The Improbable Yet Surprising Return of a Biweekly Toonami

 I was not prepared for the announcement of Adult Swim returning Toonami to daylight hours.

No, the Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) Toonami block isn't going anywhere. It remains intact every Saturday starting at Midnight E/P. Adult Swim officially announced they're putting a weekly block of retro Toonami shows on Friday afternoons from 5 PM to 7 PM E/P starting on May 31, 2024.

They're calling it Toonami Rewind.

In the tradition of the Checkered Past block of Cartoon Network originals, Toonami Rewind will have selected shows from Toonami's past incarnations on Cartoon Network. The inaugural lineup will consist of Sailor Moon (the recent Viz redub which is making its linear television debut on the block), Dragon Ball Z Kai (a more accurate reedit of Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama's legendary continuation of his Dragon Ball series), and Naruto (which hasn't aired on television in a decade). 

It's a fine weekly block, definitely filled with shows that represents the Cartoon Network era of the block. Needless to say, there are a lot of fan favorites that some want on the retro version of the better cartoon show.

Some want Gundam representation, either Gundam Wing, G Gundam, or even Mobile Suit Gundam. Some want shows like Robotech, Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, The Big O, and Yu Yu Hakusho. Some want more western representation like ThunderCats, ReBoot, Samurai Jack (which recently was added to Checkered Past), and Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures. Some want shows like One Piece and other older, yet recent Adult Swim-era Toonami shows in the daytime. Some weirdos want to see the non-action preschool series Hamtaro on Adult Swim's Toonami Rewind (really, what's wrong with you?) Some even want shows that never got the chance to air on Toonami proper like Trigun and The Slayers. 

Personally, I want to see Batman: The Animated Series on Toonami Rewind. Oh, who am I kidding? I just want to see Batman: The Animated Series on linear television again, especially on the upcoming MeTV TOONS network. 

In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing a lot of those older shows on MeTV TOONS when it launches. I know Speed Racer and Marine Boy have already been announced for the channel, but as I've talked about here, I wouldn't mind seeing a bunch more, particularly Toonami vets like Voltron, Robotech, Astro Boy, and Gigantor, on that channel. I know broadcast rights are difficult to acquire, but I think those kinds of shows would be easier to get on MeTV TOONS than Adult Swim/Cartoon Network. 

(Yes, it's weird to put Cartoon Network as a secondary brand, but looking at how their parent company sees things, that's the way it is now)

A longtime friend of mine suggested that Toonami Rewind may be a reaction/response to what MeTV TOONS is doing. I haven't completely discounted that theory, especially given how reluctant AS/CN has been to air action programming on the channel, especially outside of the Saturday night Toonami block in the daylight hours.

The reality is that this is another experiment. Toonami has always been an experimental block, and Toonami Rewind is no different. They're creating a weekly afternoon block, not a daily one. I don't see this expanding beyond Friday afternoons and fully becoming a replacement for Checkered Past, but it is a start of something that hasn't been done since 2014: a weekly action cartoon block in the daytime. Granted, it's on Adult Swim and not Cartoon Network proper (that's a conversation for another time), but again, it's a start.

Will it satisfy everybody? Hell, no. The original Toonami never pleased everybody. The current Toonami will never please everybody. That's the nature of the beast that is television programming. If the viewers stick around, I could see the lineup change and shift over time. A few surprises here, random stuff there if they're willing to invest in programming. But again, this is all experimental. They're trying to build you a better cartoon show again, and I'm pretty curious about how it'll play out with viewers. 

It is nice seeing action cartoons on linear television in the daytime again.

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