For many anime fans growing up, Cartoon Network’s Toonami was their first experience with the art form. The original lineup included classics like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, and Yu Yu Hakusho. Later on, shows like Naruto and One Piece joined, ushering in a new generation of fans.
Toonami was incredibly popular, but not every show it aired became a long-term success. Unfortunately, many of its best series are now unavailable to watch legally in the United States. This is often due to outdated dubbing or a decline in the show’s popularity over time, meaning they aren’t available on streaming platforms.
G-Force: Guardians of Space Was The Best Version Of Gatchaman Possible At The Time
Many anime fans today don’t realize how crucial G-Force was in bringing anime to Western audiences, or how significant the show was overall. Originally called Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in Japan, it debuted in 1972 and lasted for over a hundred episodes. Keen viewers will note that G-Force actually came before, and even helped inspire, the first Sentai anime series.
The show first arrived in the United States in the early 1970s as Battle of the Planets. To meet American TV guidelines, it was heavily edited and even included new scenes and characters. In 1986, another attempt to bring the original Gatchaman series to America resulted in G-Force: Guardians of Space. This version was a much closer adaptation to the Japanese show, although the final eighteen episodes were not included.
In the mid-1990s, G-Force: Guardians of Space aired on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block, alongside popular anime like Voltron and Robotech. However, when ADV Films released a complete English adaptation of the original Gatchaman series, interest in G-Force faded. Although it helped introduce many viewers to anime for the first time, this version of the show isn’t currently available on any streaming platforms.
Star Blazers Was A Hint At Anime’s Potential In The West
In the late 1970s, the Japanese anime Space Battleship Yamato was brought to America and renamed Star Blazers. While not the very first anime dubbed in English, it was among the first to demonstrate the captivating storytelling potential of the format. Star Blazers stood out with its complex, ongoing storylines and well-developed characters, encouraging viewers to follow each episode week after week.
When Star Blazers first came to America, it wasn’t widely released and remained a hidden gem for many years. However, it gained a following when it appeared on the Toonami Reactor online in 2001, around the time anime was becoming increasingly popular in the West. Its success meant it stayed available on the platform even as Toonami Reactor changed over time.
Today, it’s surprisingly difficult to find the original Star Blazers on streaming platforms. Even the classic Space Battleship Yamato is hard to watch legally. This is likely because of the remake that began ten years ago – it’s received all the attention and remains readily available on services like Crunchyroll. While the remake’s continued success is great, it’s a shame that a series so important to anime’s growth in both Japan and the United States isn’t more accessible.
MAR Never Even Got To Finish Its Run On Toonami
By the 2000s, action-packed ‘shonen’ anime dominated the scene, boosted by the success of popular series known as the ‘Big 3.’ Another title that gained traction during this time was Marchen Awakens Romance (often called MAR). What set MAR apart from many other major shonen shows was its creator’s established history – Nobuyuki Anzai had already achieved acclaim in the ‘90s with his manga, Flame of Recca, and MAR was his next ambitious undertaking.
The story centers on Ginta Toramizu, a typical Earth boy who suddenly finds himself in MAR-Heaven, a world with lower gravity. This new environment gives him incredible strength, and he joins a team of heroes battling the powerful Chess Army. Originally released in Japan in 2005, the series later aired on Cartoon Network through Toonami Jetstream, which was an updated version of the Toonami Reactor online platform.
The anime MAR gained enough popularity to move from Jetstream to Toonami, but it was quickly cancelled before the story could finish airing on TV. Unfortunately, it’s now impossible to watch the complete series legally. Not only is it unavailable on streaming services, but the DVDs are also out of print. Given that the manga continued as MAR Omega, it’s surprising MAR has almost disappeared in Western markets, especially with the current wave of 2000s nostalgia.
Rave Master Was Overshadowed By Other Battle Shonen
Many dedicated Toonami viewers will recall Rave Master airing on the block in the mid-2000s when Toonami moved to weekend programming. The show centered on Haru Glory, a teenage hero on a quest to gather all the Rave Fragments while fighting the dangerous Demon Card organization. Thanks to its release as a manga by Tokyopop and its broadcast on Cartoon Network, Rave Master enjoyed a good level of popularity in Western countries for a while.
However, a major reason Rave Master didn’t become as popular as other anime is that it was released when interest in anime was starting to fade in Western countries. It suffered in comparison to anime released before and after it. Then, towards the end of the 2000s, Toonami became dominated by Naruto, and the anime community as a whole was largely focused on Naruto and Bleach.
After the show stopped airing on Cartoon Network in the mid-2000s, Toonami ended its original run just a few years later in 2008. Because of this short time on air, it didn’t gain a large enough following to create much demand for it on popular streaming platforms. While Rave Master may be enjoyable, it’s not unexpected that it’s no longer available on major services like Crunchyroll and Hulu. It hasn’t appeared on smaller, more specialized platforms like RetroCrush, or free streaming services like Tubi, either.
Zoids: Chaotic Century’s Popularity Faded After The Mid-2000s
During the early 2000s, Pokémon became incredibly popular through its video games and animated series. Luckily, Zoids had been around for years before Pokémon, so bringing it back was a natural move. Toonami helped make this happen by airing two Zoids shows – Zoids: New Century Zero and Zoids: Chaotic Century – allowing fans to enjoy them.
Both New Century Zero and Chaotic Century eventually aired on Toonami, though Chaotic Century joined the lineup later. It debuted in 2002, around the time interest in New Century Zero was fading. Zoids: Chaotic Century follows Van Flyheight and Fiona, two teenagers who live in the Helic Republic. They stumble upon Zeke, a unique life-form that can combine with Zoids – mechanical creatures on their planet – giving them the power to protect themselves when the republic is unexpectedly thrown into war.
While many shows based on toys prioritize marketing over story, Zoids: Chaotic Century stands out as having a genuinely good plot. Unfortunately, like other series that gained traction during the Pokémon craze, it lost popularity after the early 2000s. Although several other Zoids anime exist, they’re surprisingly difficult to find and stream online.
2026-07-19 19:41