So Long, Toonami.

When the English version of the 2003 Astro Boy anime aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in the US, this was the special intro sequence.



This past weekend was the very final broadcast of Toonami. Although I live in Canada, where Cartoon Network has never been made available, I think it's a very unfortunate thing for Toonami to end, just as I think it was a mistake to scale the Toonami sub-brand down from every weekday afternoon to Saturday nights only. Toonami introduced a new generation of fans to classic animation and anime, and aired great shows like Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Voltron, Ronin Warriors, Thundercats, Robotech, and more. Visiting the US and being able to watch Toonami, even if only for a brief moment, was a very special thing. It created it's own culture based around awesome animation wrapped with a slick presentation.

But now it seems like networks would rather focus on trying to sell their own sanitized cartoons as the hippest and greatest thing instead of taking chances with edgy, action-based shows. That's a rant for another day.

For more looking back at some of the cool video content that was produced for Toonami, check out Toonami Digital Arsenal.