A new Rick and Morty short, 'vs. Genocider', from director of the Tower of God anime Takashi Sano, debuted over the weekend. Both Japanese dub actors, Youhei Tadano (Rick) and Keisuke Chiba (Morty) reprise their roles in the short which sees the dimension-hopping duo battling in Japan.
Following the Adult Swim Con panel with co-creator Dan Harmon over Twitch, Adult Swim shared the new 8 minute short on their YouTube channel. Written and directed by Takashi Sano, a massive fan of the show, and animated by Telecom Animation Film. The studio has previously worked on series such as Attack on Titan, Ghost in the Shell Arise and Hunter X Hunter.
At the time of writing, the short has gained gained over 2.5 million views in under 24 hours. It's a very different take on Rick and Morty in both style and direction. Referencing other classic anime such as Dragon Ball Z and Akira along the way. Although there's no canonical link to the main series, it does seem to hint at a possible origin theory. Though given the show constantly undermines its own continuity, viewers probably shouldn't read too much into it.
This isn't the first time Rick and Morty have gone anime, either. Samurai & Shogun paid homage to classic manga and live action film series Lone Wolf and Cub with a bloody sword battle showing Samurai Rick fighting for his life after being ambushed by a Ninja Rick army. Directed by Kaichi Sato and animated by another well established anime studio, Studio Deen, it even uses some classic themes from the film adaptations.
Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon recently confirmed that season 6 is already underway. In an Instagram post referencing a reunion of Community actors doing a table read of the episode 'Cooperative Polygraphy,' Harmon wrote, "One more magical thing about today: the script we’re reading, Cooperative Polygraphy, is by Community and Rick and Morty alum Alex Rubens, who is BACK at RaM writing on season 6." Of course, the voice acting for season 5 hasn't been recorded yet, so it would seem the Rick and Morty team are just making the best of their quarantine time.
Rick and Morty season 4 is currently airing on Adult Swim. Seasons 1-3 can be found on Hulu and HBO Max.
Source: Anime News Network