If SG:C2C was the precursor to ASC, then "Night of the Vampire Robots" was ASA's.

[Ace Goodheart]

(By the way, SG:C2C= Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, ASC= Adult Swim Comedy and ASA of course= Adult Swim Action..............just in case okay? :p )

Last night I was doing some internet surfing and research for some nuggets of nostalgia for my "Old-School Cartoon Network" thread over at the CN forum *cheap plug*, and just happened to stumble upon a 12+ year old archived usenet convo from rec.arts.anime (ring a bell to anyone here???) which really taught me more about the origins of anime on Cartoon Network, based on what I already recall from my youth.

On January 28, 1995 (Saturday night/Sunday morning), Cartoon Network aired a little-known,late-night event known as "Night of the Vampire Robots", in which they aired (back-to-back) "Robot Carnival", "Vampire Hunter D" and "Twilight of the Cockroaches" from Midnight to 6AM:

Sat/Sun Midnight (Jan. 28/29) Robot Carnival
Sunday, Jan 29 2 AM Vampire Hunter D
Sunday, Jan 29 4 AM Twilight of the Cockroaches

The movies had already aired on Sci-Fi Channel a few years before (relatively uncut) during the infancy of their anime block and well into the '90's, and had begun airing on Turner's TBS & TNT (more cut than usual........with the exception of VHD which was CUT TO RIBBONS) on late nights exclusively sometime in 1994. CN was the last of them all to get them, but it was a milestone event for a network who by the end of it's inagural year was already STARVING for new programming (hence the creation of Moxy and Coast to Coast from their limited materials), and was radically different from anything that was airing on CN up to that point (we all know what it was...........Hanna-Barbera re-run madness.). This wasn't the last time this event aired on CN though, as it aired a couple more times in 1995, notably on the first or second weekend of July 1995 as the "1995 Summer Anime Festival", where they dedicated a whole weekend to them. They were paired with SGC2C to boot, which unknowingly would be a sign of things to come way down the line for late-nights on Cartoon Network. I chuckle as I read these ancient usenet convos, with people speculating whether CN would air more anime aside from G-Force and these movies, and how they should dedicate their late nights to *GASP* uncut anime. :)

January 1995 as a whole was the first of many milestone months that year for CN, as on January 2nd CN premiered it's first anime series..................wait for it............"G-Force" on weekday rotation (dunno if "Super Adventures" or "Afternoon Adventures" was the weekday block in power at the time) Of course, February would bring the debut of the "World Premiere Toons" Project which was the birth of "Cartoon Cartoons", more outside programming would be acquired (Bond.............James Bond Jr.......) in coming months, but the tradition of risque anime on late-night CN started with "Night of the Vampire Robots":

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/2355/

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Yeah I do remember hearing about that. Of course it's a much different precursor as Space Ghost Coast to Coast was actually a part of AS and was shown to be more adult when airing eps made specifically for AS but yeah the idea of late night anime was quite an interesting one. Not one any real network tried toying with too much. Even these movies were just special deals in order to make up for lack of programming. Heh the talk of these cut/cut to ribbions though makes me wonder how back then Cartoon network would of been able to handle stuff like Trinity Blood or Blood+. There defintley be rival like 4Kids edit lists for both shows, espically all of Blood+ blood baths.

[Ace Goodheart]

Yeah I do remember hearing about that. Of course it's a much different precursor as Space Ghost Coast to Coast was actually a part of AS and was shown to be more adult when airing eps made specifically for AS but yeah the idea of late night anime was quite an interesting one. Not one any real network tried toying with too much. Even these movies were just special deals in order to make up for lack of programming. Heh the talk of these cut/cut to ribbions though makes me wonder how back then Cartoon network would of been able to handle stuff like Trinity Blood or Blood+. There defintley be rival like 4Kids edit lists for both shows, espically all of Blood+ blood baths.

Funny you mention 4Kids edit lists, because many don't have the slightest idea just how much was cut off what's infamously known as the "Turner cut" of Vampire Hunter D. Here's the edit list someone compiled almost 13 years ago: (it'd make more sense if you've seen the movie more than once preferably)


WHAT WAS CUT:
All laser shots striking the saurian while it is
alive. Also, Doris dodging the flame (?) it spits
at her.


The saurian with Luke in its mouth.


The werewolf with Luke in its mouth.


The sheep being ... is it the laser shots or the mist
thing that gets the sheep? Well, we don't see its injuries
or its carcass. Also cut, Dan saying "Damn it."


In D's initial confrontation with Reiginsei, the sword
thrust has been *totally* cut, so we never see just what
Rei has done that leaves blood from a gut wound running
between D's fingers. (We do see the blood running between
his fingers.)


In Count Lee's castle, when D confronts the mist cat:
ALL blood spray has been cut -- it goes from D's blade
hitting the mist cat to D snarling, "Damn you."


ALL views of the snake women's nipples. I think this
required some rearranging of the soundtrack, but I'm
not sure. It definitely made the music a bit choppy.


In D's flight from the castle: I *think* a little of the
wounding of Gimret (the knife-flyer) was cut, but I'm not
sure. We see Tula (the tarantula mutant) bisected, but
we *don't* see the two halves splattered on the catwalk.
The death of Witch from a lopped brain has been cut.

D stabbing Goreim's (the golem) hand has been cut, as has
all of Goreim's death and what leads up to it -- blood
spurting from his shoulder and so forth, his tongue being
stabbed, then Goreim falling backwards into a bloodsplash.
We *do* see Reiginsei vaulting Goreim's remaining arm, and
we *do* see the blood dripping off Gimret's feet.

When Reiginsei confronts D with the fake candle, we see
the blow that amputates his hand at the wrist; we *don't*
see the severed hand hitting the ground stump first.
Oddly enough, they retained Rei writhing and clutching
his bleeding stump a few minutes later.


Naturally they cut the bit where Doris's breast is
exposed as Dr. Fering rips off her cross.


The dagger (?) to Fering's chest and most of his descent
into the abyss was cut.


D's words to Ramika: "Go home."


Doris naked in the shower, of course.


Reiginsei staking D -- only the blow was cut, the aftermath
they kept. Rei's amputating D's left hand was cut.


The hand's words: "Don't answer that."


Reiginsei's death: We see Reiginsei hit *one* column, then
cut to his corpse with the bloodsplash instead of a head.

His being smashed into more columns and his head exploding: cut.

The dagger hitting Count Lee's eyeball, and the Count pulling
it out. Actually, the continuity is quite good here, as it
goes from Count Lee's open mouth to a flash of light -- very
effective segue.


I haven't *quite* been able to follow all of D's fight with
Count Lee. D's sword hitting Lee and pinning him to the wall
is totally cut, and I'm sure that should leave one wondering
how the old vampire got up there like an impaled butterfly.
We do see D pulling the knife from his chest.



And of course the final Japanese credits were cut. But since
that meant the bouncy disco music was cut also -- I'll forgive. :)
I think that's most of it. Basically they cut anything
that involved nipples and *most* things that involved red blood.
I don't know why a few innocuous lines got cut; somebody
trying to out-Macek Macek, perhaps. ;) Anyway, a lot was left,
but some of the cuts made hash of continuity.

People really give 4Kids too much ****, and forget easily about monstrocities such as the "Turner cut" of Vampire Hunter D and without a doubt Sandy Frank's "Battle of the Planets", the grandaddy AND king of hackjobs.

More decade-old usenet goodies to come.

[Lord Dalek]

I thought it was more of a precursor to Toonami, oh wait, IT WAS.

[Ace Goodheart]

I thought it was more of a precursor to Toonami, oh wait, IT WAS.

That would obviously be Super Adventures/Afternoon Adventures/Power Zone, all of the action afternoon blocks that predated Toonami. They too contained anime (G-Force, Speed Racer), American action shows (SWAT Kats, Captain Planet), a Jonny Quest show ('60's Jonny Quest) and a block of '60s H-B action shorts, all of which comprised the first year of Toonami.

But the practice of utilizing late nights to air more mature anime started with "Night of the Vampire Robots", and was first fully realized with the "uncut" Toonami Midnight Run airings.............dammit I'm just trying to bring light to this obscure event, don't have to be so mean!