Summary
Rick and Morty: The Animesounds like a joke; the kind the show proper would make and one that it already did back at the end of Season 5, but even before then it was more than just a joke. Takashi Sano’s two animated shorts for Adult Swim were so distinct and strange yet utterly befitting of the series name that it was no surprise when he was chosen to helm a full season.
Back in July 2020, Adult Swim premiereda short called “Rick and Morty vs. Genocider,“an insane short by Sano, who was hot off the heels of directingTower of Godthat same year. In 2021, he returned to direct an equally high-concept short with almost double the length, “Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil)”, before a full season was ordered yet another year later.
A Director Looking to Add a “Japanese Twist”
When watching Sano’s two shorts and absorbing the condensed cocktail of absurdism and surprisingly wholesome characterization, it’s hard to believe he hasn’t directed more. Apart fromTower of God, Sano’s previous directorial work is limited to that of an episode director on a handful of shows, a 2004Transformersanime,and 2014’sSengoku Basara: Judge End.
This isn’t to suggest he is a newcomer by any means, as he’s been active in the industry since the 90s, working on everything fromEvangelionandLupin IIItoMegalo BoxandVinland Saga. However,Rick and Morty: The Animemight be their defining moment as a director if the two aforementioned shorts don’t already speak highly of his vision.
His stated intent with the forthcoming 10 episodes is to take his favorite parts from the original series, “compress them down to extract their essence, and then add a unique Japanese twist.” The breakneck pacing and tone feel distinct but the crudeness andoverall weirdness of the story’s concepts and themesfeel remarkably faithful.
The Talented Studio Behind This Unexpected Crossover
Rick and Morty: The Animeis being animated at Telecom Animation Film, the same studio behindLupin III Part 5, and Sano’s previous work,Tower of God. Sano is both writing and directing the series, just as he did for the two shorts before. There have not yet been animation directors or character designers credited at this moment, but the credits for “Vs. Genocider” and “Summer Meets God” hint at some overlap in the production team for this new series.
Sano is likely not only the writer and director, but also the storyboard artist, and given how both shorts have credited him, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he created the new designs as well. As for whatisconfirmed, Makiko Kojima of Studio Road is credited as the color designer, and like Sano,her work dates back to the 90s. She worked in the art department on such classics asEvangelionandJin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.
Arisa Matsuzawa (Weathering with You,Lupin III Part 5) is serving as art director. From TMS Photo comes Tatsuo Noguchi (Detective Conan,Lupin III) as director of photography. Yu Kiyozono and Yuki Kakizoe, who produced Sano’s previousRick and Mortyshorts, return once again for the series. The music will be done by Tetsuya Takahashi, composer forAppleseed,Halo Legends, and theIron Mananime, to name a few.
A New Take on Rick and Morty That Stays True to the Original
Judging by Sano’s twoRick and Mortystories prior, there’s a strong potential for each of the anime’s 10 episodes to be some self-contained story. However, much to the chagrin of a character like Rick, the opening seems to suggest some serialized narrative - or more likely a throughline connecting them. The biggest hint to this is a mysterious girl who is presented as a love interest for Morty, though heridentity beyond that is unknown.
While the stories in Sano’s shorts were very different from one another, one similarity is how they discuss and use time within the storytelling. “Vs. Genocider” suggested that Rick was just another Morty and “Summer Meets God” similarly played with the idea of a consciousness existing across time, which plays into how the events are presented to the viewer. The anime’s opening similarly emphasizes time, from the symbolism of a clock to the theme’s title “Love is Entropy.”
During the opening chorus, there’s even a glimpse of Morty donning a suit of armor and Rick sporting much longer hair. This could be a sign of the direction their characters will take, a hint towards a time-skip, or perhaps just an alternate version of the titular pair. Given howthe franchise plays around with alternate dimensions, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the anime depicts a completely different version of the two from the show proper.
Listening to director Sano discuss how he’s going about telling this story, it feels like this bizarre take on an already bizarre series is in the right hands. While some might be thrown off by the change in tone compared to the main show, Sano’s earnest examination of the characters and the family dynamic displays a great respect and understanding of the source material.Rick and Morty: The Animeis looking better and weirder with every new teaser.
Rick and Morty: The Animewill premiere on Adult Swim and Max in 2024.
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