It was back in 2020 when Adult Swim started releasing shorts for Rick and Morty that were inspired by anime, animated by Japanese studios, with a Japanese cast and a completely different animation style from what we’re usually used to. Takashi Sano, the director of Tower of God Season 1, directed two of the shorts, Rick & Morty vs. Genocider and Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil). These two grew to critical acclaim quite quickly, and due to their success, an anime spin-off with Takashi Sano also directing was announced with a 10-episode order. It was also to be animated by the same studio that handled the shorts, Telecom Animation Film.
When it was initially announced, I was extremely skeptical of the idea of an anime based on Rick and Morty; it felt unnecessary. In the lead-up to its release, we got trailers and clips, and even during all of that, I didn’t have high hopes for this show. The trailers gave a sense of mockery and tried too hard to be classified as anime, but upon watching the first two episodes of the series, that is absolutely not the case, and it does a good job of being in the anime format. One thing that it doesn’t do well though is making certain aspects clear, and due to that, the first two episodes can be a confusing watch that leads to the show feeling too convoluted from the get-go.
Rick and Morty: The Anime is a 10-episode anime series from the world of “Rick and Morty.” Rick (Joe Daniels) relaxes in a pseudo-world between multiverses, Summer (Donna Bella Litton) helps Space Beth (Patricia Duran) fight the evil Galactic Federation, and Morty (Gabriel Regogo) falls in love with a mysterious girl who happens to be an atemporal being.
Rick and Morty is known for being about these two characters who go on these outlandish adventures across the galaxy and occasionally the multiverse. Within its sci-fi nature is the comedy, which is a strong and integral aspect of the show and what it’s widely known for. Rick and Morty: The Anime takes a slightly different approach. It’s still enriched with all of its sci-fi aspects, but the tone of this anime is completely different; it’s more grounded, and while that made the watch an interesting one and gave something new to work with, it’s also a choice that slightly hurts the show too.
The first episode throws you straight into an adventure with a Rick that is seemingly just a clone and being used as a decoy while the real Rick is getting the job done. Space Beth and Summer are also involved with helping against the Galactic Federation, while Morty is stuck in this VR game, living this fake life. A major issue with the first two episodes of this show and how it starts off is that it’s confusing. There are several things mentioned in these episodes that make you think they might have some link to the original show, especially as they’re dealing with the multiverse. There’s a single mention of the Rick we’re watching in the show being Rick C-137, the same as in the original show. With the Multiverse being a huge factor in the franchise and with these specific episodes, it started to confuse me why this Rick was not from an entirely new universe but from the one we already know of in the original show.
This is a show that’s not linked to Rick and Morty in any way, except for adapting some themes and events. It’s not taking place at the same time as the original show, and it’s its own standalone show. While that may be all cleared up, it doesn’t help that the writers have decided to throw us into the middle of an adventure with no clear direction of what’s actually going on. It also doesn’t make an attempt at introducing these characters to an audience that may not know who Rick and Morty are and assumes that you’re familiar with the IP. For someone who is familiar with the show and has watched every single season, I was still left scratching my head, wondering if I had just watched two episodes that were from the middle of the season instead of the start.
As mentioned previously, I love the tone of this anime series. Arguably, I prefer it more to the tone of the original show, and I could see myself liking this more than the recent seasons we’ve gotten of Rick and Morty. It feels like there are real stakes in place, and the voice acting for the English dub of the show does a good job of setting this more grounded and serious tone perfectly. With it being more grounded, though, some jokes tend to not land or just overall feel flat and out of place. With the perfect balance between the tone and the humour, I can see this being one of the greatest spin-offs for an animated show.
The animation is once again animated by Telecom Animation Film, and while I still haven’t grown accustomed to its animation style, I can’t deny that it fits the world of Rick and Morty extremely well. The visuals for the background are also vibrant and resemble a tie-dye look for the most part with the scenes that take place in the pseudo-world. As expected, Rick and Morty does feature some action, so that follows through with this anime adaptation, and Telecom Animation Film does an outstanding job of animating the fights and making them visually interesting to watch.
Rick and Morty: The Anime isn’t off to the greatest of starts thanks to its confusing story, but visually, it’s amazing. It has outstanding voice work from a whole brand new cast that helps give this anime that Adult Swim signature. The new tone for the anime is one that feels more fitting and is in alignment with an anime adaptation of a show that’s very unserious and humourous, but unfortunately, that means that the humour doesn’t mesh well with the tone. With all this accounted for, Rick and Morty: The Anime is still worth watching, and with eight more episodes still to watch, I can see this being one of the best animated spin-offs ever.
