Anime Weekend Atlanta 2008

Cartoon Network

Anime Weekend Atlanta's Cartoon Network panel was delayed for close to a half-hour from its scheduled start as writing director James Mason, the intended representative of the cable channel, was making his way to the room. Until he arrived, another CN staffer was left to hold down the fort and answer questions from the close to 200 audience members in attendance. Particularly relevant to anime fans was his admission that Code Geass is being shifted to Adult Swim's 5:00 a.m. timeslot because of low ratings. MAR and One Piece went off the Toonami schedule for the same reason.

Once Mason finally arrived, he screened several trailers, and then made the announcement, already rumored, that this evening's Toonami broadcast would be the final one for the long-running block that introduced dozens of anime series to American viewers. Declining audience figures are the reason for the cancellation, and Toonami will be replaced by a more general Friday night action block. Anime will continue to run on Adult Swim, with an emphasis on new series. The Old School Fridays programming block, which has recently been the venue for airing of older anime such as Cowboy Bebop, is also being taken off the air.

(Reporting for this article was provided by Patrick Jefferson)