More changes are underway for the Cartoon Network's Toonami Block in March.  Starting March 4th, Yu-Yu Hakusho moves from Adult Swim to Toonami (see 'Yu-Yu Hakusho Figures, CCG Coming'), while on March 17th the classic samurai series Rurouni Kenshin debuts on the same day that the network starts running new episodes of Dragon Ball Z.  Produced in 1996, Rurouni Kenshin is set in the 1870s during the turbulent aftermath of Japan's opening to the West.  Its samurai hero is hardly pleased about the changes in Japanese society as he tries to maintain its feudal and martial arts traditions. With its well-done action sequences and a plot that resembles, in some ways, that of Blade of the Immortal (tough samurai hero reluctantly helps a girl avenge the death of her father at the hands of treacherous agent from a different 'school' of sword fighting), Rurouni Kenshin has become a major anime success in the U.S. without the benefit of TV exposure.

 

Media Blasters is in the process of issuing the Rurouni Kenshin series on DVD and the exposure on the Cartoon Network should create new interest in the property.  After March 17th the two-hour Toonami block schedule should look start with G Gundam (5pm ET & PT), followed by DBZ (5:30 pm), Yu-Yu Hakusho (6pm) and Rurouni Kenshin (6:30 pm).