Toonami Flashback Friday Episode 1-In the Beginning…the 80s came back

Welcome Dear Readers and Toonami Faithful to a Gundam Anime Corner Special Event looking back at the history of Cartoon Networks Toonami.  From major titles to important programming blocks, if it had an impact, I’ll be looking at it, though I’ll be focusing a lot on the early days of Toonami since they were kind of my Anime origins.  Speaking of, lets begin at the beginning of Toonami…back when it was Moltar from Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, playing MC and not Tom.

 
Toonami launched on March 17, 1997.  While it is widely known to the world as the premiere spot for Anime, Anime wasn’t first and foremost on Cartoon Networks mind at first conception.  As such, there was only one Anime title released in the initial 4-6pm Monday-Friday block alongside Thundercats and The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest.  That Anime, was Voltron.
 
“From days of long ago, from uncharted reigons of the universe, comes a legend…the legend of Voltron: Defender of the Universe.”  It’s one of the most epic intros of all time, spoken by none other than Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen.  Voltron was one of the biggest attempts to bring Anime over to the US and market it to a younger demographic.  The draw was obvious: a space fairing adventure that could ride the success of Star Wars AND it had five bad ass looking robotic Lions that could form one singular Giant Robot, Voltron himself.  The only problem: the Anime on which Voltron is based, Beast King GoLion…is ridiculously gory and brutal.  An extensive editing process was put into practice to remove the excessive violence and in the process the story was changed slightly for an American release.  One such note is the fate of one of the original Voltron pilots, Sven.  In the original Anime, his counterpart dies from wounds in battle.  So as not to show such a tragic event on what was aimed to be a kid show, his character was written as sent back to Earth for treatment (Earth was also a wasteland in the original Anime too…it was bleak).  The original GoLion Anime would become available in the US years later but even without it, Voltron was a hit and was a perfect choice to lead the Anime charge at Toonami’s birth.  If anything, the rebroadcast in the late 90s for a new generation showed the staying power of an Anime that was popular a decade prior.  Voltron’s tenure on the Toonami block was prosperous and would leave and return several times, still held in high regard. 

One year after Voltron kicked off Toonami’s Anime legacy, it was replaced with yet another 80s US Anime venture and this time much of what was removed from Voltron was kept more intact.  What startled me about Robotech was that because I wasn’t watching it every day (my parents had me on a strict no TV schedule Monday-Thursday cause of school), I never knew the big behind the scenes secret of the show: that it was made up of three separate Anime series-Super Dimension Fortress Macross; Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross; and Genesis Climber Mospeda.  So when I missed several episodes with Rick Hunter and Max Sterling from the Macross Saga, I never knew what happened to them in the second season, The Masters Saga, til much later.  Robotech’s arrival on Toonami was important due to the series being a more mature series than Voltron.  The death of Roy Focker from the original Macross Anime was left intact for Robotech and was an unforgettable moment and one of the first major deaths I ever saw in an Anime series.  For all the sprawling space battles and transforming fighter planes, Robotech never shied away from showing just how bad war could be when two immensely powerful forces clashed…few were safe, even aboard the SDF1 itself.  Robotech might not have had the same lasting impact on Toonami as say Voltron or other Mecha Anime we’ll eventually get to.  But it was a complicated and more mature tale than the former show and honestly, without Robotech, I personally don’t know when I’dve gotten into Macross, especially one of my all time favorite Anime, Macross Plus. 

All in all, the Anime beginnings on Toonami were kind of quiet compared to what was coming next.  Voltron and Robotech might’ve given 80s Anime a fresh audience and a brief new lease on life.  But their successes were nothing compared to the juggernaut that was about to launch Toonami into the stratosphere and open the floodgates for Cartoon Network to bring more Anime of all kinds in.  Come back Next Friday as Toonami Flashback Fridays gets right into the nitty gritty of the all time Toonami Anime Champ.  You know what I’m talking about…Dragon…Dragon…ROCK THE DRAGON…Dragon…Ball…Z.  See ya next week right here at the Gundam Anime Corner Toonami Faithful.