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12 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. ET
- It currently broadcasts every Saturday night from 12 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. ET / PT.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toonami
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This is a list of programs that have been broadcast on Adult Swim 's (formerly Cartoon Network 's) Toonami programming block. Broadcast times and ranges shown are with respect to the United States' Eastern Time Zone based on Adult Swim's headquarters being located in this time zone.
It currently broadcasts every Saturday night from 12 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. ET / PT. [a] Toonami initially ran as a weekday afternoon block on Cartoon Network from 1997 until 2004, when it transitioned into a Saturday evening format until its final airing four years later.
Toonami was previously hosted by Moltar (March 17, 1997 - July 9, 1999) and is currently hosted by TOM (July 10, 1999 - September 20, 2008, May 26, 2012 - present). The Toonami brand name was subsequently used in the United Kingdom as the name of an action-oriented animation channel replacing a former Cartoon Network owned channel CNX, which had been a Toonami/live-action hybrid network. At midnight on April 1, 2012 (April Fools Day), Adult Swim, aired a lineup of Toonami oriented programming an
- Overview
- History
- Toonami Staff
- Toonami Programming
- Toonami Programming Blocks
- Toonami Events
- Toonami Sweepstakes
- Online Video Services
- Toonami Music
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 ...
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.
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)
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: 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
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
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.
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.
Year Title Broadcast Date Broadcast Time
1997 Superheroes Weekend March 15-16, 1997 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
1998 Re-Quest Weekdays July 27 - August 28, 1998 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
1999 Lunar Eclipse May 23, 1999 11:30 AM - 8:00 PM
DBZ20XL May 24-28, 1999 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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
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 its run. After Jetstream's end, many of the shows aired until their cancellation on Cartoon Network Video on its 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.
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.
Runtime. 2 hours. Toonami Rewind is a Toonami programming block that premiered on Friday, May 31, 2024. The block airs on Fridays for two hours from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM and features shows from Toonami's original run on Cartoon Network, resembling the original afternoon lineup format from 1997 to 2004.
May 18, 2024 · Toonami Rewind begins airing on Cartoon Network starting at 5 p.m. on May 31. To get ready for the trio of classic anime series, check out the trailer for Sailor Moon Season 1 below. Your...
- Senior News Writer
Naruto. Categories. Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Toonami Rewind is an American 2-hour block programming block on Adult Swim. It is the Toonami equivalent to Checkered Past. Similar to said block, it features classic shows (this time being anime) from 5pm to 7pm.
