Toonami Rewind - A Failed Experiment

Didn't expect to be talking about this again so soon.

I’ve been watching Toonami since I was a child, and in some form or another I’ve watched Toonami’s current [as] incarnation since I was in 8^th grade. To say that I’m surprised about the current state regarding Toonami Rewind would honestly be a lie, and I’m not even talking about current affairs. This isn’t a blame game regarding nostalgia, but I do think we need to discuss it.

Simply put, the reason that Toonami has succeeded is because it used the foundation of a simple nostalgia bait block to elevate itself into achieving new things, either by keeping up with the times and acquiring new shows, or creating new shows altogether. I know that morale regarding many of Toonami’s originals has been at an all time low, but I have to respect that the attempt was even made. If Bebop and Inuyasha reruns were the main draw to Toonami in the long run, I doubt it would have even made it to 2014.

The closest competition that existed for years was TeenNick’s attempt of simply re-airing old Nicktoons, which honestly only succeeded in showing that the type of person that wants to watch old Nickelodeon can be appealed to very easily. Their block changed names multiple times and throughout a decade has never had many substantial programing changes or interesting events. Whenever they did, it was the outlier and not the norm.

• Airing more obscure TV shows that haven’t been seen due to licensing was made into a spectacle and not a new normal (see KaBlam! And The Adventures of Pete and Pete)
  • Shows that were speculated to have some airtime since the block’s inception had a much smaller airtime in reality (Weinerville)
  • There’s at least one instance of a show flat out not airing at all due to a last minute schedule change (Pelswick, which hasn’t been seen on Nickelodeon in many years)
• Having a big advertising campaign to announce multiple rebrands when broader programming rarely, if ever changed
• Capitalizing on the internet “creepypasta” – type popularity of Crybaby Lane by airing it multiple times over the years around Halloween, though the special has still not received a home media release or official online streaming

Considering that Toonami is still here, even if the luster behind Toonami Rewind stagnated and wouldn’t be a loving ode to history like many core Toonami fans would have wanted, if the programming was good enough I expected that the block could simply just run on autopilot and get guaranteed views from people who only were ever interested in seeing something close to the Toonami they grew up on, and nothing else. In reality, it was never going to be that easy.

Toonami marketed itself based on its unique aesthetic, but in 2024 the landscape of television has changed with much more time being spent on advertising and the unique ambiance of a block being stripped away. I realize there’s only so much that could have been done to circumvent this, but there are still issues worth bringing up.

• No more NOW / NEXT LATER bumps (these haven’t been a thing for years, but were very much a core of the Toonami branding. It’s understandable that someone would ask about these)
• Few unique promos (no old game reviews, music videos, etc. I do know on a previous anniversary there are some old promos that were re-aired on TV, but circumstances could’ve been different to allow them there and not here)
• Inconsistent aesthetics (The same bumpers used during the Saturday block were used here, with some slight refreshes to match the UI of the TOM 3.5 era from 2012. So basically, the same TOM and SARA were used.)

I understand all of the titles they were able to air, genuinely. All three of these shows are kinda big and all of them have tenured history with the block. DBZ [Kai] goes without saying, Naruto is also famous (despite already airing uncut before), and Sailor Moon airing the uncut Viz dub was the star of the show. It’s not what people were expecting especially if they weren’t already watching the main block, though. Original DBZ would never air on television again, and a version of Kai with the Bruce Falcouner soundtrack will never exist (officially). Sailor Moon’s DiC / Cloverway dubs will likely never get official acknowledgement ever again as well.

I really would like it if everyone got what they wanted, to be honest. I’ve been loving my Digimon The Movies blu ray that has accurate translations of 3 Japanese movies with subtitles and an accurate redub, and the original janky late 90’s American hodgepodge that is “Digimon the Movie”. I bet legal issues and availability are big factors, I’ll never know the answers myself, but I do implore people whose childhoods do get caught up in the crossfire to realize that getting really passionate on social media about how your version is definitive and immune from criticism… it’s going to be annoying. I’ve seen it for years with people greatly disliking Kai with no nuance beyond “no Falcouner music”, and while Sailor Moon’s new dub was only on TV for little over half a year, similar opinions were much louder and came out at a much faster rate.

Politely, I hope people chill out. Not asking anyone to change your opinions regarding what you want to enjoy, but we’re too old for this.

It’s a big shame because I did figure that shorter shows could have aired, or just stretching the definition of nostalgia. Finishing up an IGPX rerun? Airing The Big O S1? Giving people what they want and airing Gundam Wing or G Gundam? In a perfect world I would’ve loved to see if shows originally meant for Toonami in the CN era could have aired, but I have to admit to myself that would never happen. I’ve seen a lot of suggestions on social media, from airing DCAU shows to Megas XLR to Samurai Jack, and all of them are good. I think some sort of overlap between it and Checkered Past, or airing Rewind a bit more often would have helped.

As television slowly fades away, the idea of nostalgia focused blocks feels more and more irrelevant. Other TV stations have had their go at showing anime because of the success of Toonami in the US. (Does Chiller's anime block ring any bells?) It just doesn’t seem like there’s room for any of that anymore. FAST online TV could be a potential new avenue, but I don’t have many thoughts on that specifically, and I’m cynical enough to feel that MAX would never go down that road. We’re lucky enough to see former Toonami all stars on Tubi. I’ve accepted time continuing to march on and the fact that I’m getting older long ago; Toonami will never be what it was in 2004, 2012, or 2014 ever again. I did really want to see some older shows rerun because they’re good and I wanted to pay my respects, not just because they’re old. Naruto was just announced to join the Saturday block after Toonami Rewind dies, and I’m not impressed personally as I really wanted Sailor Moon to continue showing on adult swim, but alas.

It hurts to admit but maybe this truly was a failed experiment. A younger me would have been more frustrated because the demographic of people filling every Facebook comment section wanting THEIR Toonami back didn’t show up, but hey, neither did I. I haven’t had cable for a while and Toonami Rewind aired when I was at work. There’s still a bit of frustration especially with immediately seeing people think we’d ever get a Toonami channel when a 2 hour block crashed and burned, but at this point I’d rather those people check out Cereal Milk VHS uploads on YouTube, hit up Toonami Aftermath, or just get back into buying shows on DVD again.

If we want to revisit our childhoods, we need to do it on our own terms.