«Toonami» is a word that fills anime fans of a certain age with warm, fuzzy nostalgia. Running from 1997 to 2008 (in various forms), Toonami was a themed programming block on Cartoon Network aimed at older children and adolescents. Notably, the block focused on action-oriented cartoons and anime imported from Japan. As time went on, Toonami became deeply associated with Dragon Ball Z in particular.
When Cartoon Network first acquired the anime for Toonami, Dragon Ball Z wasn’t that famous in America. As the series continued its broadcast run on Toonami, DBZ developed a massive fanbase, cementing itself as one of America’s most well-known and beloved TV shows. While Dragon Ball Z is still as good as ever, watching it on Toonami every day was a unique experience – an experience that modern fans may not fully understand.
10 You Developed A Deep Hatred Of Raditz
Toonami Often Reset Dragon Ball Z At The Worst Possible Time
«The Arrival of Raditz» was the first episode of Ocean Group’s Dragon Ball Z dub. Ocean DBZ Episode 1 (like the Japanese original) is a writing masterclass as it massively increases the Dragon Ball universe’s scope while transforming Goku into an underdog once more. However, long-time Toonami fans would develop a love-hate relationship with the episode. Due to the pace Dragon Ball Z was dubbed at, Toonami would frequently run out of new episodes to broadcast. Rather than find a new show to put in Dragon Ball Z’s timeslot, they would often just rerun the series from the start.
Even worse, due to how the dub was produced, these resets to the start would often happen at the worst possible time. For example, fans who watched «Goku… Super Saiyan?,» on November 11th, 1998, watched Goku defeat Recoome before charging at the other members of the Ginyu Force. However, when they tuned into Toonami on November 12th, they saw Raditz land on Earth, realizing that Toonami had once again jumped back to the beginning, leaving DBZ fans on a painful cliffhanger for several months.
This was so common that Toonami even lampshaded it in their promos, having T.O.M. promote an upcoming restart by telling fans, «If you squint really hard, they almost look new.» Fans who watched Dragon Ball Z through Toonami grew to hate the start of the series, as seeing Raditz meant you had to wait an unknown amount of time to discover how Goku would overcome his latest opponent.
9 Everything Was So Surprising & Exciting
Due To The Lack Of Information About The Anime, Every Twist Was Genuinely Surprising
Avoiding anime spoilers is surprisingly tricky these days. If an anime starts life as a manga, the medium’s modern accessibility means fans have likely read or been told about future developments long before they get animated. Plus, leaks are becoming more common and spreading faster than ever due to the power of social media, making it nearly impossible for studios to surprise fans. However, things were different during Dragon Ball Z’s initial Toonami run.
Manga was a niche product most Americans couldn’t access, meaning many Toonami viewers were unaware of the Dragon Ball source material. Plus, internet access was less common, and internet social spaces were much more closed off, meaning many fans would never encounter online anime discussions unless they specifically went looking for them. Every moment in Dragon Ball Z was legitimately shocking, and each cliffhanger was nail-biting, as viewers had no idea where the story would go next, giving the anime a palpable feeling of tension.
8 Dragon Ball Z Was A Gateway To Lots Of Other Franchises
Toonami's Varied Lineups Meant It Introduced Dragon Ball Z Fans To Many Other Anime
For many ’90s and 2000s kids, Dragon Ball Z and Toonami were appointment television, with viewers getting in front of their TVs early to guarantee they didn’t miss a second of Goku’s adventures. Long-time Toonami viewers would end up associating Dragon Ball Z with several other anime due to how often they preceded or followed it. While some of these shows, like Sailor Moon and Gundam Wing (which were broadcast alongside Dragon Ball in 1999 and 2000), make sense and fit the modern perception of Toonami as American TV’s home for action anime, Dragon Ball Z would often be put alongside shows that didn’t quite match its vibe.
Fans who tuned into Toonami in the Fall of 1998 would see Dragon Ball Z preceded by Thundercats and followed by The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. Similarly, in the Fall of 2001, Dragon Ball Z would act as the lead-in to Batman Beyond. These odd combinations were not all bad, as Dragon Ball Z on Toonami introduced many young fans to several cult classics, including The Big O (which followed Dragon Ball Z in the spring of 2001) and Cyborg 009 (which followed Dragon Ball Z in the summer of 2003).
7 Watching Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z At The Same Time Was Weird
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z Double Bills Led To Odd Coincidences And Confusion
At several points during Toonami’s history (mainly during 2001 and 2002), episodes of Dragon Ball Z would be preceded by an episode of the original Dragon Ball. This was often a strange experience, as not only did these double bills undermine Dragon Ball’s cliffhangers (as viewers already knew Goku survived into adulthood), the vast difference in tone and scope between the two shows left fans scratching their heads trying to work out how Goku went from fighting the (by Dragon Ball standards) grounded Red Ribbon Army to doing battle with biomechanical androids and space aliens.
That said, these double bills sometimes enhanced the original Dragon Ball. Due to many Toonami viewers not knowing that Toriyama made up stories as he went along, several off-hand gags from Dragon Ball (like Goku’s foes being shocked by his strength and declaring that he can’t be human) became retroactive foreshadowing for Dragon Ball Z, making the anime feel more cohesive overall. Getting into Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in this era was a unique (and sometimes confusing) experience.
6 Every Saga Felt So Long
Having To Wait Between Episodes Made Every Arc Feel Much Longer
Dragon Ball Z’s habit of stretching events that should take seconds across several episodes is a massive meme within the fandom. However, fans who dive into Dragon Ball Z today (especially if they do so via streaming) will likely struggle to understand why this joke is so ubiquitous. A big reason for the joke’s growth and enduring popularity is Toonami’s format. When Toonami ran in the afternoons, fans would get one new Dragon Ball Z episode every weekday (reduced to one a week when the block moved to Saturday nights in 2004), meaning even the shortest fights felt long as viewers watched them over several days.
The notoriously long battle between Goku and Frieza is the best example of this phenomenon. The anime version of this battle lasts around 22 episodes, meaning it takes 8 hours to watch the entire clash via streaming. As Toonami viewers were only getting one new episode a day, it means Goku vs Frieza took four and a half weeks to play out, making the battle feel like a massive event and Frieza’s claim that Planet Namek would blow up in five minutes feel even more laughable.
5 The Sudden Change In Censorship Was Jarring
The Loss Of Some Of The Censorship Was Surprising At The Time
Dragon Ball Z has a fascinating history with English dubs. The anime’s first dub (often called the Ocean Dub by fans) was a collaboration between FUNimation and Saban Entertainment, who outsourced the dubbing work to Ocean Group. However, FUNimation and Saban decided to market the dub to younger children, forcing them to heavily censor the show to meet American broadcasting standards. This led to several infamous editing changes, the most famous of which was the removal of any mentions of death (with characters instead being sent to «another dimension») and changing Hell to Home For Infinite Losers.
The Dragon Ball Z Ocean Dub was canned after a mere 53 episodes. In 1998, Cartoon Network picked up these 53 episodes and started airing them on Toonami. These broadcasts led to Dragon Ball Z quickly developing a sizable fanbase, causing FUNimation (now without Saban’s help) to continue dubbing DBZ. These newly dubbed episodes would feature less censorship, as FUNimation realized the anime fared better with older kids. Since Cartoon Network had to abide by less strict rules due to being a cable network, some of the show’s more violent elements were also restored. While modern fans appreciate the reduced censorship, the change was confusing for fans at the time, doubly so as behind-the-scenes anime industry news was more challenging to find.
4 The Pain Of Missing An Episode Hurt Like HFIL
During The Toonami Era, Missing An Episode Was Misery
Today, missing the release of a new anime episode isn’t a big deal, as most series end up on a streaming platform within a few hours of their television debut. This wasn’t the case during Dragon Ball Z’s early Toonami runs, as internet streaming wasn’t a thing, and many viewers didn’t have a home internet connection. Often, the only way to watch an episode you missed was to wait until Toonami restarted Dragon Ball Z from the beginning or buy one of DBZ’s many home media releases.
The latter was easier said than done, as there was often a massive delay between an episode debuting on TV and its launch on home media. Plus, each home media volume was expensive and only contained a handful of episodes, meaning that fans who missed several episodes would often struggle to catch up. Missing an episode felt devastating, leading to many kids building their daily schedule around Dragon Ball Z’s broadcast time.
3 Filler Was Much More Accepted
Filler Doesn't Feel Like Filler When You Don't Know The Source Material
Today, anime filler has a bad reputation, with the term often being shorthand for rushed or lackluster content. Most fan spaces dedicated to long-running anime will include prominent watch lists that aim to help newcomers skip the filler and get right to the story-important episodes. However, things were dramatically different during Dragon Ball Z’s initial runs on Toonami.
The original Japanese versions of Dragon Ball Z were not accessible to most viewers, and knowledgeable fan spaces, while existent, were much trickier to access. Most Toonami viewers had no way of knowing what was filler and what wasn’t. Fans were more accepting of the filler and often considered the filler arcs their favorite part of the franchise. This is especially true for the Garlic Jr. Saga, as despite being generally overlooked today, the saga was treated like a big deal when it was first dubbed, with Toonami marketing it heavily and even running several all-day marathons dedicated to the saga.
2 The Promos Made Everything More Exciting
Toonami's Team Were Marketing Masterminds
One area where Toonami excelled was its marketing. Between shows, audiences were taken inside a CGI spaceship where T.O.M., the block’s robotic host, promoted upcoming episodes and discussed video games & other teen-focused pop culture. These promos always did a stunning job of catching the viewer’s attention and making the block’s various shows look great. The Dragon Ball Z promos were no exception, as they did a fantastic job of making every upcoming episode feel like the most important thing to ever happen.
While the promos may seem quaint to the modern eye, it should be noted that every element of them, from their CG sci-fi aesthetic to their drum and bass and heavy metal-influenced soundtracks, were hot among teens at the time, making Dragon Ball feel even more epic. Plus, in the days before unlimited internet and social media, these promos were where fans got their first glimpses of new enemies and forms, making them even more thrilling. Every Toonami-era Dragon Ball Z fan has at least one promo they remember as fondly as the anime itself.
1 Dragon Ball Z Felt Like A Communal Event
Knowing That Everyone Was Watching Together Enhanced The Experience
Overall, the advent of streaming has been fantastic for the American anime fandom. Thanks to streaming, American fans can enjoy a wide variety of anime whenever they want, which has allowed several shows that would never get broadcast on American television to cement themselves as modern classics. However, the biggest downside of this development is that watching shows no longer feels like a communal event.
Sitting down to watch Dragon Ball Z on Toonami was exciting because you knew that your friends and hundreds of others were doing the same. Forcing everyone to watch together meant each episode was surrounded by intense hype as, during the show’s peak, everyone would spend the entire day talking about what happened last time and what they thought would happen next. Something that can’t be recreated in the streaming era due to how much control viewers have over their media experience.
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.
