Toonami Anime: 35 Greatest Shows From the Iconic Block

The defining Toonami anime. DBZ on weekday afternoons after school is the single most consistent shared childhood memory for an entire generation. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, the Cell Saga, the Buu Saga. The block built its identity around this show.

Premiered on Toonami in 2005. Introduced an entire generation of American kids to chakra, jutsu, and running with their arms behind their backs. The Naruto vs. Sasuke fight at the Valley of the End is still one of the most-cited “wow” moments in Toonami history.

Ichigo Kurosaki, Soul Reapers, hollows, and the eternal “Big Three” debate alongside Naruto and One Piece. Bleach joined the Toonami lineup late (2012, picking up at episode 255), but kept its audience hooked through the revival era.

One Piece’s Toonami journey was complicated. The original 4Kids dub was infamously censored (rice balls became sandwiches, guns became cartoonish props). Toonami eventually aired Funimation’s better dub before the show was cycled out. It returned on Adult Swim’s Toonami block from 2013 to 2017.

The 4Kids One Piece dub is one of the most-mocked anime localizations in history. Look up any clip on YouTube and prepare to cringe.

The first anime ever aired on Adult Swim, which was a huge deal at the time. Shinichiro Watanabe’s space-jazz noir followed Spike, Jet, Faye, and Ed across the solar system bounty-hunting. The “see you space cowboy” ending is one of the most-cited finales in all of anime.

Premiered on Toonami in 1998. Made magical girl anime mainstream in the West and introduced kids to the concept that “girly” shows could be just as action-packed as the boy-focused ones. The English dub didn’t get the fifth season, which fans never stopped complaining about.

Toonami debut in 2003. Yusuke Urameshi, Spirit Detective, with Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. Massively influential on later shōnen (you can see its DNA in Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, basically everything). Still holds up.

Toonami aired Attack on Titan across seven separate runs between 2014 and 2022. The maturity, the violence, the political complexity were a major shift from Toonami’s earlier era. The final season’s airing was a generational TV event.

The defining shōnen of the late 2010s. Deku, Bakugo, All Might, and an entire school of superpowered teenagers. Toonami aired it during its peak years.

Not technically anime (Genndy Tartakovsky’s masterpiece is American), but pure Toonami DNA. Samurai Jack was the LAST show aired on the original Toonami block in 2008 before its cancellation. The 2017 Adult Swim revival gave the series its proper ending.

The original Goku-as-a-kid series. Less famous than DBZ but the foundation everything else stands on. Toonami’s reruns in the early 2000s introduced new fans to where it all started.

Gundam Wing landed on Toonami in 2000 and was so successful that it basically created the late-night uncensored anime block that would later become Adult Swim. The five pilots, the political intrigue, and the mecha designs are still iconic.

Wandering swordsman who refuses to kill. Reverse-blade sword. Some of the best fight choreography in any anime of its era. Toonami aired the early arcs but didn’t get the legendary Kyoto arc, which fans still consider a betrayal.

Toonami’s other great space anime (alongside Cowboy Bebop). Gene Starwind, his crew, and one of the more inventive sci-fi worlds of late-90s anime. Aired on Toonami in 2001.

The card-game anime that made an entire generation buy starter decks. Toonami aired chunks of the original Duel Monsters series. The “It’s time to duel!” energy is still recognizable to anyone who grew up on this.

The Johto-region Pokémon series, aired on Toonami after the show moved from Kids’ WB. Helped continue the Pokémon franchise’s American TV momentum during the early 2000s.

The Western adaptation of Cardcaptor Sakura. The English dub was famously rearranged to focus more on Li than Sakura, which fans of the original were not happy about. Still a beloved Toonami staple.

The slowest, most cerebral show Toonami ever ran. .hack//Sign was about psychology, identity, and being stuck inside an MMORPG. Beloved by some, completely bounced off by others.

One of the earliest harem anime to find a Western audience. Toonami censored some of the more risqué content. Tenchi and his cast of space-faring romantic interests aired on the block starting in 2000.

Mecha-noir set in Paradigm City, where everyone has lost their memories. Initially only moderately popular in Japan, but Toonami fans embraced it so hard that the second season got greenlit specifically because of Western demand.

The very first show ever aired on Toonami in 1997. Lion-O, Cheetara, Mumm-Ra, the whole 80s revival cast. The 2011 reboot also aired on Toonami briefly.

The 2003 remake of Osamu Tezuka’s foundational anime. Toonami’s airing introduced a new generation to one of the original anime characters ever created.

The first anime ever to air on Toonami. Five pilots, five robot lions, one giant combining mecha. Voltron was the genre template for combining-robot shows that came after.

Historical note: Voltron and ThunderCats both claim “first Toonami show” status, depending on whether you mean “first anime” (Voltron) or “first show overall” (ThunderCats). Both technically true.

An anime about the ancient board game Go, framed as a shōnen. Sounds boring on paper. Is actually incredible. Hikaru shares his body with the ghost of a Heian-era Go master and slowly learns to love the game.

Sports anime about a tennis prodigy. Eventually evolves into “shōnen battle anime that just happens to use tennis rackets.” Got a 20th anniversary reboot in 2022.

The wholesome hamster anime that Toonami aired in the early 2000s. Surprisingly, became a symbol of anti-government protests in Thailand in 2020. Hamtaro contains multitudes.

A 1985 mashup of three separate Japanese anime series stitched into one continuous American storyline. Toonami’s reruns kept Robotech alive for a new generation in the late 90s.

One of the very first fully CGI animated TV series ever. The animation looks rough by 2026 standards, but ReBoot was groundbreaking in 1994. Its final two seasons aired exclusively on Toonami in the US.

The early 2000s Transformers anime, localized from Japan’s Transformers: Micron Densetsu. Toonami aired this one to a Saturday morning crowd that already loved the toys.

Nine cyborg heroes with various enhancements, led by Agent 009 (who has super speed). Aired in the same era as .hack//Sign. Underrated but solid.

Another card-game anime trying to ride the Yu-Gi-Oh! wave. The English dub leaned heavily into self-aware comedy and meta humor, which split fans down the middle.

The 2002 modernized He-Man reboot. More serialized than the original 80s show, with upgraded animation and a more coherent storyline. One of Toonami’s quietly great picks.

Hiro Mashima’s pre-Fairy Tail series. Haru Glory and his quest for the Rave Stones. Familiar narrative DNA if you’ve watched Fairy Tail.

The modern sequel to the 1960s Hanna-Barbera classic. Mixed reviews on release, but Toonami’s airing introduced Jonny, Hadji, and Race Bannon to a new generation of viewers.

Jackie Chan voicing himself as a fictional version of himself who fights demonic threats with the help of his niece Jade and Uncle. The Talismans, the Demon Sorcerers, and “ONE MORE THING!” Iconic Toonami programming.