One thing I'd like to know, could Toonami survive with less viewers who are younger?
Just fine, probably.
The problem Toonami kept having at Cartoon Network was that it didn't skew young enough. They got a lot of teenagers and adults, but not as much with the younger viewers. When CN was an all-ages network, that wasn't a big issue. When Adult Swim launched and CN began to refashion itself as more of a kids network, it was. That's why it got moved off weekdays, and probably why the last look featured cute, Pixar-y robots.
They'll target a teens and up demographic and clearly brand it as part of Adult Swim. Just like they did last night on the Bleach promo.
One thing that's been lost in all the hubbub is that the Toonami intro also made its return last night. They weren't as long as traditionally (they were about 15-seconds long as opposed to 30) but every show but Bleach got one and the only reason why Bleach didn't get one was because it kept its original opening for the night.
This took effort and love. Respect.
Exactly my point! This was elaborately done, and why I'm not so sure this was completely intended as a gag. AS likes to bait the fans, so if it was a joke, they would have slapped together a hodgepodge of ancient packaging around their current anime and/or a bunch of DBZ. Or make Toonami bumps for their comedies. ("Check it Out with Dr. Steve Brule, only Toonami.") Something that would rile people up.
This wasn't that, though. It was 100% authentic. Yeah, a lot of the CG and elements were recycled from the 04 look (the best one to pick, IMO), but that was the only thing that didn't seem new. They made new promos, got Steve in to do new voiceovers, made new Toonami intros for everything, and even reworked an image promo. And the programming mix was brilliant. You needed to get DBZ, Gundam, Tenchi, and Outlaw Star (clearly the biggest hit of the night). But Blue Sub was a great out of left field choice. Including Bleach and Trigun as Toonami shows was a brilliant choice because they just fit perfectly. The only thing I'd classify is a glaring omission is Thundercats. But I'm not complaining that we got Astro Boy and Gigantor. And above that, there were new episode premieres and less edited cuts in there as well. Even if some of them were freebie airings in exchange for DVD plugs, the lineup was meticulously chosen.
This was so well planned and so well thought out that I never thought it was a joke. I saw it as a celebration of what made it great and a way to test the waters for a return. I don't see how you go as far as making a new game review without a thought at least in the back of the head of following it up somehow.
Like how All That etc aired on Nick and was aimed at kids, but "The 90's are all that" is on TeenNick and aimed at teenagers.
That brings up the only possible caveat with this.
The TeenNick 90s block is a retro block. It gets viewers for nostalgia. Toonami's return was so well received in large part because of the nostalgia.
If they bring it back for good, Toonami can't be a nostalgia block. It has to have new shows and introduce the audience to new things like it always has. It can't coast on people's nostalgic feelings for DBZ. That is going to be the real challenge here. But I think last night proves that a Toonami on Adult Swim would work.
