Toonami Rewind Show Suggestions

[Light Lucario]

In terms of the options here, I'd love to see them include some DCAU shows. I vaguely remember watching Batman The Animated series on classic Toonami and it would shake up the lineup a bit with having some western animated shows too. Outlaw Star would also be pretty neat. I wasn't huge on it after seeing it for the first time on the revived block. It was pretty interesting and engaging, but I don't think it lived up to its hype for me. But it's still an iconic part of Toonami classic, so that would be fitting. Big O would also be pretty cool since I've wanted to check that series out for ages.

I like the idea of featuring shows that weren't on classic Toonami but should have been. I'd love to see Trigun and Slayers on the block, even if the latter would be too difficult due to Crunchyroll. While the main appeal of Toonami Rewind is to see classic shows from the block's history, I think that showcasing older anime that wouldn't really work on Toonami proper would still work. Ideally, this would be easier to do if they had more than one day a week, but hopefully it will be successful enough to do that down the road. The original Bleach series would also be a great fit. Maybe they'll save that for main Toonami block instead, but having Sailor Moon, DBZ Kai, Naruto and Bleach airing together would certainly cover major shonen and shojo titles from over the decades. They may want to get the Thousand Year War arc instead of reruns of the original series though.

 

[RoyalRubble]

I could see the original Samurai Jack slip into the line-up from "Checkered Past". Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars show would be cool but I think it's on Disney+ now so they might not be able to air it anymore.

 

[PicardMan]

What about titles on the Plex channel Retrocrush? Flame of Recca seems like it would have been a big hit if Kim Manning were able to figure out that shonen drew people to ASA rather than pretentious crap. Great Teacher Onizuka is probably too spicy for Toonami, City Hunter doesn't have a dub, but there's probably a few shows on that channel that would work on Toonami Rewind. It seems seems like Toonami Rewind is like a miniature Retrocrush, just with AAA titles rather the lesser known stuff Retrocrush specializes in.

 

[Majin_Megabyte]

Yeah, it's too bad that neither Cat's Eye or City Hunter have dubs. Since both shows would've work.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

Truth be told, I don’t know if we really need anything else for this block, they’re already airing what have to be the biggest series in Toonami’s history. Sailor Moon almost single-handedly turned the block from a dumping ground for old action shows into a viable market for fresher anime; DBZ was such a sensation that Toonami and anime became nearly as synonymous with Cartoon Network as the Cartoon Cartoons and the classics; Naruto was what was keeping the lights on for the block in its last years on CN proper. These shows are among the handful of older anime titles that continually resonate with audiences and are still household names. If Toonami Rewind flops with these, I don’t see anything else changing that.

But I mean, there’s plenty that would be cool to air- the question is, what can they air? Gundam has been a reliable part of the block, although it’s not as consistent of a ratings winner aside from Wing or one or two other series, and it seems like a tough title for Toonami to regain.

Yu Yu Hakusho deserves another shot to air in full, but most FuniRoll series are seemingly off limits unless they have a deal for the franchise or if the studio behind them, like Toei, wants to play ball.

The DCAU was proof that Toonami wasn’t just anime, Justice League Unlimited in particular was a huge draw when the block went to late nights. But DC is seemingly only willing to work with Toonami when it benefits them, so the ball is in their court.

Maybe they can try something that aired as part of ASA, like Inuyasha or Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood?

Or maybe something they didn’t get a chance to show back in the day like Slam Dunk or Record of Lodoss Wars? I’m not even counting Berserk, which would be a struggle for standards today today even at night, let alone day time.

 

[PicardMan]

Truth be told, I don’t know if we really need anything else for this block, they’re already airing what have to be the biggest series in Toonami’s history.

Sailor Moon is the most exciting title because I think it last aired on cable in 2001 (a few Sailor Moon movies aired in 2002). DBZ and Naruto are basically like The Office and Seinfeld of anime because how many reruns and overexposure they've gotten. People will still watch over and over just as people watch the Office and Seinfeld over and over again. The block would need to expand because DBZ, Naruto, and Sailor Moon are very long series. It is exciting that Adult Swim has finally quit their aversion to airing anime on weekdays and this time it's less likely to be pulled after a few months as most weekday anime airings tended to go as they are going all in.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Sailor Moon is the most exciting title because I think it last aired on cable in 2001 (a few Sailor Moon movies aired in 2002). DBZ and Naruto are basically like The Office and Seinfeld of anime because how many reruns and overexposure they've gotten. People will still watch over and over just as people watch the Office and Seinfeld over and over again. The block would need to expand because DBZ, Naruto, and Sailor Moon are very long series. It is exciting that Adult Swim has finally quit their aversion to airing anime on weekdays and this time it's less likely to be pulled after a few months as most weekday anime airings tended to go as they are going all in.

The last time they had it on CN was in summer 2002 at 3:30 pm right before Hamtaro, when Toonami regained the 4 pm hour. Why they chose to do it that way instead of swapping Hamtaro and Sailor Moon’s slots is beyond me. I am guessing they thought Hamtaro would be more of a hit at 4 on Toonami, but it fits better as an early afternoon lead in.

 

[Checkerboard]

The downside is that they probably can't air stuff they would get away with during Adult Swim Action. So while my list makes me thirsty...
Samurai Pizza Cats
Ninja Robots
Galaxy Express 999
Slam Dunk
Cyber City Oedo
Time Bokan
Spaceship Saggitarius
Wicked City
Ninja Scroll
YuYu Hakusho
Space Ghost/Birdman
Outlaw Star
Gundam Wing
Knights of the Zodiac
Tenchi Muyo
Robotech
Voltron
Ronin Warriors
Big O
Astro Boy
Saber Rider
Captain Tsubasa
Candy Candy
Goku Midnight Eye
Fist of the North Star
Cardcaptors Sakura
Ranma 1/2
... I have to settle for less, rights included.

 

[Space Cadet]

Unfortunately, a monopoly is swallowing up so many of our best options instead of being willing to play with them and both reap some reward. (I'm also not sure if the FuniStufRoll monster is even aware they have some of these shows, considering the original Tenchi series are still missing from CR, but I digress.) They've also picked shows out for the debut lineup that will give them quite a bit of time to play around with, so hopefully any schedule shake-ups we get are relatively big.

However, I do think it's likely that Big O or IGPX will get slots here down the road. I wouldn't even mind seeing Teen Titans in one slot. If they branch outside of series that previously aired on Toonami to include shows they wanted to air on Toonami back in the day...Magic Knight Rayearth, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Ranma 1/2 are non-CR. (Is the world ready for Evangelion at 5:30? I think so, but S&P is likely to disagree.)

Ranma 1/2 being aired on Toonami would be a site to see. I know it's one of DeMarco's favorite anime series. It should have aired back during the classic Toonami days but of course, the nudity in it was one of the things that held it back. If Toonami ever did pick it up, it would probably air on Saturdays though.

Flame of Recca seems like it would have been a big hit if Kim Manning were able to figure out that shonen drew people to ASA rather than pretentious crap.

The anime is fine but personally, I would rather that get a reboot since the anime didn't cover the entire manga. Plus, the knock against the show was that it was considered a YYH copy(I don't agree but I could see the similarities).

 

[Asa]

I do hope we’ll finally see the 1986 Dragon Ball and 1989 Dragon Ball Z episodes return to Toonami Rewind in the future (the last time the two shows ever aired on the block were way back in 2004 for the former and 2008 for the latter).

It sucks that the two couldn’t even air to honor the late Akira Toriyama. It would’ve been a pleasure seeing them to honor his legacy.

 

[Light Lucario]

I do hope we’ll finally see the 1986 Dragon Ball and 1989 Dragon Ball Z episodes return to Toonami Rewind in the future (the last time the two shows ever aired on the block were way back in 2004 for the former and 2008 for the latter).

It sucks that the two couldn’t even air to honor the late Akira Toriyama. It would’ve been a pleasure seeing them to honor his legacy.

I'm not sure if they'd go for original DBZ when DBZ Kai exists. It may not be as nostalgic for long time fans, but it's probably better to go with Kai given that it is shorter and closer to the manga. I'm also not sure how much interest there is in DB compared to DBZ, but giving that portion of the series more attention would be nice. Airing DBZ Kai still honors Toriyama's legacy. I don't see how not airing either DB or the original DBZ means that they aren't honoring his legacy at least.

 

[PicardMan]

I'm also not sure how much interest there is in DB compared to DBZ, but giving that portion of the series more attention would be nice.

DBZ was the title so big that even passionate anime haters often like it. This schedule is interesting in that it contains the three big series that non anime fans often put on their okay lists. I know in the 2000s-2010s, people who only watched Dragonball Z, Naruto, and/or Sailor Moon and hated all other anime used to be common. The original Dragonball seems to be known and beloved by the most hardcore of the hardcore anime fan. Even shonen fans super obsessed with Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin seem stumped by the original Dragonball. It is a great show, but the issue is the nudity. They'd probably have to dust off the old tapes of the edited version because kid Goku's offending body parts are practically a main character they appear so much.

 

[Tommypezmaster]

Mar and Blue Dragon deserves a second viewing. Crimally underrated series.

 

[PicardMan]

Mar and Blue Dragon deserves a second viewing. Crimally underrated series.

Most of the Saturday era shows seem to be licensing limbo right now as they seem impossible to find on streaming. I don't know if anybody has the license to those shows as I think Viz dropped those shows. It seems like the vast majority of these suggestions will be from weekday afternoon era Toonami, but there were a few Saturday era gems like Bobo. A big problem is that Diskotech has home media rights, but not streaming rights as that show's in streaming limbo.

 

[shany94a]

Been ages since Toonami/Adult Swim aired a Gundam series

 

[SteelRobot]

The next time April Fools falls on a Friday, I propose two straight hours of Wulin Warriors. Can't be too expensive to get the rights back.

 

[Bluebaron]

I'm hoping they air "almost toonami" shows like saint Seiya or slayers.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I'm not sure if older series that were part of Toonami's earliest lineups like Thundercats, Voltron, or Robotech would really work for the block, this appears to be more related to millennial nostalgia than gen X like Toonami's earliest days, and these series really stick out.

If anything, they all feel like better fits for MeTV Toons. Thundercats is a Warner property and while only its (step?) sister series Silverhawks has been confirmed for the channel thus far, it seems like a no brainer further down the line. I believe the original Voltron is currently owned by Dreamworks, which appears to be sharing some of its library with Rocky & Bullwinkle and Underdog, so that should be fine, right? And while Funimation recently released Robotech on home video, I'm sure Weigel could work with Harmony Gold to strike a deal to air it.

Add in Warner also owning SuperFriends, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and the subjects featured in Cartoon Roulette (Fleischer and Famous Studio's Superman shorts have already aired on Toon in With Me, I believe), wouldn't it be funny if MeTV Toons reverse engineered a block that's basically Moltar-era Toonami?

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Currently DCAU leads in this poll, followed by Gundam. I may have made these choices too broad as there are many shows in both categories. I wonder if Gundam Wing would have been a better choice for the block than Naruto, since it aired on the weekday block with DBZ and Sailor Moon.

A more authentic weekday Toonami simulation would be something like
5:00 Sailor Moon
5:30 Dragon Ball Z
6:00 Gundam Wing
6:30 Batman the Animated Series

 

[Daikun]

Jason DeMaco stated on Bluesky that they're open to airing legacy ASA shows on Toonami Rewind, so if you want something like Trigun or Blue Gender on there, suggest away!