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Even for Rick and Morty, which is known for its wild and unusual swings and particular brand of sci-fi humor, the new anime series from director Takashi Sano really feels like something else entirely. While the latest and greatest adaptation of the franchise uses many of the same concepts and themes and characters, the final result does genuinely feel like something compelling and new rather than simply nostalgic, favoring instead an altogether different combination of those core materials.
It helps that Sano and Sola Entertainment, which produces the anime, previously made two popular anime shorts – "Rick and Morty vs. Genocider" and "Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil)" – some years back, but Rick and Morty: The Anime appears to be going for something less self-contained than those. According to the official synopsis, in the 10-episode animated series "Rick relaxes in a pseudo-world between multiverses, Summer helps Space Beth fight the evil Galactic Federation, and Morty falls in love with a mysterious girl who happens to be an atemporal being."
Having seen two episodes, I haven't a clue where Rick and Morty: The Anime is going, but I am more than happy to come along for the ride. Bits and pieces of the aforementioned narrative arcs have already made themselves known, but nothing has resolved in any meaningful way quite yet. I won't spoil any specific plot points or beats, but do watch out for the franchise's infamous stingers which the anime also includes.
Serious and serial
This is itself unusual as longform storytelling typically feels like something that happens in the margins around whatever story is being told within a given Rick and Morty episode. Yes, there are larger ramifications, sure, but more often than not the vast majority of an episode is about one singular, complete arc like, for example, dogs becoming incredibly smart, building exoskeletons, and trying to take over the world only to realize they are no better than humans and leaving Earth behind.
Rick and Morty: The Anime is also more, for lack of a better term, earnest than its predecessor. There are still silly sequences and goofs, and I'd certainly describe it as a comedy, but the balance of sci-fi, futuristic shenanigans is turned way up while any jokes are often understated or folded into the continuity of the series in a more holistic way than Rick and Morty (The Original) bothers to do. The anime makes goofy bits feel like part of the whole, and it works, but it also fundamentally shifts the tone because of it.
Frankly, this is kind of the point of any adaptation. Any spinoff like this worth its salt tries to add to the conversation rather than repeat it, and that's why I'm fine with not quite having the full picture just yet. I don't need it to trust that Sano and crew are doing something cool and wild with a franchise that otherwise continues to layer canon and expectations and meta commentary with every new season into an arguably crushing, impenetrable mass. Rick and Morty: The Anime isn't a clean slate, nor is it a new one, but it is a slate that is both clean and new enough. I can work with that.
Rick and Morty: The Anime premieres in English on Thursday, August 15 at midnight on Adult Swim, next day on Max. The subtitled version with Japanese audio airs two days later on August 17 at midnight on Adult Swim's Toonami block. If you're hungry for more, you can always check out our ranking of the best Rick and Morty episodes.
