On this day 20 years ago Toonami launched in the UK and Ireland

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'm sure its a well known fact now but Toonami was once upon a time a channel in the UK and Ireland, sadly it only lasted from 2003 till 2007 but it was on this date the channel launched.

I have many fond memories of this channel, and of course watching Dragon Ball on it. This was the channel that aired original Dragon Ball exclusively in these territories, and, as far as I'm aware is the only channel worldwide other than YTV to air the Blue Water dubs, and the only time the Big Green dubs of the 3 Dragon Ball movies and GT special were ever released anywhere.

They also did this nice promo art for GT Goku.



And of course we all know Z aired on the channel, but unlike CNX there was no dub switch and it was of course Funimation's dub for episodes 1-107 and Westwood for 108-276, as that was seemingly always the ultimate plan for the UK and Ireland.



Also, apparently some promotional DVDs were made. Has anyone ever come across one? It would be a gold find if there was any Blue Water Dragon Ball on it.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I love the UK Toonami channel. I wish it was still around.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I love the UK Toonami channel. I wish it was still around.

Same, I wish it was never canned and they never stopped airing Dragon Ball as if it did we would have really high quality recordings of the Westwood and Blue Water dubs with more modern technology. Hell, if Toonami UK stuck around and kept Dragon Ball they almost certainly would have aired Ocean Kai. Sadly they stopped airing all Dragon Ball content in 2005, reportedly because it was too expensive to keep licensing.

[TheGreatness25]

Did it have the same fate as US Toonami? Wehere at some point in the mid-2000s, it went from cool and edgy and became cartoony? Also, was there a UK Adult Swim? I feel like that was like graduating from Toonami.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Did it have the same fate as US Toonami? Wehere at some point in the mid-2000s, it went from cool and edgy and became cartoony?

Yes, it eventually became a dumping ground for shows with any action Cartoon Network aired. I remember Pokemon moved to the regular Cartoon Network in 2006 a year before Toonami shut down, between that and Dragon Ball going in 2005 it was probably inevitable the channel would be gone before long.

Also, was there a UK Adult Swim? I feel like that was like graduating from Toonami.

Sadly no. The closest we got was the A.K.A block in 1999-2000 that aired Space Ghost Coast to Coast, but not many people remember that, although not really the same thing as it also aired stuff you'd see in the daytime like Looney Tunes, Cow & Chicken and Freakazoid.

[TheGreatness25]

Did it have the same fate as US Toonami? Wehere at some point in the mid-2000s, it went from cool and edgy and became cartoony?

Yes, it eventually became a dumping ground for shows with any action Cartoon Network aired. I remember Pokemon moved to the regular Cartoon Network in 2006 a year before Toonami shut down, between that and Dragon Ball going in 2005 it was probably inevitable the channel would be gone before long.

Also, was there a UK Adult Swim? I feel like that was like graduating from Toonami.

Sadly no. The closest we got was the A.K.A block in 1999-2000 that aired Space Ghost Coast to Coast, but not many people remember that, although not really the same thing as it also aired stuff you'd see in the daytime like Looney Tunes, Cow & Chicken and Freakazoid.

Oh, no! That's terrible. I don't know why they couldn't just mirror their successes across all of the English-speaking markets. What, did they think kids in the UK would react differently to Adult Swim than in the US? So, just shove Cow and Chicken in there! Hey, all those late 90s cartoons were great, but why show them all the time instead of diversifying?

You guys deserved better.

[90sDBZ]

I still remember the launch. I was disappointed CNX had been discontinued, but it was still cool to see the Toonami name make a comeback (it was previously a block on CN UK prior to all of its programming moving over to CNX).

Even though both Z and GT had aired their final episodes on CNX, Toonami UK would continue to rerun them for quite some time, even creating new promos for them.

And OG DB finally made its UK debut on Toonami. I was both surprised and ecstatic to see it, as I knew very little about it in 2003 without internet access. The flashbacks in Z always made me curious, so finally seeing OG DB was awesome for me.

The only issue I had with the channel was the lack of other new programming. Several of the shows such as Batman Beyond, Justice League, Samurai Jack, and Xmen Evolution had all aired on Cartoon Network years prior. Much of their lineup consisted of reruns. At least DBZ was always fun to rewatch.

And there was the huge disappointment of them using the Big Green dubs for their airings of the movies instead of the Funimation or Ocean dubs. It felt like a slap in the face to a lot of fans who were excited to finally see the movies.

Once all DB content got taken off in 2005 it was all downhill. They started airing random live action stuff that nobody cared about, and the only shows I still watched on there were 4kids One Piece and Pokemon.

[madged1]

Oooh, now this is my kind of thread! I loved Toonami UK in its heyday, being a place to experience all of Dragon Ball and other great shows of my childhood. I vaguely remember CNX (kid-me would think "why is this channel that's showing Dragon Ball separate to the Kids section" haha, though I know why in hindsight), but Toonami and Cartoon Network were a big part of my younger years.

Of the three shows, I remember watching through Dragon Ball GT with my brothers, I think we watched it most nights around 9PM. That young exposure to it has given me a soft spot to GT, and the Blue Water intro has lived rent-free in my head ever since. I know I watched some of DB and DBZ but not as much as GT. I experienced the Z story through the Budokai games, and I have a memory of catching an episode of Goku vs Giant Piccolo at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

When I think of watching DBZ on Toonami UK, I think of the last day it was on. Well, at least I think what I'm about to share from my memory is accurate, anyway. Viewers could text in with the prompt of sharing your favourite Dragon Ball memories. However, most of if not all of the messages that would appear during the Dragon Ball marathon was fans pleading for the network to keep DBZ on the air. I'm sure I was sad at the time and could not understand why they would remove it from the air. I would be elated years later with the news of the UK DVDs and then Kai airing on Kix, but I digress.

In its final year, I was sad to see the shift towards live action content (that would later move to Boomerang), and missed the Toonami of old. When it ended, I was sad and wanted to see it return which as we know never occurred. Now, as an adult who doesn't have Sky but has access to the show on home media, I wouldn't say it matters in that sense; however it would be cool for nostalgia purposes to see the brand come back. I'll always be grateful for Toonami to introducing me to this franchise that I love today and look back at it fondly.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

And there was the huge disappointment of them using the Big Green dubs for their airings of the movies instead of the Funimation or Ocean dubs. It felt like a slap in the face to a lot of fans who were excited to finally see the movies.

Yeah, it would have been great if AB Groupe could have acquired the Funimation dubs instead, or even the Pioneer trilogy because it featured the Ocean cast that most of us were really familiar with from the UK airings at their best. I have some nostalgia for the Big Green dub of World's Strongest because my mam bought me the DVD, but we all know AB only brought those movies to us because they were cheaper than acquiring any of the North American dubs.

Of the three shows, I remember watching through Dragon Ball GT with my brothers, I think we watched it most nights around 9PM. That young exposure to it has given me a soft spot to GT, and the Blue Water intro has lived rent-free in my head ever since. I know I watched some of DB and DBZ but not as much as GT. I experienced the Z story through the Budokai games, and I have a memory of catching an episode of Goku vs Giant Piccolo at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

Yeah, in Toonami's early days there was a period where original Dragon Ball was shown at 8.30pm followed by a double bill of Z from 9pm to 9.45pm and GT aired after that. Funnily enough GT was the least cut of all three series that aired on Cartoon Network, CNX and Toonami, as there were only about 5 or 6 cuts across the entire Blue Water dub. The intro is awesome yes, really nostalgic for me.

Viewers could text in with the prompt of sharing your favourite Dragon Ball memories. However, most of if not all of the messages that would appear during the Dragon Ball marathon was fans pleading for the network to keep DBZ on the air.

Yeah, I remember the text marathons, and you could tell by them the demand for Dragon Ball Z was insane even though we'd watched the show so many times on reruns. Apparently Sky were asked in their Q&As about when Cartoon Network would be bringing the show back. Sad they never decided to follow up on this and air it on their channels other than the recent movies.

I'd love Toonami to still be around today just to watch for old times sake, but the memories will be with us forever.