'Rick and Morty: The Anime' Reviews: "Even if Rick and Morty: The Anime ultimately veers toward inexplicable more than enjoyable, though, it’s never boring -- which you can’t always say about Rick and Morty itself. "

     

Photo by Peter Geo on Unsplash

        On August 15, Adult Swim premiered 'Rick and Morty: The Anime', which has received a mixed reception from critics. In the series, Rick, now not only a mad scientist but a samurai, embarks on adventures with his grandchildren, much to the chagrin of their parents. The ensemble cast includes Joe Daniels, Gabriel Regojo, and Donna Bella Litton. Read the full review round-up below.

        Slant Magazine's Niv M. Sultan writes, "Rick and Morty’s headier themes are familiar territory for writer and director Sano Takashi, who contributed two entries to the anthology of anime shorts based on the series that Adult Swim aired between 2020 and 2021. The blistering “Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil),” for one, is dotted with snappy scenes in which the Smith family philosophizes over meals. “I do what I want and never what I don’t,” Rick says as he forks a leaf of lettuce. “I’m not gonna have a pointless debate on whether that constitutes as free will or not.” With Rick and Morty: The Anime, Sano further explores free will, selfhood, and loneliness to exceedingly uneven but oddly beautiful results."

        Sean Boelman of Fandom Wire was less impressed, stating, "The most disappointing thing about Rick and Morty: The Anime, though, is that it does not take full advantage of the unique animation style offered by the anime genre. The only discernable difference between the look of this series and the flagship show is the character design for the human characters. The non-human characters (for example, the Gromflomites) look almost exactly the same, as do the settings. The title sequence has a nice anime energy with an upbeat J-pop soundtrack, but this does not carry over into the show itself."

       Reuben Baron of Looper.com says, "Watching the first two episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime mostly made me long for another season of Space Dandy." Continuing, "Rick and Morty: The Anime" exists in a separate universe/continuity from the mainline series, so viewers who haven't kept up with every episode of the original could theoretically jump right in — though they'll likely have to watch every episode of the anime in order to fully make sense of it. Adult Swim only provided two episodes of the 10 episode season for review, so we can't tell you where the story leads, but we can tell you it's both very serialized and very complicated. Those who complain about the regular "Rick and Morty" sidetracking narrative development might be intrigued by this more story-driven approach. Whether this approach works is another story."

       Allegra Frank of IGN Movies notes, "Even if Rick and Morty: The Anime ultimately veers toward inexplicable more than enjoyable, though, it’s never boring -- which you can’t always say about Rick and Morty itself. If nothing else, the anime will go down as an impressive exercise." Adding, "What makes Sano’s initial shorts fun is how unlike Rick and Morty they are: They boil the franchise down to its key characters and bits of lore, with an emphasis on surreal imagery and experimental storytelling. Even without the trademark humor, that a Rick and Morty anime produced by a well-known Japanese studio exists at all proves that the franchise still has untapped, playful potential after seven seasons and nearly 11 years on the air."