Rest In Peace to Toonami, the greatest programing block in the universe.
Toonami is responsible for a lot of the anime fans out there now. It is also responsible for Adult Swim, the spiritual successor of Toonami Midnight Run.
I remember Toonami for being the only programming block where I cared what happened to the characters who were presenting the shows. I wanted Tom to defeat “The Intruder.” And I was worried about Tom and Sara during “The Lockdown.”
And it wasn’t just their special events. All of their promos were awesome. Like this one for Advanced Robotics.
By the way, that’s Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime, you’re hearing in those videos.
Watching a Toonami promo made you excited for shows you’ve never would’ve watched before. A political drama with giant robots. No thanks. But after watching this promo for Gundam Wing, I want to see this. Immediately! When is it on!?
Or a Samurai who doesn’t kill and hangs out with some girl and two brats at a swordfighting school. Snore! Wait, that’s what Rurouni Kenshin is like!? I’m there!!
Toonami actually managed to drag quite a few series out of cancellation, like Sailor Moon, ReBoot, and my personal favorite, Dragon Ball Z.
It was screwed over by Cartoon Network when they replaced it with Miguzi, shoved Tom into a Saturday night time slot, reduced it’s run time and saddled it with Naruto episodes and reruns of… something else, I’m not even sure. I won’t even mention what they did to Tom and the Absolution with this move.
I caught the last broadcast two years ago completely by accident and it was genuinely sad to see it end. Does anyone miss Stick Stickly? I don’t. But I miss Tom and Sara and the Absolution.
There are a few websites devoted to keeping Toonami’s spirit alive, like NeoToonami or Toonami Aftermath.
And here’s a ton more links to Toonami promos and music videos on YouTube. Binge!
Ronin Warriors Intro
Tom On Anger
Gundam Promo
Samurai Jack Intro
Toonami Promo 2003
2003 Opening
Naruto Hundo Promo
Justice League Unlimited
JLU Season 2
Batman Promo
Batman Opening
Can’t believe I forgot:
Outlaw Star
IGPX
And Sailor Moon!