TOONAMI
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The current US logo for the Toonami block as of March 17, 2007.
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.
United States
Toonami is Cartoon Network's primary action-animation block. The block, which made its world premiere on Monday, March 17, 1997, initially replaced Power Zone, Cartoon Network's most recent incarnation of the Super Adventures block which had been a staple on the network since October 1, 1992. Toonami was originally a weekday afternoon cartoon block hosted by Space Ghost villain-turned-producer Moltar at the ''Ghost Planet Industries'' building from 1997 to July 9, 1999.
On Saturday, July 10, 1999, Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami with a new environment, the Ghost Planet Spaceship ''Absolution'', and a new host named TOM. The night also introduced the Toonami Midnight Run late night block which 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 2002.
On Saturday, April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved from weekday afternoons to its current Saturday evening slot, where it airs for four hours starting at 7 PM EST/PST.
Hosts
Toonami has always been helmed by a computer-animated host since day one. From March 17, 1997 until July 10, 1999, the block was hosted by ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast's'' animated director Moltar, who sent an observer robot named ''Clyde 49'' from Ghost Planet to the Earth to study the planet.
On July 10, 1999, Toonami had a new host in the form of TOM (Toonami Operations Module), a wise-cracking, sardonic sentient robot who controlled the block's signal aboard the Ghost Planet Spaceship ''Absolution''. In September 2000, TOM was joined by SARA, an AI program, and a cache of custodial robots dubbed Clydes, named after the original Clyde 49. After the events of The Intruder, TOM was reincarnated in a bigger body and a deeper voice. A third generation of Clydes, dubbed DOKs, was briefly seen during Lockdown in 2001.
On March 17, 2003, TOM and the Absolution both received upgraded appearances, which were detailed in the End Game online comic at Toonami.com. That summer, the fourth generation of Clydes that featured LED-like emoticon faces were briefly seen on the block.
On April 17, 2004, SARA was reintroduced as a fully-dimensional humanoid hologram and the fifth generation of Clydes, dubbed Clyde 53s, which were insectlike like Clyde 49 and subserviant like the Clyde 50s.
On March 17, 2007 (Toonami's tenth anniversary), a new look was introduced to the block. TOM's fourth incarnation, which featured a humanoid face opposed to a visor look the character had always been associated with and a body that was shorter than his previous incarnation, was introduced as were a trio of new sidekicks, a robot with painted flames named Flash, a green control robot named "D", and a small robot named Clyde, in homage to the earlier small robots with the same name. The block's headquarters is a jungle planet. The origins of the new Toonami hasn't been revealed as of August 2007.
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. The very first TIE (and most popular one according to the fans of the block) was ''The Intruder'', which introduced TOM's companion, an AI matrix known as SARA, who played an integral part in the rebirth of TOM, who was upgraded from a short Bomberman-esque character (voiced by Sonny Strait) to a taller, stronger, darker, deeper-voiced incarnation temporarily dubbed as TOM 2.0 (voiced by Steven Blum), though it was the same TOM who still hosted the block.
The following two TIEs, ''Lockdown'' and ''Trapped in Hyperspace'', continued the adventures of TOM and SARA, but really didn't offer much storywise.
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., aired in five short installments and served as a pilot for the second Toonami original series, which premiered in November 2005 (a brief note: 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 weren't exclusive to the block until their final seasons).
''The Intruder'' and ''Lockdown'' aired in the UK, but didn't achieve the same amount of success as their American airings.
Kids' WB's Toonami
From July 2001 to June 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 who noticed the action branding of the block didn't translate content wise, which had added shows like Scooby-Doo and a live-action series created by Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, The Nightmare Room. 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.
Toonami Rules Saturday Nights
On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network moved Toonami from weekday afternoons to Saturday evenings with a new demographic of preteen and teen audiences while adding a new lighter-toned action franchise, ''Miguzi,'' (produced by Williams Street, the folks behind Toonami, its name is loosely derived from the Japanese word for swimsuit, an in-joke to longtime viewers of Toonami) to weekdays in its place.
Toonami also replaced the block known as Saturday Video Entertainment System or SVES. One big reason for the move from weekdays to Saturday nights only was because the some of the shows on the weekday lineup (such as ''YuYu Hakusho'' and ''Rurouni Kenshin'') became too violent for a weekday broadcast on the network (although reruns of the TV-PG-rated ''Naruto'' currently air on weekday afternoons at 5:30 PM E/P, though CN cleverly stopped all Miguzi promos before the show starts). The new Toonami line-up showcased anime like ''Naruto'', ''One Piece'', ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', ''Zatch Bell'', and ''Pokémon Chronicles'', as well as premiered North American productions like ''Teen Titans'', ''Megas XLR'', ''Justice League Unlimited'', and ''IGPX'', Toonami's first original production co-produced by Production I.G. and Bandai Entertainment.
The Toonami lineup currently consists of reruns of ''Pokémon'' and ''Yu-Gi-Oh GX'' and new episodes of ''Naruto'', ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', ''One Piece'', ''MÄR'' and ''The Prince of Tennis'', the latter two of which premiered on Toonami Jetstream and they have a TV-PG rating as well. Fans of Jetstream's ''Hikaru no Go'' hoped that Cartoon Network will bring it to Toonami, but the television broadcasting rights are currently held by ImaginAsian TV along with it being the least watched, as well as the least action-packed, of the three.
A Month of Miyazaki
On Saturday, March 18, 2006, in honor of the block's ninth anniversary, Toonami began airing ''A Month of Miyazaki'', a four-week celebration of the works of acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Like sibling station TCM's similar marathon in January 2006, Toonami aired a different movie every week between Toonami anniversaries (the marathon began on the weekend of the ninth anniversary of the block and end the week before the second anniversary of the block's move to Saturday nights). The films scheduled for A Month of Miyazaki (which all aired uncut and unedited as per Miyazaki's policy not to have his films altered). However, there were large complaints due to the large number of commercial interruptions during the films, with commercial breaks cutting in about every 20 minutes. The movies were as follows:
★ ''Spirited Away''
★ ''Princess Mononoke''
★ ''Castle in the Sky''
★ ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind''
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. A week later, an extended version of the promo aired on the Toonami lineup.
On March 17, 2007, Toonami celebrated its tenth anniversary with a new packaging and numerous montages celebrating the block. TOM was revamped into a shorter robot who was a commander of a jungle control room with a trio of new robots.
The montages included a look at past hosts, former logos, and a decade's worth of scenes and voiceovers from shows that aired on the block, including The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, , Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z.
As part of the anniversary (and to coincide with Cartoon Network's March Movie Madness event), Toonami planned another month of movies[1]:
March 03 - The Invincible Iron Man
March 10 - Mosaic
March 17 -
March 24 -
March 31 - Spirited Away and
Latin America
In December 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 as well as served as the home of Inuyasha. Over the years, Toonami added shows like ''YuYu Hakusho'' and ''Saint Seiya'' (both uncensored) 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.
In March 2006, Toonami revamped their lineup to include more adult-oriented series, taking advantage of the schedule and the refusal of anime on Adult Swim, as well as to compete against the anime channel Animax 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 (general animated action movies).
In January 2007, Cartoon Network encased Toonami with four extra hours of anime series with two hours before and after the block. Shows currently on the extended block include Pokémon, Naruto, Zatch Bell!, Captain Tsubasa, Dragon Ball Z, Saint Seiya Hades Jūnikyū-hen , YuYu Hakusho, Ranma ½, Inuyasha, Saint Seiya Hades Jūnikyū-hen , and two episodes of Pokémon. This extended block airs from 10 PM to 4 AM.
Music and games on Toonami
Toonami had always been a haven for techno/electronica music throughout its history, using original compositions by an Atlanta-based composer Joe Boyd Vigil from 1997 to 2002, many of which were compiled in the CD ''Toonami: Deep Space Bass'' in 2001, which is now out of print. His webpage can be found [here]. In 2003, DJ Clarknova 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.
From 2003 to today, Toonami has relied on original and library tracks from various artists from publisher Ninja Tune. On rare occasions, videos from musicians like ''Daft Punk'', ''The White Stripes'', and ''Gorillaz'' aired on the block.
Infrequently, Toonami will air reviews of video games. The review, delivered by TOM, is fairly short and airs during commercial breaks. Games are scored 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.)
Only one game has received a "?" rating, "" for the PlayStation 2. TOM explained that he had no idea what to rate the game because he couldn't get past the sixth level. This was accompanied by repeated footage of TOM losing on that level. The synopsis on Toonami Digital Arsenal reads "A robot is [sic] loses his mind over a video game. Hilarity ensues."
Toonami: Deep Space Bass
# Ignition (2:54)
# Gundams Are on Earth (Gundam Wing) (2:44)
# Anvil Snare Remix (Sailor Moon) (2:39)
# Dragon (Dragonball Z) (2:18)
# Information Leak (Gundam Wing) (2:39)
# Arabic (Dragonball Z) (2:37)
# D&B Remix (Midnight Run) (3:00)
# Depthcharge (Blue Sub) (5:32)
# Tension (Tenchi Muyo) (3:25)
# Prayer (3:36)
# Crashgroove (2:48)
# Puff&Bass (Powerpuff Girls) (2:39)
# Darknight (2:32)
# Starwind (Outlaw Star) (3:00)
# Capslock (Ronin Warriors) (2:31)
# Broken Promise (3:39)
# Walking Stick (2:47)
# Spacetime (6:24)
Online video services
On March 26, 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 [2], Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami Reactor with all online-exclusive programs such as Star Blazers, Patlabor, The 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 aegis and, with a joint venture with VIZ's Weekly Shonen Jump, programmed it as Adult Swim Pipeline.
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 [3] to launch Toonami Jetstream [1], a new ad-supported streaming video service featuring Toonami series like Naruto, Samurai Jack, Megas XLR and IGPX and the internet webcast premieres of Hikaru no Go, MÄR, The Prince of Tennis, MegaMan Star Force, MegaMan NT Warrior and , the latter two of which haven't premiered as of March 2007.
Toonami Jetstream launched on July 17, 2006 (after a brief unofficial sneak preview that began on July 14), and currently shows Naruto, Samurai Jack, Hikaru no Go, MÄR, Prince of Tennis, Zatch Bell!, Pokémon, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Mega Man Star Force, and Dragon Ball.
Toonami series and movies
Main articles: List of programs broadcast by Toonami
;Present series
★ ''Naruto'' (TV & Jetstream) TV-PG
★ ''One Piece'' (TV & Jetstream) TV-Y7 (soon to be redubbed and made TV-PG)
★ ''The Prince of Tennis'' (Jetstream) TV-PG
★ ''Samurai Jack'' (Jetstream) TV-Y7
★ ''Hikaru no Go'' (Jetstream) TV-PG
★ ''MÄR'' (Jetstream) TV-PG
★ ''Pokémon'' (Jetstream) TV-Y7
★ ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'' TV-Y7 and TV-PG
★ ''Zatch Bell!'' (Jetstream) TV-Y7
★ ''Dragon Ball Z'' TV-Y7 and TV-PG
★ ''Storm Hawks'' TV-Y7
★ ''Teen Titans'' TV-Y7
★ '' (Jetstream) TV-Y7
★ ''Dragon Ball'' (Jetstream) TV-Y7 and TV-PG
★ ''MegaMan Star Force'' (TV & Jetstream) TV-Y7
;Series on hiatus/possibly cancelled
★ ''The Batman'' TV-Y7
★ ''Duel Masters'' TV-Y7
★ ''Zatch Bell!'' (TV) TV-Y7
★ ''The Prince of Tennis'' (TV) TV-PG
★ ''MÄR'' (TV) TV-PG
;Upcoming series
★ ''IGPX'' (Jetstream)
★ ''Megaman NT Warrior'' (Jetstream)
★ ''Zoids Genesis'' (Jetstream)
★ ''Gamera'' (Late 2007 or 2008)
★ ''Eyeshield 21'' (Jetstream starting in fall)
★ ''Dragon Ball Z'' (Jetstream starting September 10)
★ ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'' (Jetstream starting November 5) [2]
;Upcoming movies
★ ''
[3]
Past Lineups and Premiers
;1997
★ ''Thundercats''
★ ''Super Adventures/Roulette'' (comprised of Space Ghost, Birdman, and other Hanna-Barbera action shorts)
★ ''Voltron''
★ ''The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest''
;1998
★ ''Robotech''
★ '' (one week only)
★ ''Sailor Moon''
★ ''Dragon Ball Z''
★ ''Superfriends''
;1999
★ ''ReBoot''
★ ''The Powerpuff Girls''
★ ''Ronin Warriors''
;2000
★ ''
★ ''Gundam Wing''
★ ''Tenchi Muyo!''
★ ''
★ ''Tenchi Universe''
★ ''Tenchi in Tokyo''
★ ''
★ ''Blue Submarine No. 6''
;2001
★ ''Outlaw Star''
★ ''The Big O''
★ ''Cardcaptors''
★ ''Mobile Suit Gundam''
★ ''08th MS Team''
★ ''Dragon Ball''
★ ''Gundam 0080''
★ ''Batman Beyond''
★ ''
;2002
★ ''Hamtaro''
★ ''
★ ''G Gundam''
★ ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''
★ ''
★ ''G.I. Joe''
★ ''Samurai Jack''
;2003
★ ''.hack//SIGN''
★ ''Martian Successor Nadesico'' (Giant Robot Week)
★ ''Gigantor'' (Giant Robot Week)
★ ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (Giant Robot Week)
★ ''Dai-Guard'' (Giant Robot Week)
★ ''Rurouni Kenshin''
★ ''YuYu Hakusho''
★ ''Justice League''
★ ''Cyborg 009''
★ ''SD Gundam''
★ ''IGPX'' (micro-series)
★ ''Dragon Ball GT''
★ ''
;2004
★ ''Duel Masters''
★ ''Astro Boy''
★ ''Jackie Chan Adventures''
★ ''Gundam SEED''
★ ''Megas XLR''
★ ''Teen Titans''
★ ''Justice League Unlimited''
★ ''Rave Master''
;2005
★ ''D.I.C.E.''
★ ''Zatch Bell''
★ ''The Batman''
★ ''One Piece''
★ ''
★ ''Yu-Gi-Oh!''
★ ''Naruto''
★ ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo''
★ ''IGPX'' (regular series)
;2006
★ ''Wulin Warriors''
★ ''Pokémon Chronicles''
★ ''Fantastic Four''
★ ''Pokémon: Battle Frontier''
★ ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX''
★ ''MÄR''
★ ''The Prince of Tennis''
;2007
★ ''Storm Hawks''
★ ''MegaMan Star Force''
External links
;Official website
★ Toonami - Official website for US Toonami block
★ Toonami Jetstream - Website for Toonami Jetstream
;Unofficial websites
★ Absolution NeXt - A database of Toonami US programming past and present.
★ Toonami Infolink - US Toonami news and forums.
★ Toonami Digital Arsenal - Downloads of US Toonami promos, intros, interstitials, and music.
★ The X Bridge's TICA Base - The US Toonami history and opinions section of one of the internet's oldest Toonami fansites.
★ Toonami Power - Mainly focusing on the early years of the block up to late 2000
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