A cop-out? Perhaps, but hear me out.

Cue to 1997. There had been other action blocks throughout the history of television, but Toonami was actually the first to be created by one of us, well, two of us.

Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco were both children of the 80s and fans of the action cartoons of the era. They grew up watching shows like ThunderCats, Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Voltron, Robotech, G.I. Joe, and countless others. They also were fans of Japanese animation, including retro shows like Gigantor and Tranzor Z and modern shows like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, and others. They owned subbed titles. They owned bootlegged videos. They owned official releases. They were us.

When Sean and Jason created Toonami, it was purely out of love of the shows they grew up with. Toonami wasn't supposed to be around forever. It was just supposed to be an experiment created by a couple of mailroom workers who moved up to production at Ghost Planet Industries.

Who would have guessed that the experiment would become an internationally-known brand that has inspired a network in the United Kingdom and many imitators?

If Toonami wasn't created, who knows how what would have happened? The anime industry owes a debt of gratitude to Toonami, because without the block, brands like FUNimation, Geneon, and Viz would not be as big as they are. Neither Dragon Ball Z nor Naruto would be on the lips of the American public. Gundam would have remained only in Japan. Sailor Moon would have been permanently stuck on the end of Sailor Moon R season. ReBoot wouldn't have had the opportunity to develop a pair of movies. Okay, that one wasn't anime, but it too owes a lot to Toonami. There wouldn't have been an Adult Swim at all since the success of Toonami inspired Williams Street to develop an adult-oriented comedy and action block.

Just think. It all began with a lineup of two cartoons from the 80s, the Turner Entertainment action-animation library, and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. A decade later, Toonami still sets a standard for action-animation and will continue to do so for a number of years.