September 3, 2024 12:49 pm
Why was this show made in the first place?
Three episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime have been released on Adult Swim and Max. Takashi Sano was responsible for the intergalactic adventures of the mad scientist and his grandson. In 2020, the director directed the short film Rick and Morty vs Genocider, which received 10 million views on YouTube.
Rick and Morty has been with us for more than a decade. The show's most recent season ended last December, but it still set a relatively high bar. Fans were tired, though, and critics were lazy, giving it a 75% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which was still the worst in the show's entire existence.
The emergence of Rick and Morty: The Anime is likely to make fans regret their modest ratings and fall in love with the main series all over again, because the unexpected spin-off is completely devoid of all the virtues of the original. What's more, it seems to lack other virtues as well.
Rick and Morty: The Anime Brings Absolutely Nothing New
You can expect anything from Rick and Morty, and anime, with its handcrafted nature and the stamp of an individual author's style, could have considerably enlivened the picture that has become too familiar over seven seasons.
Moreover, one can assume that the Japanese lovers of sowing chaos simply come from a parallel reality – such a path could refresh the characters themselves, because all Ricks and Mortys are different.
There is neither one nor the other in Takashi Sano's series. And since the characters are neither original nor rethought, but simply drawn a bit more carelessly, this story seems frankly useless.
Takashi Sano's Short Films Were a Ray of Hope for Fans
The inseparable couple entered the world of anime several years ago in a series of short films in 2020-2021. Back then, Takashi Sano, a big fan of Rick and Morty, made two of the most memorable and most watched shorts on the Internet: Rick and Morty vs. Genocider and Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil).
These episodes, less than 10 minutes long, with quotes from Akira and an unusual philosophical mood, were linked by fans to the faded mythology that the show's creators killed off along with Rick Prime in the fifth episode of last season.
The main series had already gone the way of all endless franchises like The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park – one episode equals one story. It seems that Sano heard the pleas of those who wanted mythology and a central twisted plot. And Adult Swim executives apparently heard the prayers of marketers worried that viewers would lose interest in the show while waiting for the new season.
Rick and Morty: The Anime Still Has Time to Pick Up Speed
It turns out that you can't stand the serious Rick and Morty for more than ten minutes, because only the most stubborn will watch the first three episodes of The Anime. At the same time, relying on a single smart dramatic story for ten episodes seems like an interesting solution.
It is quite possible that Sano's creation will blossom in the middle of the season or at the climax. The problem is that over ten years we have become accustomed to not one climax per season, but several within an episode.
This dissonance between the characters, who look the same but worse, live at a completely different rhythm and do not crack universal problems like nuts, is palpable. Not everyone will be able to accept this reality. While Rick and Morty are slowly drawn into a complex web of plot by the director, there will be no one to see them come out.
Why was this show made in the first place?
Three episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime have been released on Adult Swim and Max. Takashi Sano was responsible for the intergalactic adventures of the mad scientist and his grandson. In 2020, the director directed the short film Rick and Morty vs Genocider, which received 10 million views on YouTube.
Rick and Morty has been with us for more than a decade. The show's most recent season ended last December, but it still set a relatively high bar. Fans were tired, though, and critics were lazy, giving it a 75% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which was still the worst in the show's entire existence.
The emergence of Rick and Morty: The Anime is likely to make fans regret their modest ratings and fall in love with the main series all over again, because the unexpected spin-off is completely devoid of all the virtues of the original. What's more, it seems to lack other virtues as well.
Rick and Morty: The Anime Brings Absolutely Nothing New
You can expect anything from Rick and Morty, and anime, with its handcrafted nature and the stamp of an individual author's style, could have considerably enlivened the picture that has become too familiar over seven seasons.
Moreover, one can assume that the Japanese lovers of sowing chaos simply come from a parallel reality – such a path could refresh the characters themselves, because all Ricks and Mortys are different.
There is neither one nor the other in Takashi Sano's series. And since the characters are neither original nor rethought, but simply drawn a bit more carelessly, this story seems frankly useless.
Takashi Sano's Short Films Were a Ray of Hope for Fans
The inseparable couple entered the world of anime several years ago in a series of short films in 2020-2021. Back then, Takashi Sano, a big fan of Rick and Morty, made two of the most memorable and most watched shorts on the Internet: Rick and Morty vs. Genocider and Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil).
These episodes, less than 10 minutes long, with quotes from Akira and an unusual philosophical mood, were linked by fans to the faded mythology that the show's creators killed off along with Rick Prime in the fifth episode of last season.
The main series had already gone the way of all endless franchises like The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park – one episode equals one story. It seems that Sano heard the pleas of those who wanted mythology and a central twisted plot. And Adult Swim executives apparently heard the prayers of marketers worried that viewers would lose interest in the show while waiting for the new season.
Rick and Morty: The Anime Still Has Time to Pick Up Speed
It turns out that you can't stand the serious Rick and Morty for more than ten minutes, because only the most stubborn will watch the first three episodes of The Anime. At the same time, relying on a single smart dramatic story for ten episodes seems like an interesting solution.
It is quite possible that Sano's creation will blossom in the middle of the season or at the climax. The problem is that over ten years we have become accustomed to not one climax per season, but several within an episode.
This dissonance between the characters, who look the same but worse, live at a completely different rhythm and do not crack universal problems like nuts, is palpable. Not everyone will be able to accept this reality. While Rick and Morty are slowly drawn into a complex web of plot by the director, there will be no one to see them come out.
