Cartoon Network has ended its Toonami programming block after 11 years. Naruto has been the only Japanese series in this Saturday evening block recently, but Toonami used to host a variety of Japanese-animated programs when it began as a weekday afternoon block in 1997. Among those titles were Voltron, Robotech, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Ronin Warriors, G-Force: Guardians of Space, Blue Submarine No. 6, Tenchi Muyo!, Cardcaptors, Zoids, .hack//SIGN, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, The Big O, Outlaw Star, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cyborg 009, Duel Masters, Astro Boy, Gundam, Rave Master, Zatch Bell, One Piece, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Pokemon, MAR, IGPX, The Prince of Tennis, Megaman Star Force, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, and Blue Dragon. The Toonami Jetstream online streaming service will reportedly still continue, and Cartoon Network is working to import the Japanese-animated Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z spinoff that is based on its own Powerpuff Girls series.

You can catch Tom's last message at Toonami Digital Arsenal .

"Bang"

... Now i can't remeber what I wrote before theis stupid migration wiped our posts... -_-

SOmething about Toonami being on the Australian Cartoon network for as long as it was on in the U.S. but with heaps of repeats, Gundam Wing is shit, and Yu Yu Hakusho got taken off half way through the series because they hadn't realised how "adult" it was.

Bastards... I'm happy I cut off my cable TV when I did.

If I try real hard, I might just convincingly pretend I'm caring.

Toonami was just a useles sack of gimmicky shit to me. There was literally NOTHING on it ever in it's entire existence that even slightly entertained me. Most of the animes were crappy shows based off of toys and not-very-good video games(Except for pokemon, in which case, the show is the only thing that sucks about it. It's video games and manga rock.) and all of the non-animes sucked merely because they were government-paid shows designed with subliminal messages that want you to join the military.

You know, I was thinking as I went into this thread that having less Naruto in the world could only be a good thing... Then I read Jalford's post and noticed there used to be a lot of good anime on Toonami. It's too bad. I think a block of television bringing us rare and new anime would be great... not the overly-popular already-ruined anime like Naruto and Inuyasha, but newer stuff that people don't know about.

Hawk
anime
great

Haha.

Pokemon never played on Toonami, BTW. It was one of the few anime titles that Cartoon Network left out of that slot. It was shown on their long-defunct Miguzi lineup.

I liked Pokemon...

Oh Moltar, you will be missed.. oh, wait...
Dragon Ballz was my first anime, and I couldn't wait to see it after school over at my friends house. Now I'm into actual AMERICAN (And some Canadian) Comics. Ah well.

I really hate the fact the a decent outlet for anime for younger viewers that wasn't intended soley for selling cards and lame Nintendo games is now gone.

excellent. now they can extend adult swim and have 20oz. mouse, squidbillies, assy mcgee, and tim and eric show loop re-runs more than ever before.

What is this stuff anyway? At what point did they stop teaching how to draw noses???

Wow... Tom with the face looks fnackin' weird.

Anyway, I'm kinda sad to see Toonami go. I was just 11 when it came out, and was ripe for exactly the kind of shows they were showing. I think too often people just saw it as the "anime" pit; it certainly had a focus on anime that the regular CN programming lacked, but that wasn't really what it was. It was more of an action thing; it still showed stuff like Thundercats and Megas XLR.

That aside, the whole thing's been on a slow decline for years. Getting pushed to once a week in favor of the younger-oriented Miguzi, having a stronger focus on "franchise" shows and letting the more interesting animes air on Adult Swim, etc. I guess I'm not really sad that it's gone, so much that I'm a bit disappointed that the guys at CN didn't take good enough care of it to make people actually give a damn whether or not it stuck around.

Toonami's big decline was really Naruto. After that show became such a success, it just acted as a black hole for any other show in the Toonami lineup(anime or non-anime). Over the last year or two, it's really just become a Naruto showcase. At least they actually showed Bobobo the whole way through, even if it was one of their least watched shows. One Piece would've gotten better ratings if they had gone back and showed the new Funimation dub from Episode #1 on up, aside from the shitty 4Kids one with the gangsta opening. Dunno why Blue Dragon didn't seem to kick with anyone. Maybe if it had a hit card game to go with it.

Inkmonkey
Wow... Tom with the face looks fnackin' weird.

A little moderation, if you don't mind! We can't all be poster boys.

Toonami went into a vegetative state years ago, but Cartoon Network finally pulled it off of its feeding tube misery...I'm so glad I grew up with it when it was worth watching.

EDIT: In a time before a badly dubbed One Piece.

Great, now kids are gonna run around saying "Until we meet again, stay gold. Bang!"

And I agree, Tom with the face is disturbing.

Lastcall
And I agree, Tom with the face is disturbing.

Okay, okay, you can all have my lunch money - just don't hit me any more.

I would probably be more interested in this event if not for the fact that I haven't watched Toonami since the 5th grade.

LIZARD_B1TE
I would probably be more interested in this event if not for the fact that I haven't watched Toonami since the 5th grade.

Finally, Yul Brynner rides into town!

I don't think most kids watched anything on Toonami that played past Naruto on Saturdays. They just filled it with canon Cartoon Network stuff like Ben 10 because they just didn't care. They should move Naruto from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, so it would lead into the Adult Swim anime lineup(what there is of it)on Saturdays.

Wills42
Oh Moltar, you will be missed.. oh, wait...
Dragon Ballz was my first anime, and I couldn't wait to see it after school over at my friends house. Now I'm into actual AMERICAN (And some Canadian) Comics. Ah well.

haha i was about to say "does anyone remember when moltar was the host of toonami?"

the problem with toonami was this....
When it started out, the main purpose was simply to bring anime as a novelty (as it was back then) to the american cartoon viewing public. They started pretty low-key with shows like Thundercats, Sailor Mooon, Beast Wars, Robotech, Voltron. The original toonami lineup was 3 hours long! and it was awesome. The one thing i'll give Toonami credit for is that they ALWAYS had great intros for their shows. They made Sailor Moon look cool (until it actually started and you realized it was boring as all hell...at least to a 11 year old boy like me). The downfall of toonami was not Naruto. IMO, it started way earlier with Dragonball Z. Toonami had no idea what they were getting their hands on with that show; it exploded and became a mega success, so much so that toonami got rid of moltar, brought in Tom (whom ive always hated). But they still had some cool things along the way and interesting shows (anyone remember the spyro the dragon/playstation 2 phone giveaway? I swear I called for 4 hours and never got through), but what toonami was always looking for was another Dragonball. That caused them to experiment with some weird shows; ronin warriors was too old school of an art style to get kids into, Gundam wing came close, but then toonami ruined it by showing every gundam series until it ran into the ground (Gundam SD WTF). So really by the end of it, toonami was nothing what it used to be.

They tried to resurrect it (sort of) with Adult Swim, which is the stupidest piece of crap on earth (it is because of adult swim that trash like family guy is still on tv) but it wasnt enough. Toonami crumbled under the weight of its own ambition, which is sad, because instead of trying to find the next Dragonball, they shouldve just focused on finding new exciting anime and good shows. but hey, this IS the network that cancelled funny shows like Dexters Lab, Cow and Chicken and Johnny Bravo in favor of crap like Fosters Home, Chowder and The Imaginary B or whatever that shit is called.

Well NickGuy, I'm shocked to hear you speak so lowly of Foster's Home and Chowder, but I guess you're entitled to your opinion. I regarded those two shows as the best stuff on Caroon Network.

The main problem was the lack of focus they took with Toonami. After Naruto became the only reason most people were watching that timeslot, they kept showing any real faith in any of the other shows, whether they were new anime, new Cartoon Network shows, or just old shows they were rerunning. The fact that they brought DBZ back right in the middle of the Cell Saga showed a total failure in direction they were having. They could probably have played Voltron and it would've done well by then.

If you notice though, there's a real lack of action cartoons on both Saturday morning network TV, and cable TV for kids, even on Nick or Disney. There's a few superhero cartoons here & there, but nothing original like what they had in the 80s & 90s. The most original action cartoons I've seen out of America in the last few years were Samurai Jack and Venture Bros.

Gosh, I haven't watched Toonami in YEARS. (Back when Tenchi Muyo! first came to the US...those were the days.) I was actually wondering the other day if it was still around. Seeing the huge decline of the shows, I guess it's not really a big loss.

Wills42
AMERICAN (And some Canadian) Comics.

You know, lately I've been needing to keep questions to myself because they usually end in some stupid debate on human nature and temperment, but, what's the difference between American and Canadian comics?

Never quite saw one.

NickGuy
trash like family guy

Holy Shaiza, someone who agrees with me!

For nostalgia purposes I am sorry about this. That farewell video was actually kind of sad.

I stopped watching Toonami long ago when I figured out that DBZ was just the same story over and over and over again. But Toonami did lead me to seek out much better Anime and I now have quite a collection. I do however love Adult Swim, just because it is crap now with shit like Assy McGee, Family Guy, Tim and Eric, and much much more, Adult Swim did resurrect many good shows too like Mission Hill and The Oblongs and Futurama for a short time and it brought to us Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Lupin the Third, Samurai Champloo, Bleach, Death Note and numerous other good anime.

NickGuy
The one thing i'll give Toonami credit for is that they ALWAYS had great intros for their shows.

Yeah, I'm with you on that one. I always loved their Tenchi Muyo! intros.

Tenchi was a really weird choice for Toonami. Of all the action/adventure anime from the 90s that was out, that was a little more tounge-in-cheek than normal. Especially with all the nudity in the hot springs scene.