#7 - Transformers Armada
2002 was the year that old-school properties reemerged in the public eye. The year brought Toonami's first series ThunderCats back in comic form and brought revised classic toy-based properties like Zoids and Masters of the Universe to Toonami. One of those shows that benefited from the new era of old-school was Transformers Armada.
Transformers had always been a favorite of the children of the 80s and 90s. In fact, Toonami had used the franchise's title font as typeface for its logo for a number of years. So, when Hasbro announced that the new Transformers series was going to air alongside the new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, fans were elated.
Cue to the day of the premiere when fans of the series learned the unsettling truth. Transformers Armada took the franchise in a direction that many fans are trying hard to suppress. The whole plot of Armada was for the Autobots and Decepticons to scour the planet Earth and the surrounding cosmos for miniature Transformers known as Minicon which would give them increased powers. Combined with a group of kids trying too hard to be hip, the Autobots had help in trying to find the elusive Minicons.
In short, Transformers became a robotic version of Pokemon. Not good. While Energon fared slightly better, Cybertron was much better, though its stay on Toonami was short-lived after the series moved to the final weekday lineup of Kids' WB in 2005. Regardless, Armada remains a dark spot on the history of Transformers that remains a disappointment to Toonami fans and Transformers fans alike.
#6 - The (brief) Takeover of Wulin Warriors
Long story short, the 2005 announcement of Wulin Warriors, a Taiwanese puppet show, to Toonami was a breath of rancid air to the viewers. In the same year that brought the block shows like Naruto, Zatch Bell, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and IGPX, the announcement ruined people's days, and it frustrated a lot of people. When the actual details of the show came out as well as the producer behind it, the much loathed Animation Collective, fans really were adamant about the show airing on the block.
They didn't want it.
Of course, the network didn't do much about the property for the rest of 2005, but at the beginning of 2006, Toonami heavily promoted the series. When the series did premiere in February of that year, the show met everyone's expectations and exceeded them. People thought it was just going to be a terrible puppet show. It was the WORST series to ever air on the block and, as a result, was the shortest-lived series in Toonami history. Wulin Warriors was cancelled after two episodes, ironically the same two episodes that was featured on the show's official site, meaning that two episodes were all we were going to see. Thank the cosmos that we didn't have to deal with this disappointing series for much longer.
#5 - Giant Robot Week
In January 2003, Cartoon Network and ADV Films finally got together and announced that they would program a week of uncut, commercial-free shows centered around some of the biggest mecha franchises around. Giant Robot Week brought Neon Genesis Evangelion, Martian Successor Nadesico, Dai-Guard, Gigantor, and Low Brow (the pilot of Megas XLR) to Toonami as well as brought Robotech back to the block for one week only. Sounds good, right?
Well, that's because you didn't see it in practice.
Cartoon Network didn't advertise for the special event until a week before it took place. They actually spent more time advertising for the new Saturday night action block than Giant Robot Week. The web-only promotion featured Transformers, Gundam, and The Big O, shows that weren't included in the event. If that wasn't enough, the actual event was moderately less than impressive.
Forget about Giant Robot Week being uncut and commercial-free. The show cut off the openings of each show as well as made pointless edits. The Gigantor shorts were repetitive with the same parts showing twice in one day. One of the shows, Nadesico, skipped episodes and aired spoilerific ones and proved that it wasn't a mecha series. Evangelion edited out several scenes, including Pen-Pen's debut, which just happened to involve a refrigerator full of beer. The ratings were more or less a disappointment to Cartoon Network (that's what happens when you don't advertise weeks ahead of time). The presentation was a disappointment to say the least.
Let's continue.
