Years in review
Rick and Morty: The Anime was first announced by Adult Swim in May of 2022. The following year, Rick and Morty had a significant presence at SDCC 2023. TGON’s Jay Friz was all over that coverage. Be sure to give his article a read for other things Rick and Morty!
Takashi Sano from Telecom Animation Film will be at the helm. Sano’s resume includes contributions on anime’s like Tower of God, Lupin the 3rd and Vinland Saga! Even before 2022, Rick and Morty was already dipping their toe into new mediums. Sano’s initiative birthed the first eight-minute anime short titled Rick & Morty vs. Genocider on July of 2020. The short, premiering on Toonami and later YouTube, followed yet another clash between President Morty and Rick C-137. Set in Tokyo the short follows Morty in his journey to stop “The Genocider”.
To many, the short was just that and nothing else. It wasn’t until SDCC 2023 premiered a full-length opening drawing in skeptics and believers at once. Here’s the clip in case you missed it!
How Rick and Morty: The Anime Came to Be
In a YouTube segment with IGN, the directing staff of Takashi Sano, Takenari Maeda, Joseph Chou and Jason Demarco expanded on the conception and lore of the Adult Swim series.
A bulk of the muse came down to simple marketing. How could the creators make Rick and Morty even more accessible? DeMarco stated the team “leaned into the idea of working with independent animators… to reinterpret our shows.” After commissioning Sano to work on the initial three anime shorts, the team was pleasantly surprised by the positive reception. That was the go-ahead they needed to keep expanding. Takashi Sano has also fervently expressed his love for the series. With his familiarity, it only seemed right for Sano to direct the anime.
The staff touched on the topic of further spinoffs. With the team being receptive to new interpretations of their universe they left the door open. The only caveat being potential spinoffs would depend on the reception of the anime series. The team is optimistic though, as there are already plans of working on a second anime season.
DeMarco noted that they hoped for any potential spinoffs to happen organically. Wanting to avoid cashgrabs, they detailed the process of the anime as a model to follow. If the idea and planned execution are there, give it a go. If it feels forced and unoriginal, drop it.
Rick and Morty: The Anime Panel Rapid Recap
Here’s the highlights we gathered from the panel at #SDCC2024
- The anime is inspired by the 5 shorts – Samurai & Shogun, Rick & Morty vs. Genocider, Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil), The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara and Samurai & Shogun Part 2.
- The English Dub will have its own voice cast, different from the original series. The series will simultaneously release a version with a Japanese voice cast.
- Sano-san’s love for Rick and Morty is long-standing
- Episodes will be standalone but there will be ties connecting to the main seasons
- Anime series will include many Rick and Morty easter eggs
- Aesthetic of anime inspired by how Rick and Morty would actually look like in Japan
Rick and Morty: The Anime is set to premier on Adult Swim on August 15th with the English dub. The English sub with the Japanese VA’s will follow on August 17th. The debut season will be 10 episode long.
