Giant Robot Week

Giant Robot Week was a five-day salute to the mecha genre of Japanese anime. The special ran for the week of February 24–28, 2003, from 4:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.

The anime series shown were all popular series licensed by A.D. Vision, this marked the first time Evangelion, Nadesico, and Dai-Guard have been seen by a nationwide television audience as well as the first time the original black and white episodes of Gigantor had aired since its initial broadcast run back in the 60's. A Cartoon Network produced pilot titled Low Brow was also shown. The mecha parody would eventually return to Toonami with a new name, Megas XLR.

The series shown during the week were:
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Episodes 1 & 2 were shown heavily edited for content

Gigantor: Several episode fragments from Gigantor were aired during the commercial breaks and in between episodes.

Robotech: Episode 1 and the final episodes of the New Generation, a series never shown on the network before, were shown.

Martian Successor Nadesico: Episodes 1, 6, and 25 were shown edited for content

Dai-Guard: Episodes 1 & 2 were shown edited for content

Megas XLR: On the last day of Giant Robot Week, the Cartoon Network original short Lowbrow aired as a four-part "micro series" at half-hour intervals during the remainder of the Toonami block outside of the hour-long special event. This six-minute short was later expanded into the first episode of the wildly successful Megas XLR.

On the evening of the final day of Giant Robot Week, The Iron Giant aired on Cartoon Network, followed by an episode of Dexter's Laboratory involving giant robots as a time filler. Although it wasn't marked as Giant Robot Week, Cartoon Network promoted the airing as "a conclusion to Giant Robot Week."

Schedule
Monday, Feb 24th

4:00 PM - Nadesico: Episode 1 "To Go Like a Man"

4:30 PM - Neon Genesis Evangelion: Episode 1 "Angel Attack"

Tuesday, Feb 25th

4:00 PM - Nadesico: Episode 6 "Sort of Like a Fateful Decision"

4:30 PM - Neon Genesis Evangelion: Episode 2 "Unfamiliar Cieling / The Beast"

Wednesday, Feb 26th

4:00 PM - Nadesico: Episode 25 "Being Myself, Being Yourself"

4:30 PM - Robotech: Episode 1 "Boobytrap"

Thursday, Feb 27th

4:00 PM - Dai-Guard: Episode 1 "Disaster From The Sea"

4:30 PM - Robotech: Episode 84 - Part 1 "Dark Finale"

Friday, Feb 28th

4:00 PM - Dai-Guard: Episode 2 "The Fort at Night"

4:30 PM - Robotech: Episode 84 - Part 2 "Symphony of Light"