Cartoon Network and leading anime licensor VIZ Media announced plans to debut a new broadband service dubbed Toonami Jetstream. The joint venture will provide on-demand, full-length streaming episodes of such hit animated series as Naruto and Samurai Jack, as well as Hikaru No Go, M’R, The Prince of Tennis and other offerings not currently available on U.S. broadcast or basic cable television. The two entities will jointly manage and administer acquisitions and programming.
Scheduled to launch on on July 17, the ad-supported Toonami Jetstream will be available free of charge at http://ToonamiJetstream.com. New episodes will be added to the each week and previous installments will be available in the Toonami Jetstream archive.
Written by Yumi Hotta and drawn by Takeshi Obata, Hikaru No Go tells the story of Hikaru Shindo, a young student who stumbles across a dusty old Go board while exploring his grandfather’s attic. Trapped inside is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient Go master who enters Hikaru’s consciousness, allowing him to communicate with the spirit. Sai, newly awakened, wishes for nothing more than to play Go again. Urged on by Sai, Hikaru reluctantly begins playing Go. As he begins to appreciate the complexities of the game, Hikaru makes it his quest to become the ultimate Go champion.
M’R is created by Nobuyuki Anzai and revolves around Ginta, an average 14-year-old boy who enters a portal and is to the fairytale realm he envisioned in his dreams. In M’R, Ginta acquires super human strength and embarks on a quest to save the world from total domination by evil chess pieces.
Created by Takeshi Konomi, The Prince of Tennis is a coming-of-age sports drama that follows the on-and-off-the-court adventures of Ryoma Echizen, who joins the Seishun Academy tennis team, one of the most competitive clubs in Japan.
Toonami Jetstream will also feature the Cartoon Network original production IGPX and VIZ Media’s Megaman NT Warrior, as well as the all-new Zoids Genesis. Additional series will be announced in subsequent months. The broadband service is an extension of Cartoon Network’s action-adventure television programming block Toonami, which airs Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. (ET, PT) with such hit shows as Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, Zatch Bell!, Naruto and DragonBall Z.
