The Top Ten WORST Toonami Shows
Toonami: the KING of animated blocks during the nineties and 2000’s. A block responsible for the Anime Boom of the late 90’s and Early 2000’s, and for many of us Millenials, a cornerstone of our childhood and teen years. That said, not every show on the block was a winner; in fact, there were some real STINKERS in the block’s history. This is an ascending countdown of the ten WORST Toonami shows…
10. Hamtaro
YES, THIS SHOW IS FUCKING ADORABLE AND CUTE AND FUNNY AND AAAUUUUUGH WHY IS IT HERE!? The problem isn’t with the show itself, it’s that it was on the WRONG BLOCK! This show should have been put on a Preschooler’s block or something, because Toonami wasn’t the place for it.
9- Cartoon Roulette
Cartoon Roulette was a compilation show of Hannah-Barbera’s best action cartoons from the 60’s. The problem? These were shows that were ALREADY airing on Cartoon Network for YEARS! That said, it pays well to remember that this show began during Toonami’s very first year, when the block only had ONE new show to its name. Besides, these cartoons really held up well for over thirty years, I’ve gotta be honest. Herculoids, Shazzan, Galaxy Trio, Birdman… these shows slapped! BUT, they were still reruns, and they quickly got dropped once Toonami started getting some anime, so…
8. Tenchi in Tokyo
Tenchi Muyo was a beautifully animated, hilarious combination of the Space Opera and Harem Comedy genres. Tenchi Universe was something of a step down from Muyo, but it was longer, had a more cohesive plot, AND it came with an actual finale! Tenchi in Tokyo, however, had NOTHING that the two previous series didn’t have. Well, except for some new characters that were not easy to like, I’ll be honest. I think this show’s biggest mistake was forgetting the Harem part of Harem Comedy; Tenchi was too focused on ONE girl, after all, and it became abundantly clear this was the girl he was choosing. Add to that a color palette that was dull, mediocre animation, and a plot that was ho-hum at BEST, and you’ve got a stinker.
7- Bobobo bo Bobobo
OK, I need to explain something here: this show is… weird. The weirdness is what makes it unique and wonderful, but it’s ALSO what makes it such a hard sell outside Japan. The show is also a parody of typical Shounen series, most especially Fist of the North Star. I liked it, I’ll admit it, but… as it went on, the show was becoming nigh incomprehensible. This is a show you either ADORE or ABHOR.
6- Neon Genesis Evangelion (edited)
During the Anime Boom of the early 2000’s, the concept of censorship was a hot button topic in the anime community, ESPECIALLY in regards to censoring anime to make it more marketable to kids. In this case, Toonami decided to air the first two episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, HEAVILY edited and censored. The series was never meant to be aired in its entirety, BUT I’d consider even airing these two episodes alone on a KID’S ORIENTED BLOCK was a blunder of the highest caliber! Evangelion is NOT a kid’s show!!!
5- Dragon Ball GT
It makes all the sense in the world to air Dragon Ball GT after finishing both Z and original DB… too bad the show was terrible from the get go. Ah, but at least the music was good, especially the intro, “Dan dan kokoro…” oh, they replaced ALL the music with generic hard rock? And they skipped the first thirteen episodes just to get to the action part of the series? I’d consider that unwise… honestly, GT should have been skipped, or given the Dragon Ball treatment and leave the music as it was.
4- Cardcaptors
Let me make one thing clear: Cardcaptor Sakura is a BRILLIANT anime that DESERVES to be watched. It is exciting, well written, starring lovable characters, all drawn in a style that is both cute yet easily lends itself to action. All this, plus it stars a female lead, making it one of those shows that can easily appeal to both boys AND girls AND that rainbow in between. The Nelvana dub of Cardcaptor Sakura, titled Cardcaptors, tried to turn this show into an ensemble show starring a girl AND a guy in a futile attempt to draw boys in. The end result? A bleh show with NONE of the heart of the original.
At least the intro song was OK…
3- Transformers Energon
I’m not someone who drops a series willy nilly. I usually give a show around two to three episodes before I drop it or continue watching it; with Energon, I lasted ONE ACT! That’s one third of an episode! And apparently I did the right thing, because the dub for this show is terrible beyond belief! IT’S TRANSFORMERS! HOW DO YOU SCREW UP TRANSFORMERS THIS BADLY!?
2- One Piece (4Kids version)
One Piece. The KING of Manga and Anime. The best selling anime series of all time. A literal fucking money printer. AND 4KIDS KILLED IT!!! Needless and excessive censorship, entire ARCS getting skipped over (THIRTY FOUR EPISODES GOT SKIPPED!!!) hideous voice acting, extremely loud and distracting music… the 4Kids dub of One Piece is a masterclass on what NOT to do with a dub, AND it’s one of the greatest arguments AGAINST dubbing as a whole!
Thankfully, we have no dishonorable mentions this time. But we DO have…
1- Wulin Warriors
This show lasted TWO episodes before it was unceremoniously cancelled. In my opinion, that’s two episodes too late…
Wulin Warriors was a gag dub of the Taiwanese show, Pili. Pili is one of the longest running shows in the world, and may well be the second longest running puppet show right after Sesame Street. It is a show that combines traditional Taiwanese glove puppetry with Wuxia action and storytelling, with CGI for special effects. It is a SPECTACULAR series, and one that COULD have been popular in the West if it had been given the treatment it deserved.
Instead, we got a gag dub filled with juvenile jokes, changes to the story, and worst of all, NO respect for the source material. It may not just be the WORST Toonami show ever, it might also be one of the worst shows of all time!
