Toonami to return on 5/26/12!

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Metalwario64
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Toonami to return on 5/26/12!

Post by Metalwario64 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:28 am

Toonami is now set to return on Cartoon Network on 5/26/12!
Adult Swim on Twitter wrote:Attention Toonami Faithful: We heard you. On 05.26.12 #ToonamisBackBitches http://ow.ly/i/D8Rj
Adult Swim has a page for the new Toonami as well

I'll definitely be tuning in. There are many shows Toonami aired back in the day that I neglected due to my "OMG DBZEE" obsession I had as a kid, and if they air some of said shows, I will definitely sit through them. Though there's something to be said of potentially low ratings, regardless of whether other people view it, I'm definitely going to.



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The original post follows:

As an April Fools joke, Adult Swim aired a Toonami Block featuring many shows from the original Toonami era such as Dragon Ball Z, Tenchi Muyo, and Yu Yu Hakusho. They even got Tom back, the original bumper footage, and even had him review Mass Effect 3.

Now it looks as it there is potential interest in considering a revival of Toonami according to Adult Swim's Twitter:
Another thing worth noting is that the ratings were pretty good the night the April Fools Toonami, even when compared to ratings from the next weeks Adult Swim.

Now this isn't a confirmation or anything, but these could be signs there might be some hope that a Toonami return of some sort may be plausible.

What are your thoughts? For me, I've read that Cartoon Network is pretty anti-anime these days (and I've also read that they've openly mocked it at one point), I'd be greatly surprised if they did bring it back. However, I don't know how they'd react if it got an extraordinary amount of support. I'm kind of used to fan support being completely ignored these days (Mega Man Legends 3), so I really have no idea what would happen. There's also the question of how it would return; would it return as a nostalgic, late 90's/early 2000's anime block, would they instead just show the latest anime, or would they do something in between? For me, I'd probably prefer the latter. It would be great if they aired Kai, and also One Piece, in addition to older shows like Outlaw Star and Tenchi Muyo.

Did anyone here see the April Fools Toonami airing? I personally didn't see it, as unfortunately I never heard about it until the next day (I never watch Adult Swim anymore, so of course I never saw it). My sister saw it apparently, and she told me they aired a Dragon Ball Z episode where Gohan turned Super Saiyan 2 against Cell.

I don't know if a thread is allowed on the subject as of yet as nothing's set in stone, but it is Dragon Ball related, as the April 1st Toonami airing featured an episode of Dragon Ball Z, so I thought this might be something fun to discuss here.
Last edited by Metalwario64 on Wed May 16, 2012 6:53 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Eddie » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:39 am

I have mixed feelings. I got into the series via Toonami, but I'm not sure the dub is a great thing to have on air anymore. It feels like a step back from what Funi has done with the franchise recently. I'd like to see Toonami come back, but with One Piece replacing Z.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Metalwario64 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:43 am

Eddie wrote:I have mixed feelings. I got into the series via Toonami, but I'm not sure the dub is a great thing to have on air anymore. It feels like a step back from what Funi has done with the franchise recently. I'd like to see Toonami come back, but with One Piece replacing Z.
Or perhaps they could air the Nicktoons cut of Kai in addition to One Piece. I feel that would do more for the series than the heavily altered CW4Kids version, and the Nicktoons one being on a channel many people don't have, or are unaware of.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Chuquita » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:45 am

I could've easily stayed up the entire night watching that April Fools Toonami. I caught it during the 2nd Z episode, dropped it during Gundam Wing, and came back later during Tenchi (though I was disappointed it was that weird newer one and not one of the ones Toonami used to air) and Outlaw Star. If I didn't want to wake up early so badly I would've stayed up for at least YYH, Big O, and Trigun. That "Dreams" promo came on and it pulls me back in the way occasionally catching Cowboy Bebop and FLCL on AS does. Also, they used Tom 3, and while not as nostalgic for me as Tom 2 is, he's still a step up from the odd Thomas the Tank Engine Tom that Toonami ended with.


Would I be ok with Toonami coming back ala Nick's 90's block? Yes. Would I tune in to watch it, at least sometimes? Absolutely.



As for Z on the block? Doesn't bother me; I think it'd be neat if they were to air the Buu arc, since Kai never made it that far.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by SuperSaiyan3Goku » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:46 am

I would like if Toonami returned regularly. Only for a more varied choice of Anime on Saturdays. Not the same damn line-up every week.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by medama_oyaji » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:51 am

I did see a recording of the Toonami April Fools thing! I was swimming in nostalgia :D They showed the episode where Gohan finally kills Cell. Reminded me of how drawn out that is in the anime, ha ha...

I've seen some debate online about if CN does bring Toonami back if it should be an old-school, nostalgia block, airing Toonami classics or used to bring new shows over. I've seen some hope in the One Piece community that this could be an opportunity to have the Funi dub of OP on TV. If they did bring Toonami back, do you think it would include DBZ? Or maybe Kai? When was the last time a Dragon Ball franchise show has been on Cartoon Network? I don't actually have cable, so I'm not up-to-date with what's been going on with that channel for the past few years.

I'm not sure what kids prefer these days, seeing anime on TV, or if they just get everything via the internet (legal or not) anyway. I think Toonami's return to TV would be cool, there certainly seems to be quite a movement online of supporters. I guess, personally, I enjoyed the Toonami special as a novelty, but I don't think that I'd make a point to watch it regularly (even if I did have cable), since so much is available through other avenues, and in Japanese which I prefer. But, man, I did love revisiting Gundam Wing and Astro Boy (!!) for a night.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Eddie » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:54 am

Kai would be okay. I'm not really a fan of it, but it is certainly closer to the original. I get the feeling that Toonami would want to bring in the nostalgia crowd with Z, though. I just hope that this theoretical new Toonami doesn't rely too heavily on nostalgia. A couple of old favorites (Cowboy Bebop, for example) as a lead in for newer shows like One Piece or Persona 4 would be a nice balance. I don't think that Toonami can survive on nostalgia alone.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by laserkid » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:21 am

Watching that aparil fools run filled me with such warmth and happiness.

It's no surprise the decline in the american anime industry happened right around the same time Toonami was taken off the air. Without a major force to show anime to new viewers, the genre would (and did) return to its niche roots. I'm still an anime nut, but I was around buying VHS tapes of Dragon Ball/Z (among other things) before Toonami ever got the shows, so I'm not sure I count.

That said, by God it was good to see Tom again, having not seen the robotic MC of anime in several years, I didn't realize how much I missed him until I saw him again. I seriously shed one manly tear to see that guy again.

As for wanting it back, heck yes! I'd say it'd be a good idea to do a mixtuere of new and old anime - including DBZ - I may not be a fan of the DBZ dub but I have my dragon boxes, showing it to a potentially new audience can do nothing but good. Though I'd preffer if they showed the uncut Kai dub more, that may be unrealistic given Nicktoons has the airing rights for Kai.

I'd like to see it split between old and new stuff because some of the older shows are still solid, and again new audiences are a good thing, and keeping solid old shows that are new to other people is a good idea. Heck, with Tenchi Muyo, they showed an episode from Rhyo Ohki OVA 3 - which never was on Toonami before. Even though I own it, I would totally watch a complete Tenchi Muyo Rhyo Ohki OVA run on an adult swim based Toonami.

I also think there have been several shows that neither Toonami nor Adult Swim picked up that while technically old now would be new to a lot of people that would work well on such a block. I can only hope those in power realize the high demand for Toonami's return, and then act on it.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Big Momma » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:28 am

I would definitely love for it to come back, if only as a weekend-only Anime block. I have mixed feelings about them playing the shows they played back then, though. It'd be great to see them again, but at the same time I think it'd be good to get newer shows on there. I know FUNimation is coming out with Panty & Stocking this year. If there's a dub, I'm sure that would fit right in during Adult Swim hours.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by laserkid » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:33 am

I would hope that any return of the block would not exclusively be old shows, but there is a place for the best of the old shows to be there - both for nostalgia for older fans, and as interest drivers for new ones.

Most of us here, at least on the American fandom side, were getting into Dragonball in the mid to late Nineties, when the show was made in 1989. It was quite old in reality then, yet it still was a major part in the late Nineties/Early Oughts anime boom because it was new to us.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by funrush » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:49 am

Wow, all the internet rumors are slowly becoming true! Maybe this could be like Cartoon Network's version of Nick's 90's are All That.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by orangebrick94 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:27 am

Yeah, I hope it comes back. I watched it on April Fools day and was so happy too see DragonBall Z and Gundam Wing in the same timeslot again. :) I also can't believe Toonami, Gohan, Vegeta, Gundam Wing and DragonBall Z trended on Twitter April second. Then the following Tuesday hash tag #BringBackToonami was trending. Even Steve Blum the voice actor for Tom has been promoting #BringBackToonami. Then on April 4th Adult Swim tweeted (#BringBackToonami We've heard you. Thank you for your passion and interest - stay tuned). Just thought I'd get everyone up to speed who didn't know.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Akira » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:51 am

I was up late that night, and oddly enough was watching television, flipping through the stations when I came upon that. I sat awake for the next two hours watching it. It was very nostalgic, and it brought back some good memories for me from my high school and early college days. Would I watch it on a regular basis again if they brought it back? Probably not, considering how little television I watch, and my work schedule often would conflict with it. I can't say that if it returned that I wouldn't stop and watch for a while on occasion.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by BlazingFiddlesticks » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:57 am

What I want to know is what licensing issues, if any, Cartoon Network would have had in arranging the April Fools airing.

Like a lot of people have and will say, our lives are different now than when Toonami was on, and although I would definitely give an occasional watch if it returned as a re-run block (Maybe I can finally bother to see the Outlaw Star dub start to finish with some context!), I'd only be able to give it that a few months of the year.
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by dprez » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:48 am

Yea I caught this. Surprised the hell out of me. They aired the final episodes of anime they used to have on Toonami, and for DBZ it was Gohan defeating Cell. It was quite awesome seeing the "A boy has the right to dream" promo on TV instead of youtube xD.. Brought back a lot of warm fuzzy memories.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Soul » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:54 am

To me, regardless of how mediocre and cringe worthy FUNi's dub of Z can be, fact is?
Just regular casual fans, those average joes who watched it back in the day not knowing what anime was and probably still don't?
Those who casually bought the Orange Bricks?
It's those who want to see Dragon Ball Z on Toonami again and fact is? I say give it to em.
Toonami really did build DBZ's overall mainstream US appeal and in reality? Vise versa.
DBZ is as essential to Toonami for those fans who grew up with it than anything, especially if this new Toonami will capitalize on nostalgia a bit? It needs DBZ, period. Though I agree, start at the Buu arc.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by Hellspawn28 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:11 pm

I think this was the first time CN played since 2005 after the Ultimate Uncut run ended? I don't care for the old DBZ dub since I have the DVD's and the manga. I see no point on having it back with Kai on Nicktoons?
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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by BrodieK41 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:57 pm

I was able to catch it after they aired DBZ. Even though I own the series, it was great to see Yu Yu Hakusho and Gundam Wing on TV after so many years. If it was a one time only thing, I'm fine with that.

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by atm5508 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:03 pm

I can't believe that I missed this. Here's hoping for a Toonami Revival!

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Re: Toonami may potentially return.

Post by superrayman3 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:35 pm

atm5508 wrote:I can't believe that I missed this. Here's hoping for a Toonami Revival!
^ This i'll be honest if Toonami came back I would go back to watching it on CN without a second thought, here's hoping a revival happens.
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