tweets, and a few #Bringbacktoonami songs, our prayers were answered and later on that year in May, Toonami came back!
May 26, millions tuned in for the revival and even though the line up didn't consist of the oldie shows (due to them no longer having the rights) the ones that they did have were impressive and most importantly able to bring in the ratings needed to be able to acquire the rights to newer Anime titles and eventually the old ones. With twitter and everyone chatting at the same time about the block, I felt that spark similar to when I was a kid again. Since then Toonami has come a long way and is once again in my opinion the dominant block in TV programming. Much credit to the staff over at Adult swim and more notably Clark Nova and Steve Blum. These guys bust their asses day in and night to make sure that we are satisfied and Toonami continues to be hit. Some of the notable titles that the block have aired recently and have been received very well are:
Deadman Wonderland
Space Dandy (WHICH IS A US EXCLUSIVE FOR TOONAMI)
Blue Exorcist
Black lagoon
Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.1 and 2.2
Samurai 7
Cashern Sins
Sword Art Online
Hell, the block even gets music videos, one of the main aspects that made it unique in the past! There's no way, one cannot be satisfied or happy! But you wanna know something that I don't think many realize, hell even me at a point?
We don't deserve this. Not at all.
As I stated before, since Toonami's cancellation in 2008, there's been so many ways that we could watch Anime, even the oldies. All it takes is a click on a mouse and on a remote control. And there's Toonami aftermath. The people over at Adult swim didn't have to open up the block from 11:30 Saturday to 6:00 am Sunday so we could have Toonami back. As far as were concerned, they were doing fine with what they already had and probably were happy with the numbers they were bringing in even with their action block gone. We cried on twitter, we begged, we pleaded, and they were kind enough to listen and give this a go. So when I see people complaining about DBZ not being on Toonami, harrassing Clark Nova's Twitter page or being Anti whatever new Anime comes on that they don't like, Its bothersome. Why? Simple. Its being ungrateful. To my understanding, unless you had digital cable (which probably many don't have) and or much time to watch Anime throughout the week, you weren't watching Anime period. Now Toonami is back and people want to take it to Social Media to consistently bitch and moan about what they don't like and yadayadayada. Stop. When we were growing up, we didn't have the internet so what came on Toonami is what came on and we liked it. Just because you have some kind of voice online doesn't mean you use that for negativity. SO what? You don't like Attack On Titan dubbed? Cool. There's other shows on the block and a dubbed version out. You're mad that DBZ isn't on the block or Gundam Wing? Go watch Toonami aftermath. There's so many ways you can satisfy yourself without being whiny. Toonami is doing the same thing as when we were growing up but now in a different time: PROMOTING ANIME/AMERICAN CARTOONS IN AMERICA. We don't live in the golden ages of the 90's and early 2000's anymore. Let go. Its time to move on. Either appreciate what's been given to us or keep it moving.
We were by no means obligated to get Toonami back! But we did and lets continue to throw nothing but thanks and maybe some respectful constructive criticism towards those who do all they can so we can enjoy the block to its fullest. Maybe for some, Toonami now isn't worth the hype. Maybe the Toonami faithfuls annoy you because they are too enthusiastic, or whatever. We now have something back that we thought was gone to us for eternity and we want to do our best to keep it around for as long as we can. Take your negativity and go use it towards something else. As for the people who have continued to stick through since day one, thank you. Keep tweeting. Keep spreading the word. Its because of you the block has come a long way since 2012. Things can only get better from here.
Stay Gold.
Credit: http://www.khakain.com/archdeco/tom.jpg
@Zeohblue3 on twitter
Suddenly on April 2012, things changed...
April of 2012 as many know was the night that Toonami mysteriously came back on the air as an April Fools prank and aired a lot of the shows from the original line up that we grew up with. I was happy as hell, so was a lot of Anime fans and Toonami faithful's who thought that the action block was dead! To throw Icing on the cake Adult swim told us that if we wanted the block back, we had to make noise using the #Bringbacktoonami hashtag on twitter. I, the Toonami faithful's And many Anime fans, even Richie Branson, took this Golden opportunity to try and bring back one of the many highlights of our childhoods. Yes, we've grown since then and have taken on many responsibilities but someway, somehow we would find a way to support the block once it came back. With endless tweets, and a few #Bringbacktoonami songs, our prayers were answered and later on that year in May, Toonami came back!
May 26, millions tuned in for the revival and even though the line up didn't consist of the oldie shows (due to them no longer having the rights) the ones that they did have were impressive and most importantly able to bring in the ratings needed to be able to acquire the rights to newer Anime titles and eventually the old ones. With twitter and everyone chatting at the same time about the block, I felt that spark similar to when I was a kid again. Since then Toonami has come a long way and is once again in my opinion the dominant block in TV programming. Much credit to the staff over at Adult swim and more notably Clark Nova and Steve Blum. These guys bust their asses day in and night to make sure that we are satisfied and Toonami continues to be hit. Some of the notable titles that the block have aired recently and have been received very well are:
Deadman Wonderland
Space Dandy (WHICH IS A US EXCLUSIVE FOR TOONAMI)
Blue Exorcist
Black lagoon
Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.1 and 2.2
Samurai 7
Cashern Sins
Sword Art Online
Hell, the block even gets music videos, one of the main aspects that made it unique in the past! There's no way, one cannot be satisfied or happy! But you wanna know something that I don't think many realize, hell even me at a point?
We don't deserve this. Not at all.
As I stated before, since Toonami's cancellation in 2008, there's been so many ways that we could watch Anime, even the oldies. All it takes is a click on a mouse and on a remote control. And there's Toonami aftermath. The people over at Adult swim didn't have to open up the block from 11:30 Saturday to 6:00 am Sunday so we could have Toonami back. As far as were concerned, they were doing fine with what they already had and probably were happy with the numbers they were bringing in even with their action block gone. We cried on twitter, we begged, we pleaded, and they were kind enough to listen and give this a go. So when I see people complaining about DBZ not being on Toonami, harrassing Clark Nova's Twitter page or being Anti whatever new Anime comes on that they don't like, Its bothersome. Why? Simple. Its being ungrateful. To my understanding, unless you had digital cable (which probably many don't have) and or much time to watch Anime throughout the week, you weren't watching Anime period. Now Toonami is back and people want to take it to Social Media to consistently bitch and moan about what they don't like and yadayadayada. Stop. When we were growing up, we didn't have the internet so what came on Toonami is what came on and we liked it. Just because you have some kind of voice online doesn't mean you use that for negativity. SO what? You don't like Attack On Titan dubbed? Cool. There's other shows on the block and a dubbed version out. You're mad that DBZ isn't on the block or Gundam Wing? Go watch Toonami aftermath. There's so many ways you can satisfy yourself without being whiny. Toonami is doing the same thing as when we were growing up but now in a different time: PROMOTING ANIME/AMERICAN CARTOONS IN AMERICA. We don't live in the golden ages of the 90's and early 2000's anymore. Let go. Its time to move on. Either appreciate what's been given to us or keep it moving.
We were by no means obligated to get Toonami back! But we did and lets continue to throw nothing but thanks and maybe some respectful constructive criticism towards those who do all they can so we can enjoy the block to its fullest. Maybe for some, Toonami now isn't worth the hype. Maybe the Toonami faithfuls annoy you because they are too enthusiastic, or whatever. We now have something back that we thought was gone to us for eternity and we want to do our best to keep it around for as long as we can. Take your negativity and go use it towards something else. As for the people who have continued to stick through since day one, thank you. Keep tweeting. Keep spreading the word. Its because of you the block has come a long way since 2012. Things can only get better from here.
Stay Gold.Credit: http://www.khakain.com/archdeco/tom.jpg
Unlike everyone else I didn't run home from school. I lived a block away and walked at a calm pace and made it in time for Toonami lol. Great post though
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