Ah Toonami, many can trace their first anime experiences back to the world famous Cartoon Network block but over the years you'll find that not everything they shown seemed to fit the mold, so today looks at the top ten most unusual Toonami shows.
Special Mention: Fairy Tail, wondering why it isn't on Toonami yet.
10. Prince of Tennis
I've never pictured Toonami as one for sports anime, but I'd expect them to pick Hajime no Ippo, Eyeshield 21 or even Inazuma Eleven; Prince of Tennis though is a strange choice.
9. Superfriends
A 70s Hanna Barbara Cartoon about the DC Universe heroes, this show is better suited to Boomerang. The show itself hasn't aged well either.
8. Blue Submarine No.6
This film was the big highlight of the late 90s and played almost as much as Cartoon Network's other films at the time, based on a 60s manga about a Submarine crew attempting to stop a scientist from flooding what's left of the earth, while I have seen the film I barely remember anything of it. So why choose something so obscure?
7. Powerpuff Girls
How the Powerpuff Girls ended up in Toonami is a mystery seeing as it's the only Cartoon Cartoon show to ever show up on the block yet it already had a home on the normal Cartoon Network.
6. Jackie Chan Adventures
Arguably the most successful cartoon about a celebrity that's ever been made, re-imagining Jackie Chan as a cartoon character in a mystical quest to save the world from various Asian artifacts. In all honesty I'd always pictured this show on a different channel.
5. Dai-Guard
Originally picked up by ADV Vision but it baffles me that this was on Toonami and listed under their giant robot special, it wasn't even that popular.
4. Gigantor
Speaking of giant robots this show is OLD! I can't remember if they played the old show or the reboot but this show is ancient, so old that it first broadcast in Black & White.
3. SD Gundam
Very misguided choice considering it's history in the States, I don't wish to remind people of the Doozy Bots.
2. Hamtaro
A show more suited to girls, not that there is anything wrong with that, Cardcaptors & Sailor Moon had huge audience figures, what baffles me about this choice is that there is nothing in Hamtaro that would be considered action or suspense, more like solving basic everyday problems and learning what human life is about, I can't really picture this on the same time slot as the likes of Dragonballz or Gundam Wing.
1. Wulin Warriors
It's a Taiwanese puppet show. It's one of the most famous shows in Taiwan but misguided producers tried to give it a place on Toonami but barely lasted two episodes before the production was cancelled. This was Toonami's lowest point (Other than it's first closure)
The following shows have all appeared and disappeared from Adult Swim, some didn't seem to do well enough to even warrant a series, here is the top 10.
Honorable Mention: Korgoth of Barbaria which got it's own feature in my last post.
10. Lucy the Daughter of the Devil
Lucy is the daughter of the devil but is torn between her father's position as the ultimate evil and college, she's joined by a DJ who is meant to be Jesus. Both are frequently hunted down by church militants.
Fate: Only lasted 11 Episodes.
Verdict: Production Values were awful.
9. Mongo Wrestling Alliance
A family of wrestlers try to restore their honor in the ring but first they must fight off the evil tyrant in charge of the federation.
Fate: Only lasted 10 Episodes
Verdict: Nothing memorable about it.
8. Titan Maximum
A spinoff Voltron spoof of Robot Chicken following the adventures of a space team who defend Titan from attack.
Fate: Creator cancelled after 9 Episodes saying he'd rather work on Robot Chicken
Verdict: Was actually quite entertaining.
7. Mary Shelleys Frankenhole
Dr Frankenstein crossed with time travel segments of Animaniacs done to Nightmare Before Christmas.
Fate: Lasted 20 Episodes.
Verdict: It's okay, nothing special.
6. Minoriteam
A team of ethnic minority superheroes fight against a team of white Caucasian villains. (Gee I wonder why this one didn't last that long)
Fate: Lasted 20 Episodes.
Verdict: I get the joke just not the punchline.
5. 12 Oz. Mouse
A drunken badly drawn mouse tries to make a living doing oddjobs in an attempt to remember his lost past.
Fate: Lasted 21 episodes
Verdict: What the hell is this?
4. Freaknik the Musical
An animated retelling of a Spring Break music Event hosted in Atlanta.
Fate: One TV Special Only
Verdict: It's quite fun, it would be fun to do this to all music festivals.
3. Xavier Renegade Angel
Ummm, Shaman like figure on a permanent drugs trip. (Seriously try describing this show)
Fate: Lasted 20 Episodes
Verdict: I've got nothing.
2. Perfect Hair Forever
A balding man is on a quest to find perfect hair. The show parodies various anime stereotypes.
Fate: Lasted 7 Episodes
Verdict: It's clear from Kappa Mikey that Americans can't parody anime, and this show isn't much better.
1. Cheyenne Cinnamon And The Fabulous Unicorn Of Sugar Town Candy Fudge
(Yes the name is that long) Series about a Pop Princess from Candyland who jumps into Detroit to help solve problems of racism and teen pregnancy with the power of love and teen pop songs
Fate: Didn't make it past pilot
Verdict: Sounds better than it really is.
Here's something that really annoys me about cartoons, why are the most awesome ones cancelled and yet Gormiti's latest CGI series was green lit despite being the worst made CGI cartoon of all time?
Lets answer that with Korgoth of Barbaria.
Korgoth was designed as a Black comedy paying homage to the likes of Conan the Barbarian in an ultra violent world where anything goes and anything happens.
In one trailer Korgoth slices through a number of enemies Itchy & Scratchy style in one of the funniest trailers I've seen for a while.
The show was made by Aaron Springer who spent many years as a storyboard artist for Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack and Billy & Mandy not to mention a lot of work on Spongebob Squarepants. Korgoth was his first ever creation and the initial response to the series was extremely positive but Adult Swim played around with the idea for a year before cancelling it full stop citing costs as the main issue.
This isn't Adult Swim's only failing, the channel has a huge history of playing with ideas and then ending them in favor of it's more regular shows, it also messes with it's schedule far worst than what Cartoon Network did when it tried to do live action stuff.
Korgoth was an idea that suited their tastes but couldn't be bothered to make a series out of it, next post tomorrow will go through what else Adult Swim missed.
Taking a break from Cartoon Network Month to answer a tagging post but you can still find today's entries on my second world Anime Walk of Fame as I add Tienshinhan & the Anime Powerpuff Girls; that will be up shortly, for now here is my tagging answers to questions courtesy of Nimbusoak.
1. David Tennant or Matt Smith?
Matt Smith was better
2. Do you ever eat lemonade mix plain?
I'm afraid that product is not available in my country
3. What's your favorite music genre?
It changes frequently, this week it's Celtic Metal
4. How many game consoles do you have?
8 Handhelds, 10 Games Consoles, 5 of those 10 are broken Dreamcasts
5. Do you use game emulators?
Used to back in the bad old days of Windows 98
6. Should we go back to vinyl?
No, those things are difficult to store
7. If I made a Star Wars reference, would you understand it?
Yes, although most modern references escape me
8. Are you good at MarioKart?
Yes, I'm a retired veteran of Mario Kart, I quit when the sport became less about the karting and more about the items
9. Favorite non-manga comic?
Toss up between Scott Pilgrim & Adventure Time both are identical in awesome
10. What accent is the coolest?
Spanish
11. How did you find TheO?
By accident while looking for Anime Wallpaper
That's all the questions answered, I shall update this post when I think of my own questions along with some people to tag.
This review is probably the most significant one I've ever done so read carefully, and as Dragonballz is huge I'll review this by Saga.
If you've been around Cartoon Network for a while then at one point you've probably seen Dragonballz but if you remember your history you'd realize it's been edited to suit a general audience so this review compares the edited version to it's full uncut release sort of done in a little contest.
1. Raditz
Edited: Obnoxious over confident and who can forget "Keep your eye on the birdy"
Uncut: More mature and more intimidating and more intelligent actually explaining the plot properly.
Winner: Uncut
2. Gohan's Journey
Edited: Cuts out the long dragging scenes and avoids a couple of death scenes.
Uncut: Actually explains some of the reasons behind some of the issues but are largely unneeded.
Winner: Edited
3. Goku's Snakeway Run
Edited: HFIL is a poor edit but it does cut out some bizarre scenes as well.
Uncut: I'm glad for the title HELL but the Russian Roulette scene is strange.
Winner: Tie
4. Training Scenes
Edited: Gets to the point and sets things up quickly.
Uncut: Shows more from different points of view most notably Tien & Yamcha
Winner: Tie
5. Nappa & The Saibaman Fight
Edited: Plays out just fine, no Tien arms don't grow back.
Uncut: Deaths are more believable when you see the bodies.
Winner: Uncut
6. Vegeta Fight
Edited: Again plays just fine.
Uncut: About the same, does a couple of time waster scenes but mostly the same.
Winner: Tie
7. Prelude to Namek Saga
Edited: Gets to the point very quickly and within a couple of episodes were already in space.
Uncut: Bulma's uncomfortable first meeting with Mr Popo doesn't help dispel the myth that he's a racial stereotype.
Winner: Edited
Results: It's a tie between the two, although I don't like many of Dragonballz's edits, I can also see why the scenes were left out and in some respects since watching the uncut version you realize just how much they pad out the episodes with pointless nonsense and unfunny humor.
You see a series like Dragonballz is heavily reliant on it's action scenes being packed to the brim with such extreme fighting. However it can't always create a story from it without either going extremely violent or sacrificing the action, while it is possible to do both, Dragonballz can't so it's frustrating when you have to go through an episode of Goku passing his driving test or playing tag with the Red & Blue Oni. The point I'm getting at is that if I was shown the uncut version first I wouldn't like it, so the edited version actually allowed me to enjoy whats there, while Dragonball Kai sets out to do the same as the edited version remember that I was watching this a good 15 years ago and that the whole franchise is older than me.
Final Verdict: It's a worthy start to a big series but tries to pad out too much with filler and that's where the edited version deserves it's credit.
