The Cartoon Network has announced a Toonami 'Giant Robot' Week, which begins on Monday Feb. 24 and runs from 4pm to 5pm each day.  The culmination of the week-long celebration of giant mechanical figures will be an airing of the underrated animated feature The Iron Giant on Friday, Feb. 28 at 8pm (ET, PT).  What is most interesting about 'Giant Robot' week is that fact that the Cartoon Network will air episodes of four anime series released by ADV--Evangelion, Dai-Guard, Nadesico, and Robotech.  This is somewhat surprising since ADV is in the process of launching its own cable network (see 'ADV To Launch 24-Hour Anime Network').  But since only a couple of episodes from each series will air, these properties will hardly be played out after their brief exposure on the Cartoon Network.

The question is, if 'Giant Robot' week is successful, will the Cartoon Network continue and provide viewers with more episodes of the ADV series.  Dai-Guard and Martian Successor Nadesico have never been seen on U.S. TV before, while Neon Genesis Evangelion has had only limited exposure and Robotech hasn't been on in many major American markets in years.  All four series have the potential to excite viewers and should do well with the Toonami audience, though Evangelion in particular deals with psychological issues that make it a better candidate for Adult Swim rather than the Toonami block.