After dabbling in a handful of shorts written and directed by Takashi Sano (Tower of God, Lupin the 3rd: Tokyo Crisis) and a few other directors Adult Swim has granted Sano the reigns to do a 10 episode season of his vision of Rick and Morty at Telecom Animation Film (Lupin the 3rd, Orange, Shenmue: The Animation) making use of familiar characters, settings and the franchise’s lore while putting his own spin on it. It might feel worlds away from traditional Rick and Morty or the more common perception of anime, but I assure you it is both Rick and Morty and anime.
Visually, Rick and Morty: The Anime has the most in common with Japanese family sitcoms like Sazae-San and Crayon Shin Chan but those are no less Japanese animation than Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain or Masaki Yuasa’s Mind Game. However, the fragmented storytelling and cerebral approach is more in line with the later three. In that sense it would have fit in quite well on Adult Swim in the mid-2000s.There’s all kinds of anime out there and this is certainly a blend of two or more kinds.
Rick and Morty is an irreverent comedy but it has not avoided telling stories with emotional impact and sincerity. The core cast is present and generally acting as they always have, particularly what little we see of Summer, Beth and Jerry. With a few more jokes the first two episodes could largely play like a typical Rick and Morty episode with a lot less nihilism and snark. But it does feel out of character for Rick to stand around spouting philosophical musings as he is usually quicker to make his snide remarks. He also isn’t constantly burping but that’s probably for the best. Much like with Sano’s shorts, the whole cast feels like they’ve had their edges trimmed back to sterilize them to an extent. These are still the characters but debatably a less interesting version of them.
In these first two chapters Morty falls in love with an atemporal being named Elle that he encounters in a VR simulation. Meanwhile Rick is laying low in a pseudo-world between multiverses pondering a doohickey while Summer monitors him and helps Space Beth battle the Galactic Federation. So you have some space adventures intermixed with Morty looping in the simulation. Pretty typical Rick and Morty stuff from a glance but the approach is much slower paced and has a lot less biting humor. There are jokes and references but it’s evident Sano is focusing on dramatic elements. I like the idea of recontextualizing familiar characters and settings, and bouncing between plots in a not entirely linear fashion is interesting, but so far the execution is not drawing me in. Maybe at the end it will all make sense but I don’t think the majority of the intended audience will have the patience for this.
That poses the question: who is the intended audience? Theoretically Rick and Morty fans who enjoy anime but in the cross-section of those audiences I don’t think there are all that many who will find this project endearing despite Sano’s visible appreciation for the source material. A passion project for Sano comes off as a pointless exercise in extending an already overextended brand that has seen diminishing returns in recent years. I am actually not that cynical about the existence of this series. I think it has potential. However, I cannot help but feel it is undercut by outside factors like the optics of farming out a popular American IP to a Japanese studio because it is more cost effective to make shows there and Warner Bros. Discovery is not helping their case by commissioning a non-union studio to dub the series.
Rick and Morty: The Anime makes use of the Japanese cast of Rick and Morty to great effect while Sentai Studios was contracted with the unenviable task of recording the English dub using none of the original cast. For their part, I’d say they’re doing an admirable job. Having spoken to the dub voice of Rick (and Jerry) Joe Daniels (Ya Boy Kongming!, Ninja Kaumi), I can tell he knows his Rick and Morty and understands the characters well. His take on Rick incorporates some of the vocal quirks Rick is known for in a way that sounds natural. Overall, the dub has a nostalgic mid-2000s ADV sci-fi anime vibe, particularly when minor characters are having side conversations. Andrew Love’s doing a great job adapting the script and directing the dub. That said, for purists and casuals alike, hearing different people voicing the core cast could be a bridge too far. In which case, they should check out the Japanese version where Yōhei Tadano (New Getter Robo Arc, One Piece) gives a standout performance as Rick Sanchez. Reservations about the project aside, it’s a bold choice for Adult Swim to give the Japanese version the limelight of a midnight time slot rather than quietly air it after 3 a.m. as they did with Ninja Kamui. I will applaud them for that even though I don’t think headlining Toonami with subtitled artsy Rick and Morty makes much sense for the block.
With regards to the presentation, I feel the art style suits Rick and Morty and it gives the characters a less generic look than the original series. In theory these simple character designs would animate smoothly so it’s jarring how stilted the animation can be. It feels unfinished at times. The series had been in production for at least a few years but maybe they didn’t give Sano’s team enough time to polish things up. The CGI models in particular look janky and took me out of the moment during a heated fight sequence. The best animation and most visual flare can be seen in the bombastic opening credits which do a good job hyping things up but feels at odds with the more melancholic tone of the episode content. The music attached to that opening performed by OtoneZ is a poppy electronic number that further amps up the presentation and is a highlight for the soundtrack.Overall the production values of the series aren’t bad, just a bit uneven.
This production is indeed Rick and Morty and anime but neither pushes the brand nor the medium and that’s a shame but it could easily be worse. I can see Sano’s passion but the end result unfortunately doesn’t resonate as well as the thoughtful moments of Rick and Morty and when it comes to irreverent comedy it is way out of its depth. Perhaps by the end, Sano’s vision for Rick and Morty will be better defined but for now I will observe this series with cautious optimism hoping there’s something more to be found beneath the surface.
Regardless of my initial unfavorable impression of the series, I encourage you to give it a shot, especially if you’re in the mood for some experimental animation or cerebral storytelling. The latter is especially hard to come by from new productions and the former is rare enough to draw attention to any work that deviates from the look of most slice of life anime and light novel adaptations.
You can watch the world premiere English dubbed episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime Thursdays at Midnight on Adult Swim, the Japanese version headlining Toonami Saturdays at Midnight and both versions on Max every Friday.
Special thanks to Adult Swim PR for providing the early screeners for review.