Dragon Ball Z: Class of 1998
Dragon Ball: Class of 2001

Longest Running Series On Toonami

Most Episodes on Toonami

First Older Series To Premiere New Episodes Exclusively For Toonami

If one show personifies the positive aspects of Toonami, it's not Batman, ReBoot, The Big O, nor Gundam. It's Dragon Ball Z.

If one series personifies the negative aspects of Toonami, it's not Hamtaro, Transformers Armada, nor The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. It's Dragon Ball Z.

For those reasons, Dragon Ball Z is the most important series to air on Toonami. Ever since the series premiered in August 1998, Dragonball Z has been a vital part of the foundation of Toonami. Thundercats, Voltron, Jonny Quest, Robotech, and Sailor Moon laid out a plan for the creation of the block, but Dragonball Z has become a cornerstone, the support that keeps the block together. Because of Dragonball Z's placement in Toonami, more viewers started watching the block. Sure, Sailor Moon helped bring the viewers in, but DBZ kept the viewers watching. Slowly but surely, the popular series became Cartoon Network's number one series.

Let's read that again.

Dragon Ball Z was once Cartoon Network's highest-rated series, beginning its steady climb in September 1999, when Toonami premiered the first of six cycles of newly dubbed episodes, all of which were made possible in part thanks to Cartoon Network.

When Cartoon Network premiered Dragonball in July 2001 (a series that the FUNimation founder once said is his favorite), it only cemented the popularity of Dragon Ball Z and the Dragon Ball franchise as a whole. Dragon Ball was one of the most faithful series to ever come out of FUNimation and was treated with kidgloves by both FUNimation and Cartoon Network. From the first time Goku met the strange person named Bulma to the wedding of Goku and ChiChi, Dragon Ball was a nice diversion and a fun adventure. The reason why I paired off both shows as the most important show of Toonami is because when Dragon Ball ended, DBZ began, with a nice flow and a steady segueway to the future adventures, as if you could air the last episode of DB with the first episode of DBZ. You can't really play the last episode of DBZ with the first episode of Dragon Ball GT . . . at least the FUNimation version of the series which spliced numerous episodes into a new "first" episode.

Of course, as is the nature of life, for every positive action, there's a negative reaction, and one can't talk about Dragon Ball Z without talking about the negative.

Because Dragonball Z had a lengthy break between old and new episodes, Toonami aired countless reruns over and over again. The reruns basically brought down the Midnight Run during its countless overplaying. In October 2002, Cartoon Network, in its infinite wisdom, decided to rerun episodes from the previous day during the first hour of Toonami followed by a new episode. When the new episodes stopped, the novelty wore thin, and it really became annoying.

Dragon Ball Z is the longest-running series to ever air on Toonami. Strangely enough, its longevity is also a reason why some folks dislike it. Afterall, when so many shows come and go while DBZ remains forever, some folks will hate the show that remains (see what it did to The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest?). However, the new episodes are the reason why people continue to watch, and in April, DBZ will temporarily leave Toonami for the first time in five years. It's stay in Toonami not only helped create the block's public image, but it also made the network millions, which were used to buy more shows, which entertain the masses. It also made FUNimation a major anime brand, instead of just being limited to sell Chuck E. Cheese's tapes. Without Dragonball Z, it's almost safe to say that Toonami wouldn't be around today.

In 2004, neither Dragon Ball Z nor Dragon Ball are on the air today in the US. In its place, Dragon Ball GT, a fine show, but nowhere near the level of the previous shows. It's safe to say that both shows have left an impact on Toonami that will never be forgotten.