>>100327884It's funny since like you said, Toonami started as just a new evolution of the afterschool "action adventure" block which had been around since the network started. Toonami wasn't even the "anime" block when it began. I think the first line-up was ThunderCats, Hanna-Barbera heroes, Voltron and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
Once Dragon Ball Z became a huge hit, they started adding more anime to the block and that brought in the older kids because during the big anime fad of the late 90s/early00s, anime had that "these aren't cartoons, they're ANIME! They're for ADULTS!" thing going and Cartoon Network was wise enough to ride that wave.
Then they got Adult Swim going in, what 2001? 2002? And that itself was an evolution of their attempts to brand themselves as not a kid's network but a network for anybody who likes animation no matter how old they are.
I honestly don't think they ever recovered from that CN Real debacle where they tried to narrow their focus down to a tween audience and become just another Nick/Disney Channel wannabe.
