Summary
Cartoon Network began as a specialty channel until basic cable packages finally picked it up in the late 90s. It was just in time too, because 2001 is when they started airing their Adult Swim block, featuring mostly adult-oriented cartoons likeHome MoviesandAqua Teen Hunger Force. It didn’t take long for Adult Swim to start airing anime though, which was like a counterpart to Cartoon Network’s daytimeToonami anime blockthat started in 1997.
Because of the late-night programming, Adult Swim could get away with airing more graphic scenes and displaying adult language. As good as these anime still are to this day, fans could get tired of them because of how many times they repeated without new episodes. Without streaming services, anime content was more limited, meaning that anime fans sort of had no choice but to watch on repeat, which could affect their enjoyment overall.
Cowboy Bebopbegan airing on Adult Swim the same year as it premiered in 2001. Even though Cartoon Network and its associated studios did not make it (unlike shows likeSpace Ghost Coast to CoastorThe Venture Bros.),Cowboy Bebopbecame a flagship series for Adult Swim. It’s easy to see why, as decades later it is still one of the best anime of all time, and one of the best examples of an anime to show to friends who don’t care for the genre.
Space battles, bounty hunting, comedy, action, and more: this anime has it all. With26 standalone and serialized episodesquickly getting run through, Adult Swim sporadically had it off and on the channel up until 2015, when there were bigger breaks. It still comes back from time to time. As good asCowboy Bebopis, though, fans who grew up with it also probably wanted to see new stuff or maybe even new episodes. It was a rough go in the early 2000s for anime content.
Death Notecame much later to the more classic block of Adult Swim that many associate it with. That said, the anime began airing in 2007 and would more or less consistently get through its 37-episode run until 2008. After 2008, Adult Swim began rerunning the show up until 2010, when its first removal came to pass.
Death Noteis one of those anime that became a revelation for fans because of its original concept.A high school student, Light Yagami, finds a magic notebook that lets him kill people by writing their names in it. At first, he uses this power for good, but things get to his head. He starts to think of himself as a god as the police try to capture him. It’s an enthralling series from start to finish, but after the finale, it’s hard to return to it on repeat to get that same feeling since every episode has to be watched in order. It’s not one of those episodic anime that is easy to tune into from time to time.
Fullmetal Alchemisthad a whopping 51-episode run in its original series. It premiered on Adult Swim in 2004, and was another good example of an anime with an original idea.Alchemists could useelements to affect the world, from turning a rock into a statue with a hand clap or conjuring fire from air. The show was also tragic, as brothers Ed and Al lost parts of their bodies as kids when they performed a forbidden alchemy spell, and years later they are still trying to reverse the art.
It took Adult Swim until 2006 to finish airing new episodes, and after that reruns were held until about 2010. In 2010, Adult Swim began airingFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,a reboot that was more faithful to the manga and ultimately the better anime in retrospect. Oddly, that only ran until 2011, when the original adaptation had way more time to bask in Adult Swim’s moonlight.
Inuyashais probably one of the more egregious examples, because it kept dangling the carrot of new episodes. Similar toDragon Ball Zairing on Toonami, Adult Swim fans had to hope and pray after each restart that the network would air new episodes once they caught up again. With over a hundred episodes, it was definitely one of Adult Swim’s more daunting projects.
It began airing on Adult Swim in 2002, and was probably one of thefirst examples of an isekaithat North American fans watched, besides maybe the variousDigimonseasons. It starred a modern Japanese high school girl who fals into a well and goes back in time to ancient Japan, where demons run amock. Between starts and stops,Inuyashasporadically got new episodes between 2002 and 2014 with reruns aplenty, and is one of the harder anime to track through scheduling as it got reprogrammed.
2Lupin the 3rd Part 2
The 70s Called
Most anime that aired on Adult Swim were somewhat contemporary, or at least released within a decade of their airing on the network. That was not the case forLupin the 3rd Part 2,the second anime series, which began airing in Japan in 1977 and definitely looked like it. It made sense to pair it withCowboy Bebop,since Lupin was a legendary thief going on capers around the world with his crew. That’s not to say the animation was bad, it was just jarring to see it next toCowboy BebopandInuyasha.
Lupin the 3rd Part 2premiered in 2003 on Adult Swim, and only aired 26 episodes of its 155 episode run consistently. That said, it was supposed to be 27 episodes and even though Adult Swim always showed the preview for episode three, it was always passed up due to Nazi sensitivity. This meant viewers had to watch the same episodes until 2007, when the anime finally left Adult Swim. Fans would have to wait until 2017 to start collecting DVDs to watch all 155 episodes in English thanks to Discotek Media.
Trigunwas a good counterpart toCowboy Bebop, as each anime was about bounties. But in this case, Vash the Stampede had a huge bounty on his head, and crooks of every sort were out to get him from episode to episode. It also took place in space, sort of, as a colony ship from Earth crash-landed on a new planet ages ago to repopulate. Now, everythingresembled the Old West.
It was a cool gimmick for a setting, and Vash was an easy-to-like protagonist who despised violence but got the job done when he had to. It had less of an impressive run from 2003 to 2006, with all 26 episodes airing in just a few short months in 2003. This meant there were more repeats consistently, which made it get old quickly. LikeCowboy Bebop,though,Trigunsporadically came and went for special events even after 2006.
