Taking to social media, Toonami co-creator Jason DeMarco celebrated with the following message to fans “[Toonami] fans, tonight’s [December 3rd] broadcast officially means the Adult Swim version of Toonami has aired longer than the Cartoon Network version. That’s 11 years on the air, twice. We never imagined we’d still be running this block in 2023, waaaay back when we started it in 1997. Thank you to everyone who has watched, supported, argued with and come to see us at cons over the years. You made this all possible. Hopefully, we’ve given you some good memories in return, and at the very least, been a place where you could relax and kick up your feet.”
DeMarco continued, “This little block that could has made all of my dreams come true. And given me so many opportunities to do so many fun things, meet some of my creative idols, and be creative full time in a corporate world. Please know that no matter what version of Toonami you engaged with, the mission has always been the same: to make the absolute best cartoon block we could with the tools and budget at our disposal, whatever that might be in the shifting media landscape.”
DeMarco concluded with, “We hope you feel our passion and our sincerity, our love for the shows, the characters, the music, the games and everything else we broadcast. It’s never wavered. Who knows how long Toonami can go, but no matter what, we did our damn thing. Nobody can argue with that. So until the sun sets (again) on a world without Toonami, we remain the first, and STILL the best. Only Toonami.”