Toonami

Toonami
Cartoon Network Block
Network	Cartoon Network
Launched	March 17, 1997
Cancelled	September 20, 2008
Runtime	1 hour (2000-2003 Midnight Run) 2 hours (1997-2000, 2002-2004, 2007-2008) 3 hours (2000-2002) (2000 Rising Sun) (2001-2003 Toonami Super Saturday) 4 hours (2004-2007) 5 hours (1999-2000 Midnight Run)
Kids' WB Block
Network	Kids' WB
Launched	July 30, 2001
Cancelled	June 30, 2002
Runtime	2 hours (2001-2002)
Adult Swim Block
Network	Adult Swim
Launched	May 26, 2012
Runtime	6 hours (2012-2013) 6 1/2 hours (2014-2015) 3 1/2 hours (2015-present)

Toonami is an animated programming block formerly on Cartoon Network, and currently on Adult Swim, geared toward action-oriented programming, mostly consisting of American cartoons and Japanese anime. The name is a combination of the words cartoon and tsunami, suggesting that the block is a "tidal wave" of animated shows. The block originated in the US on March 17, 1997 and ended its run on September 20, 2008. It was revived on Saturday May 26, 2012, as a more mature-geared incarnation on Adult Swim.

History

Pre-Launch

In 1996, Sean Akins was asked by Cartoon Network executive, Mike Lazzo to create a new action animation block for the network. Akins enlisted his friend Jason DeMarco to help him and together, with the help of several other individuals, they created what eventually became the Toonami block.

The weekend before the launch of Toonami (March 15-16), Cartoon Network held a two day marathon of action cartoons and titled the weekend, Superheroes Weekend. The weekend featured the Super Friends, a show that would eventually wind up on the Toonami block, and SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, a show that never appeared on Toonami. During the weekend there were also several sneak peeks of the Toonami block.

Early Years

Toonami made its world premiere on Monday, March 17, 1997, initially replacing Power Zone, Cartoon Network's most recent action block incarnation. Toonami was originally a weekday afternoon (4-6 PM) action cartoon block hosted by Space Ghost villain-turned-producer Moltar from the Ghost Planet Industries building from 1997 to July 9, 1999.

In the animated world, Moltar began the program by sending his mobile satellite probe, Clyde 49, to earth to retrieve data and transmit it through the Ghost Planet Studio, where Space Ghost: Coast to Coast was broadcast.

Expansion

In 1999, Moltar was replaced as the host of Toonami by an A.I. named TOM, who was given the Ghost Planet vessel, GPS Absolution Mk. I, to travel through the universe and continue Moltar's work. TOM's first appearance as host actually came during Toonami's very first Midnight Run broadcast, which started at 11:55 p.m. ET on July 10, 1999.

With TOM in the driver's seat, Toonami began reaching out in new and unexpected programming and added several additional programming blocks (Midnight Run, Rising Sun, Super Saturday). In 2000, Toonami premiered the first Total Immersion Event, The Intruder, in which an Intruder ate into the Absolution and killed TOM, leaving his successor, TOM 2 to take over and rid the vessel of the intruder. TOM's faithful companion, SARA, was also introduced during the event. On July 3, 2000 Toonami expanded by an additional hour, running for 3 hours from 4-7 PM.

On May 14, 2001, the Toonami block lost the 4-5 PM hour in preparation for the premiere of the Toonami block on Kids' WB on July 30, 2001.

Kids' WB Toonami

From July 30, 2001 until June 30, 2002 Kids' WB aired a Toonami block that was, more or less, the Kids' WB lineup with the Toonami name. It was critically panned by industry observers and fans, who noticed the action branding of the block did not translate content wise, which had added shows like Scooby-Doo and The Nightmare Room, a live-action series created by Goosebumps author R. L. Stine. In Spring 2002, Kids' WB announced that they would drop the Toonami name from their weekday lineup, once again making the Toonami brand exclusive to Cartoon Network.

Post Kids' WB Toonami

On June 3, 2002 Toonami regained the 4-5 PM hour. From August to the middle of September, Toonami hosted Hyper Space Movies on Fridays, but the Absolution got Trapped in Hyperspace due to a computer virus named Swayzak.

In March 2003, an online Toonami comic titled Endgame was released. In the comic, the Absolution was destroyed and SARA taken from it. TOM was also destroyed, but was rebuilt into a new body (referred to as TOM 3) and rescued SARA, building a new ship from scrap, dubbed the GPS Absolution Mk. II. On March 17, 2003 TOM 3 began hosting Toonami and the block was shortened once again, losing the 4-5 PM hour.

Toonami Rules Saturday Nights

On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network moved Toonami from weekday afternoons to Saturday evenings, airing from 7-11 PM, aimed at a preteen and teen audience. Cartoon Network also added a new lighter-toned action/comedy hybrid block, Miguzi, to weekday afternoons in place of Toonami.

Toonami also replaced the block known as Saturday Video Entertainment System. One big reason for the move from weekdays to Saturday nights was the fact that some of the shows on the weekday lineup (such as Yu Yu Hakusho, Cyborg 009, and Rurouni Kenshin) became too violent for a weekday afternoon broadcast on the network.

3.17.07 (Toonami's 10th anniversary)

On January 27, 2007, a teaser commercial aired during the Xiaolin Showdown marathon on Cartoon Network featuring close up shots of larger Clydes (the remote robot explorers that have been a fixture of Toonami since the beginning) along with the date 3/17/07 and TOM's chest emblem glowing blue.

On March 17, 2007, Toonami celebrated its 10th anniversary with the introduction of TOM 4, and the jungle control room called Flowus 3 with a trio of new robots- Flash, D and a new Clyde. There were also numerous montages celebrating the block's history.

The montages included a look at past hosts, former logos, and a decade's worth of clips and voiceovers from shows that aired on Toonami. There were a total of 4 montages, all of them having different clips.

As part of the anniversary (and to coincide with Cartoon Network's March Movie Madness event), Toonami planned a month of movies:

• March 3 - The Invincible Iron Man
• March 10 - Stan Lee Presents: Mosaic
• March 17 - Hellboy: Blood and Iron
• March 24 - Stan Lee Presents: The Condor
• March 31 - Spirited Away and Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo

On October 13, 2007, Toonami was shortened from 4 hours to just 2 hours, airing from 9-11 PM.

Cancellation

On Saturday morning, September 20, 2008, at the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention in Atlanta, Georgia, Cartoon Network announced that they had canceled the Toonami block due to low ratings. Toonami then aired its final transmission that same evening. Employees who worked on the block moved to other parts of the Cartoon Network or Adult Swim. Anime was mostly handled by Adult Swim, which on that same day, was deemed by Cartoon Network to be the new "main source for anime." Action cartoons were mostly handled by a then-new programming block titled "You Are Here", and a then-new block titled "Action Flicks" replaced Toonami on Saturday nights. Toonami Jetstream remained without the Toonami name until January 2009. At the end of Toonami's final airing, the host, voiced by Steve Blum, ended the block with a final monologue simply reading:

"Well this is the end beautiful friends, after more than 11 years this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun. And we'd like to thank each and every one of you who made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully, we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold...Bang."

The last part echoed the final words of the character Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop, who was also voiced by Steve Blum in the English dub of the anime. After that, all traces of Toonami, including the Toonami name and mascot were all but completely phased out from mainstream television airwaves and online websites from 2008 until 2012.

April Fools 2012 - Toonami Revival on Adult Swim

On midnight of April 1, 2012, just past Toonami's 15th anniversary, Adult Swim, which generally changes its programming for April Fools' Day, began to play The Room (as they had done the past several years). The scene then switched to TOM (in an updated version of his third incarnation) aboard the Absolution, greeting the viewers while commenting on April Fools' Day, before introducing that week's scheduled episode of Bleach. The Toonami-related programming and bumpers continued throughout the night, featuring Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo!, Outlaw Star, The Big O, Yu Yu Hakusho, Blue Submarine No. 6, and Gigantor. Trigun and Astro Boy, two series that were never shown on the original Toonami, were also shown. TOM also presented a review of "Mass Effect 3" and promoted the recent DVD releases of the series shown that night.

Toonami Relaunch

On May 16, 2012, Adult Swim posted a message on Facebook announcing that Toonami would return on May 26, with a similar message on Twitter, ending with #ToonamisBackBitches. The network issued a press release later that day confirming the block's revival as a Saturday late night block. Toonami made its return on May 26, 2012, after a four-year hiatus from mainstream television airwaves, with all new bumpers, game reviews and an updated animation of TOM. This midnight timeslot block features more mature programming than any of its predecessors. The initial lineup continued some of the Adult Swim Saturday anime block programs and premiered two new shows, Deadman Wonderland and Casshern Sins.

On September 26, it was announced that the 3-6AM time period formerly used to repeat the Toonami block would be replaced with two episodes (1 hour) each of Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. This new schedule began on October 6, 2012.

On January 6, 2013, Toonami changed its color scheme from dark red to blue after using the blue scheme to introduce Inuyasha on November 3.

During Momocon 2013, the Toonami staff unveiled designs for a TOM 5 and a new Absolution, and announced a look overhaul (New logo, schedule bumps, etc.) which will all debut in april. Toonami also announced that they would air Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone on the block's anniversary March 17, and One Piece would be added to the lineup some time in 2013. The color scheme changed to green on March 17, for one day, for Toonami's birthday celebration (and St. Patrick's Day), though on the official Toonami Tumblr, they said the change to green had nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day.

On March 26, on the official Toonami Tumblr, it was announced that TOM 5, the GPS Absolution Mk. III, and the new look of the block, will premiere on April 27. It was also announced that the formerly written off Toonami original series IGPX has been brought back to Toonami.

TOM 5 Era

On April 27, 2013, IGPX, TOM 5, The GPS Absolution Mk. III, and the new look of the block (logo, bumps, etc.) made their scheduled premiere along with the surprise return of the Absolution's A.I. Matrix, SARA, redesigned and now voiced by Dana Swanson.

On June 27, 2013, it was announced on the official Toonami Tumblr that after July 20th Toonami will no longer hold the rights to Thundercats (2011), so it will not be coming back to the block.

On October 25, 2013, on the official Toonami Tumblr, it was announced that Toonami would be expanded by half an hour, making it a 6 1/2 hour block and would start at 11:30 PM on January 4, 2014. It was also announced that Space Dandy would be making its world television premiere on Toonami on January 4, 2014 at 11:30 PM.

On November 15, 2013, on the official Toonami Tumblr, it was announced that December would be a month of movies, with Toonami airing 4 movies over 4 weeks.
The scheduled movies were:

• Akira - December 7, 2013
• Summer Wars - December 14, 2013
• Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa - December 21, 2013
• Trigun: Badlands Rumble - December 28, 2013

On February 5, 2014, on the official Toonami Tumblr, it was announced that The Intruder II, the sequel to the original Toonami Total Immersion Event, The Intruder, was in development for a 2015 premiere.

On April 5, 2014, the block received a surprise look (logo, font, bumps, etc.) upgrade.

On August 15, 2014, on the official Toonami Tumblr it was announced that there would be an Attack on Titan marathon on August 30th from 12-6 AM.

On September 22, 2014, on the official Toonami Tumbler it was announced that Beware the Batman and Sym-Bionic Titan had been written off by Cartoon Network and will never appear on Toonami again. It was also announced that the final 7 episodes of Beware the Batman would air on September 27th from 2:30-6:00 AM.

On November 8, 2014 on the official Toonami Tumblr, it was announced that December would be another month of movies, with Toonami airing 6 movies over 4 weeks as well as the final 2 episodes of Hellsing Ultimate.
The scheduled movies were:

• Hellsing Ultimate (Episode 9) - December 6, 2014
• Summer Wars - December 6, 2014
• Hellsing Ultimate (Episode 10) - December 13, 2014
• Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos - December 13, 2014
• Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan - December 20, 2014
• Akira - December 20, 2014
• Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone - December 27, 2014
• Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance - December 27, 2014

Toonami Staff

Current Toonami Staff

• Jason Demarco (1997-2008; 2012-present)
• Gill Austin (1997-2008; 2012-present)
• Mike Lazzo (1997-2008; 2012-present)
• Jonny Ray (1998-2008; 2012-present)
• Steve Blum (2000-2008; 2012-present)
• Dennis Moloney (2000-2008; 2012-present)
• Sara Hardy (2002-2008; 2012-present)
• Brent Busby (2005-2008; 2012-present)
• Chris Hartley (2012-present)
• Howard Parker (2012-present)
• Kim Manning (2012-present)
• Dana Swanson (2013-present)
• Shawn Moore (2014-present)

Former Toonami Staff

• Sean Akins (1997-2008)
• Michael Cahill (1997-2002)
• C. Martin Croker (1997-1999)
• Randall Lane (1997-1998)
• Tommy Guerrero (1997-1999)
• Joe Boyd Vigil (1997-2002)
• Peter Cullen (1999-2008)
• Sonny Strait (1999-2000)
• Sally Timms (2000-2007)
• Mike Terrell (2004-2008)
• Julia Merrill (2005-2008)
• Tom Kenny (2007-2008)
• Dave Wittenberg (2007-2008)

Toonami Programming

Toonami Series (1997-2008)

The series that appeared on Cartoon Network's Toonami block from March 17, 1997 to September 20, 2008.

Note: The dates under "End Date" are the last time the series appeared on Toonami, Toonami's Midnight Run, or Toonami Super Saturday. Some series had multiple runs that were not always consecutive.

No.	Name	Premiere Date	End Date	No. of Episodes
1	ThunderCats	March 17, 1997	May 31, 2002	130
2	Cartoon Roulette	March 17, 1997	March 5, 2000
3	Voltron	March 17, 1997	February 28, 2000	124 (only 104 shown)
4	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	March 17, 1997	September 26, 1999	52
5	Robotech	January 12, 1998	December 26, 1999	85 (only 60 shown)
6	Transformers: Beast Wars	March 9, 1998	March 13, 1998	52 (only 5 shown)
7	Sailor Moon	June 1, 1998	May 4, 2001	200 (only 166 shown)
8	Dragon Ball Z	August 31, 1998	March 22, 2008	291
9	Super Friends	October 5, 1998	January 22, 1999	109
10	ReBoot	March 15, 1999	November 30, 2001	48
11	The Powerpuff Girls	July 10, 1999	April 16, 2004	78
12	Ronin Warriors	September 27, 1999	March 9, 2001	39
13	G-Force: Guardians of Space	January 1, 2000	March 5, 2000	85 (only 10 shown)
14	Gundam Wing	March 6, 2000	May 11, 2001	49
15	Tenchi Muyo!	July 3, 2000	January 16, 2002	21 (only 14 shown)
16	Batman: The Animated Series	July 3, 2000	February 16, 2001	109
17	Tenchi Universe	July 24, 2000	February 21, 2002	26
18	Tenchi in Tokyo	August 28, 2000	April 12, 2002	26
19	Blue Submarine No. 6	November 6, 2000	November 10, 2000	4
20	Superman: The Animated Series	November 13, 2000	June 1, 2001	54
21	Outlaw Star	January 13, 2001	February 6, 2002	26 (only 25 shown)
22	The Big O	April 2, 2001	July 13, 2001	26 (only 13 shown)
23	Cardcaptors	June 4, 2001	June 22, 2001	70 (only 39 shown)
24	Mobile Suit Gundam	July 23, 2001	September 12, 2001	43 (only 38 shown)
25	Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team	July 23, 2001	November 2, 2001	12
26	Dragon Ball	August 20, 2001	April 16, 2004	153
27	Batman Beyond	October 1, 2001	March 14, 2003	52
28	Zoids: New Century	November 5, 2001	July 26, 2002	26
29	Gundam 0080	November 6, 2001	December 1, 2001	6
30	Hamtaro	June 3, 2002	October 4, 2002	296 (only 52 shown)
31	Zoids: Chaotic Century	July 29, 2002	May 30, 2003	67
32	G Gundam	August 5, 2002	April 25, 2003	49
33	He-Man and the Masters of the Universe	August 16, 2002	January 10, 2004	39
34	Transformers: Armada	August 23, 2002	January 2, 2004	52
35	G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero	November 4, 2002	January 11, 2003	100 (only 40 shown)
36	.hack//SIGN	February 1, 2003	February 22, 2003	29 (only 4 shown)
37	Yu Yu Hakusho	March 17, 2003	February 26, 2005	112 (only 88 shown)
38	Rurouni Kenshin	March 17, 2003	March 12, 2005	95 (only 62 shown)
39	Justice League	June 2, 2003	May 29, 2004	52
40	Cyborg 009	June 30, 2003	September 26, 2003	52 (only 26 shown)
41	SD Gundam	September 1, 2003	March 5, 2004	52 (only 26 shown)
42	Dragon Ball GT	September 5, 2003	April 16, 2005	64
43	Samurai Jack	September 29, 2003	September 20, 2008	52
44	Star Wars: Clone Wars	December 1, 2003	November 26, 2005	25
45	Duel Masters	February 27, 2004	May 13, 2006	65
46	Astro Boy (2003 Series)	March 8, 2004	July 3, 2004	52 (only 17 shown)
47	Transformers: Energon	April 9, 2004	April 9, 2004	51 (only 4 shown)
48	Jackie Chan Adventures	April 17, 2004	July 17, 2004	95 (only 9 shown)
49	Gundam SEED	April 17, 2004	October 16, 2004	50 (only 26 shown)
50	Megas XLR	May 1, 2004	March 19, 2005	26
51	Rave Master	June 5, 2004	June 4, 2005	51 (only 31 shown)
52	Teen Titans	July 10, 2004	October 6, 2007	65
53	Justice League Unlimited	July 31, 2004	October 14, 2006	39
54	D.I.C.E.	January 22, 2005	April 2, 2005	40 (only 10 shown)
55	Zatch Bell!	March 5, 2005	January 20, 2007	150 (only 77 shown)
56	The Batman	April 2, 2005	December 23, 2006	65 (only 26 shown)
57	One Piece	April 23, 2005	March 15, 2008	ongoing
58	Transformers: Cybertron	July 2, 2005	June 30, 2007	52 (only 22 shown)
59	Yu-Gi-Oh!	August 6, 2005	September 10, 2005	224 (only 6 shown)
50	Naruto	September 10, 2005	September 20, 2008	220 (only 199 shown)
61	Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo	October 1, 2005	October 13, 2007	76
62	IGPX	November 5, 2005	July 1, 2006	26 (only 20 shown)
63	Wulin Warriors	February 4, 2006	February 11, 2006	13 (only 2 shown)
64	Pokemon Chronicles	June 3, 2006	October 21, 2006	22 (only 21 shown)
65	Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes	Septeber 2, 2006	July 14, 2007	26 (only 15 shown)
66	Pokemon Battle Frontier	October 28, 2006	February 24, 2007	47 (only 14 shown)
67	Yu-Gi-Oh! GX	October 28, 2006	August 4, 2007	180 (only 30 shown)
68	MAR	December 23, 2006	May 26, 2007	102 (only 18 shown)
69	The Prince of Tennis	December 23, 2006	May 26, 2007	178 (only 18 shown)
70	Storm Hawks	July 21, 2007	October 6, 2007	52 (only 9 shown)
71	Megaman Star Force	August 25, 2007	August 25, 2007	26 (only a special shown)
72	Bakugan Battle Brawlers	March 22, 2008	March 29, 2008	52 (only 1 shown)
73	Blue Dragon	March 29, 2008	May 17, 2008	51 (only 8 shown)
74	Ben 10: Alien Force	June 21, 2008	September 20, 2008	46 (only 7 shown)

Toonami Series (2012-Present)

The series that have appeared on Adult Swim's Toonami block from May 26, 2012 to the present.

No.	Name	Premiere Date	End Date	No. of Episodes
1	Bleach	May 26, 2012	January 31, 2015	366
2	Deadman Wonderland	May 26, 2012	March 21, 2015	12
3	Casshern Sins	May 26, 2012	November 3, 2012	24
4	Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood	May 26, 2012	December 13, 2014	64
5	Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG	May 26, 2012	January 31, 2015	26
6	Cowboy Bebop	May 26, 2012	January 31, 2015	26
7	Samurai 7	August 18, 2012	February 9, 2013	26
8	Eureka 7	August 18, 2012	August 10, 2013	50
9	Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex	August 18, 2012	May 3, 2014	26
10	Sym-Bionic Titan	October 6, 2012	July 20, 2014	20
11	ThunderCats (2011 Series)	October 6, 2012	July 20, 2013	26
12	InuYasha	November 3, 2012	March 1, 2014	167 (only 127 shown)
13	Tenchi Muyo! GXP	November 10, 2012	May 11, 2013	26
14	Naruto	December 1, 2012	September 6, 2014	220
15	Soul Eater	February 16, 2013	March 15, 2014	51
16	IGPX	April 27, 2013	January 31, 2015	26
17	One Piece	May 18, 2013	Present	Ongoing
18	Sword Art Online	July 27, 2013	February 15, 2014	25
19	The Big O: Season 2	July 27, 2013	December 27, 2014	13
20	Star Wars: The Clone Wars	August 17, 2013	September 20, 2014	108 (only 56 shown)
21	FLCL	October 26, 2013	January 25, 2014	6
22	King Star King	November 2, 2013	November 2, 2013	7
23	Korgoth of Barbaria	November 2, 2013	November 2, 2013	1
24	Space Dandy	January 4, 2014	January 31, 2015	26
25	Naruto Shippuden	January 4, 2014	Present	Ongoing
26	Samurai Jack	February 1, 2014	January 24, 2015	52
27	Blue Exorcist	February 22, 2014	August 9, 2014	25
28	Black Lagoon	March 22, 2014	September 6, 2014	24
29	Attack on Titan	May 3, 2014	September 26, 2015	25.5
30	Beware the Batman	May 10, 2014	September 27, 2014	26
31	Gurren Lagann	August 16, 2014	March 21, 2015	27
32	Hellsing Ultimate	September 13, 2014	November 8, 2014	10
33	Dragon Ball Z Kai	November 8, 2014	Present	159
34	InuYasha: The Final Act	November 15, 2014	June 13, 2015	26
35	Kill la Kill	February 7, 2015	Present	24
36	Sword Art Online II	March 28, 2015	September 26, 2015	24.5
37	Michiko & Hatchin	June 20, 2015	Present	22
38	Akame Ga Kill!	August 8, 2015	Present	24
39	Parasyte -the maxim-	October 3, 2015	Present	24

Toonami Movies (1997-2008)

The movies that appeared on Cartoon Network's Toonami block from March 17, 1997 to September 20, 2008.

No.	Name	Premiere Date
1	Batman: Mask of the Phantasm	January 8, 1999
2	Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero	January 15, 1999
3	Jonny Quest VS. The Cyber Insects	January 22, 1999
4	Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might	May 29, 1999
5	Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest	May 29, 1999
6	Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone	May 29, 1999
7	Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz	November 10, 2000
8	World's Finest	November 17, 2000
9	Sailor Moon R: The Movie	November 2, 2001
10	Sailor Moon S: The Movie	November 9, 2001
11	Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie	November 16, 2001
12	Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker	August 9, 2002
13	The Iron Giant	September 20, 2002
14	Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku	September 5, 2003
15	Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks	September 12, 2003
16	Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge	September 19, 2003
17	Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler	September 26, 2003
18	Hot Wheels: World Race	October 3, 2003
19	G.I. Joe: Spy Troops	January 9, 2004
20	The Powerpuff Girls Movie	March 5, 2004
21	Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back	March 26, 2004
22	Pokémon The Movie 2000: The Power of One	April 2, 2004
23	Pokémon 3: The Movie: The Spell of the Unown	April 16, 2004
24	Bionicle: Mask of Light	April 17, 2004
25	Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug	April 24, 2004
26	Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman	May 1, 2004
27	Justice League: Starcrossed	May 29, 2004
28	G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom	November 27, 2004
29	Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui	December 18, 2004
30	Hot Wheels: Acceleracers - Ignition	January 8, 2005
31	Hot Wheels: Acceleracers - The Speed of Silence	March 19, 2005
32	Hot Wheels: Acceleracers - Breaking Point	June 25, 2005
33	Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light	July 30, 2005
34	Zatch Bell!: Zatch and Kiyo's Odyssey	September 3, 2005
35	Hot Wheels: Acceleracers - The Ultimate Race	October 1, 2005
36	The Batman VS Dracula	October 22, 2005
37	Batman (1989 Film)	November 19, 2005
38	Spirited Away	March 18, 2006
39	Princess Mononoke	March 25, 2006
40	Castle in the Sky	April 1, 2006
41	Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind	April 8, 2006
42	Ultimate Avengers	April 22, 2006
43	Zatch Bell!: Friends Getting Stronger!	May 20, 2006
44	Superman: Brainiac Attacks	June 17, 2006
45	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters out of the Gate!	September 9, 2006
46	Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo	September 16, 2006
47	Naruto: The Adventures of Naruto!…Oh, And Everyone Else Too! / One on One: Every Genin For Themselves!	September 23, 2006
48	Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther	October 21, 2006
49	Hellboy: Sword of Storms	October 28, 2006
50	Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn	November 11, 2006
51	Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage	November 25, 2006
52	Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon	December 2, 2006
53	The Invincible Iron Man	March 3, 2007
54	Stan Lee Presents: Mosaic	March 10, 2007
55	Hellboy: Blood & Iron	March 17, 2007
56	Stan Lee Presents: The Condor	March 24, 2007
57	Spider-Man	April 28, 2007
58	Naruto - Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village!	May 19, 2007
59	Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix	August 11, 2007
60	Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow	September 8, 2007
61	Superman: Doomsday	July 12, 2008
62	Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel	July 26, 2008

Toonami Movies (2012-Present)

The movies that have appeared on Adult Swim's Toonami block from May 26, 2012 to the present.

No.	Name	Premiere Date
1	Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone	March 17, 2013
2	Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance	August 31, 2013
3	Kick-Heart	August 31, 2013
4	Akira	December 7, 2013
5	Summer Wars	December 14, 2013
6	Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa	December 21, 2013
7	Trigun: Badlands Rumble	December 28, 2013

Toonami Reactor Exclusive Series

No.	Name	Premiere Date	End Date	No. of Episodes
1	Star Blazers	April 30, 2001	March 2002	77
2	Harlock Saga	November 14, 2001	March 2002	6
3	Record of Lodoss War	November 14, 2001	March 2002	13
4	Patlabor	February 18, 2002	March 2002	47

Toonami Jetstream Exclusive Series

No.	Name	Premiere Date	End Date	No. of Episodes
1	Hikaru no Go	July 14, 2006	January 30, 2009	75
2	Pokemon	October 9, 2006	January 30, 2009	ongoing
3	Eyeshield 21	December 17, 2007	January 30, 2009	145
4	Transformers: Animated	February 15, 2008	January 30, 2009	42
5	Kiba	July 14, 2008	January 30, 2009	51

Toonami Programming Blocks

Midnight Run

The Midnight Run was a Toonami Programming Block that ran from 1999-2003. Initially from 12:00 AM to 5:00 AM on Saturdays from 1999 to 2000. It was then moved to weekdays and ran from 12:00 AM to 1:00 AM until 2003. It consisted of series such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, among others. Midnight Run tended to have slightly more blood and violence than its day-time counterpart, at one point even running an uncut version of Gundam Wing.

Rising Sun

The Rising Sun was a Saturday morning Toonami Programming Block that started and ended in 2000, Toonami's Rising Sun initially ran from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, but later was changed to run from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. It consisted of series such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Batman: The Animated Series, and Ronin Warriors, among others. The Rising Sun was somewhat hampered to avoid competing with sister network Kids WB.

Super Saturday

Super Saturday is a Toonami Programming Block that ran on Saturdays initially from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, then from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. It consisted of series such as Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series), Transformers: Armada, and .hack//SIGN. The final 4 episodes of Zoids: Chaotic Century were shown for the first and last time on any Toonami block on January 4, 2003 as part of Toonami Super Saturday. The block premiered in 2001 and was cancelled in 2003, replaced by SVES, a Non-Toonami action oriented cartoon block.

Total Immersion Events

Starting in September 2000, Toonami presented special interactive events known as Total Immersion Events or TIEs. These TIEs took place both on-air during Toonami and online at the official site, Toonami.com, and always occurred the week that the block's most popular series, Dragon Ball Z, returned for a new season.

The very first TIE was The Intruder, which introduced TOM's companion, an AI matrix known as SARA. The Intruder was an eight part mini-series that aired during Toonami from September 18, 2000 to September 27, 2000. It resulted in the rebirth of TOM, upgrading his appearance from a short Bomberman-esque character (voiced by Sonny Strait) to a taller, darker, deeper-voiced incarnation dubbed TOM 2.0 (voiced by Steve Blum).

The following TIE, Lockdown, aired between September 17–21, 2001, and included the introduction of CartoonNetwork.com's first MORPG as well as a record-breaking amount of page views and ratings for the network. During Lockdown TOM fights to save the Absolution from an attack by a giant trash compactor.

Trapped in Hyperspace, the next TIE, ran for a week from September 16–20, 2002. The ship's computer, SARA was infected by a computer virus and TOM became trapped in hyperspace. TOM eventually destroys the virus before the absolution hits Earth. The Intruder and Lockdown aired in the UK, but did not achieve the same amount of success as their American airings.

The TIE in September 2003 was a diversion from the TOM and SARA adventures and introduced a new, 2D universe. Immortal Grand Prix (IGPX), created by Toonami producers Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by anime studio Production I.G. It aired in five short installments and served as a pilot for the first Toonami original series, which premiered in November 2005.

Online Video Services

Toonami Reactor

On April 30, 2001, Cartoon Network launched Toonami Reactor, their first online streaming video service. The three-month service featured streaming episodes from Dragon Ball Z and Star Blazers, the latter of which was an online-exclusive series. Editorial content was provided by the now-defunct Animerica Magazine, published by VIZ Media. After the three-month "trial run" was over, Cartoon Network took it offline and completely revamped it.

On November 14, 2001, Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami Reactor with all online-exclusive programs such as Star Blazers, Patlabor, Harlock Saga, and Record of Lodoss War, as well as videos from Daft Punk and Toonami-themed games. In the summer of 2002, Toonami Reactor was revamped again under the Adult Swim brand and, with a joint venture with VIZ's Weekly Shonen Jump, programmed it as "Adult Swim Pipeline."

Toonami Jetstream

On April 25, 2006, a little over five years since the launch of the now-defunct Toonami Reactor, Cartoon Network and VIZ Media announced plans to launch Toonami Jetstream, a new ad-supported streaming video service featuring Toonami series like Naruto, Samurai Jack, Megas XLR, and IGPX. As well as the U.S. internet stream premieres of Hikaru no Go, MÄR, Eyeshield 21, The Prince of Tennis, Megaman Star Force, and Kiba. MegaMan NT Warriors and Zoids: Genesis were scheduled to be part of Toonami Jetstream but never ended up being streamed.

Toonami Jetstream launched on July 17, 2006 (after a brief unofficial sneak preview that began on July 14), and offered episodes of Naruto, Hikaru no Go, MAR, Zatch Bell!, Pokémon, Blue Dragon, Samurai Jack, Kiba, Storm Hawks, and Transformers: Animated. On January 30, 2009, Toonami Jetstream ended it's run. After Jetstream's end, many of the shows aired until their cancellation on Cartoon Network Video on it's main web site, cartoonnetwork.com.

Adult Swim

In 2012, Adult Swim rebranded their action videos section on video.adultswim.com as "Toonami shows". The site features current Toonami shows such as Bleach, Naruto, and Soul Eater. As well as past Toonami shows such as Big O, Deadman Wonderland, and Samurai 7. The site also features a Non-Toonami, former Adult Swim Action show, Durarara!!, but all content from the show was removed from the site as of June 24th, 2013 and adult swim lost the rights to the show.

On July 3, 2013, Toonami got it's own section on video.adultswim.com, complete with full schedule, a tumblr feed from the official Toonami Tumblr, and links to show pages, also on video.adultswim.com, that host full episodes and clips from most of the current Toonami shows.

Music Releases

Toonami proved to be a haven for music throughout it's history, using original compositions; first by skater/artist Tommy Guerrero from 1997 to 1999, and then by Atlanta-based composer Joe Boyd Vigil from 1999 to 2002, many of which were compiled in the CD Toonami: Deep Space Bass in 2001, which is now out of print. In 2003, DJ Clarknova (the alias of Toonami co-founder Jason DeMarco) took Toonami's beats (both old and new) and mixed them with sound bites from recent Toonami and Adult Swim shows. This resulted in an hour-long compilation of Toonami remixes, called the Toonami: Black Hole Megamix, but for unknown reasons was never published. However, the Megamix recently was hosted by Toonami Digital Arsenal, a popular unofficial Toonami multimedia site. DJ Clarknova then released another Toonami album, entitled Toonami: Supernova Megamix, on Christmas Eve of 2012 as a free download through the official Toonami Tumblr webpage.

From 2003 through 2008, Toonami relied on original and library tracks from various artists from publisher Ninja Tune. On rare occasions, videos from musicians such as Daft Punk, Linkin Park, The White Stripes, Beck, and Gorillaz aired on the block.

Video Game Reviews

Frequently throughout it's history, Toonami aired Video Game Reviews, written by Jason DeMarco and/or Gill Austin. The reviews, delivered by TOM and occasionally SARA, were fairly short and ran during commercial breaks. The hosts scored the games on a 1 - 10 system: 10 signifying an excellent game, 1 signifying a very poor game. (The score system was originally 1 - 5 until 2001.)

Two games were given a "?" rating, Dropship: United Peace Force for the PlayStation 2 (because of many failed attempts to get past Level 6) and Slender by Marc "Parsec" Hadley of Parsec Productions (because of not finding all eight pages in time, and the fright of looking at the Slender Man).

Toonami Comics

Toonami has released multiple comics during it's history. The first comics were part of DC's Cartoon Network Presents series. The next two were online comics. Toonami Swarm (A flash comic) and Toonami Endgame, told overall plot-related stories about the origin of TOM 1 and the origin of TOM 3 respectivly. The fourth comic, that doesn't offically have a name but is refered to as the Lost Toonami Comic, was never released during Toonami's original run. The lost comic was released post Toonami revival via the Toonami Tumblr page. In the next couple of months the Toonami Staff will premiere an online comic that will tell the story of how TOM 3 became TOM 4, how TOM 4 became TOM 3.5, where Sara and the Clydes were, and how TOM 5 and the new Absolution came to be.

Toonami: Outside The U.S.

Latin America

On December 2, 2002, Toonami premiered on Cartoon Network Latin America, replacing a similarly themed block, Talisman. Toonami aired shows that were already on the lineup such as Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, and Pokémon. It also served as the home of Inuyasha. Over the years, Toonami added shows like Yu Yu Hakusho and Knights of the Zodiac, as well as the revamped versions of Cyborg 009 and Astro Boy. However, the block had to move to the late-night slots on CN Latin America due to protests of violent scenes on the block. Mexico moved Toonami to midnight in October 2003 while the rest of Latin America moved the block in November 2004.

In 2005, Toonami had short-lived weekend schedules, which were later replaced by the premiere of Adult Swim in Latin America (October 7, 2005). In March 2006, Toonami revamped their lineup to include more adult-oriented series, such as Love Hina, taking advantage of the late schedule and the refusal of anime on Adult Swim, as well as to compete against the anime channel Animax (now Sony Spin) for new anime series. In June 2006, Toonami premiered anime movies in two monthly variations: Dragon Ball Theatricals (which had 17 different Dragon Ball movies), and Toonami Movies (generally animated action movies).

In 2007, CN Latin America cut Toonami completely and the movies were no longer aired, save those of Dragon Ball Z. After its cancellation in Latin America (March 26, 2007), the anime programming of the channel gradually vanished, currently the only anime which air on CN Latin America are Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z Kai.

In January 2010 the block Animaction was created, showing on Wednesday evenings. This block broadcasted both action programming and anime programming until it was removed in April 2011.

UK & Ireland

Toonami UK was a programming block on the Cartoon Network in the UK, until October 2002 when it became a key component of CNX, a new channel launched by Cartoon Network UK, the first Cartoon Network derivative to launch outside North America. CNX also broadcasted martial arts movies and dramas like The Shield and Birds of Prey at night. The network catered towards a young male audience. A year later, CNX was relaunched as Toonami and was then targeted at younger audience.

Toonami UK, throughout its existence, also aired cartoons based on DC Comics properties on the channel, such as Justice League Unlimited and the first two seasons of Batman Beyond (aired as Batman of the Future). Contractual disputes with Warner TV distribution prevented the channel from showing the third and final season of Batman Beyond and the whole of Superman: The Animated Series, forcing the channel to recycle through the first two seasons of Batman Beyond as a result.

In 2004, Toonami got rid of TOM and SARA and adopted a new look, featuring spinning and sliding red and black squares in different forms on a light blue background. From March 6, 2006, Toonami UK changed its focus from action cartoons to entertainment in general, as the channel moved to Sky 602 and began airing live-action shows such as Backyard Science, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Life with Derek, Blue Water High. Additionally, the channel's graphics were redesigned, with the black, white and red logos replaced by a new blue background logo and giggling, blob-like mascots that are used in the channel's break bumpers, promos and idents which contrasted heavily with the original themes of the channel. Toonami and Cartoon Network Too merged into one channel on May 24, 2007, ending the run of Toonami UK.

Australia

Toonami launched on Cartoon Network Australia on 7 July 2001 as an outlet for action animation. Most of its lineup consisted of anime, including already popular shows such as Dragon Ball Z, as well as the Australian premiere of Cardcaptors and exclusives such as Gundam Wing and Yu Yu Hakusho. Occasionally it also broadcast action cartoons from the United States such as Batman Beyond.

On its launch, Toonami broadcast on Saturday evenings from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and on Sunday afternoons from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Each day's programming was repeated in the Toonami "Late Run" from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am. Toonami soon expanded to weekdays, and for a number of years could be seen seven days a week. Although timeslots varied, the main Toonami block remained on weekday afternoons; in 2005 it was airing weeknights at 6.00pm, with mini-marathons playing on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In September 2006, Toonami was dropped from the Cartoon Network Australia schedule. Former Toonami programming, and new programming that would have previously gone to Toonami is now spread out across the network's other timeslots.

Toonami Asia

Toonami Asia is a television channel that launched in Asia on December 1, 2012. It is operated and distributed in Asia by Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Inc., a Time Warner company. Although the brand carries the same name as the programming block available in the US, they are in no way affiliated with each other, other than both being part of the Turner Broadcasting family. The Toonami channel in Asia is available 24 hours a day.

External Links

• Toonami Wiki
• Official page
• Official Tumblr
• Toonami Digital Aresnal