With the upfronts for Adult Swim last night, there was a feeling of uncertainty in the air. After a massive viral campaign that began on April Fools’ weekend, the late night programming block revealed they were very much listening to fans after a large ratings rise the night the fan-favorite returned for one night only. With plenty of announcements sure to come, one has leaked out early and to very loud applause: Toonami is officially back.
Adult Swim announced the news yesterday afternoon, with the first night of the new anime block scheduled to hit in just one week’s time on May 25th. They revealed a teaser image (shown about) as well, while voice actor Steve Blum of the block’s host TOM spoke his own short reaction on his Facebook page “Hey Faithful…Told ya. #ToonamisBackBitches.”
No schedule has yet been revealed as to what shows will be shown, but it will likely consist of the April Fool’s day line up that had Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, and more on its roster.
The biggest achievement is the fact that voices were heard by fans. It took awhile for Nickelodeon to recognize fans’ own 90s pleads, culminating in the late night block that hasn’t exactly gone as initially promised, but Cartoon Network has certainly heard the voices of its Toonami Faithful. After worldwide trending topics on Twitter, thousands of feedback posts on the company website, hundreds of forum posts, and plenty of creativity, the anime giant is back in its rightful place. So, the kudos really goes to those who have done everything they can to bring the block back to the line up.
Now to share a piece of that creativity:
