The world already has seven seasons of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, with an eighth and more on the way. And even with the show’s mega popularity, is there really the need for a spin-off? Rick and Morty: The Anime, created by writer-director and Rick and Morty superfan Takashi Sano, is here to put forth its case—and from what io9 has seen so far, the new series quickly justifies itself by being far from redundant.
What’s more, it has fun doing it. While certain aspects of The Anime obviously feel familiar—it is, after all, set in a world we’ve been exploring since 2013—Sano, whose anime background includes Tower of God and Lupin the 3rd: Crisis in Tokyo, as well as previous Rick and Morty shorts, isn’t here just to play the hits. He and his team craft a unique story while making good use of tweaked versions of characters and themes fans will easily recognize, as well as bringing new faces and situations into the mix.
io9 watched the first two episodes, “The Girl Who Manipulates Time” and “Fighting Mother,” in both the English dub and Japanese-with-English-subtitles versions, and how you choose to experience Rick and Morty: The Anime feels like more of a personal preference in this case. The casts are equally appealing, an important consideration since the main Rick and Morty series has been through the wringer with its own voice cast. In both languages, Rick (Youhei Tadano in Japanese, Joe Daniels in English) is appropriately gruff and boozy, and it feels like an anime-correct choice that Morty (Keisuke Chiba, Gabriel Regojo) is a lot more emotionally expressive than he is in the regular series.
A big distinction so far seems to be that The Anime is more episodic; mainline Rick and Morty does have season arcs and canon elements, but it leans more into standalone stories. “The Girl Who Manipulates Time” begins with Rick on the run from the Galactic Federation, which dearly wants his new device that makes time go backwards. Back in the Smith house, Summer’s got her headset on as Rick’s anxious but helpful tether to reality; Space Beth is also part of the action team, kicking ass in deep space while also keeping tabs on her dad. Less involved so far are non-Space Beth and Jerry, though from what we’ve seen so far Jerry might be even dorkier in anime form.
Meanwhile, Morty is obsessed with a Rick-created VR game that not only contains his mysterious dream girl, but also appears to be a nebulous zone where real alt-world timelines have started bleeding together. “Reality is convenient all the time, but I always get saddled with the job of making it make sense,” Rick groans, but before “Fighting Mother” is over we also see that even Rick doesn’t quite have a handle on the current state of space time.
Much like the original series, The Anime presents a rapid-fire onslaught of visuals—in keeping with its medium shift, the art style is familiar but also distinctively different—as we zip between universes and versions of the characters. It’s propulsive and feels deliberately confusing at times, particularly when we’re following Morty’s trippy, non-chronological journey. Not for nothing is the upbeat theme song, composed by Otonez, titled “Love Is Entropy.”
Throughout, creator Sano’s deep affection for Rick and Morty is quite evident. You can see it in The Anime‘s excitement about inter-dimensional hijinks, outer space battles, and fan-favorite supporting characters that pop up here and there. Also, here’s a tip: just like Rick and Morty, The Anime leaves one last scene at the end of the credits that’s always worth waiting around for.
Starting today, August 15, new episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime premiere Thursdays at midnight on Adult Swim; you can stream them on Max and purchase them on digital the next day. Then, Japanese encore airings of each new episode arrive Saturday at midnight as part of Adult Swim’s Toonami programming.
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