{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "blog", "description": "", "home_page_url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog", "feed_url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/feed.json", "user_comment": "", "icon": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/media/website/logo.png", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "items": [ { "id": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/my-relationship-with-gaming-and-how-their-accessibility-played-a-key-role/", "url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/my-relationship-with-gaming-and-how-their-accessibility-played-a-key-role/", "title": "Ownership vs Access - Enjoying Media by Finding and Preserving It Ourselves", "summary": "
In 2015, I wanted my mom to get me a new handheld gaming console.
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There was a house rule forbidding video games during the school year, so portable gaming systems seemed to be a lot more reasonable to ask for, since consoles tended to gather up dust for months at a time.  I also figured that getting an older system that I knew could run homebrew on it would be ideal. The one that I wanted was something I had eyed since 2008, a PSP. It was already a media powerhouse when I was a child. Music, videos, basic web browsing in something that was originally made in 2004? It still felt modern at that point, and having a device like that would shape how I engaged with games and media, how I acquired them, and gaining a sense of appreciation for preserving them.
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", "content_html": "
In 2015, I wanted my mom to get me a new handheld gaming console.
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There was a house rule forbidding video games during the school year, so portable gaming systems seemed to be a lot more reasonable to ask for, since consoles tended to gather up dust for months at a time.  I also figured that getting an older system that I knew could run homebrew on it would be ideal. The one that I wanted was something I had eyed since 2008, a PSP. It was already a media powerhouse when I was a child. Music, videos, basic web browsing in something that was originally made in 2004? It still felt modern at that point, and having a device like that would shape how I engaged with games and media, how I acquired them, and gaining a sense of appreciation for preserving them.
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My mother however, didn't see the point in getting something that was old, and considering I wasn't too deep into retro gaming and didn't have my own income, I wasn't really able to convince her. Instead, her and my grandmother suggested I get a PlayStation Vita instead, and it was far more interesting than I initially thought.
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Of course, I was begging for a jailbreak of some kind.  I wasn't exactly rich and I felt like the idea of asking for games would be too much, even if I found them at a cheap rate, since gaming was starting to be seen as something I needed to age out of.  I was only able to convince my mom to get one thing on the PSN, While I was still in high school, a partial hack did come out, but only via the Vita's hidden PSP environment. I was able to play PSP homebrew (and later PSP backups), but I was still satisfied. The form factor was nice, I loved the d-pad, and even if I didn't have an OLED screen I really liked the crisp visuals.  Even though the Vita experience was plenty enjoyable on an unmodified unit, having a modded unit turned that handheld into one of my most prized possessions.
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On high school trips, especially my senior trip, it was a multimedia life saver. While people around me were making memories, I remember... playing Castlevania Aria of Sorrow and watching the final episodes of Kamen Rider Fourze on the lodge's wi-fi.  Considering how as I write this I've been watching Kamen Rider Gaim on a hacked Nintendo Switch, some things never change. It wasn't perfect though, Sony's proprietary Content Media Assistant dictated what sorts of files you could put on your Vita, and it was very slow to transfer movies, music, and photos. The internet browser wasn't feature-rich, especially compared to phones that came out during the time, but since I didn't have a smartphone I was able to make do with what I had with no issue. 
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A native hack for the PS Vita didn't pop up for my firmware until I was beginning to start college. I remember vividly people trying to share and dump backups, the first instance of native PS Vita emulators that... initially weren't true upgrades from the emulators made for PSP but were still conceptually impressive, I remember a very infamous incident where a fraudulent dump of Lego Harry Potter resulted in people formatting and bricking their Vitas, not a fun time to be in that space. Many of the nuisances like a lack of USB Mass Storage or easy media transfer would soon go away, and playing PSP backups on a Vita that weren't sold on PSN was how I experienced PSP games I never could have played before.
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I won't sit here and say that I was an angel with what I downloaded on my Vita, but I did enjoy being able to play a lot on it once resources were more available. Shovel Knight was one of my favorite 2D platformers in the 2010s, despite never beating it. I can give the same praises for Rayman Origins. Under Night In Birth and Skullgirls kept me occupied during my college years and ended up sparking a years long adoration for fighting games, a genre I suck at but keep coming back to.  Not to mention, before I was able to get my GBA out of storage 2 years ago, the PS Vita was how I tried really hard to get back into Pokemon after simply not having the hardware to for many years. 
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Once I had disposable income through my job I was able to rectify some wrongs and actually buy some titles on the PSN, and I do appreciate how most games are still cheap. I know that ownership is a punchline to companies right now, but during this decade I not only had money to buy games, but I was tech savvy enough to back them up.  I got Symphony of the Night, Tekken 2, Ridge Racer Type 4, and Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. It may have been futile but I wanted to communicate a simple idea, if you give people the opportunity to purchase things, they will.
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Sadly, I don't think my naive gesture worked.
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Sony's going to be shutting down the PS3 and Vita stores within the next year and will also be sunsetting physical game production by 2028, leaning all in on AI on top of that. To say that I am disgusted would be a huge understatement.  I don't want to make it sound like I'm personally more devestated about the effects of capitalism now that it's affecting my toys. I'm a queer Haitian-American that lives in Brooklyn and works in animation, capitalism isn't my friend to begin with. I just lament this happening because this is an instance where my increased technological paranoia that I got through lurking many retro gaming and computing spaces during my formative years was proven correct.
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Of course, I realize that not everyone's going to be super knowledgeable about computers, not everyone knows how emulators work, and obtaining games need to be accessible. Regardless, I genuinely feel that many people are going to have to start doing a bit more work to engage with media, regardless of its age.
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Everything has some sort of asterisk, or catch. There's no ethical consumption after all. I've been a long time fan of GoG, but their current leadership seems to love AI, so I'm not exactly happy about that. I'm still in an internal state of turmoil over SNK's purchase by Saudi Arabia, and the subsequent purchase and co-opting of EVO and the Fighting Game Community. Of course, there's the very real chance that what you want to watch or play is flat out inaccessible due to legality or corporations dictating access for one reason or another. Where do your values lie? 
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To mention one of my non-gaming interests again, the 2010s tokusatsu movement wouldn't have happened if not for easy access to these shows. Tsubaraya has always been good with access to Ultraman, with simulcasts, physical releases, and even English dubs. Toei has less in comparison, but we're currently watching a Kamen Rider simulcast on YouTube every Saturday, with multiple seasons streaming or released on Blu-Ray, which is huge. At the same time, many of these avenues for watching Toei toku (mainly Super Sentai) have been vanishing due to Shout Factory's changing values, among other elements that are far beyiond my understanding. While many die-hards in this niche were able to access these shows through fansubs and file sharing, average Joes won't or can't do that and want something easy to watch. I realize being saddened by the lack of legal tokusatsu access is trivial in the grand scheme of things, but it's relevant in how media can vanish without a trace, and that archival is morally important even if it isn't always supported under the law.
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I'm getting flashbacks to when the ESA called private Minecraft servers illegal. \n
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The only solution I really pose is that we all need to get more comfortable with a couple of ideas:
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I'll humble myself when I say this, I know how to do a lot of this stuff because I was a huge, socially awkward, possibly neurodivergent nerd for most of my life. Nerd stuff is generally not only more acceptable now, but a lot of those skills that one may have accidentally developed as a kid are going to be incredibly important now. I'm not *cooler* for knowing how to use uTorrent as a teenager, but I am happy I learned and am more than willing to let people know what they can learn.
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I'm also not really in the market for super new experiences, to be honest. There's a lot of stuff that I've only been able to play because game prices are cheaper, hardware got better, and I was able to dedicate a bit of time. Even still, there's huge blind spots in my gaming backlog, mainly avoiding horror like the plague. I want to give these games a shot, even if my blood pressure desperately wants me to reconsider! In the past couple of years I've either started using or have begun refurbishing a Dreamcast, a PSP, a Wii, and an Original Xbox. Between that *and* a Steam Deck, emulation is going to have me set, even if I selfishly want a MiSTER as well.
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Other people have different priorities and that's understandable. I want to maintain that the current landscape of technology isn't just screwing over people who play games. The sooner we are able to reject the idea of accepting everything these companies are giving us, and take back some agency with how we use our technology, the better. Some ecosystems may always have a hook in us, especially those of us working professionally, but this doesn't mean we have to be okay with that or sit around and wait for the perfect all-in-one solution. Whether this means dusting off an old Game Boy, finally learning how to solder or just using a Linux dual boot for the first time, any step you take into learning more about the devices you use is a step forward. Create a solution that works for you.
", "image": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/media/posts/2/SGCAM_20260724_012712942_preview.jpeg", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "tags": [ "featured", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-07-23T21:01:34-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-23T23:57:12-04:00" }, { "id": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/analogue-anxieties-how-nostalgia-motivates-the-return-to-dedicated-devices/", "url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/analogue-anxieties-how-nostalgia-motivates-the-return-to-dedicated-devices/", "title": "Analogue Anxieties - How Nostalgia Motivates the Return to Dedicated Devices", "summary": "Lately, there has been an uptick of people returning to physical media. You see a lot of things being discussed as motivating factors dopamine detox…", "content_html": "

Lately, there has been an uptick of people returning to physical media. You see a lot of things being discussed as motivating factors dopamine detox here and return to physical media there. I'd love to be super supportive of this idea but part of me thinks this may just be a trend.

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I can assume that a lot of people gave up, lost, or sold a lot of their pre-smartphone era devices like Game Boys, Tamogatchis, and iPods. I'm lucky enough to still have basically all of my devices but for anyone getting into retro gaming or technology now, finances are going to be a huge barrier.

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In the retro gaming scene, a lot of people are currently reporting on how insane it is that 3DSes are rising in price despite some units going for as low as 70 USD when they were being released. Brands and nostalgia are two huge factors of this, of course, but I also admit... I do start to bemoan the idea that these devices are magical solutions to feeling detached from the media you consume, or a dwindling attention span.

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Accessibility from a financial standpoint has already been an issue, it didn't need to get worse! Like, come on.

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I get that a lot of people still have hangups regarding emulation, but I think charging upwards of even 200 dollars in 2025 for a 3DS that is unboxed, missing a stylus, has a cracked screen, or can't charge is highway robbery. If people want to revisit their childhood the \"legitimate\" way, why are they the ones getting suckered way more than someone who's just going to pirate games, especially when that money isn't going back to people who made the product?

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I'd love to recommend some of those Android gaming handhelds (if you keep up with Wulff Den on YouTube, you know the ones), but even those are getting more expensive. I'm impressed, but it gets to a point where they aren't practical whatsoever, like with the ONEXSUGAR SUGAR 1, or ONEXSUGAR Wallet.

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I may be showing my age, but I remember seeing videos about GP2X Win, GP2X Wiz, PopStations, and GBA clones over the years and many of them were just cheap garbage that were fun to laugh at, but some were legitimate devices that people could play games on... if they already knew about emulation or operating Linux. It's still not a simple \"pick up and play\" device unless you ignore the legally dubious nature of ROMs included on many of these handhelds. Even some of these were purchased in bulk by Soulja Boy and it made for some funny videos taking the crap out of them...

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Oh wait, he's back at it again.

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\"Soulja
 

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The point is, the more attention that has been paid to these \"bootleg cheap handhelds from China\", the more they evolve and the more the price increases. Nowadays these android handhelds can flat out run some (lightweight) Steam games on them, so they're consoles in their own right now. Pile on economic turmoil and tariffs on top of that, and it's not financially viable for people to get one of these either. On top of that, PC handhelds aren't \"pocketable\", and can tip toe into being more than 1000 dollars if you're not careful.

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That \"pocketable\" concern is exactly why you're seeing a return to 3DSes, GBAs, and PSPs in the first place, but a big chunk of that is nostalgia that I can't really relate to. I always had one of these (sans a 3DS) with me, yknow?

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Other forms of physical media are being used as accessories as well. While I think that having CDs is a win for owning what you buy, you don't need a portable CD player. My primary music player has been a PSP with a 128 GB microSD card, and that's okay. (I can't comment on vinyls other than being annoyed that it's the only way to buy an album physical in many instances, as either the CD version is kept to regions like Japan or it doesn't exist at all.)

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There's absolutely an argument to be said about not doom scrolling and using multiple sources of entertainment to stimulate yourself, but I don't think there's one device that will magically fix that, and buying everything you want on CD, Blu-Ray, or even VHS won't fix that.

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I'm largely immune to this because there's not much of a nostalgic slant, I was always around people who had VHSes, CDs, and DVDs. A big chunk of my collection is just things that I already had in my grandma's apartment, and everything else is stuff that I'm glad I can buy now thanks to me having a job, but it's nothing huge.

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Video games were similar for me; I didn't have an Nintendo 64 or GameCube, but I tried them often enough at my cousin's house to really get familiar with the games there. Also, I've accepted that while the present isn't rosy, childhood wasn't exactly always better either, so escapism isn't sinking its teeth into me but I understand how and why it's appealing to others... especially anyone who came into early adulthood during a socially isolating time when you're trying to find your identity. It just makes sense to define it based on what you buy.

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So what do we do to not make this a trend?

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I've spent way too much time on the internet as a child, but the benefit is that I've been able to be really tech savvy. I was in 4th grade reading PC World issues, so I wasn't exactly ever cool, but I do know how to rip CDs and emulate games. These are skills from a different era that aren't actively being taught because society thought that tossing iPads and walled gardens would be good for children. I really think instead of embracing the idea that \"zoomers are braindead\" and laughing at the idea that they think EXEs are viruses due to creepypastas, that we actually pass on this knowledge so everyone is informed. Don't scoff at people making this knowledge more digestible for younger people today either, we were all clueless at some point.

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I don't think we're going to be in a financially sound place for a while. You do not NEED to get a sealed limited edition CD of your favorite band right now. You're not less of a gamer for NOT having a GBA right now, dust off an old phone and play your games on there for now. I encourage people to get used to shopping on eBay and discogs and not immediately look for NEW CIB material. It's OK to get something used, it's OK to get something old.

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The DSVault situation is a shame on all fronts, intentionally overselling pre-modded 3DSes to cater to female/femme gamers who have no desire to modify devices on their own is a recipe for disaster. We're all far more capable with tech than we think, so I implore people to try to get more familiar with modding. Again, learn how to refurbish and take care of your devices to fix them yourself, or find a service in your area that can repair them for a fee. Avoid ludicrous resellers and try to purchase from smaller stores or individuals. The labor that goes into getting all these games on one device is how people can overcharge, but not only is hacking and downloading games on a 3DS or Vita easy, you do not need every single game ever on one device either.

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Cultivate your attention span so you can watch movies and television in one sitting, even if it's not on a disc. Try to engage in tasks that are boring just for the sake of it, or even get back into reading (however you can, this includes ebooks and audiobooks). The reality is that you are in control with how you interact with the devices around you, even if you don't feel like you are at the moment.

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Also, while I am not judging, this goes without saying that rejecting AI however you can is a net positive as well. Delete character.ai and get back into talking with people. Doubly so in the case of Twitter.

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I'd love for something that's always been a bit of an obsession for me to get more social acceptance, but I want it to happen because there's a genuine love for art and the mediums that it can be pressed on. You don't need to buy anything to keep this flame lit either, just practice computer awareness. A USB hard drive and an external CD/DVD drive can take you pretty far.

", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "tags": [ "featured", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-01-11T01:17:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-24T01:32:32-04:00" }, { "id": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/tricking-out-anime-an-interview-with-stu-levy-of-tokyopop/", "url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/tricking-out-anime-an-interview-with-stu-levy-of-tokyopop/", "title": "Tricking Out Anime - An Interview with Stu Levy of Tokyopop", "summary": "This was originally made for a video project that I had conceptualized years ago that still remains unpublished. However, I wanted to make sure that…", "content_html": "

This was originally made for a video project that I had conceptualized years ago that still remains unpublished. However, I wanted to make sure that the questions I asked were still publicly available since there's information that previously hasn't been discussed. I still have the original questions with Stu's answers, so remaking this article is thankfully easy.

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Thanks to Stu for helping rescue these questions from an email technical snafu, and thanks to Branch from the Initial D wiki for helping archive said information. Stu Levy's answers are unaltered save for light grammar / punctuation editing.

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Adam: First off, how did the purchasing of the license occur?

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Stu: At that time, TOKYOPOP distributed manga, anime, even music but manga was certainly our core. We chose certain anime series but never did the amount of anime that other companies then (for instance, ADV, Funimation, Viz, CPM) were releasing. One of our philosophies was to try our best to get behind both the manga and the anime. For example, we did that with GTO, Rave Master, Real Bout High School / Samurai Girl, as well as of course Initial D. So, we had made a proposal to the manga licensor, and the anime licensor, to get behind Initial D and really give it a big push, including merchandise. It cost quite a lot of money but we loved the series and wanted to really aim high with it. I still remember that feeling of excitement from licensing it and working on it - there was so much potential and I loved it!

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Adam: I know the show was DVD exclusive but were there any plans to air it on TV? I remember asking Jason DeMarco on Twitter who recalls that it was considered for Toonami. With that being said, do you think the dub could have been adjusted for a Y7 rating? What network did you ideally see it on if not Toonami?

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Stu: So, I don't know if this is actually public knowledge in the fandom, but we actually sold the TV rights. That was a big part of our plans - having TV as a center to launching Initial D as a franchise. This was way before the current era where streaming is core (Crunchy, Funimation, Netflix, Hulu, etc.) and really it was mainly Cartoon Network that aired the most anime (as you mention, Toonami was their big block at the time, although they also did Adult Swim). We had also partnered with Showtime on GTO so it wasn't only Cartoon [Network], but they were the main one. But when we packaged Initial D, made our presentation reel and show bible, we ended up actually selling it - to MTV! That was very exciting for us, and we had big plans based on the MTV launch. Then, the bad news - MTV later decided not to air it! Not even to do a pilot at all - even though they paid us for the show. So, we couldn't get the TV rights back since they paid, and they didn't air it. So, all our plans to go for a wide audience were killed at that point. And that affected the way the dub came out - which we'll discuss more.

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Adam This isn't related to Initial D, but a Tokyopop property that DID get onto Toonami was Rave Master. I simply have to ask as a huge ska fan, how the heck did you guys get Reel Big Fish to do an opening song for the dub?

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Stu: Hey, a fellow ska fan, awesome! I grew up loving ska (and mod) back in the 80's and actually saw a number of amazing bands live - Bad Manners, Untouchables, Madness, English Beat. I never got to see the Specials though since they had already broken up. Anyways, Reel Big Fish was great - and I'm trying to remember how I called them. I think I just sent them an email and asked if they wanted to do an anime theme song and they said yes! And those guys were super nice. Oh, and I wrote the song (I'm a huge music fan and for a number of years was really into making music, more as a hobby but sometimes professionally). Glad you noticed that song :-)

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Adam : Who was mostly in charge of the writing direction? I noted that it felt similar to Digimon's first couple of seasons with its approach to localization. The shortened or changed names and the American music come to mind, and having a writer [Bob Buchholz] from that dub here makes it more apparent.

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\"enter Stu: I'm trying to remember who did the actual writing but it was so long ago. I was the main producer so I set the show bible, the look, the approach to localization etc. The shortening and changing of names was my decision - as well as using local music.

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Back at that time, my goal was to really get Initial D accepted by the \"import scene\" crowd (the auto tuning and after parts market) and move into pop culture in that direction, but of course provide this great show to anime fans too. My solution was to \"localize\" the dub aggressively - since my thought was most of the car fans and MTV crowd who would watch it wouldn't be familiar or comfortable with aspects of the show that I felt weren't easily accessible to non-anime fans, while at the same time providing the sub to anime fans. That means of course original writing and music for the sub version but more Westernized localization for the dub. It was a balance between keeping the original names and coming up with compromises for names I thought would be too hard to pronounce (I'm fluent in Japanese so for me the names were fine - I was just concerned about losing the MTV crowd). That's why Takumi became Tak and Itsuki became Iggy, etc.

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Anime wasn't such a core part of American culture at the time, and once MTV made their decision not to air it, obviously those name changes were irrelevant at that point - but it was too late since we had already done the recordings (and didn't really think to re-record it since we were still hoping MTV would air it in the future). Regarding the music, I have to be honest - I wasn't a big fan of the original Avex Eurobeat music. As I mentioned, I'm a huge music fan, and while I know that fans now really love and appreciate that music, I couldn't get into it. Most of that music was low-level Eurobeat that Avex (the Japanese music company) had licensed from Italy and other places and I didn't think Americans would go for it - and at the time electronic dance music was not popular at all in the US. I felt more urban street music (of which I was a big fan) like hip-hop, R&B, etc. would move Initial D closer to the import scene (ala Fast & Furious). Again, to compromise, the original music was included in the sub version.

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Oh, one more localization aspect which I'm not sure you realized - we actually went in and redid the CGI on the cars to create our DVD covers. We received permission from Japan since the first couple of seasons were done when CGI techniques were less advanced, and my girlfriend at the time was an amazing CGI artist so I had her re-render all the cars. They're amazing - and in fact I was pretty proud when I visited Hong Kong and discovered the pirated versions of Initial D DVD's used our TOKYOPOP covers and not the original Japanese ones lol.

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\"![[proxy-image.jpg]]\"

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Adam: I know Initial D only had Mountain Vengeance as a western game, but were there ever any plans to localize the Arcade Stage games for home consoles? I know at the time of the dub a PS2 version was already released.

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Stu: the game wasn't actually our project - we simply supplied the style guide, logos and other key design info since we had the merch rights. Sega handled the game release - so I can't really speak to that.

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\"A

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Adam: What was the thought process behind all the Tokyopop dub music albums? \"A

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Stu: we had found a number of local LA artists (and used a network to reach out to non-LA artists too) and our goal was to provide them with some exposure to fans. We couldn't afford famous artists but we thought there were great indie artists out there we could work with (I like to do that a lot at TOKYOPOP - work with undiscovered talent), and since the music albums in Japan were such a big part of the franchise, we decided to try our version of that. Looking back, I do think it would have been interesting to have tried the Japanese albums too but since a lot of the music was actually European licenses, as you mention, the licensing aspect would have been difficult.

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\"A

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Adam: How did you approach the bands who wanted to do music for the dub? Like Drop Logic?

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Stu: We put the word out locally and had indie artists sent in their music and we filtered through to see which artists we liked. Most were licenses from indie artists who had songs we felt would fit the show, but Drop Logic came into the studio and we recorded the song from scratch. That was great fun! If there had been YouTube and other social media back then we really could have released lots of great videos and content. I wonder if we have video from those sessions somewhere - I should try to dig it up! Oh, and I did the remix of Initialize, which is a very strange remix but I'm pretty proud of it :-)

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Adam: Are you surprised most of the music from the dub is on Spotify?

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Stu: That actually comes from TOKYOPOP's distribution so we're very happy about that!

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Adam: I've collected 2nd and Extra Stage and noticed the dub did get better over time, were there plans to go beyond? Maybe do Third Stage or Fourth?

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Stu: We were seriously considering Third Stage but financially we couldn't handle it back then so we had to let it go. It's a shame - but I'm glad Funimation picked up the show, updated it for modern fans, and ran with it (at least for awhile). Initial D is a classic and should always be available for anime fans to discover.

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Adam: Are you still proud of the dub? Were there things you would change with the knowledge you have now? Do you think you'd be more faithful with your changes or stick with your own vision?

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Stu: I think the dub accomplished what we were aiming for back then, but since MTV was the core driver of our Initial D plans, we ended up off the mark since it never aired. I have positive memories of everything related to Initial D even though I'm aware that some fans rejected our approach. It feels like now our dub is considered \"kitsch\" to a certain degree (which I suppose it is) but certainly if we were in today's market and licensing the title from the beginning we would have done a much more authentic dub, sticking to the original approach. That dub was for that particular point in pop culture time - and it will forever remain so.

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Adam: Have you seen the Funimation dub? Any thoughts on it? \"![[Initial \"![[Initial

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Stu: I actually have not seen it but I assumed their approach would be much more traditional anime adaptation - sticking to the original, especially since many fans wanted that. How was it? I should go check it out :-) Did anyone do a side-by-side or scene-by-scene comparison of the two?

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(Within the past couple of years many people on YouTube have made clip compilations between the Tokyopop and Funimation dubs.)

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Adam: Initial D's final stage currently isn't dubbed. I don't even think it's licensed at all. Would you like to see this series finished, and would you like to be involved if that were the case?

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Stu: Oh man, don't tempt me! lol Someone should definitely do it - I wonder why Funi doesn't...

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Adam: Finally, I want to say currently Initial D is a cult hit in the anime community, and is still very much relevant thanks to internet meme culture. Are there any misconceptions people may have about the Tokyopop dub that you may want to clear up?

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\"![[Inertia

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Stu: More or less what I said above - I guess the key thing for everyone to know is how deeply we dove into the world of Initial D. I lived and breathed Initial D back then. The passion and love that I had - and the creative team had - was serious. I miss the feeling Initial D gave me. [Did] you know that one time I drove to Mount Haruna in Gunma, Japan (which was the model for Akina), and drove down those mountain roads where the racing was? I filmed that and I think it's a bonus clip on one of the DVDs - did anyone ever discover that? I didn't have an 86 Trueno unfortunately but ah, the memories! And Dice who was my main editor at TOKYOPOP back in the day actually fixed up his own 86. We were pretty hardcore :-) So, I'm thrilled that Initial D is a cult hit - and hopefully many fans appreciate the love we put into our version back in the day - even if they don't agree with all the decisions we made. Adapting anime isn't easy but it sure is fun!!

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Coming back to this interview after so many years is definitely fascinating to say the least. I was still in college with no real experience reaching out to people who had worked in the anime industry or anywhere in entertainment, but I can safely say that cold-emailing people does indeed have a funny way of working out in your favor if you play your cards right.

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In the years that have passed, I've learned more about Tokyopop, a lot of the criticisms they've received, and the specific history they've built up over time. A lot of this I couldn't have known about as a college kid, and I'm glad for the insight that I've gained. However, I still feel strongly about getting this information out there, as I don't think \"bad\" media deserves to be forgotten, and there's some information that I've seen that might need a second look and two decades worth of hindsight.

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In the years since this original interview, FUNimation has been absorbed by Crunchyroll, and in spite of dubbing Initial D's sequel, MF Ghost, the original anime is unable to be watched on Crunchyroll or any streaming service. It's quite ironic that there are many unofficial uploads of the anime on YouTube with Tokyopop's dub out there now, so in a roundabout way this version of the show is still relevant. I can never be too hard on this dub, especially coming from an era where people didn't have a choice. It simply makes me lament that people need to jump through dubiously legal hoops to watch a show like this.

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A more detailed look at this dub with a modern lens will come another day.

", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "tags": [ "interview", "featured", "2025" ], "date_published": "2025-12-10T01:21:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-24T01:31:50-04:00" }, { "id": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/virtua-insanity-or-how-i-feel-about-3d-fighters-as-a-newcomer/", "url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/virtua-insanity-or-how-i-feel-about-3d-fighters-as-a-newcomer/", "title": "Virtua Insanity, or How I Feel About 3D Fighters As A Newcomer", "summary": "
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Virtua Fighter's issue is that in the mainstream, it doesn't get nearly as much respect that I think it deserves.

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Virtua Fighter's issue is that in the mainstream, it doesn't get nearly as much respect that I think it deserves.

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Despite not being a competitive player, fighting games are absolutely a lifestyle to me. There's a sense of community, especially physically, that can get built off of numerous games, from the newest AAA ones to the classics, to games that only recently got a scene thanks to enough people being loud enough to show why their game is special. (Shout outs to the Kamen Rider Super Climax Heroes competitive scene!)
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However, I'll be honest. Despite being exposed to fighting games at a young age, I wasn't able to take to them until I was in college, labbing Pocket Fighter in fightcade when I should have been typing my papers. From there, especially thanks to my Vita and my scrappy laptop, I was regularly playing Skullgirls 2nd Encore and later tried out Under Night In Birth, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and 3, and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. I didn't get into Smash competitively until quarantine thanks to the online matchmaking service, Slippi, dropped in 2020. Even though I've been into fighting games ever since, I still hadn't been able to get into 3D fighting games, and I wanted to really think about why it felt like a different thing altogether.

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It's not like I never played them, but I simply had nowhere near of a level of attachment to 3d fighters. The only one I played for myself was SoulCalibur 2 on the GameCube; a lot of people speak highly for the GameCube version due to having Link, but I still remember the game fondly even if I had no idea what I was doing. It had an extravagant soundtrack, atmosphere that really enveloped you, and graphics that looked incredible. Even still, I wasn't able to understand how SoulCalibur 2 worked until I tried out the HD version on an emulator... a month ago on my Steam Deck with an arcade stick, and I wouldn't have been able to understand THAT until I tried out Virtua Fighter with more fighting game experience, and not just fumbling about on an old SEGA PC demo disc (which I'm sure had Virtua Fighter PC's demo, a game that is a port of the Saturn's Virtua Fighter Remix)

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People weren't talking about these games when I was 8. This one reference by James Rolfe was likely my first exposure to it.
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Virtua Fighter's issue is that in the mainstream, it doesn't get nearly as much respect that I think it deserves. Re-releasing your last entry from 20 years ago probably doesn't help matters, but Virtua Fighter's pure arcade goodness and sticking to those conventions seem to be pretty unpopular to other players. Lurking the Steam forums for VF5 Revo shows that a lot of people are comparing it to Tekken quite dishonorably; for some it's a matter of preference and that's understandable, but the idea that VF is bad specifically because it's not Tekken is what I disagree with.

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Controls are a big sticking point, it's easy to get into once you understand, but 2d fighters and 3d fighters DO operate differently. Virtua Fighter 1's controls had your main buttons being PUNCH, KICK, and GUARD. You can do different commands by pressing multiple buttons at once, like throwing the opponent with PUNCH and GUARD. Despite being a 3D fighter, there was no dodging at this point, so Virtua Fighter 1 and 2 had the infamous \"moon jumping\", which I'll freely admit is the hardest thing to adjust to if you're approaching VF1 now. Virtua Fighter 3 is what introduced dodging and uneven terrain, the moonjumping never came back, and things have been fairly consistent ever since, with what I feel modern VF resembles the most being ironed in when Virtua Fighter 4 [EVO] hit arcades and the Playstation 2. No matter what you're doing, Virtua Fighter relies on these 3 buttons, and even now you can play the latest entry with a control layout that only has those 3 buttons, as everything else is just a macro. In an age where fighting games experiment with simplified controls for newcomers, Virtua Fighter's layout is honestly more accessible than people may realize, and I implore people to try it out for themselves, though considering Yu Suzuki's comments, I wouldn't be surprised if VF's controls were simplified further to welcome new players.

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Tekken's controls are different in which each button is a limb. LEFT LEG / LEFT HAND, RIGHT LEG / RIGHT HAND. There's a huge level of depth in the commands in Tekken, apparently the control scheme was made for simplicity's sake but I honestly find it harder to get into due to the absence of a block button. You block by simply not pressing anything and that takes a lot of getting used to for me, especially when blocking by crouching or standing in the opposite direction like a 2d fighter isn't applicable. Tekken 3 introduced the \"sidestep\" and 3d movement became a staple beginning with Tekken 4.

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I can do a shoryuken, doing an EWGF is another story.
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Playing these games on the correct controllers honestly factors into the enjoyment for me; so Tekken honestly feels fine on a modern 4 button controller, but Virtua Fighter started making sense only when I bought a USB Sega Saturn controller from Retro-Bit. It simply feels CORRECT playing it like this.

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I should also note that I have tried out Dead or Alive 5: Last Round on Steam, and while I have minimal exposure to DoA outside of a Dreamcast demo disc that had a demo of DoA2, I do like what I played a LOT, even if it resorted in a lot of button mashing on my first run through. I have to insist that the combat still felt GOOD, snappy even. The flow of DoA's combat makes its origins as a Virtua Fighter offshoot all the more apparent to me, and because of this, it was really easy to get into my usual Jacky combos and even learn some new ones when I was able to try DoA 5: Last Round on my Steam Deck (which has Akira, Sarah, and Pai as guest characters). The biggest shame that many people may end up not noticing just how good of a game DoA feels like due to many people only knowing of the reputation it's gained over the years through sexualizing its female characters, and regardless of how you feel on that subject you can't deny that it's colored how people approach it.

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Things that set DoA 5 apart are the fact that the controls are PUNCH, KICK, GUARD, and THROW, as well as blocking being able to be done in a similar wat to 2D fighters, as well as the gargantuan stages. Virtua Fighter's had a 3 player system like a King of Fighters game in VF3tb, and Tekken Tag Tournament's 2 vs 2 format goes without saying, but DoA 5's tag mode is something I wish that VF could take for itself as an option. I feel like DoA's combat is more over the top and faster than VF, but being able to have a Jacky combo, and tag out to Sarah mid combo to extend that further is the sickest thing ever.

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The dynamic command tree on the left really makes understanding combo theory easier for me, even if I can't pull off all the moves.
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While Virtua Fighter and Tekken have great looking stages they don't typically have two tier stages from what I've played and can remember. The DoA games after 2 have almost always had stages that are huge in scope, and you can push your opponent off and watch them fall dozens of stories down. I love DoA 5 for being over the top, and if you haven't seen Jacky Bryant tackle his opponent running down a crumbling building as they both fall many stories down to the pavement, causing a gas truck to explode... you simply have not lived.

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YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

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For Tekken, I think having these games being more accessible via emulation and owning a PSP / Vita gives me a chance to try out what I missed, and my misgivings are simply just minor grievances. I don't have an axe to grind with the franchise, and have grown to enjoy my time with it so far. It's consistently been graphically impressive and the music has almost always been great as well.

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The biggest disadvantage that Virtua Fighter has is the story, it only looks worse when Tekken's franchise has a long over arching story that is very upfront and in your face. Even as an outsider, I know that the Mishima bloodline and the Devil Gene are inherently iconic. Unless you go out of your way to do homework, you don't really know much about Virtua Fighter's story if you're just playing the games. Since the Like a Dragon devs are assisting on Virtua Fighter 6, a more blatant focus on story is all but confirmed at this point, but I do hope for more development on this because I genuinely do want to know more about this world other than Jeffry's endless beef with that damn shark.

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Picture from Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 10: Jeffry McWild, part of a series of slideshow CDs for the Saturn released from 1995 to March 1996, before Virtua Fighter 3 released in arcades.
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Virtua Fighter also being in stasis for 20 years does no favors; Tekken 8 is the current Tekken game, but the latest release of 5 Revo includes tie in DLC... for Tekken 7. To be fair, the DLC has some great cosmetics, bonus music, even new UI changes, but it's emblematic of the big issue, the franchise that first wrote the book about modern 3d fighting games now has to play catch up to the franchise it inadvertently birthed.

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This looks insanely clean, but it just makes me wish that VF5 landed on PC much earlier for it to mean something more.
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I think Virtua Fighter has a lot of music I think is ironic, but Tekken music hits harder when it does hit. DoA music hasn't really stuck with me yet and neither has SoulCalibur 2's, but I've played them both far less and don't listen to their music outside of the game. I'm overall more familiar with people that composed for SEGA works (Takenobu Mitsuyoshi deserves all the respect), but listening to the discography of the Ridge Racer franchise over the past 6 years made me very familiar with Namco's own sound team, and they do nothing but bangers as well.

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The easiest way to get Virtua Fighter's music is to get 5 REVO on Steam which comes with the entire series discography (minus anime and vocal songs) if you get the 30th anniversary DLC, my personal favorite is 3tb's soundtrack. Thankfully, both SEGA and Bandai Namco have been great at putting these soundtracks on streaming services as well, so here's a list of my favorite songs so far from Tekken:

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  • Xiaoyu Stage (PS2 Version) - Tekken Tag Tournament, Keiichi Okabe
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  • Karma (Electric Fountain) - Tekken 6, Akitata Tohyama
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  • Kitsch - Tekken 4, Yuu Miyake
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  • Abyss of Time (Wayang Kulit) - Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Nami Nakagawa
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  • Lonesome City Jazz Party 1st - Tekken 7, Taku Inoue
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  • Sparking - Tekken 5, Satoru Kosaki
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  • Dist Thins Out - Tekken 6 - Keiichi Okabbe
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  • Your Sunset - Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Taku Inoue
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Conversely, here are my favorites in the Virtua Fighter series so far:

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  • BEGINNING - Virtua Fighter 2
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  • SARAH - Virtua Fighter 2
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  • Almost all of the Virtua Fighter 3 soundtrack, I like it that much
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  • BRAD - Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
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  • JACKY - Virtua Fighter 1
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  • BEGINNING - Virtua Fighter 4 Evo
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  • JACKY - Virtua Fighter 4 Evo
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  • PAI - Virtua Fighter 4 Evo
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  • Akira - Virtua Fighter 5 REVO
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I don't have much I want for the future, outside of a Virtua Fighter collection and a proper VF x Tekken crossover game a la Fighters Megamix, as unrealistic as that would be at this point. I'm also very adamant with the fact that I'd like my Virtua Fighter 6 to not have any of the ethical issues that plagued SNK's City of the Wolves, even if that may be just as unrealistic. I'm going to put more time into all of the games I mentioned, and I'd love to catalogue these experiences as well, but in the meantime I do implore you to try out Virtua Fighter if for no reason other than to pay respects... and that base level 5 REVO is like, 20 bucks.

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As for Virtua Fighter itself, a lot of the criticism I see focuses on what it isn't, and it doesn't always feel like it's in a place of good faith. Being able to mash through the arcade ladder isn't exactly a flaw with the game if you don't want to learn it. If Virtua Fighter's choice is not to have lasers or fireballs, then that's its choice. It's also not a bad game just because it has a block button. I do think that VF could do more to make people care about its characters and world, and I'm hoping for the best with this new vision SEGA has to reintroduce their dormant IP to a new generation.

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The solution could potentially be right in front of us as well. It does seem that a Tekken / VF crossover is heavily requested and Harada does know about it, and it could also correct a future we almost got where a cancelled Dreamcast Tekken port would have featured Virtua Fighter guest characters, but maybe I'm just dreaming.

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In any case, I'd take my chances betting on Akira Yuki in Tekken 8 over a Waffle House DLC stage.

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", "image": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/media/posts/4/images.steamusercontent.jpg", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "tags": [ "video games", "2025" ], "date_published": "2025-09-23T00:58:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-24T00:45:28-04:00" }, { "id": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/toonami-rewind-a-failed-experiment/", "url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/toonami-rewind-a-failed-experiment/", "title": "Toonami Rewind - A Failed Experiment", "summary": "I’ve been watching Toonami since I was a child, and in some form or another I’ve watched Toonami’s current [as] incarnation since I was in…", "content_html": "

I’ve been watching Toonami since I was a child, and in some form or another I’ve watched Toonami’s current [as] incarnation since I was in 8th grade. To say that I’m surprised about the current state regarding Toonami Rewind would honestly be a lie, and I’m not even talking about current affairs.

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Didn't expect to be talking about this again so soon.

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I’ve been watching Toonami since I was a child, and in some form or another I’ve watched Toonami’s current [as] incarnation since I was in 8th grade. To say that I’m surprised about the current state regarding Toonami Rewind would honestly be a lie, and I’m not even talking about current affairs. This isn’t a blame game regarding nostalgia, but I do think we need to discuss it.

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Simply put, the reason that Toonami has succeeded is because it used the foundation of a simple nostalgia bait block to elevate itself into achieving new things, either by keeping up with the times and acquiring new shows, or creating new shows altogether. I know that morale regarding many of Toonami’s originals has been at an all time low, but I have to respect that the attempt was even made. If Bebop and Inuyasha reruns were the main draw to Toonami in the long run, I doubt it would have even made it to 2014.

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The closest competition that existed for years was TeenNick’s attempt of simply re-airing old Nicktoons, which honestly only succeeded in showing that the type of person that wants to watch old Nickelodeon can be appealed to very easily. Their block changed names multiple times and throughout a decade has never had many substantial programing changes or interesting events. Whenever they did, it was the outlier and not the norm.

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  • Airing more obscure TV shows that haven’t been seen due to licensing was made into a spectacle and not a new normal (see KaBlam! And The Adventures of Pete and Pete)\n
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    • Shows that were speculated to have some airtime since the block’s inception had a much smaller airtime in reality (Weinerville)
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    • There’s at least one instance of a show flat out not airing at all due to a last minute schedule change (Pelswick, which hasn’t been seen on Nickelodeon in many years)
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  • Having a big advertising campaign to announce multiple rebrands when broader programming rarely, if ever changed
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  • Capitalizing on the internet “creepypasta” – type popularity of Crybaby Lane by airing it multiple times over the years around Halloween, though the special has still not received a home media release or official online streaming
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Considering that Toonami is still here, even if the luster behind Toonami Rewind stagnated and wouldn’t be a loving ode to history like many core Toonami fans would have wanted, if the programming was good enough I expected that the block could simply just run on autopilot and get guaranteed views from people who only were ever interested in seeing something close to the Toonami they grew up on, and nothing else. In reality, it was never going to be that easy.

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Toonami marketed itself based on its unique aesthetic, but in 2024 the landscape of television has changed with much more time being spent on advertising and the unique ambiance of a block being stripped away. I realize there’s only so much that could have been done to circumvent this, but there are still issues worth bringing up.

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  • No more NOW / NEXT LATER bumps (these haven’t been a thing for years, but were very much a core of the Toonami branding. It’s understandable that someone would ask about these)
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  • Few unique promos (no old game reviews, music videos, etc. I do know on a previous anniversary there are some old promos that were re-aired on TV, but circumstances could’ve been different to allow them there and not here)
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  • Inconsistent aesthetics (The same bumpers used during the Saturday block were used here, with some slight refreshes to match the UI of the TOM 3.5 era from 2012. So basically, the same TOM and SARA were used.)
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I understand all of the titles they were able to air, genuinely. All three of these shows are kinda big and all of them have tenured history with the block. DBZ [Kai] goes without saying, Naruto is also famous (despite already airing uncut before), and Sailor Moon airing the uncut Viz dub was the star of the show. It’s not what people were expecting especially if they weren’t already watching the main block, though. Original DBZ would never air on television again, and a version of Kai with the Bruce Falcouner soundtrack will never exist (officially). Sailor Moon’s DiC / Cloverway dubs will likely never get official acknowledgement ever again as well.

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I really would like it if everyone got what they wanted, to be honest. I’ve been loving my Digimon The Movies blu ray that has accurate translations of 3 Japanese movies with subtitles and an accurate redub, and the original janky late 90’s American hodgepodge that is “Digimon the Movie”. I bet legal issues and availability are big factors, I’ll never know the answers myself, but I do implore people whose childhoods do get caught up in the crossfire to realize that getting really passionate on social media about how your version is definitive and immune from criticism… it’s going to be annoying. I’ve seen it for years with people greatly disliking Kai with no nuance beyond “no Falcouner music”, and while Sailor Moon’s new dub was only on TV for little over half a year, similar opinions were much louder and came out at a much faster rate.

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Politely, I hope people chill out. Not asking anyone to change your opinions regarding what you want to enjoy, but we’re too old for this.

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It’s a big shame because I did figure that shorter shows could have aired, or just stretching the definition of nostalgia. Finishing up an IGPX rerun? Airing The Big O S1? Giving people what they want and airing Gundam Wing or G Gundam? In a perfect world I would’ve loved to see if shows originally meant for Toonami in the CN era could have aired, but I have to admit to myself that would never happen. I’ve seen a lot of suggestions on social media, from airing DCAU shows to Megas XLR to Samurai Jack, and all of them are good. I think some sort of overlap between it and Checkered Past, or airing Rewind a bit more often would have helped.

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As television slowly fades away, the idea of nostalgia focused blocks feels more and more irrelevant. Other TV stations have had their go at showing anime because of the success of Toonami in the US. (Does Chiller's anime block ring any bells?) It just doesn’t seem like there’s room for any of that anymore. FAST online TV could be a potential new avenue, but I don’t have many thoughts on that specifically, and I’m cynical enough to feel that MAX would never go down that road. We’re lucky enough to see former Toonami all stars on Tubi. I’ve accepted time continuing to march on and the fact that I’m getting older long ago; Toonami will never be what it was in 2004, 2012, or 2014 ever again. I did really want to see some older shows rerun because they’re good and I wanted to pay my respects, not just because they’re old. Naruto was just announced to join the Saturday block after Toonami Rewind dies, and I’m not impressed personally as I really wanted Sailor Moon to continue showing on adult swim, but alas.

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It hurts to admit but maybe this truly was a failed experiment. A younger me would have been more frustrated because the demographic of people filling every Facebook comment section wanting THEIR Toonami back didn’t show up, but hey, neither did I. I haven’t had cable for a while and Toonami Rewind aired when I was at work. There’s still a bit of frustration especially with immediately seeing people think we’d ever get a Toonami channel when a 2 hour block crashed and burned, but at this point I’d rather those people check out Cereal Milk VHS uploads on YouTube, hit up Toonami Aftermath, or just get back into buying shows on DVD again.

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If we want to revisit our childhoods, we need to do it on our own terms.

", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "tags": [ "featured", "2024" ], "date_published": "2024-12-12T01:19:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-24T01:31:24-04:00" }, { "id": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/toonami-rewind-whats-old-is-new-again-again/", "url": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/toonami-rewind-whats-old-is-new-again-again/", "title": "Toonami Rewind - What's Old Is New Again... Again", "summary": "Today's the day that Toonami Rewind goes live on Adult Swim, and everything about this is so surreal that I never could have predicted this…", "content_html": "

Today's the day that Toonami Rewind goes live on Adult Swim, and everything about this is so surreal that I never could have predicted this even a decade ago. I've been watching Toonami's CN incarnation for most of my life.

Since Toonami came back in 2012, I've been as big of a fan as ever, but even then I knew that the initial climate it was made it was inherently different.  Firstly, Toonami was made as a nostalgic throwback block. These didn't really have names in the 00s because even if the shows were old, nothing was old enough to be nostalgic for a whole time period, if it makes any sense. I still saw Hey Arnold reruns on Nicktoons, Pete and Pete reruns on The N, and Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Lab reruns on Boomerang. In the 2010s, there was a specific motive to throw back to the 90s, even if these were the same reruns as before, with novelty and new bumpers you could get a consistent audience of 20 or 30 somethings to watch the same stuff they loved as a kid. In theory, this prints money when you don't have to put nearly as much into producing new media. In practice, it's a lot more difficult.

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Toonami is the only one of these blocks that's survived because they weren't shackled down to a specific era of anime, instead keeping things fresh by introducing new titles. Their debut lineup consisting of shows like Samurai 7 and Casshern Sins may not have been hot off the presses, but were likely new to whatever audience was either tuning into Toonami as a newcomer, or was a holdover from the Adult Swim Action block. Having Deadman Wonderland as their flagship new title for a while really sent the message that this wasn't a kids block anymore. Airing Bebop, Inuyasha and GiTS:SAC were seen as formalities but welcome all the same, but I personally never felt like airing shows like that was seen as pandering or milking nostalgia.

The block also worked because of wanting to have variety. As they were able to afford bigger and better acquisitions, what was seen as a novelty was now the standard. Airing Black Laggoon, Michiko and Hatchin, Samurai Champloo, or even Parayste the Maxim would never be done on Cartoon Network, but the acquisitions still fit. It's not to say that only adults were watching this new form of Toonami, hell I started in 8th grade. At that time I also was watching TeenNick's throwback block, which went through an absurd amount of rebrands for having mostly the same amount of programming over the course of its life.

In spite of the new variety in programming, Toonami has been pretty reliant on shonen anime, or shows aimed towards young boys. This isn't to say that they're the ONLY people who watch these shows or people older aren't also avid fans. The big shows that air though, like Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto are shonen through and through. And I won't lie, even though kids absolutely would stay up till 11 - 2 AM on a Saturday to watch as how they like, but some of these shows would likely have a bigger splash if directly marketed towards kids. We're not in that era anymore though; any kids networks that air anime are toyetic in nature (Pokemon, Beyblade, and Yu-Gi-Oh and Yokai Watch all being on Disney XD at one point speaks for itself) while shows with a more pronounced fanbase air either on Toonami or are just licensed for online broadcast through Crunchyroll or something similar. If this were a different decade, I could absolutely see someone market My Hero Academia directly to kids on a kids network, but it's a different time and hardcore anime fans would likely yell about any form of censorship regardless of how tastefully it's done (even though they have very easy access to uncut versions, making it moot).

Toonami Rewind sticks out as an all star move because it lets people have their cake and eat it too. It's not just kids that would benefit from watching shows that are for their age range AND have lasting legacy (with Toonami and the western anime fanbase as a whole). Every month, you have someone wistfully posting online how they wish Toonami was back... even though Toonami's been back since 2012. What they really mean is that they want Toonami back to when it was when they were a kid, airing all the shows that they once loved there. For multiple reasons, that's not possible. I hard wrote off any attempt of that because of me realizing that CN and AS are different beasts with different approaches to programming, knowing that the crew behind Toonami are stretched thin enough as is, and knowing that the 8PM rerun timeslot of DBZ Kai and One Piece many years ago didn't spark much regarding anime at primetime.

So this crowd basically got what they wanted... and there were still complaints. I get the inevitability, and the fact that not many people are as in tune with this stuff as I am. As I've joked about before, Toonami fans speculate about programming in the same way that I imagine fantasy football fans obsess over players. We find it engaging, others find it strange. There were realities that I had already accepted that others really found annoying, and it's honestly frustrating.

I will wholeheartedly acknowledge that these shows have legacies existing far longer than my own existance. I'm also not saying that the most well known version of these shows are bad or antequated or shouldn't exist. Licensing issues simply aren't our friend. The last time that Cartoon Network truly aired DBZ was on April 1st, 2012 (or the Toonami April Fools Prank). Having a one night license would obviously be much easier than a weekly one. Since it landed in the west around 2011, it's very safe to assume that Toei wants DBZ Kai as the definitive way to watch DBZ. It's much more friendlier for modern broadcast standards, the vocal performances are better, the voice cast in its current form have went on to do further projects with Dragon Ball, and it can easily be censored for a younger audience and still be enjoyable if needed. It won't have the Falcouner Productions soundtrack or any \"over 9000's\" or \"rock the dragons\", but I'm fairly sure at least those elements are easilly available on streaming or modern home releases (quality notwithstanding).

I only got into Sailor Moon around 2019, through the ViZ Media dub with no prior nostlagia for the franchise. Many fans older than me are familiar with the DiC and Cloverway dubs, and I lament more with them because there's no easy / legal way to watch that version these days due to the changing of hands. I do wish more people understood that a dub that stitched together episodes, had a entirely new soundtrack had questionable vocal performances, and wrote around queer characters wouldn't be great to air in this climate, in spite of the nostalgia.

Again, I'm not meaning to belittle anyone who grew up on these versions. The only thing I take issue with is insulting them, and by proxy, insulting the people who grew up on Kai or the ViZ dub respectively. I'm not a fan of generational warfare and I try my best to not repeat the cycle to people younger than me.

Sailor Moon in any form airing on TV is still huge, and could potentially lead to episodes never originally broadcast making a US television debut. It all depends, of course.  Outlaw Star got a re-run in HD due to the new blu-rays that were out in 2017, and they aired the penultimate episode that previously got skipped for broadcast because it's a gratuitously raunchy beach episode that happens to reveal a very important plot element at the same time. Having Sailor Stars finally air on television would still be a huge victory, though that all depends on if Sailor Moon will have a presence on the block after the first season finishes airing.

We're now in a frenzy of online discussion again, with people making rant videos and speculating on schedules, urging everyone to watch so the block can improve. It's just like 2012 all over again, honestly. I'm glad that Toonami is doing so well that it can expand like this, and relegating nostalgia reruns to a seperate block will mean Saturday Night Toonami can focus on newer acquisitions.

For me, I hope for any show that never got to run entirely on Toonami. Yu Yu Hakusho was given a early morning death slot. (Naruto never finished its run despite being at the peak of its popularity in the US, and I don't honesty think it will finish on Toonami Rewind.) Bobobo is an insane anime that's a laugh a minute and has a new release and a cult audience, though it did finish its run.  Megas XLR is a legal nightmare but something that deserves to be on especially if we can get western shows on Toonami Rewind. Samurai Jack Season 5 is curiously geting a Checkered Past rerun, but it wouldn't hurt to see the original series there or on Toonami. IGPX never got to finish its broadcast in HD, picking it back up would definitely work.

Licensing deals are obviously more tricky considering how the anime industry isn't in a great state and Crunchyroll continues to consume, but Toonami is a name that means something to many generations of people and I hope that they can use this to haggle.

As for the actual broadcast, it seems that any Viz show is more likely to show episode previews than a FUNi show, as Sailor Moon and Naruto had next episode previews. I missed them so much honestly, so I'm glad to see them return. Naruto also had its japanese OP air for the first time on Toonami which was surreal, honestly? I have NO nostalgia for the original opening, \"ROCKS\", instead growing up on whatever aired for the US english dub at the time.  DBZ Kai aired the Kikuchi soundtrack to be the same as current releases of it, and I won't lie, even as someone who isn't as familiar with the Japanese version, the sound cues used needed more variety and don't fit in as well as the Yamamoto songs. Though, I won't stress too much.

I'm hoping for the best, it's nice to watch this and I think the block has potential. 2 hours is also perfect without getting too bloated like Nickelodeon's offerings. I'm insanely biased as a fan of Toonami, of course. But I'll likely be watching these shows again as long as I'm able to, and I'll enjoy it too.

", "image": "https://a2adam.neocities.org/blog/media/posts/5/toonami-toonami-rewind-promo-may-30-2024-youtube-0-0-18-jpeg.jpg", "author": { "name": "Adam Lauture" }, "tags": [ "2024" ], "date_published": "2024-05-21T01:02:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-24T01:28:15-04:00" } ] }