What has been kind of grinding my gears lately is this general debate on whether or not the new toonami should showcase any of its older programming (or AS ACTN's older programs) or it needs to be totally new, only programs that never were on toonami.
The idea of a completely old toonami is bad.
Toonami itself was always trying to showcase cutting edge action animated programming in general. What is old now was new then. With toonami being back, that goal should not change at all. Toonami needs to hurl us at animes that we have yet to see before, and fufill it's duty shine a light on anime in America.
Nostalgia only works for so little, and this is evident in things like "The 90's are All That." If you've been floating around on [as] boards enough, you've probably seen me make this comparison like a dozen times. Basically, 90's are all that is a block on TeenNick that showcases only 90's programming. When it first launched, it gave record breaking ratings to TeenNick.
But about 2 months later was when all the hype died down and the block started facing a big problem. The old programming that the block had to provide lacked variety which led to unsatisfied nostalgics. They wanted more old programs, and the block was having huge difficulty with licensing with these programs. Fans were constantly attacking the block and threatning not to watch it.
So from that, the 90's are all that pretty much showcased how nostalgia is a very short term weapon. It only lasts for a short amount of time but it will blast ratings everywhere. Still, if toonami is going to be back on television for good, then it needs to sustain itself for a good amount of time.
We have seen all of those old animes that toonami has provided. Even then, those animes have left quite the legacy on the anime industry in general, as you always will come across that person talking about gundam or that person talking about dbz. Those animes are no longer cutting edge. They still have left very nice legacies but toonami was and should always be a progressive block.
The idea of a completely new toonami is probably just as bad.
If one of the leading reasons for toonami's revival was for the sake of nostalgia and making us board the absolution again like we use to, then why shouldn't it showcase some older programming to expand upon that nostalgia? It would be nice for it to cater somewhat to that aspect.
Whilst I did say that most of the animes have been out for a very long time and one has easy access to them, the issue of toonami and it's lineup is obviously not an issue of availabilty. If this were an issue of "wow where can I watch anime," toonami wouldn't even need to be revived because the internet has provided us such easy access to anime. It's obvious that there was something way more special and attractive about the old shows being on toonami. People will want to tune in just to get that effect, rather than sitting behind an emotionless Steve Blum lacking computer screen.
A completely new toonami will obviously leave some of the toonami faithful feeling betrayed. The April Fools Day broadcast had one time only deals, but it still did tease us with all of that old programming, kind of like how the whole idea of toonami being on that night was teasing us. It shouldn't leave us for dead.
Throwing in some old programming would definitely help sustain ratings throughout the night.
Obviously the April Fools Day broadcast was another example of this. In comparison to the week previous to that broadcast, some showcases of tv shows had over 100% increase in viewers. This was common in the really late night hours such as 2AM and onward. Obviously, old programming in general would help keep viewers staying up late to watch the older programs.
Also on [as] boards, we can clearly see that more people would be supporting toonami if they had some old programs hence things like the toonami disappointment thread. We need more firepower, why not rake in those viewers?
The late night hours, 3AM and onward would be a good time for older programs to have their run, considering that if people are worried about old programming blocking new programming, that's an easy way to make everything 1/2 and 1/2. On top of that. The real hours that are okay for premiering things are usually 12AM - 2AM, at least in toonami's case. After that, it wouldn't be incredibly wise to have a lot of new shows air or premiere, for they may be at risk for losing ratings. It would still be possible, however.
Also, in order to stray away from the repetitive shadow that AS ACTN has left for us for the past years, as some consider that AS ACTN for the past 2 years had been "HEY LETS REGURGITATE THE SAME CRAP WE'VE BEEN FEEDING YOU FOR 2 YEARS NOW DURRR HURRR," allowing some older programs to be on would be nice to step away from that, especially considering that since these programs have been off tv for so long, they're practically new to AS ACTN, or what is [toonami].
It would just be generally flashier to have some Outlaw Star and Gundam Wing airing versus the casual Big O + FLCL + GITS or whatever the heck aired.
Now obviously the repeats... We gotta make this work.
When I do consider the easy availability people have to anime in these times, it makes me really wonder if toonami even needs to have any repeats at all, or would they just be taking up space. There are those that are out on Saturday nights but one sometimes thinks, shouldn't they just go on the internet later on? Well still, [as] needs to make money...
Also the low amount of money at the moment is an issue when getting some of these old programs.
Also these old shows taking up time... Obviously, DBZ won't be making it on the block for a very very very long time, but if something like that were, or even a show like Yu Yu Hakusho made it on the block, that would take up quite a bit of time right? These shows would possibly take more than 2 years to get through with their once a week airings. Toonami has so much old programming that it would need to cater to, it wouldn't have the time to air 80+ tv shows unless the repeats were eliminated giving toonami a full on 3 hours on classic programs or something.
The only money efficient compromise I've worked out at the moment is this:
1. Cut off GITS and Bebop's repeats at 5-6AM. Those shows have been rerun to death, they do not need repeats.
2. Push the repeats starting time to 4AM, thus 2 hours of repeats.
3. Now you should have the hour of 3AM open. In that hour air two classic programs.
4. one classic program should be Outlaw Star since that is the most requested old program. The next would probably be Gundam Wing, for that is the second most requested classic program and it is praised by Demarco.
The main point of this thread is simply to communicate that mixing old and new programming is the way to go, though the old programming shouldn't have a stranglehold on toonami. It's wrong to go with only just one factor.
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