Cartoon Network’s Toonami introduced generations of fans to anime at an early age, and the best shows the block ever aired are now available for streaming elsewhere. While it’s currently a late-night cartoon block of Adult Swim, running from midnight to 3:00 AM, it spent 1997-2008 with both a five-hour Midnight Run and an afternoon block geared towards young viewers. It aired music videos and American cartoons as well, such as Thundercats and The Powerpuff Girls, but what it’s most famous for was its showcasing of many different anime.
The English dubs of many classic anime aired on the Toonami block. The Toonami Animation Module (better known as T.O.M) was a cool and dedicated host, broadcasting a tsunami of hit shows to viewers on Earth from his futuristic spaceship. Though Toonami still exists and is still an important tastemaker, in the age of streaming fans must now curate their own viewing, and the prevalence of anime on various streaming services can help with that.
10 Samurai Champloo - Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Amazon Prime
Shinichiro Watanabe’s secret prequel series to Cowboy Bebop aired on Toonami in 2016, introducing new viewers to the journey of another motley crew. Swordsmen Mugen and Jin accompany Fuu in her quest to find a samurai whose face she can’t . The three run into numerous misadventures as they sort out the mysteries of their pasts.
Samurai Champloo, like its predecessor, is notable for its setting. The trio travel through an alternate version of Japan’s Edo period (1603 - 1897), mixing samurai swordplay with anachronistic outfits and action and traditional Japanese music with modern hip-hop. As Fuu and her bodyguards make their way through the country, however, they face not only opponents in combat but the ever-present flaws of society as well.
9 Sailor Moon - Hulu, Amazon
Sailor Moon inspired many other magical girl anime that fans love, gaining even wider popularity in 1998, when its English dub first premiered on Toonami. It remained a staple of the block for 200 episodes and three movies, except its fifth and final season, which never got licensed for release in the United States. Despite this, it remained one of Toonami’s top offerings for years.
Sailor Moon
- Release Date
- 1992 - 1997-00-00
Teenager Usagi Tsukino is an ordinary clumsy schoolgirl until she meets a talking cat named Luna, who transforms her into Sailor Moon, a soldier destined to save Earth from the forces of evil. Usagi must find the moon princess and protect Earth with other girls awakened as Sailor Soldiers. Together, they fight to prevent otherworldly and mystical forces from wreaking havoc, all while balancing the everyday challenges of being a teenager in school.
A cut above most other Saturday morning cartoon fare, Sailor Moon combined traditional magical girl anime tropes with elements of tokusatsu and Super Sentai shows. Unexpected hero Usagi Tsukino can be goofy and panicky at times, endearing her to audiences. But when it matters, she comes into her own as Earth’s strongest protector.
8 Mobile Suit: Gundam Wing - Hulu, Crunchyroll
Still going strong today with The Witch from Mercury, Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most popular anime franchises of all time. Its mid-nineties entry, Gundam Wing, centers around pilot Heero Yuy and his friends in the Space Colonies’ resistance. They’ve traveled to Earth to end the tyranny of the United Earth Sphere Alliance behind the controls of their Gundams.
Gundam Wing aired and reran on Toonami from 2000 to 2002. It remains one of the most popular offerings on the block and in the franchise for its stark depiction of war and its effects on those thrown into it. Action, as always in Gundam, is featured prominently, but political intrigue is a constant throughout the show.
7 FLCL - Crunchyroll
Pronounced and often stylized as Fooly Cooly, FLCL has an English dub that’s the ultimate example of localizing anime gone right. Young Naota Nandaba wants very badly to be considered a normal adult. To that end, he staunchly ignores that his town is actually the height of weirdness, mostly fueled by Haruko, the alien living in Naota’s house.
The original OVA aired from 2000 to 2001, and its dub premiered on Toonami in 2013. Fans love the show for its zany nature and over-the-top action sequences. Being only a six-episode OVA, it stays short and sweet, never overstaying its welcome (unlike Haruko).
6 Cowboy Bebop - Hulu, Tubi, Crunchyroll, Netflix
The other genre-blending classic from director Shinichiro Watanabe, Cowboy Bebop follows the bounty-hunting crew of the ship Bebop as they struggle to escape their pasts and make a living. Its setting is full of futuristic tech, but society hasn’t advanced quite as much. Despite all the technological marvels, humans are still living by Wild West rules.
Toonami and Cowboy Bebop have had a complicated relationship. It was a carryover from Adult Swim’s anime block, notably being the first anime ever featured on Adult Swim. Toonami brought it on and off the block multiple times as the network won and lost the rights to syndication and replaced it with other shows, and often it did not air the episodes in order: for instance, it premiered with episode 14!
5 Bleach - Hulu
Ichigo Kurosaki has always had the mysterious ability to see ghosts. A chance encounter with Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki gives Ichigo her powers, and he is drawn into the world of warriors who guide the souls of the dead to their final destination. In honing his newfound abilities, he makes lifelong friends and is pitted against increasingly terrifying enemies.
One of the “Big Three” manga and anime of the late nineties and early 2000s (the others being One Piece and Naruto), Bleach was a very late addition to Toonami. It first hit the block in 2012 when the original run was ending, starting with episode 255 of the series’ pre-Thousand-Year Blood War count of 366. Nevertheless, it brought its dedicated fan base with it, continuing to be one of Toonami’s biggest anime.
4 Dragon Ball Z - Crunchyroll
One of anime’s premier classics is also one of Toonami’s all-time favorites. Dragon Ball Z didn’t find its people in its English dub’s initial run. However, after its reruns began airing on Toonami in 1998, it achieved the massive popularity it still enjoys today.
This show adapts the last few arcs of Akira Toriyama’s original manga. Dragon Ball Z chronicles the death and adulthood (in that order) of the hero and Super Saiyan Goku, one of the strongest characters in shonen anime. What makes Dragon Ball Z even more popular than its predecessor is the introduction of fan-favorite characters, such as Goku’s sons Gohan and Goten and villain-turned-hero Vegeta.
3 One Piece - Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
When the greatest pirate in the world was executed, he promised his title and his hidden treasure to anyone who could find it. At the peak of the Great Pirate Era, Monkey D. Luffy leads his crew, the Straw Hats, into the heated treasure hunt. Despite the inability to swim that his powers saddle him with, Luffy lives his life on the high seas fighting to become the next King of the Pirates.
Two versions of One Piece’s dub aired on Toonami. Its 4Kids dub aired on the Cartoon Network portion of Toonami from 2005 to 2007, and later its Funimation dub came to the Adult Swim portion in 2008. The show’s famously massive run has outlasted Toonami itself, with many viewers turning to various streaming services to watch Luffy’s hardest fights in One Piece.
2 Yu Yu Hakusho - Crunchyroll, Hulu, Tubi
When delinquent Yusuke Urameshi shocks both the mortal and spirit worlds by sacrificing himself to save a child, he is offered a second chance. He can return to life, but as a Spirit Detective, hunting down supernatural evildoers. Now, he must hone his new powers to take down the biggest threats to both worlds.
Mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi’s predecessor to Hunter x Hunter (whose long-awaited English dub premiered on Toonami in 2016) is one of the best anime of the 1990s. Its dub hit the airwaves uncut on Adult Swim first in 2002; in 2003, when it moved blocks, it was heavily censored for Toonami’s audience. In addition to streaming services, Yu Yu Hakusho recently received a Blu-Ray release for its 30th anniversary.
1 Naruto - Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV, Peacock
Naruto Uzumaki has always dreamed of becoming Hokage, the powerful and respected leader of his shinobi village. However, he has a lot to overcome before he can even think about that. Between increasingly powerful villains to fight, friends turning to foes, and the village’s own hatred of him for being the host of the Nine-Tailed Fox demon, Naruto is tested every step of the way.
The tale of the Leaf Village’s number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja had its English dub debut on Toonami in 2005. It initially came to Cartoon Network’s part of Toonami, but moved to the Adult Swim timeslot several years later, restarting uncensored from the beginning. Its sequel series, Naruto Shippuden, started and ended on the Adult Swim timeslot.
Despite numerous cancelations, Toonami has survived to this day because Western audiences are hungry for more anime. Luckily for nostalgic fans, most of Toonami's best anime are readily available on many streaming surfaces.
