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.