I’m gonna send this letter to CartoonNetwork cuz I’m pissed that they canceled Toonami. What do you think?

Dear CartoonNetwork Executives,

I’ve watched Toonami since it’s first run, and I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed in your choice to cancel it.

CartoonNetwork is a sinking channel. If your ratings are going down and you have no idea why, let me try and explain it to you to the best of my ability:

1) Your schedule is crap. I remember days when you’ve played Scooby Doo for three hours straight, then go off again to something equally mind numbing such as (shudders) Camp Lazlo.

2) Your shows, no matter how different the characters, the stories and the powers or settings in them, are all the same. They all talk about friend ship, morals and learning lessons from mistakes. Granted, thats good, but still. There are only so many times and so many ways I can watch the same plot unfold. “Somebody says something, someone gets angry, there’s bickering, then after something random, all is well again.” Seriously, every network in existence that aims for kids have been running the same plot for 50 years. Think. Of. Something. New.

If you’re wondering why your losing to Nickelodeon and Disney, its NOT because they have those live action original shows like That’s So Raven or The Ben’s Brothers or whatever they’re called. I don’t watch them, because I was watching the anime on your channel. Either through the t.v. or Jetstreem.

Its like you don’t even realize that you have a serious advantage over all other networks. You are the ONLY CHANNEL that shows anime. The ONLY ONE. If you take that away and start coming out with more “Kid Friendly” shows like Chowder and Fosters, you are going to sink. Either way.

Let me give you a little insight on anime:

Lesson 1: All anime is an animated version of the original manga. Manga is a comic that is serialized in hugely (and when I say hugely, I mean one out of four people in the entire country buy manga when it comes out) popular magazines such as Shonen Jump (Where Naruto, YuYu Hakusho and Dragon Ball/Z run in every week)

Lesson 2: There are hundreds of websites that are in existence for the sole pupous of translating these manga when they’re released in japan into English, and take the Japanese anime and have fans subtitle them for us all to watch.
People wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for the immense popularity of the series’ in question.
Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are “The Big Three”, that is, the three most popular manga and anime in America right now.

Now, you might ask; “Well if its so popular, then why are there periods that we get next to no ratings for?” And that takes us to Lesson 2: Fillers.

Fillers are the result of what happens when in Japan, the anime (that is in creation while the manga is still running) starts to catch up to the manga. So, the studio creates whole arcs of made up episodes that have nothing to do with the manga artist (the original creators) plot. A lot of people don’t want to watch these and are perfectly content to just skip them. Naruto has one of the longest filler arcs out there. Episodes 135 – 220 alone were fillers.

During the time of the fillers, the fans will go to youtube or other video sites and watch the subtitled episodes, or just read the manga.

If this hasn’t quite sunk in yet, and you’re telling yourself “Well we’re a big wig network that can afford to loose a few watchers”… Let me give you another lesson on Anime:

Lesson 4: Kids aren’t the only ones who watch anime. My mother, grandmother, cousin, father, brother and sister are all very much over the age of 18, and only have cable in the first place to watch CartoonNetwork, News, Sports and Law & Order. My mom is completely addicted to anime, and says she’s totally boycotting your channel.

My mom isn’t the only one who’s gonna do this. I don’t watch tv, the only time i do is to watch Toonami and Adult Swim. That’s it. The age group for anime isn’t what you think it is, 8-16 year-old’s, but more along the lines of 8-45 year-olds. You see, anime is anime not because its from Japan, but because it has PLOT. It has character development. It makes you think, and at the end, when all the morals are relieved, they sink in WAY better than Billy and Mandy. (Of which, the next episode the moral is completely forgotten again. Gee, i wonder what kind of example that sets?)

You want to keep the shows not only because it’s your jobs on the line, but because the different art styles, the sheer imagination it takes to create whole new worlds, is inspiring on a whole new level to kids, and when they grow up, they’ll want to get into animation and such. One day they’ll want to come work for you, and you’ll be in an even better position because you’ve got a mind much like the creators in japan, who come out with those ridiculously popular series’.

I can promise you this: If you don’t knuckle down and get to work, you’re going
This last Saturday was its last airing.