Toonami

"'We won't be intimidated by criminal threats'"

Toonami is an animated programming block that formerly aired on Cartoon Network, and currently airs on Adult Swim, geared toward action animation, 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 served as Cartoon Network's primary action-animation block until September 20, 2008. Toonami was revived on Saturday, May 26, 2012, as a more mature incarnation on Adult Swim.

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 animation block incarnation. Toonami was originally a weekday afternoon (4:00-6:00 PM) action animation block hosted by Space Ghost villain-turned-producer Moltar from the Ghost Planet Industries building from Monday, March 17, 1997 (St. Patrick's Day) to Friday, July 9, 1999. The Toonami crew originally wanted to have an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and teenage girl as the hosts of the block, but ultimately went with a more cost-effective choice with a CG animated Moltar.

In the animated world, Moltar began the programming block 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.

In its first year, Toonami received minimal funding and middling ratings. The Toonami crew was unable to get many of the series they wanted, due to the lack of funds, relying mostly on series already owned by Turner and English dubbed Japanese anime series from the 1980's. However, in June of 1998, the Toonami crew acquired their first modern English dubbed Japanese anime series in Sailor Moon. The series had previously aired on the USA network, which was also under the Turner umbrella of networks, to mediocre ratings. It was offered to the Toonami crew and, after its debut on Toonami, the series became the first hit for the block giving it some mainstream exposure.

Due to the success of Sailor Moon during the Summer of '98, the Toonami crew were able to push the network to license the rights to the staple of Toonami programming for years to come in Dragon Ball Z. The series was an instant hit causing the ratings to balloon significantly and mainstream publications to write about both Dragon Ball Z and Toonami giving the block further mainstream exposure. To put the success of the series in perspective, Dragon Ball Z had seven of the twenty highest viewed broadcasts in the history of Cartoon Network (1992-Present) during its time on Toonami and was a large part of making Cartoon Network a viable competitor with Nickelodeon in the children's programming market.

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. TOM began his tenure as host of the block with a speech reading: "So it's a brand new Toonami, but the mission objectives remain the same. My name is TOM. I'm the new Moltar. Welcome aboard the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution, Cartoon Network's first and only interstellar broadcast and exploration vehicle. I'll give you the tour later. From this day forward she is completely responsible for all Toonami transmissions. I'm takin you guys into the new millennium! No big changes now, same show, same attitude; new place to do it, new guy to do it with. I'm not going to waste any more time, let's get back into it. Later."

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. From September 17-21, 2001, Toonami aired its second Total Immersion Event Lockdown in which the Absolution is caught in a massive trash compactor's tractor beam. The second T.I.E. relied heavily on fan interaction via the tie-in Toonami.com game, with much of the story progression happening in-game.

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 from September 16-20th, Toonami premiered its third T.I.E. and 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 which formerly held the Saturday night time slot. 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 Throwdown 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."

Flash and D were then seen in the Flowus 3 broadcast station, pushing buttons one final time to initiate the permanent shutdown sequence and a countdown clock, that ticked down the seconds to Flowus 3's shutdown. Flash and D then join together, do a fist bump, and leave the station. The last part, which was spoken as soon as TOM jumped from the Flowus 3 broadcast station one final time to blast off into the sunset, 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. What started as an April Fool's prank quickly became the campaign used to bring back the block.

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, 2012, 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 5, 2013, Toonami changed its color scheme from dark red to blue after using the blue scheme to introduce Inuyasha on November 3, 2012.

During Momocon 2013, the Toonami staff unveiled designs for TOM 5 and a new Absolution, and announced a look overhaul (New logo, schedule bumps, etc.) which would make a debut in April. Toonami also announced that they would air Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone on the block's anniversary March 17th, 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, 2013, 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 27th. It was also announced that the formerly written off Toonami original series IGPX has been brought back to Toonami.

TOM 5 Era Begins
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 would 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 that would start at 11:30 PM beginning 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 Shrinks & T.I.E.s Return
On January 23, 2015 on the official Toonami Tumblr, it was announced that Toonami would be losing the 5-6 AM hour. Just a few days later, on January 27th, it was announced that Toonami would instead be shortened even further to a 3.5 hour block (12:00-3:30 AM).

On November 7, 2015, the 7 episode Toonami Total Immersion Event, The Intruder II began. On December 19, 2015, with the conclusion of The Intruder II, Toonami received a look overhaul, including a new broadcast station from Shogo 162 and new bumpers.

On March 24, 2016, it was announced that a second and third season of FLCL would be co-produced by Adult Swim and Production I.G., with the new seasons to air on Toonami.

On May 28, 2016, it was announced that Toonami would air a half hour earlier, running from 11:30 PM to 3:00 AM, beginning on June 4th. On September 21st, Adult Swim was pushed back an hour, thus starting at 9:00 PM, per the network's yearly tradition, causing Toonami to be pushed back by half an hour, starting at 12:00 AM, effective on October 1st.

On July 1, 2016, it was announced that a new micro-series directed by Mamoru Oshii, co-produced by Adult Swim and Production I.G, would premiere in March of 2017, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Toonami. The series was the first subtitled property to air on the Toonami block. It was later announced that the series would be titled: Sand Whale and Me.

On November 5, 2016, the 4 episode Toonami Total Immersion Event, The Intruder III began. On November 26, 2016, with the conclusion of The Intruder III, Toonami received a look overhaul, including a new spaceship - the Vindication - and new bumpers.

Vindication Era
On January 7, 2017, the 11:30 PM-12:00 AM time slot was added to the block, lengthening Toonami to 4 hours. On March 11, 2017, the 11:00-11:30 PM time slot was added to the block, lengthening Toonami to 4.5 hours. The fifth and final season of Samurai Jack also premiered on March 11th, at 11:00 PM. On April 1, 2017, Toonami was shortened by an hour (11:00 PM - 12:00 AM) for one week due to April Fools programming (new Rick and Morty), meaning that Dragon Ball Super and Samurai Jack were skipped for the week. After July 1, 2017, Toonami lost the 11:00-11:30 PM time slot. However, on July 29, 2017, the 11:00-11:30 PM time slot returned.

On September 9, 2017, the 3:30-4:00 AM time slot was added to the block, lengthening Toonami to 5 hours. From November 4-25, 2017, the 4 episode Toonami Total Immersion Event, Countdown aired. The following week, on December 2, 2017, the block was expanded by half an hour, gaining the 10:30-11:00 PM time slot.

On March 31, 2018, as part of an April Fools surprise, Toonami aired an episode of the new series FLCL Alternative, the movie Mind Game and the short Scavengers, allowing the block to run from 10:30 PM to 6:00 AM. However, after 12:00 AM, everything aired in Japanese with English subtitles.

On August 18, 2018, the Toonami block acquired the 10:00-10:30 PM time slot, lengthening the block to 6 hours. On September 29, 2018, Toonami was further expanded to include the 9:00-10:00 PM time slots, lengthening the block to 7 hours (9:00 PM - 4:00 AM).

On January 5, 2019, Toonami lost the 9-11 PM time slots and gained the 4-5 AM time slots, shortening the block to 6 hours (11:00 PM - 5:00 AM). On February 16th, Toonami lost another hour of programming, the 4-5 AM time slots, and was shortened to 5 hours.

On March 16, 2019, there was a glitch during the scheduled airing of episode 6 of Sword Art Online: Alicization. In response, Toonami immediately went to commercial to try to fix the issue. When Alicization resumed, it experienced the same problem, so eventually the episode was skipped and Megalo Box began airing ahead of schedule. However, in order to get back on schedule, instead of letting the entire episode of Megalo Box play out, it instead started over at its regular start time of 1:00 AM. To rectify this issue, the episode of Alicization that got cut short on March 16th was reaired in its entirety the following week. On March 30th, 2 episodes of Alicization (episodes 7 and 8) were aired from 12:30-1:30 AM.

On May 25, 2019, Toonami gained the 10:30-11:00 PM time slot and lost the 3:30-4:00 AM time slot, keeping the block at 5-hours in length. On July 6th, Toonami lost the 10:30-11:00 PM time slot but regained the 3:30-4:00 AM time slot, and once again began airing from 11:00 PM - 4:00 AM. On August 24, 2019, the block was expanded by half an hour, gaining the 4:00-4:30 AM time slot.

After being teased in December 2018, it was announced during the Toonami panel at MomoCon 2019 that Toonami's latest T.I.E., The Forge, would last 6 weeks (November 9 - December 14, 2019), and each week's episode would air during the first commercial break of the Toonami broadcast. The first episode was also shown during the panel.

During the events of The Forge, TOM 5 was killed by the Commander of the Forge. This resulted in SARA creating a new body for him (TOM 6). While, the Yellow TOM Units escaped in the Vindication, SARA destroyed all the enemy ships and TOM tossed the Forge Commander into space. This left TOM and SARA stranded on the Forge, which they decided to use as the new Toonami broadcasting station. After the final episode of The Forge aired on December 14, 2019, the block received a look overhaul including new bumpers and logo.

The Forge Era
On February 8, 2020, Toonami lost the 4:00 AM time slot, bringing the block back to 5-hours (11:00 PM - 4:00 AM). On February 22nd, 2020, Toonami lost the 11:00-11:30 PM time slot, and on February 29th the block lost the 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM time slots, shortening Toonami to 3.5-hours (11:30 PM - 3:00 AM). On April 18, 2020, Toonami lost the 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM time slots, shortening Toonami to 3-hours (12:00 AM - 3:00 AM), and on July 11, 2020, Toonami regained the 3:00-3:30 AM time slot, bringing the block back to 3.5-hours (12:00 AM - 3:30 AM). On January 9, 2021, Toonami regained the 3:30-4:00 AM time slot, bringing the block back to 4 hours (12:00 AM - 4:00 AM).

From February 6-27, 2021, Toonami's first non-canonical Total Immersion Event Cosmo Samurai aired in Japanese with English subtitles. The block received a look overhaul on March 21, 2021 including new bumpers and logo. In 2021 Toonami also began airing series that it co-produced with Crunchyroll: Fena: Pirate Princess (August 14, 2021) and Blade Runner: Black Lotus (November 13, 2021). These are only the first two co-produced series birthed from the partnership with Crunchyroll, first formed in 2018, with others (Shenmue the Animation and Uzumaki) still to be released in 2022. This partnership also resulted in the return of the Toonami block to Latin America on August 31, 2020.

For the first time during its run on Adult Swim, 2012-2021, Toonami aired on a night other than Saturday. Toonami took over Friday night with Toonami's Black Friday Blade Runner Doorbuster Event on November 26th from 11:00 PM to 4:30 AM. The short anime film Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 aired at 11:00 PM, followed by the live action film Blade Runner 2049 from 11:15 PM to 3:00 AM, and three episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus from 3:00 to 4:30 AM. The regularly scheduled block then aired on Saturday from 12:00 AM to 4:00 AM.

Following the annual holiday marathons in December, Toonami had yet to announce a schedule for January. In response the official Toonami Facebook revealed that the staff had been waiting on deals to be finalized before announcing anything. Additionally, it was announced that the block will add a new series to the lineup every week "for the next month or so". These series included: Cowboy Bebop (January 1st), Assassination Classroom (January 8th), Made in Abyss (January 15th), One Piece (January 22nd) and Shenmue the Animation (February 5th).

The second installment of the non-canonical T.I.E. Cosmo Samurai, titled Cosmo Samurai 2, aired from February 19, 2022 to March 12, 2022 in Japanese with English subtitles.

The Absolution Returns
Immediately following the completion of Cosmo Samurai 2, a canonical Total Immersion Event titled The Return aired from March 19-26, 2022. With the conclusion of The Return came a look overhaul for the block which took place on March 26, 2022 and included new bumpers, a new logo, and the return of the Absolution as the broadcasting vessel of the block.

Additionally, as part of Toonami's 25th anniversary celebration (March 17, 2022), Toonami announced three new Toonami original series created with Japanese anime studios. These included Housing Complex C, which premiered from October 1-22, 2022, and two new installments in the FLCL franchise, FLCL: Shoegaze and FLCL: Grunge, with both slated to premiere in 2023. Another upcoming Toonami original titled Ninja Kamui was announced by Jason DeMarco on May 18th with no potential premiere date given.

Toonami was shortened by an hour on November 5, 2022, losing the 3:00-4:00 AM time slots. On December 10th, the monthly on-air Toonami Fan Art segment returned with TOM 6 and SARA v4 presenting fan art in the classic Cartoon Network's Toonami style with audio clips from Toonami shows and credits to the artists. However, following the January 7, 2023 broadcast, the Toonami Fan Art segment was abruptly cancelled after a falsely-submitted piece of art made it onto the air. Someone submitted it under a false name when it was actually someone else's work behind an online paywall.

Two new American animated series were announced for the Toonami block on March 29, 2023, with premieres set for 2023. The first series, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal premiered on the block on May 6, 2023. The second series, My Adventures With Superman, will premiere later in 2023.

Current Toonami Staff

 * Jason DeMarco (1997-2008; 2012-present)
 * Gill Austin (1997-2008; 2012-present)
 * Mike Lazzo (1997-2008; 2012-present)
 * Jonny Rej (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)
 * Howard Parker (2012-present)
 * Kim Manning (2012-present)
 * Dana Swanson (2013-present)
 * George Banks (2019-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 (1999-2002)
 * Peter Cullen (1999-2008)
 * Sonny Strait (1999-2000; 2015)
 * Sally Timms (2000-2004)
 * Mike Terrell (2004-2008)
 * Julia Merrill (2005-2008)
 * Tom Kenny (2007-2008)
 * Dave Wittenberg (2007-2008)
 * Chris Hartley (2012-2021)
 * Shawn Moore (2014-2021)

Toonami Programming

 * Main Articles: Toonami Series and Toonami Movies

For a full list of schedules that have been broadcast by Toonami since March 17, 1997 go to Toonami Lineups (1997-2004), Toonami Lineups (2004-2008), Toonami Lineups (2012-2019) and Toonami Lineups (2020-Present).

Toonami has played host to many cartoons over its years on the air, broadcasting both american action cartoon series and japanese anime series.

Toonami Reactor Exclusive Series
The following is a list of series that streamed on Toonami Reactor but never aired on the Toonami programming block.

Toonami Jetstream Exclusive Series
The following is a list of series that streamed on Toonami Jetstream but never aired on the Toonami programming block. One season of Pokemon (Master Quest) did air on the Toonami block in 2006 but several additional seasons were available on Jetstream.

Giant Robot Week Exclusive Series
The following is a complete list of series that made their Toonami premiere during Toonami's Giant Robot Week. These series never appeared on Toonami at any other time, except for Gigantor which later aired during Adult Swim's Toonami April fools event.

Toonami April Fools 2012 Exclusive Series
The following is a list of series that made their Toonami premiere during Adult Swim's Toonami April fools prank. These series never appeared on Toonami at any other time, except for Gigantor which aired during Toonami's Giant Robot Week in 2003. The other series that aired during the April fools prank had all previously aired on Toonami.

Toonami Programming Blocks
During Toonami's initial run on Cartoon Network there were 3 additional programming blocks that carried the Toonami branding other than the regular weekday afternoon block. These blocks were short lived, only lasting a couple of years before their cancellation.

Toonami: Midnight Run

 * Main article: Toonami: Midnight Run

Toonami: Midnight Run was a Toonami programming block that aired 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 its cancellation in 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.

Toonami: Rising Sun

 * Main article: Toonami: Rising Sun

Toonami: Rising Sun was originally a Saturday morning Toonami programming block that started in 2000 and ended in 2001. The Rising Sun initially aired from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, but later was moved forward an hour and aired from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, before losing an hour resulting in it airing from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. It consisted of series such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, and Ronin Warriors, among others. The Rising Sun was somewhat hampered to avoid competing with sister network The WB's Saturday morning block Kids' WB, ultimately leading to its cancellation. However, in 2002, an hour long Rising Sun block was aired on Sundays from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM, consisting only of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.

Toonami: Super Saturday

 * Main article: Toonami: Super Saturday

Toonami: Super Saturday is a Toonami programming block that initially aired on Saturdays from 1:00 PM to 3:00 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 Super Saturday. The block premiered in 2001 and was cancelled in 2003, replaced by SVES, a Non-Toonami action oriented cartoon block.

Toonami Events

 * Main article: Toonami Events

Throughout its history (on both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim) Toonami has had several special events that usually consisted of marathons, showcasing a mixture of the shows on Toonami at the time or a single particular show such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, or Naruto. Most of these events occurred on holidays, such as New Years Eve, Valentine's Day, and President's Day, but occasionally the timing was random or coincided with the return of a series to the block, such as the return of new Dragon Ball Z episodes or the airing of the "Lost Episodes" of Sailor Moon. Toonami has also had a handful of special interactive events known as Total Immersion Events (T.I.E.s) that take place both on-air during Toonami and online at Toonami.com.

Toonami Sweepstakes

 * Main article: Toonami Giveaways

Since 1997, with the exception of the 4-year hiatus (lasting from 2008 until 2012), Toonami has held many sponsored sweepstakes, contests and giveaways that gave the loyal viewers a chance to win prizes.

Toonami Reactor

 * Main article: 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

 * Main article: 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 as well as past Toonami shows that Adult Swim has not yet lost the rights to. The site also initially featured a Non-Toonami, former Adult Swim Action series, Durarara!!, but all content from the series was removed from the site as of June 24, 2013, as Adult Swim lost the rights to the series.

On July 3, 2013, Toonami got its own section on video.adultswim.com, complete with a 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.

Its main updates, including the Tumblr posts, schedule, downloads, and more, are on adultswim.com/toonami. There was formerly a Toonami Stream hosted on adultswim.com/streams/toonami from August 25, 2015 to January 26, 2019 that featured weekly marathons of Toonami series, along with new episodes of Toonami: Pre-Flight.

Toonami Music
During its run on Cartoon Network, Toonami became known for featuring original music from lesser known artists in their promos, intros and bumpers. From 1997-2002, Toonami used 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. From 2003-2008, Toonami relied on original and library tracks from various artists from publisher Ninja Tune. When the block was revived on Adult Swim in 2012, Toonami primarily relied on Adult Swim's in-house label, Williams Street Records, but also used tracks from artists under other independent labels such as Ghostly International. In 2014, Toonami again gained access to the Ninja Tune library.

Additionally, on rare occasions throughout its history on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, videos from musicians such as Daft Punk, The White Stripes, Gorillaz, and Run the Jewels aired on the block.

Music Releases

 * Main article: Music Releases

Toonami's first CD, Toonami: Deep Space Bass, was released in 2001 and featured tracks from Tommy Guerrero and Joe Boyd Vigil, but 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 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. On December 25, 2013, IGPX: The Ichi Megamix a mixtape of songs from IGPX mixed by Skull Island was released on the Tumblr. In December 2015, Toonami released the soundtrack for The Intruder II on Toonami.com. In December 2016, Toonami released a mixtape titled Attics and Inventory Pt. 2 by artist Chris Devoe via Toonami.com. In December 2017, Toonami released the soundtrack for The Intruder III on Toonami.com.

Video Game Reviews

 * Main article: Video Game Reviews

Frequently throughout its history, Toonami has aired Video Game Reviews, written by Jason DeMarco and/or Gill Austin. The reviews, delivered by TOM and occasionally SARA, are fairly short and run during commercial breaks. The hosts score 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

 * Main article: Toonami Comics

Toonami has released multiple comics during its history. The first comics were part of DC's Cartoon Network Presents series. The next two were online Flash comics. Toonami Swarm, was a plot-related story about the origin of TOM 1. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt featured an original, somewhat edgy, storyline for the classic Hanna-Barbera superhero duo. Toonami: Endgame, an online (non-Flash) comic introduced the origin of TOM 3. The fifth comic, that doesn't officially have a name but is referred to as the Lost Toonami Comic, was created but never released during Toonami's original run. The lost comic was released post Toonami revival via the Toonami Tumblr page. On November 7, 2015, a companion comic for The Intruder II was made available on the Toonami Tumblr that features TOM 4, Flash and D, facing off against the Intruder. It takes place sometime after the 2008 cancellation.

UK & Ireland

 * Main article: Toonami UK

Toonami aired on Cartoon Network in the UK, from September 2000 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.

In 2004, the Toonami channel 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. 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

 * Main article: Toonami Australia

Toonami launched on Cartoon Network Australia on July 7, 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. 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 September 2006, Toonami was dropped from the Cartoon Network Australia schedule.

India

 * Main article: Toonami India

Toonami was most recently a 24-hour channel in India that launched on February 26, 2015 and was shut down on May 15, 2018. However, it was also formerly a programming block that aired on Cartoon Network in India from September 8, 2001 to 2008. For most of its run, the Toonami India block aired three times a day with an early block, an afternoon block, and a late night block. Most of the block's programming consisted of Japanese anime, such as Dragon Ball Z and Cardcaptors, along with a few North American animated series, such as Batman Beyond and Max Steel.

Japan

 * Main article: Toonami Japan

Toonami launched on Cartoon Network in Japan on July 22, 2002. While its North American counterpart heavily featured Japanese anime, Toonami Japan instead featured mostly North American animated series. The block also aired movies in a similar fashion to its American counterpart. In 2008 the block was removed from the Cartoon Network Japan schedule.

Latin America

 * Main article: Toonami 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 2007 the block was removed from the Cartoon Network Latin America schedule.

On August 18, 2020, it was revealed that the Toonami programming block would return to Cartoon Network on August 31, 2020 at 12:00 AM, in partnership with Crunchyroll. The 1-hour block airs Monday through Friday from Midnight to 1:00 AM. The initial lineup featured reruns of Dragon Ball Super (originally aired on Cartoon Network in 2017) and the premiere of Mob Psycho 100. Several additional series have aired on the block since its return. Each series that airs on the block are dubbed in both Spanish and Portuguese.

Spain

 * Main article: Toonami Spain

Toonami launched on Cartoon Network in Spain beginning in September of 2003 with a one hour weekday lineup and a two hour weekend lineup. The block also aired original promos and music videos in a similar fashion to its American counterpart. Toonami was removed from Cartoon Network Spain's schedule in 2009.

Toonami Asia

 * Main article: Toonami Asia

Toonami Asia is a television channel that launched in Asia on December 1, 2012. It was operated and distributed in Asia by Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Inc., a Time Warner company. Although the brand carried 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 was available 24 hours a day. On March 12, 2018, Toonami Asia announced on its Twitter page that the channel would be ceasing operations by March 31st.

France

 * Main article: Toonami France

Toonami is a television channel that launched in France on February 11, 2016. It is operated and distributed in France by Turner Broadcasting System Europe, Inc., a Time Warner company. The channel is named after the Toonami programming block created in the United States (a version of which was formerly aired in France on Cartoon Network), using a logo similar to the one introduced in 2004 but with different branded promos that are also used in Toonami Asia. The programming consists of superhero series such as Justice League, Beware the Batman and Ben 10. Unlike its predecessors, Toonami Asia and Toonami India, the programming featured on Toonami France is dubbed into the country's native language.

Taiwan

 * Main article: Toonami Taiwan

Toonami is a children's programming block that premiered on Cartoon Network in Taiwan on July 9, 2016. The Saturday evening block airs weekly from 7:30-10:30 PM in Mandarin Chinese. The block's programming consists of mostly anime series. The block closely resembles the kid friendly Toonami Asia in both tone and programming.

Fan-made projects

 * Main article: Fan-made projects

Toonami has had multiple fan made websites and projects over the years. Toonami Wiki itself is a fan made project dedicated to providing information about the history, shows and universe of Toonami. Toonami Wiki fully supports and fully promotes the revived Toonami on Adult Swim, as well as the hardworking staff of Toonami. Toonami Wiki also supports any fan made websites that support and do not impede the success of Toonami.

Toonami Digital Arsenal

 * Main article: Toonami Digital Arsenal

Toonami Digital Arsenal (stylized as "TOONAMI DIGITAL ARSENAL") is a website launched in 1999 that features a collection of Toonami's many promos, music videos, and bumpers. The Toonami Staff have stated on their Tumblr several times that they appreciate Toonami Digital Arensal's work and have a link to the site on their FAQ page. There is also a link to the site on Toonami.com. NOTE: the site is offline.

Toonami Faithful

 * Main article: Toonami Faithful

Toonami Faithful is a website launched in 2012 that features Toonami news, a Toonami related forum, as well as a podcast that focuses solely on Toonami. The podcast has featured many guests including Toonami co-creator, Jason DeMarco, the voice of TOM, Steve Blum, the creator of Megas XLR, George Krstic, etc. Toonami Faithful is partially responsible for setting up the Toonami Panel at MomoCon and has been featured on the official Toonami Tumblr. There is a link to the site on Toonami.com.

Toonami Infolink

 * Main article: Toonami Infolink

Toonami Infolink is a website launched in 2002 that features Toonami news, articles, reviews (DVDs, Video Games, Toonami Lineups), and a forum. It is no longer an active site, as on August 10, 2015 it was converted into a read-only archive of past site content.

Toonami Fan

 * Main article: Toonami Fan

Toonami Fan is a website launched in early 2008, during Toonami's final year on Cartoon Network. After Toonami's cancelation the site unofficially ceased, but after being listed on Toonami.com in late 2013, some of the former contributors decided to revamp the site and start adding new content again. The site features articles, a Forum, and other Toonami related content.

Toonami Aftermath

 * Main article: Toonami Aftermath

Toonami Aftermath is a 24/7 oniline channel that began broadcasting on January 18, 2010 airing programs from Toonami, Kid's WB, and Cartoon Network (Cartoon Cartoons).

NeoToonami

 * Main article: NeoToonami

NeoToonami is a former Toonami fan site launched after the revival of Toonami on Adult Swim. The creators claim NeoToonami's purpose is to "create a true successor to the original Toonami". NeoToonami broadcasts several shows that were previously broadcasted on Toonami as well as new shows. NeoToonami also is unique in the fact that it has it's own 3D Animation, featuring their own versions of TOM and the Absolution, which was called the Renascent. NeoToonami ended on April 26, 2013, concluding with the explosion of the Renascent and Tom.

Note: Toonami, The Toonami Staff, and The Adminstrators of Toonami Wiki do not offically endorse the NeoToonami or the Toonami Aftermath projects or their respective affiliates because these sites feature illegal use of Turner owned properties.