Archive for September 21st, 2008

It came to my attention yesterday that the Toonami block on Cartoon Network aired its last show after its 11 year run between 1997 and 2008. This, just after announcing their programming schedule change For Adult Swim in which they moved their premier anime to the “death block” at 5am EST.

So what does this mean? To be honest I believe this is a collimation of years of change within the anime community. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s there was an explosion in the anime fandom, resulting in increased attendance to conventions and DVD sales. However, as internet bandwidth became increasingly cheaper and more accessible, fansub distribution grew as well. Fans could now watch what they wanted, when they wanted, and typically in the original Japanese dub without annoying commercials. Once they saw a show, they didn’t need to buy the DVDs since they already had it on their computer, or they discovered they didn’t enjoy the series enough to purchase.

I do believe this contributed to decreased DVD sales, leading to the folding of Geneon and others, however the answer is not that cut and dry. I watch fansubs of series that have not been licensed in the US, and I feel myself and other who do so are justified. Many times it takes months to years for an entire series to become available on DVD in the US after its aired in Japan (although this is improving), and how can I justify purchasing a $29 DVD for a series that I’m just interested in and actually haven’t seen a single second of besides short trailers and teasers? Naturally I’m inclined to download the fansub and watch it before hand, and if I truly enjoyed the series I’ll go ahead and purchase the DVDs when they are released. The alternative to this is American TV presenting Japanese anime on a sterilized basis, much as Adult Swim and Toonami did. For example, I’m currently watching Code Geass on Adult Swim. As such, I have no intention of downloading fansubs of this series since I already have access to it on Cartoon Network. In fact, I’ve enjoyed the series so much I’ve gone ahead and purchased the first two DVDs.

This is not the same for everyone, and I know plenty of people who refuse to watch anime aired on American TV. However I find a draw to the weekly schedule of watching series I enjoy on Adult Swim. With this venue disappearing, I find myself and others will have no choice but to turn to downloading more fansubs. Yes, Cartoon Network is looking out for their ratings, which have been declining, in no small part to fansub distribution and demographic changes. However removing their programming or chancing their schedule will not help the overall problem, in fact it will only exacerbate it. The only solution I can foresee is either placing anime in more accessible time slots once again (such as the case with the SiFi channel), or for distribution companies such as Funimation to place more than 1-2 free episodes to watch on their website. The Funi channel seems to be a good solution to this, however its limited availability continues to hinder its growth. I will continue to buy DVD’s of series I enjoy; however as far as Adult Swim and Cartoon Network go, I’m finished. I was there in the beginning with Outlaw Star, Zoids, and many others, Toonami will be sadly missed.