Sunday, April 28, 2013

Toonami's New Look: My Thoughts

So, that time has come again. The time Toonami gets a new look, new TOM and a new Absolution. Seeing that the last time this happened, we got TOM 4 (with no Absolution), perhaps whatever they did would've been satisfactory. But it seems satisfactory is too little for the Toonami team, as this design is stellar. Let's look at each aspect, starting with the host with the most (of my childhood): our old friend TOM.

Toonami Operations Module (TOM) 5

When TOM 5 was initially revealed, I was a bit skeptical. The design just didn't look that great to me, but I noted the heavy TOM 2 influence. Now that I've seen him in motion, I have no worries. I find the design to work great, which is nice because he now has someone to talk to, because...

SARA is Back!

The Toonami team held back one big secret about the redesign, and that is the return of everyone's favorite spaceship AI, SARA. SARA is now voiced by Dana Swanson, and her new design combines the "bald head in the monitor" aspect of her first incarnation with the white coloration of her second. Not counting the April Fool's Prank, it has been over five years since we've last seen her, and I'm certainly glad to see her back in action!

The Absolution mk. III

With this being the smallest Absolution yet (hey, fuel prices are high these days), it may prove that bigger is not always better. It kinda reminds me of a cartoonified version of a WWII-era bomber, but it works well overall. I can't say its beats the previous designs of the Absolution, but it isn't too far off. We'll see after I get used to it within a few weeks. 

The block's overall look

 Toonami's first new design for the 2010s brings the block right in to the decade with a fresh look that is very pleasing to the eye. The return of CG to the title screens is welcome (though it might have killed the hopes of Toonami promo/intro making fans), and having TOM and SARA saying that the show "will return in a moment" at commercial breaks is something I never knew how much I'd missed. 

All in all, the new design is great, and I'm really excited for the new possibilities it brings.

Friday, April 26, 2013

5 Reasons Why I don't Think Adult Swim Hates Anime

I've noticed that there has been this belief spreading across the web, especially YouTube, that the people who run Adult Swim hate anime and anime fans. A while back I had a heated debate against one of the most vocal supporters of this theory (I won't name names, but those well versed in the YouTube anime crowd could probably figure it out). He had a video of Funimation voice actor Greg Ayres complaining about [as]'s jokes about anime. This YouTube user and I got into a heated debate, and he ended up saying that I had "Adult Swim's cock way too far up my throat", which he then proceeded to block me. He had accused me of blindingly accepting what Adult Swim and the Toonami crew had been at saying. Of course when I didn't take what HE said at face value he got ticked off. Double standards can be quite the pain.

The thing is, I have accepted what [as] had said about anime and Toonami, but it's not because I have a blind devotion to them. I accept what they say because I have reasons to believe they actually care about anime. In fact, I have come up with five.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Welcome to Toonami Aficionado!

Hello, Toonami Fans! My name is MetaMoss, and this is Toonami Aficionado. This blog will contain news, opinions, and more all focused on the animation block Toonami. I'm working on the first piece now, so check back soon!