Did Rick and Morty Really Need an Anime?

Rick and Morty, created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed TV series of the 2010s, and has grown into a cult phenomenon. Not long after the seventh season finished airing in 2022, an “anime version” of the series was announced to be in the works, courtesy of Telecom Animation Film, Studio Deen, Sola Entertainment and Williams Street. The series aired in August 2024, and had a mixed reception, criticized for its “unappealing” art style and convoluted plot.

For many, the idea of a “Rick and Morty the Anime” is an undertaking that makes very little sense because the series is already (very well) animated. So, did we really need a Rick and Morty anime?

RELATED

Rick and Morty: How the Anime Shorts Sparked the Creation of a Full Series

Rick and Morty: The Anime full-fledged series originated from the success of the anime shorts, as revealed by the executives.

Production Background, Staff and Cast Information

A Number of Shorts Spawned a Ten-Episode Series

Rick and Morty the Anime was produced by staff at Telecom Animation Film, with Tower of God director Takashi Sano serving as director and scriptwriter, music by Tetsuya Takahashi, Arisa Matsuzawa from Telecom Animation Film Art Dept as art director, Kōichi Iizuka as sound director and 2D work by staff at STEREOTYPE. Cast members from the Japanese dub of Rick and Morty reprised their roles in the anime, with Keisuke Chiba as Morty Smith; Yōhei Tadano as Rick Sanchez; Akiha Matsui as Summer Smith; Fuminori Komatsu as President; Hitomi Sasaki as Elle; Manabu Muraji as Jerry Smith; Takako Fuji as Beth Smith and Takeshi Hayakawa as Federation Commander. None of the cast members from the original Rick and Morty reprised their roles in the anime. The English cast includes Gabriel Regojo as Morty Smith; Joe Daniels as Rick Sanchez; Donna Bella Litton as Summer Smith; Joe Daniels as Jerry Smith; Luci Christian as Elle; Patricia Duran as Beth Smith and Space Beth and Shawn Hamilton as the President.

Rick and Morty the Anime came to be after a number of animated shorts by director Takashi Sano were released to immensely positive reception, particularly from anime enthusiasts. The shorts ran on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel in the lull between seasons 4 and 5 of the original series, with the first short, “Rick and Morty vs. Genocider”, coming out in July 2020 and amassing over 2.5 million views in a few days since its release. The difference between the original Rick and Morty and the style showcased in the shorts created interest in a Rick and Morty animated project. Sano’s goal with the anime series was to extract the essence of his favourite aspects of Rick and Morty, distill it and add a “Japanese twist”. However, the series’ attempt to navigate the world of Rick and Morty through the lens of full-length “TV anime” left a lot to be desired, and failed to captivate audiences in the way the short animations did.

Rick and Morty the Anime

A Missed Opportunity

Rick and Morty the Anime follows the Smith family and “Space Morty” in his interactions with Elle, a time warrior; interactions which sets off parallel storylines that take place somewhere between seasons 5 and 6, during the period when portal travel is not possible, following the last few months in the life of the alternate reality space hero, Space Morty. Like many of the shorts, the series is created and directed by Takashi Sano. The shorts presented richly imaginative plots that found interesting ways to incorporate aspects of the original plot, capturing much of the original show’s feel, especially in The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara. While Rick is quite different in the shorts from his presentation in the anime and his dynamic with Morty reflects a much more traditional “me and pop-pop” kind of relationship between the two, particularly with how Morty refers to him as “Jii-chan (“granddad”), his personality was much closer to his usual in the shorts than in the anime that resulted from them. This is also the case in the Japanese dub of the original show, which is interesting.

In fact, none of the characters in Rick and Morty the Anime feel like themselves, and while Elle might be inspired by Jessica’s experience being trapped in time in the episode “Mort Dinner Rick Andre”, the anime seems to be unironically invested in time, which many will know is a not a realm that Rick views favourably, seeing time-travel and its related activities as a waste of his gifts; “the long island ice-tea of science fiction”. Summer’s personality is also different, which would be acceptable if it was changed for the sake of making it more interesting, but she winds up becoming a bland caricature of most characters who spend most of their time staring at screens in sci-fi movies, saying “hell yeah” every chance she gets. Summer is easily one of Rick and Morty’s most entertaining and layered characters, so the anime’s failure to keep the identities of the characters intact, especially when the animated shorts did just that, is unfortunate.

What’s the Problem?

Alienated From Itself

This isn’t a case of the anime simply being different, therefore, bad, but rather one in which the direction taken in its prototype ended up being a higher quality project, in addition to being a better reflection of the original series. The shorts weren’t just more interesting stories that felt like they were much closer to the original Rick and Morty when it came to their atmosphere and characters, but they were visually superior to the anime we eventually got. Rick and Morty the Anime presents an art style that isn’t flattering, and that says a lot given that the original series’ art isn’t necessarily hyperrealistic, but it is still immensely artistic, vibrant and rich with visual information. The anime’s washed out palette, sluggish animation and uninspired combat sequences, not to mention the fact that the plot makes very little sense, make it a far cry from the prospects fans were shown when the shorts were being released. The anime lacks the original’s nuance, its humour, its brilliant writing, and also unfortunately killed all the aspects that made the shorts, some of which were created by the anime’s director, so appealing. The voice acting is also subpar.

The shorts had actually achieved what might be seen as the most difficult part in the quest to create something like this. Rick and Morty is a series rich with references to other media, and it had two episodes in season 5 that were directly inspired by anime, making the idea of making a Rick and Morty anime tautologous unless it really leans into the various style, narrative and character tropes that would make it more recognizable as an anime in manner akin to something like PowerPuff Girls Z, while also still maintaining the original show’s personality. Perhaps if it were an effort to garner more interest in Rick and Morty, it would make sense, but the anime expects its viewer to have an intimate understanding of events that have taken place in the original series, yet lacks any of the substance that makes that knowledge worthwhile. The shorts gave a brilliant answer to the tautology problem, and the anime simply fails to capitalize on what made its prototype such a desirable thing for fans of the original series, and of anime in general.