Toonami (UK

Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television Studios. The block is owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The name is a portmanteau of the words "cartoon" and "tsunami". It currently airs every Saturday night from 12:00 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. ET/ PT

Toonami initially premiered as a weekday afternoon block on Cartoon Network in 1997. It ran in this format until 2004, when it transitioned to a Saturday evening schedule. The block aired until its initial closure in 2008. During its original run (1997–2008), Toonami primarily targeted older children and adolescents aged 7–18. It became known for showcasing action-oriented programming, particularly Japanese anime, which gained widespread popularity with American audiences. The block was distinguished by its space-themed aesthetic, anime music videos, drum-and-bass-influenced soundtrack, and its robot host, T.O.M. (short for Toonami Operations Module).

On May 26, 2012, Toonami was relaunched as a late night block on Adult Swim. This iteration rebranded Adult Swim's Saturday night action block (originally inherited from Toonami's ''Midnight Run'' block), which primarily features anime deemed too mature for daytime programming.

On May 31, 2024, a new Friday afternoon block called Toonami Rewind debuted. It aired from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET/PT and showcased classic anime series. Toonami Rewind complemented Checkered Past, a Monday–Thursday block featuring older Cartoon Network series. However, on December 19, 2024, it was announced that Toonami Rewind would shut down on December 27, 2024.

Broadcast history

Cartoon Network (1997–2008)

1997–99: Moltar era

Toonami was Cartoon Network's primary action-animation block. The block premiered on March 17, 1997, with ''ThunderCats'', '' Cartoon Roulette'', '' Voltron'', another episode of ''Roulette'', and '' The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest'' respectively as its first programs. It first took the place of Power Zone, the Super Adventures block's most recent iteration on Cartoon Network, which had been a mainstay of the network since its introduction on October 1, 1992. Toonami was originally a spin off of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' (since first host Moltar was a character on ''Coast to Coast'') and aired weekday afternoons. The block was originally hosted by '' Space Ghost'' villain-turned-producer Moltar (voiced by C. Martin Croker) at the Ghost Planet Industries building from March 17, 1997, to July 9, 1999.

1999–2000: T.O.M. 1 era

On July 12, 1999, Cartoon Network retired previous host Moltar and relaunched Toonami with a new environment, the Ghost Planet Spaceship ''Absolution'', and a new host, a robot named T.O.M. (voiced by Sonny Strait), which introduced viewers to him with this speech:

Soon afterwards, the first program of the T.O.M. era, the ''Sailor Moon'' episode "The Cosmetics Caper", premiered. It introduced ''The Powerpuff Girls'' on Toonami, becoming the first Cartoon Network original series on the block. Also introduced that day was the Midnight Run, a late night block. It was originally a five-hour Saturday night block (technically Sunday) at midnight EST until March 2000, when it moved to weeknights in an hour-long format until January 2003. It consisted of anime such as ''Dragon Ball Z'', ''Sailor Moon'', '' Voltron'', ''Robotech'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam Wing'', ''The Big O'', and ''Outlaw Star''. Midnight Run tended to have more blood and violence than its daytime counterpart, even running an uncut version of ''Gundam Wing'' between March and November 2000. One special edition that started on Friday, August 31, 2001, featured music videos such as "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz, and songs by Daft Punk from their 2001 album ''Discovery'', the music videos of which constitute the 2003 Japanese-French musical '' Interstella 5555'', and Kenna's "Hellbent". Another event was ''Dragon Ball Z'' taking over the Midnight Run for a week starting on March 26–30, 2001.

A Saturday morning incarnation, Toonami Rising Sun, ran from 2000 to 2001 at 9:00 am to noon. It later ran from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, then 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. This block was somewhat hampered to avoid competing with sister network Kids' WB.

Starting in September 2000, Toonami presented special interactive events known as Total Immersion Events (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 first TIE was ''The Intruder'', which introduced T.O.M.'s companion, an AI matrix known as Sara (voiced by Sally Timms, singer for the British band The Mekons) ''The Intruder'' was an eight episode mini-series that aired during Toonami from September 18 to September 22, 2000—November 6, 2000 to November 24, 2000. It involved the ''Absolution'' being attacked by an alien blob known only as "the Intruder", which ultimately devoured T.O.M.

2000–03: T.O.M. 2 era

Though ''The Intruder'' resulted in the destruction of T.O.M., he was soon after upgraded by S.A.R.A. from a short Bomberman-esque character to a taller, sleeker, deeper-voiced incarnation dubbed T.O.M. 2 (voiced by Steve Blum, who has since been the voice of all subsequent incarnations of the character).

On May 15, 2001, Cartoon Network released ''Toonami: Deep Space Bass'', the official soundtrack album to the TV block.

From July 30, 2001, until June 28, 2002, Kids' WB (also owned by Time Warner) aired a Toonami block that was, more or less, the Kids' WB lineup with the Toonami name. Although ''Toonami on Kids' WB'' brought over shows such as ''Sailor Moon'', ''Dragon Ball Z'', and ''The Powerpuff Girls'' to broadcast television, it was critically panned by industry observers, who noticed that the action branding of the block - which had added shows such as '' Generation O!'', ''Scooby-Doo'', and '' The Nightmare Room'', a live-action series created by '' Goosebumps'' author R. L. Stine - did not translate content-wise. And while the cross promotion between Cartoon Network and Kids' WB did allow for series to be shared between the networks, most of these only lasted a short period of time. This included ''Dragon Ball Z'' and ''Sailor Moon'' appearing on ''Toonami on Kids' WB'' for only two weeks, and '' Cardcaptors'' appearing on the main Toonami block on Cartoon Network for only two weeks. 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.

The TIE, ''Lockdown'', aired between September 17–21, 2001, and included the introduction of CartoonNetwork.com's first MMORPG, called "Toonami Lockdown", as well as a record-breaking amount of page views and ratings for the network. In ''Lockdown'' T.O.M. fights to save the ''Absolution'' from an attack by a giant trash compactor. ''Trapped in Hyperspace'', the next TIE, ran the week of September 16–20, 2002. Sara gets taken offline by a computer virus named Swayzak (whose voice actor is unknown but is speculated to be Khary Payton), and TOM is trapped in hyperspace. He manages to defeat Swayzak before the ''Absolution'' hits Earth. The game tie-in for this event is lost.

During the week of February 24–28, 2003, Cartoon Network aired on Toonami "Giant Robot Week," a five-day special based on mecha series, which were licensed by A.D. Vision. The series shown were ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Gigantor'', ''Robotech'', '' Martian Successor Nadesico'', and '' Dai-Guard''.

2003–07: T.O.M. 3 era

In March 2003, TOM was revamped into a more muscular figure. This was explained in-universe as him being rebuilt after fighting a space pirate named Orcelot Rex in the comic ''Endgame''. His voice also became more humanlike.

In September 2003, a mini series premiered introducing 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, aired in five short installments, serving as a pilot for the second Toonami original series, which premiered in November 2005.

On April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved from weekday afternoons to a Saturday evening slot, where it aired regularly for four hours starting at 7:00 pm EST. A new lighter-toned action block, Miguzi, premiered two weekdays in its place. Toonami also replaced the block known as Saturday Video Entertainment System (SVES). The reason behind the changes were that the network thought Toonami's audience had gotten older than what was desired for weekday afternoon programming. The new Toonami lineup showcased anime such as ''Naruto'', '' Rave Master'', '' Duel Masters'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'', ''One Piece'', ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', ''Zatch Bell!'', and '' Pokémon Chronicles'', as well as premiered North American productions including ''Teen Titans'', ''Megas XLR'', '' The Batman'', ''Justice League Unlimited'', and '' IGPX'', Toonami's first and only original production co-produced by Production I.G and Bandai Entertainment. Sara got a full body during this period, and became more anime-esque, along with her voice actress being changed to British actress and ''Red Dwarf'' star Samantha Robson.

In 2006, the block decided to celebrate their anniversary and Hayao Miyazaki's 65th birthday by having a four-week celebration called "A Month of Miyazaki" in which they aired a Studio Ghibli film each week. The parent company of Cartoon Network had already done so earlier in the year on a sister channel, Turner Classic Movies and wanted to repeat it again. The promotion also included original CG animation created for the block.

* March 18 – ''Spirited Away''
* April 1 – ''Castle in the Sky''
* April 8 – '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind''

Although ''Megas XLR'' was the first original American-made franchise to actually debut on the block, it was initially a Cartoon Network original that was planned to air on Friday nights. Other Cartoon Network action properties, namely '' Samurai Jack'', ''Teen Titans'', and ''Justice League'', aired on Toonami, but were not exclusive to the block until their final seasons.

2007–08: T.O.M. 4 era and cancellation

On January 27, 2007, a teaser commercial aired during the ''Xiaolin Showdown'' marathon on Cartoon Network, featuring closeup shots of larger Clydes (the remote robot explorers that have been a fixture of Toonami since the beginning) and two new robot A.I's along with the date "3/17/07" and T.O.M.'s chest emblem glowing blue. On March 17, Toonami celebrated its 10th anniversary with a new packaging and numerous montages celebrating the block. T.O.M. was revamped into a shorter robot with more humanoid facial features who was a commander of a jungle control room and aided by two new robots, Flash (Tom Kenny) and D. ( Dave Wittenberg) The montages included a look at past hosts, former logos, and a decade's worth of clips and voice-overs from shows that aired on Toonami. There were a total of four montages, each with different clips, and three were one minute long.

As part of the anniversary (and to coincide with Cartoon Network's March Movie Madness event), Toonami planned another month of movies:
* March 3 – '' The Invincible Iron Man''
* March 10 – ''Mosaic''
* March 17 – '' Hellboy: Blood and Iron''
* March 24 – '' Stan Lee Presents: The Condor''
* March 31 – ''Spirited Away