Here's a few disjointed thoughts about what Toonami meant to me, the state of anime on AS, and the possible return of Toonami and what shape that should take.
... and if you don't care about what I have to say, well, they brought it up!
For me the prime Toonami period was 2000 and 2001. We all came for DBZ, which everyone my age watched (and it was
so addictive), but we stayed for the shows that were a bit more sophisticated. Outlaw Star, Tenchi, Big O, Mobile Suit Gundam, and 08th MS Team were my favorites. Then Adult Swim premiered and I sorta stopped watching Toonami. I'd check in occasionally, but DBZ had lost it's appeal to me (when Dragon Ball began airing I realized that it was actually a far superior show!), and the shows on AS seemed more like a progression of the Toonami I liked anyway: Cowboy Bebop, then Trigun, then FLCL, then
new Big O, then Ghost in the Shell, then Eva, then Eureka Seven... E7 was the last action show on AS I
really liked. FMA, in all it's forms, was pretty good, and for a while has been the best currently airing new thing in AS' anime department, but personally it didn't inspire the kind of love those other shows I mentioned did.
What I'm trying to say in all this rambling ramble is that for me, for a few years, I made no distinction between Toonami and AS. It was a progression. The stuff I liked continued from the one to the other and the more juvenile (don't take it as an insult if you're a fan of those shows, I'm talking obvious target demographics) stuff stayed on Toonami.
Which brings us to today: AS has gone more juvenile in it's anime acquisitions with Bleach and some other shows reflecting the shonen aspect of Toonami (reflected in their DBZ > YYH > Naruto lineage). Late at night they are showing reruns of great shows like Cowboy Bebop and GITS. Another elephant in the room: the mid to late '90s through early '00s were just a better time for anime. There was a bigger pool of strong shows then there is now, with pretty much everyone into anime admitting to problems in the industry and that the art form is in a rut. Personally, over the last five years or so I've wandered if I had just grown out of anime. Nothing I saw piqued my interest, but last year I saw Gurren Lagann and re watched Trigun and Eureka Seven and immensely enjoyed all three. I knew I could still like anime, but the shows that were airing just weren't interesting me.
And we get to the finale thingamajig: what form Toonami should take if it comes back. I don't think it should just be a rerun of all old programming, because Toonami and AS were never like that. It would be like a zombie Toonami, shambling on, powered by nostalgia. Also, you can't just dream up a perfect schedule because this is a business and there's a limited budget to work with, so here goes my pitch for a plausible but cool Toonami relaunch within the AS block:
Always have three new shows (occasionally two when between new acquisitions, but three should be the goal). Bleach is a mainstay at this point, I don't care for it personally, but it brings the shonen element that has been a part of the mix since Toonami and some anime fans love that stuff. When Bleach ends (it is ending?) replace it with a show targeted at a similar demographic. Then for the second show I volunteer Panty and Stocking (I really liked Gurren Lagann) and for the third show... um, I don't know. But I think three new shows is a goodly amount.
An hour of classic Toonami reruns. Say, start out with uncut Outlaw Star and Gundam Wing. It brings the nostalgia and shows strong shows to a possible new generation. When these shows complete their runs they move out of this block and join...
Late night reruns. This lasts for two hours. Keep Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Big O, FMA, and FLCL on the roster. When shows in the fresh Toonami rerun hour run their course they join this group of shows which are all periodically reran and shuffled in and out of the lineup.
... so, that results in about 4 and a half hours of stuff... oh, I suppose you rerun the new stuff at the end. That makes for 6 hours! Viola!
Anyway, just spit balling! Here's a Bugs emoticon to show me out:
