The late 1990s and early 2000s was a very exciting time to be a fan of anime. What had once been a relatively niche product which often saw dramatic edits and changes to try to appeal to Americans began to hit mainstream popularity and, while many edits continued to occur, series and films began to be released in a more loyal fashion. While there were many avenues that the burgeoning Western anime fans could pursue to experience the world of anime, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at one particular source, Toonami, and how it contributed to the rising Western fandom.
First, let’s discuss the origins of Toonami. Originally releasing as a programming block within Cartoon Network in 1997 to replace the Super Adventures block, it oriented itself as focused on action animated series, in contrast to the comedy series typical for the channel. The early years predominantly focused on Western animated series although we did see a smattering of anime series such as Voltron, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. However, the brand was refocused in 1999 with the establishment of a new host for the channel, T.O.M., and the announcement of Toonami Midnight Run, a programming block that would air after midnight and show content too violent or inappropriate for the daytime Toonami block.
Toonami had an early hit with Dragon Ball Z, a series that had initially struggled in America and Toonami saw tremendous success with the release of Gundam Wing which was the first series to air on both the daytime block (edited) and the Midnight Run block (unedited). Toonami also saw success with their airing of Naruto and even developed their own anime co-production with Production I.G when they released Immortal Grand Prix. However, in 2008 it was announced that Toonami was being cancelled due to low ratings.
However, this was not the end of Toonami. On April 1st, 2012, after teasing the audience with another airing of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, the programming cut to T.O.M. presenting the upcoming shows under the Toonami branding. This move proved to be very successful and, after a successful social media campaign which resulted in Adult Swim saying “We’re listening”, it was then announced that Toonami was coming back on May 26th, 2012 with new programming such as Deadman Wonderland. While it’s debatable how successful this return has become ultimately, it’s still impressive that it happened.
Now that we’ve got that history lesson over and done, I should probably begin discussing the impact of Toonami on Western anime fandom. As I mentioned before, the airing of various anime franchises such as Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, Naruto etc., contributed to not only their popularity amongst Western anime fans but also to the mainstream knowledge and acceptance of anime as well. In an age before the rise of anime streaming services, the ability to watch unedited anime on television was unprecedented and many fans began to realise how drastic some of the changes were when anime was edited for American broadcast.
These airings laid the groundwork for the rise of various distributors of anime such as Funimation, Viz Media and Bandai Entertainment. While Bandai Entertainment may have stopped distributing anime, both Funimation and Viz Media remain titans within the North American anime industry with numerous success stories. Much of the groundwork for these companies was connected to successful runs of their anime on Toonami and it’s hard to imagine how these companies would have developed were they not given the opportunity to air their series so many years ago.
While I do believe that the modern version of Toonami is a shadow of what it once was due to competition from streaming services, I must still acknowledge their historical importance in the development of Western anime distribution and fan culture. let me know your thoughts on why Toonami was so important for Western anime fandom, whether you’ve ever watched Toonami, what anime you discovered if you did watch Toonami, your thoughts on the modern incarnation of Toonami and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!