Toonami started on a rocky road in 2017 through the now defunct cable provider Kwesé TV and managed to gain popularity after a year. Few months after its removal, the channel resurfaced on Cell C's streaming service, Black which suffered the same fate as the cable provider.
Not much was known about the version Black distributed but Kwesé TV's version included content from DC Animation, selected content from Cartoon Network and an ongoing stack of anime.
In 2019, MultiChoice launched a knockoff version of the brand for a limited period dedicated to DC Animation and a year later Toonami resurfaced in that same format.
Even though Toonami was seen as a pop-up through DStv. WarnerMedia had some luck and forged a deal with StarTimes to bring the brand onto their platform FULL-TIME.
Since then, it's been bombarded with repeats and viewers have been making requests for fresh content and they chose Dragonball Super which ended its run on Cartoon Network.
In other parts of the world such as France, Toonami underwent a rebrand to include content for a mature audience making it more edgier with the introduction of AEW Dynamite and Adult Swim at weeknights with DC Animation and anime occupying the rest of the schedule.
WarnerMedia EMEA's status on this channel is kind of quo, but from my point of view most channels that are not on DStv don't get much hype or media attention not that it's impossible but if you have a provider that keeps things discreet these are the consequences.
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Get ready for some next-level action! From Monday, the 19thof April, WarnerMedia’s TOONAMI channel will be getting a fresh branding and identity overhaul, establishing the channel in a more grown-up dimension, asserting itself progressively more amongst young adult superhero and anime enthusiasts.
The new-fangled TOONAMI, the Home of Superheroes, has upped the ante and will now also offer young adult superhero enthusiasts across Africa a 24-hour programming line-up, jam-packed with top-rated animated and anime-focused content. Fans will be taken to the mysterious world of DC Comics franchises for the best of iconic heroes and heroines from film and series including Batman, Superman, The Green Lantern, Young Justice and The Justice League, as well as popular animated series such as Teen Titans and anime-focused programming like the international hit anime phenomenon, Dragon Ball Super.
With a new design, brand new colours and a layered visual effect, the newTOONAMI identity, developed by WarnerMedia's in-house creative team, was produced by South African company, Wicked Pixels - a multi-award-winning studio specialising in high-end animation, visual effects and motion design. The new simplified logo is a modernised reinvention of the old with a nod to the ‘80s and is calibrated to accompany the brand across all linear and non-linear platforms. The innovative visual dressing, embodying four themes, will resonate with young adults. These pillars reference 2D styling representing comic books and manga, 3D styling aligning the brand with the gaming world, bringing spectacular action into play, and connecting the audience with the contemporary digital communication codes through pictogram, shapes, and visual puns.
Like any Hollywood blockbuster, the refreshed TOONAMI will be adorned with a musical theme, composed especially for the channel by Africa's first Music and Audio Agency, Audio Militia. The award-winning agency collaborated with WarnerMedia to produce the new soundtrack, mixing four different orchestrations to accompany the channel's new look and feel.
“Adult Animation is arguably the fastest-growing animation category with the most headroom for growth, and our refreshed TOONAMI channel reflects this change, targeting young adults with action and animation content,” says Guillaume Coffin, Head of Affiliates & Advertising France, Benelux, Middle East, Turkey, Africa & General Manager for Turkey. “TOONAMI, the only channel entirely dedicated to superheroes, meets the growing demand for die-hard superhero and anime enthusiasts alike, offering plenty of pulse-raising, action-packed series, new, exclusive movies and original documentaries for millennials.”
Newly added to the channel, to kick start the channel refresh, is the anime series,Fire Force, based on the Japanese manga series of the same name. In this new series, the city of Tokyo is plagued by a deadly phenomenon: spontaneous human combustion! Luckily, a special team is there to quench the inferno: The Fire Force! With new member Shinra and his devil footprints, they're going to save the city from turning to ash.
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