Over the years I’ve seen several American cartoons that I thought would make wonderful transitions into anime. I still await the day some talented studio announces a remake for Teen Titans where I can witness Robin and Slade duke it out with a serious budget for animation. Hell for nostalgia’s sake I think Code Lyoko would transition super well into the full anime medium since it was basically a French anime anyway. Never in a million years would I have expected an anime adaptation for Rick and Morty, the comedy cartoon that took Americans by storm in 2013. I never found myself that interested in adult cartoons, especially ones with more, uh, less traditionally appealing art styles. The anime will be coming to Adult Swim on Max starting from an August 15th American debut and August 17th Japanese release.

My problem here is I’m about as hype as if I got an announcement that The Simpsons received an anime adaptation which is not much. I don’t think there’s much to gain from transitioning an American comedy with a distinctly non-anime artstyle into the medium. Maybe I’m lacking vision but what exactly will this new production bring that the older didn’t? Perhaps I am tripping since I was worried Suicide Squad Isekai would be a complete disaster and then ended up loving the first half so far, but I suspect that’s because there’s so much nice spectacle action I didn’t anticipate. Judging from the trailer I didn’t see much true action on display and I’d wager the main focus will continue to be on comedy like the original show. Rick and Morty obviously found a massive following over the years so fans could probably explain why this might end up delivering an entertaining watch in ways I’m not familiar with. I am surprised by the timing though. After the famous “To be fair, you have to have a high IQ to understand Rick and Morty” meme went around I was under the impression it fell out of public favor. 

I think it’s already clear this comes across to me as weird timing mixed with wasted potential when other American cartoons exist that would transition to the anime medium in a cleaner fashion while still bringing enough new elements to the table to be worth a remake in the Japanese format. Regardless it’s being made so I hope the Rick and Morty fans have a great time popping off on a fresh adventure with the cast. Did you watch the original Rick and Morty? Did you ever predict it seeing an anime release? Are you hyped to check it out or planning to skip it? Take a little adventure, in and out, 20 minutes in the comments below!