Now as we all know, about a year ago TOONAMI returned to Cartoon Network’s late night programming block Adult Swim, bringing most of our childhood’s right back with it. 1st hitting the TV screens in March 17th, 1997 (Happy Belated B-Day Toonami), Toonami had the enormous task of bringing anime to the impressionable youth of America and it succeeded at that goal. With shows like Dragonball Z, Big O, Gundam Wing, & Outlaw Star; Toonami brought a whole new generation of kids into the anime craze of the 90’s (Come one don’t act like you’ve never attempted a kamehameha when you were 10) with it’s cool music, futuristic look, and suave robotic host TOM (voiced by animation Veteran Steve Blum).

However as the years went by Toonami’s luster began to fade, and while despite still having quality shows (Gundam SEED, Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece, Zatch Bell, & Naruto to name a few) the block was officially cancelled in 2008. All hope seemed lost & Toonami slowly faded from the public eye…until Adult Swim came along. April Fool’s day 2012, instead of showing their usual marathon of The Room (a movie that has to be SEEN to believe how bad it is) Adult Swim brought back Toonami for one night, showing all the shows from the blocks original run. Needless to say all nerds and otaku’s united, flooding twitter and other social media, begging for the beloved block to be brought back. Their prayers were answered when on May 26th, 2012 Toonami returned. In addition to BLEACH (which had been running on AS for years), the block added two new shows to it’s line-up; Deadman Wonderland & Casshern Sins. The block also brought shows cancelled by Cartoon Network, like the underrated Sym-Bionic Titan & the new Thundercats.

With the new Toonami up and running they added even MORE shows to the line-up: the Tenchi Muyo spin off Tenchi Muyo GXP, the returning Naruto, and the action packed anime Soul Eater. On their birthday episode a couple of days ago the premiered Evangelion 1.11 (which is a movie remake of one of the most prolific, depressing, & confusing anime of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion). They even recently announced that they would be re-showing the hard hitting, fast & furious pirate anime One Piece. Now with all this going for them…I still have some suggestions for anime for Toonami. Because despite all these shows on the block they haven’t shown a new anime since Deadman Wonderland ended a few months ago. I have compiled a top 5 list of what anime I think would be best on the new Toonami.

5. Tiger & Bunny

Tiger & Bunny is the story of a man named Kotetsu T. Kaburagi or as he is known in the superhero community, Wild Tiger. The company he works for recently went under and he’s looking for work, which he finds in Apollon Media. He continues his superhero duties…with a catch, he has to form a team with Apollon’s new star hero, Barnaby Brooks Jr.. This show is filled with exciting action and an interesting concept which will appeal to western fans, especially with the whole superhero’s being company endorsed and such.

4. Blue Exorcist

Rin Okumura is your typical high school student with one little difference…he’s the son of Satan. After a tragic event takes he and his brother Yukio’s father from him. He resolves to join True Cross Academy and become an exorcist so he can, as he eloquently puts it “Beat the shit out of Satan.”. Blue Exorcist blends a boy’s tale of redemption with Christian themes which is actually pretty hard to do in anime. This show manages to pull it off with stellar results however making for an enjoyable watch.

3. Zetman

Zetman is the story of Jin Kanzaki, a young boy with extraordinary power. He is able to turn into the creature known as ZET, a being created in order to hunt and exterminate creatures called “Players” that stalk the city and kill humans. Zetman has that blend of bloody action and sci-fi intrigue that will draw anyone into it’s dark world.

2. Sword Art Online

If anyone is unfamiliar with Sword Art Online just check out our review of the 1st episode HERE. Normally I wouldn’t have recommended this show since it is only available in Japanese; but with the news of Aniplex USA premiering the dub at Sakura Con at the end of the month; it would be the perfect time for Toonami to capitalize on it. With it’s fast paced action and familiar yet gripping storyline, SAO is a perfect fit for Toonami’s ever growing anime quota.

1. Dragonball Z Kai

What better show to add to celebrate Toonami’s return than the one that started it all? With it’s re-written script, cleaned up visuals, and no filler; DBZ Kai rounds itself it to a lean 98 episodes. Spanning from the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga, DBZ Kai is like a revisiting an old ex at a high school reunion only to realize that she only got better with age.

These are just my top 5, but if you guys have any suggestions feel free to let us know in the comments below.