Adult Swim’s Toonami Is Bringing Back The Classic Anime Everyone Wants

Jason DeMarco, co-creator of Toonami, also confirmed that the programming block will include classic Toonami music from the era and some “older packaging” recreated in HD. This is definitely amazing news for anime fans, as this is likely where many of us originally found out about anime. Tuning in late at night to see episodes of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, InuYasha, and other classic anime is an experience many fans fondly remember growing up.

Cartoon Network first started airing Toonami in 1997, and the original block ended in 2008. Eventually, Adult Swim bought it back in 2012, and the programming block has run every Saturday since then. Funnily enough, the revival block started off as a (very elaborate) April Fool’s joke, where Cartoon Network brought back the block for April Fool’s Day with reruns of Dragon Ball Z, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Trigun, and more. 

The April Fool’s prank also included new videos of the Toonami mascot T.O.M. T.O.M. has been the mascot for the programming block since taking over for Moltar in 1999. Though there have been many iterations of T.O.M., Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop) started voicing the character in 2000, and this is the version many fans are most familiar with.

While the initial block of Toonami Rewind only has three shows, it seems likely that Adult Swim is testing the waters to see how popular the new block is. Undoubtedly, quite a few nostalgic fans will tune in to recreate that unforgettable experience of discovering anime after the sun goes down. Hopefully, the Rewind segment will be a massive success, and we will get more classic anime series added to the block.

It’s possible that Toonami Rewind could bring in new viewers who abandoned the programming block long ago. As mentioned, the block has been running on Adult Swim since the 2012 revival and has undoubtedly created a new wave of anime fans, as the original block did. Some of the notable series that have aired on the block include My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, One Punch Man, Naruto Shippuden, Black Clover, Mob Psycho 100, Dragon Ball Super, and many more.

If you want to catch the new Toonami Rewind block for yourself, you’ll need to tune in on Friday, May 31, at 5:00 PM EDT. The two-hour programming block will continue to air every Friday afterward at the same time. Make sure to tune in if you want to watch Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Naruto as if it were the good ol’ days.