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Rick and Morty: The Anime

Rick and Morty: The Anime is an adult animated science fiction sitcom television series created, written and directed by Takashi Sano,[1][3] produced by Sola Entertainment and animated by Telecom Animation Film[5] for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The third series in the franchise, based on the American animated series of the same name by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, set between the fifth and sixth seasons of the main series, it stars Yōhei Tadano as Rick Sanchez and Keisuke Chiba as Morty Smith, reprising their roles from the Japanese dub of the original series. None of the cast of the English version of the original series reprise their roles for its English dub.

Following five short films that premiered on Adult Swim and subsequently released onto its official YouTube account from March 29, 2020, to November 12, 2021, the series itself aired on the network from August 16 to October 18, 2024. Both the shorts and series received mixed reviews from critics, with the former getting somewhat more favorable reactions.

Plot

Rick and Morty: The Anime revolves around the adventures of the Smith family, in particular mad scientist Rick Sanchez, and his grandchildren, the 14-year-old Morty Smith and the 17-year-old Summer Smith, whose parents, Jerry and Beth Smith (Rick's daughter), disapprove of their adventures. As Morty meets "time warrior" Elle, parallel storylines set sometime during the events of the sixth season of the main series explore the final months of the lives of the alternate reality spacefaring hero "Space Morty", and Morty's original father Jerry Prime.

Different versions of the characters (including the bespectacled genocider, President Morty Smith) inhabit other dimensions throughout the show's multiverse, with their personal characteristics varying from one reality to another.[6][7]

Cast

Main

Guest

  • Manabu Muraji (Japanese) as AI Driver and Hologram Transvestite
  • Yuki Minami (Japanese) as Hologram Girl
  • Hinata Tadokoro, Daiki Kobayashi, Hodaka Mieno, Nanami Yamashita, and Kazuya Saji (Japanese) as Future Beings
  • Misa Ishii (Japanese) as Jessica
  • Arisa Sakuraba (Japanese) as Cyborg Tammy Gueterman / Phoenixwoman
  • Masashi Hashimoto (Japanese); Andrew Love (English) as Birdperson, a freedom fighter and Rick's best friend
  • Fuminori Komatsu (Japanese); Shawn Hamilton (English) as Andre Curtis / The President, the U.S. president
  • Fuminori Komatsu (Japanese); Brandon Hearnsberger (English) as Mr. Nimbus, Rick's nemesis
  • Natsumi Wakasa (Japanese) as Birddaughter, Birdperson's and Tammy's child
  • Takeshi Hayakawa (Japanese); Shawn Hamilton (English) as Mr. Goldenfold, Morty's teacher
  • Kaori Nakamura (Japanese); Annie Mai (English) as Dr. Ellen Wong
  • Takeshi Hayakawa (Japanese); Andrew Love (English) as Story Lord
  • Saki Kobari (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English) as Maria Smith, Morty's and Elle's daughter

Episodes

Short films (2020–21)

Season 1 (2024)

Production

Short films

A six-minute short film titled Samurai & Shogun aired unannounced on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on March 29, 2020, during the hiatus of the fourth season of Rick and Morty, before being uploaded to Adult Swim's YouTube channel the following day. Written and directed by Kaichi Sato, and produced by Koji Iijima and Studio Deen and executive producer Maki Terashima-Furuta, the episode features a different animation and art style than usual, and is heavily themed around anime, specifically Lone Wolf & Cub. The short stars Yōhei Tadano as "Rick WTM-72" and Keisuke Chiba as "Shogun Morty", the pair reprising their roles from the Japanese dub of the animated series.[9][10] The English subtitles were produced by Sentai Studios, who would later produce the subtitles the rest of the short films.

Another eight-minute short film titled Rick and Morty vs. Genocider aired unannounced on Toonami on July 26, 2020, debuting on YouTube slightly after. Written and directed by Takashi Sano, produced by Sola Entertainment, animated at Telecom Animation Film, and starring Tadano and Chiba as Rick and Morty, Manabu Muraji as Jerry, "AI Driver", and "Hologram Transvestite", and Yuki Minami as "Hologram Girl", the episode explores the conflict between President Morty and Rick C-137.[11][12][13]

A third short film, titled Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil) and also written and directed by Takashi Sano, was released on YouTube on August 2, 2021, and aired on Adult Swim the following day. A fourth short film, titled The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara, directed by Masaru Matsumoto and written by Naohiro Fukushima, was released on YouTube on October 10, 2021, and aired on Adult Swim the following day. A fifth short film, titled Samurai & Shogun Part 2 and featuring the return of Samurai & Shogun's Kaichi Sato as writer and director, was released on YouTube on November 12, 2021 as part of the 2021 Adult Swim Festival.

Development

In May 2022, Adult Swim announced a 10-episode order for Rick and Morty: The Anime, an anime television series from Telecom Animation Film.[14] The series is written and directed by Takashi Sano.[15]

Release

The anime series premiered on Adult Swim English dubbed on August 16, 2024 and on its Toonami programming block in Japanese with English subtitles on August 18.[16] Both the English dub and sub were produced by Sentai Studios.[2]

The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 29, 2025 from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.[17][18]

Reception

The premiere episode received 192,000 viewers.[19]

The series received mixed critical reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 6 critics' reviews for the first season were positive, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[20] Polly Conway of Common Sense Media gave the series a 2-out-of-5 star rating, stating, "Language, sci-fi violence in confusing anime spin-off".[21] Matt Mahler of MovieWeb states, "it's a bizarrely incoherent disaster and a staggering disappointment".

External links

  • Short films

References

  1. "Rick and Morty: The Anime" Begins Streaming on Max This Week — Variety^
  2. Rick and Morty: The Anime Explores New Dimensions — Anime News Network^
  3. Rick and Morty: The Anime's Opening Credits Sequence Reveals More Staff — Anime News Network^
  4. Studio DEEN Produces 5-Minute "Samurai & Shogun" Short for Rick and Morty Animated Series — Anime News Network^
  5. Adult Swim Streams Sneak Peek for "Rick and Morty: The Anime" — Anime News Network^
  6. E. Alex Jung. Here's What We Know About Rick and Mortys Evil Morty Vulture, September 12, 2017, retrieved November 21, 2022^
  7. Kristy Puchko. Rick and Morty Season 6 premiere explainer: All your mind-blower questions answered Mashable, September 5, 2022, retrieved November 21, 2022^
  8. Shows A-Z - Rick and Morty: The Anime on Adult Swim The Futon Critic, retrieved July 12, 2024^
  9. Jess Joho. "Rick and Morty" Are "Samurai & Shogun" in New Adult Swim Short [VIDEO] Bleeding Cool, March 29, 2020, retrieved March 29, 2020^
  10. Crystalyn Hodgkins. Studio DEEN Produces 5-Minute 'Samurai & Shogun' Short for Rick and Morty Animated Series Anime News Network, March 29, 2020, retrieved March 29, 2020^
  11. 'Rick and Morty Vs. Genocider' is a Beautifully Weird Anime Road Trip July 26, 2020^
  12. The Latest Rick and Morty Anime Short is a Time-Twisting Tokyo Thriller July 26, 2020^
  13. Evil Morty Returns in New Rick and Morty Short July 26, 2020^
  14. James Hibberd. 'Rick and Morty' Anime Spinoff Announced by Adult Swim The Hollywood Reporter, 2022-05-18, retrieved 2022-08-06^
  15. All-New Series "Rick and Morty: The Anime" Premieres August 15 on Adult Swim The Futon Critic, July 11, 2024, retrieved August 19, 2024^
  16. Egan Loo. Rick and Morty: The Anime's Trailer Confirms August 15 Debut, Bilingual Casts July 11, 2024, retrieved July 11, 2024^
  17. Alex Mateo. Rick and Morty: The Anime Gets BD/DVD Release on April 29 March 4, 2025, retrieved March 4, 2025^
  18. ‘Rick and Morty: The Anime’ will release on Blu-ray and DVD on April 29th^
  19. ToonHive. The series premiere of 'Rick and Morty: The Anime' debuted with 192k viewers on Adult Swim.^
  20. Rick and Morty: The Anime: Season 1 Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango Media, retrieved 15 September 2024^
  21. Polly Conway. Rick and Morty: The Anime TV Review Common Sense Media, retrieved May 21, 2025^