Is Toonami Still Relevant?

SuperOrangeCat

I'm sure most of you are at least aware of Toonami, the anime/action cartoon block that debuted on Cartoon Network 25 years ago today on March 17, 1997. It played a formative role in the growth of the anime market in the US and introduced many people to Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, and even Dragonball for some among others. It was pulled back in 2009 and brought back as an Adult Swim block as an April Fools prank in 2012. Since then, it has aired Saturday nights on Adult Swim with dub-exclusive content.

As part of the 25th Anniversary Event today, they announced that there will be two more FLCL sequels (FLCL: Grunge and FLCL: Shoegaze) coming to the block in 2023 and a new horror series Housing Complex C. All of these shows will be produced as part of Adult Swim's partnership with Production IG. The general reaction online to this has been mixed to say the least. Some Toonami diehards were gung ho about this announcement while I would say the majority of people either thought it was stupid or were even surprised that Toonami still existed.

This begs the question: Is Toonami still relevant? It was certainly relevant back in the 90s and 00s when it was one of the largest avenues introducing people to anime, but in the 10s and 20s it has seen decreasing mention. So in the era of streaming and an increasing desire for subs over dubs, is Toonami viable?

TEAnubis

Toonami was formative for me back in the late 90s, early 2000s, and its aesthetic was heavily influential to me, but I honestly see modern Toonami as something different. It's like someone wrote down what original Toonami was in a journal of some kind and then someone came along years later and tried to recreate it based on those notes. Maybe it's me getting older, but modern Toonami lacks the feeling and aesthetic I felt with original Toonami.

I kinda liken it to G4, even before G4's recent reboot: G4 back in the day served a purpose because regular TV was still a major way people consumed content, but that's rapidly changing, especially in niches like anime and gaming.

As far as the FLCL sequels go, I don't know why they keep making them. FLCL is a full, contained story, and didn't need a sequel. And then the sequels weren't even directed or written by the same people as the original. It really just comes off to me as "People liked FLCL when we showed it on Adult Swim. Let's see if we can make more of it." It makes about as much sense as trying to make a sequel to Cowboy Bebop just because everyone loves it.

celfhelp

i recently went back and watched some of the old "motivational speeches" TOM used to do (man those still hit), and i came across a more recent one about Black Lives Matter

and like, i think that right there sums it up; not in a "rah get politics out of my entertainment" sort of way, but just a "ohhh you don't get it anymore" sort of way

i don't claim to know insider info or anything, but i echo Anubis in the G4 comparison. given the crunchyroll/funimation merger and the general ease of access to anime/manga we have now, the only space for toonami to exist is in our memories

as for the FLCL thing, i again agree with Anubis. FLCL was great as it was, but i frankly don't think it deserved all of this extra shit, and especially not if the original team wasn't involved

i do wonder, however, what could have been if Studio Khara ended up with the rights like they were supposed to

SuperOrangeCat

My theory about why they are making more FLCL is due to low show availability. They are being locked out of newer, fresher shows (ex: They got Demon Slayer Season 1, but not season 2; They got the first 5 parts of Jojo, but not Stone Ocean) by being outbid by...really everyone. So they need to get content by making content. That is why they have embarked on a huge original series push lately (Uzumaki, Fena, Shenmue, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, 4 different FLCL sequels, Housing Complex C, and probably more in the future). The ones that have aired so far really haven't had a great reception, and the ratings aren't doing well, but they have to keep making more because they wouldn't have anything to air.

The other option (which they have exercised to a degree) is getting older shows. In 2020, they reaired Paranoia Agent, in 2018, they reaired the original FLCL, hell they even brought back One Piece for its third stint on the block! Not to mention Cowboy Bebop is back on the block as well. Also, the current block has somewhat old shows in Assassination Classroom and Made in Abyss which have seen a positivie reaction on the block.

Tl;dr Toonami is fucked unless Crunchyroll and every other streaming service on Earth simultaneously collapse in on themselves like neutron stars (which isn't going to happen)

TEAnubis

I honestly think original programming could be Toonami's niche. It'd at least give it value that streaming services don't have. They just need to find a way to do that that doesn't involve making unnecessary sequels to OVAs that weren't meant to have sequels. I've honestly heard good things about the Shenmue anime, so if Toonami wants to be the funding department to make anime for semi-abandoned Sega properties, I'm on-board. Anything that gets me closer to a Virtual-On anime being real.

I still contend that Girls und Panzer would be a perfect show for modern Toonami, but I don't know that they have the capability to air it, and I don't really expect them to anyway.

If they want to bring back old shows, though, I'd appreciate another chance to catch Pilot Candidate/Candidate for Goddess, but I'm probably one of 6 or so people who even remembers that show.

celfhelp

there was a guy on Twitch who basically did "old toonami" as his gimmick for a bit

he even made new bumps and promos in an identical aesthetic and 'feel'

it was really really good but ultimately too much work (and risk) for one person

i think Toonami could easily do something like that, if they could get the rights sorted; some sort of livestream that's purely old-school, with maybe one block of new stuff/funded stuff

SuperOrangeCat

celfhelp
Funny you should mention that. Adult Swim used to have a large livestream department up until a couple of years ago. They eliminated the entire department except for one person (because his show happened to be airing new episodes at the time on the network). Toonami had a weekly livestream which would mostly be the two biggest wigs of the block (Gil Austin and Jason DeMarco) talking about Toonami news and mostly just talking about random stuff like samurai films. So Toonami did dabble in livestreams for a bit (I think it was called "Toonami Pre-Flight").

So livestreams directly associated with the block are a no-go for now. However, apparently they found new money to commission two more FLCL sequels even though ratings were poor for the first two, and they were received poorly in Japan (especially FLCL: Alternative). So who really knows?

celfhelp

SuperOrangeCat makes sense i suppose, and realistically, a nostalgia-bait live stream would only garner attention for so long

ultimately i just don't see the point anymore unless they went full on into publication and publishing; even then, i don't think it'd be 'wise'

JRuss

Toonami might also be able to make it as a Nostalgia channel focusing on older IPs. Maybe add in interviews with Manga Kai and such.