English Dub Review: Rick and Morty: The Anime ‘Family’

The latest episode of Rick and Morty: The Anime is all about family – specifically, the Jerry part of the Smith family. ‘Family’ is also the fifth episode of the series, which means we’ve officially reached the creamy centre of Takashi Sano’s reality-bending cultural chimera of a cartoon. Let’s celebrate this momentous milestone with a big slice of Spaceberry Cake and a recap of this surprisingly heartwarming, melancholy Jerry story.

At the end of last week’s episode, one of our Jerrys encounters a mysterious sword of ominous origins in Rick’s garage and gets Star Trekked away to Another Place. Turns out, the sword is both crazy magical and stolen from the Yakuza. It also has something to do with the central question at the heart of this episode – does Jerry have what it takes to be a superhero capable of saving the day? Turns out, he totally can, and all he needed was love and support from the whole family. And a cutting edge, nanobot infused super suit. 

The berserker-style broadsword also gets entangled in the fate of a self-actualized survivalist Jerry that got left behind on the Cronenberged version of earth from the original series. Bringing in Cronenberg Planet Jerry doesn’t just come out of left field – in the post credits scene from the first episode of RaMTA, we stop by the Cronenverse just long enough to observe the death of Cronenberged Morty and Cronenberged Elle. I feel like that information might be relevant later. 

I know this show has more than its fair share of haters – RaMTA is currently rocking an unimpressive 50 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, a brutal 1.2 out of ten on Google reviews. I don’t know what it’s IMDB rating is, because I refuse to acknowledge the opinion of anybody who thinks it’s reasonable to bring their personal opinions to IMDB. Both the D and the B stand for Database. It’s the Internet Movie Database – it’s a place designated for empirical information, like names and dates. Do not bring your pitiful thoughts to IMDB. And yes, I know they have a special box set up for you to do just that, but that box is a trap. A trap, I say!

But I digress. The point is, RaMTA hasn’t been the instant roundhouse kick to the Western zeitgeist that the original show was. But those of us that have stuck around have found a lot to love. The show doesn’t hold your hand when it jumps around between timelines and worldlines, so paying close attention is key. Do not go to the kitchen to build a bitchin’ sandwich during this show. Each episode seems to slowly introduce a new high concept sci-fi element which must be understood by the audience in order to understand the story. Christopher Nolan would be the perfect director for the live action adaptation. This week, we are introduced to the concept of the antiverse, where time runs in the opposite direction. Don’t forget – Rick’s entropy bomb is still in the mix somewhere.

Even though we are, ostensibly, following the same Smith family from the OS, Takashi Sono’s interpretation of these familiar characters lets us see very different sides of the family. Anime Jerry is still the family whipping boy, but he doesn’t let it get him down. Plus, he bakes! His team-up with Survivalist Jerry is just lovely – there’s a great moment when a still out of shape Jerry tries on a spandex costume, and Survivalist Jerry says  “Looks good on you. And I’m not just being nice.” They make each other want to be better Jerrys. 

Once Jerry becomes Hero Jerry through a classic training montage, he has it all – the respect of his children, two wives, and a reputation as a legendary warrior. I very much so want to compare a flashback to Jerry’s first encounter with the Yakuza with the House of Blue Leaves scene in Kill Bill, but it’s never a good idea to talk Tarantino when discussing a scene that comes from the country that created the scene that inspired his scene in the first place. To erroneously attribute an interesting camera angle to Kill Bill instead if Shikoku is to risk the ire of The Internet. Instead, I’ll point out that the scene where the Yakuza shows up at the Smith house to retrieve the sword is so, so similar to that time the Yakuza showed up at the Simpsons because Marge was selling pretzels.

During the big melee, Morty saves Elle by pushing her out of harm’s way. Morty, in turn, is saved by the old boss of the Yakuza. It’s worth noting that Elle is surprised by this occurrence – her future sight did not reveal this reality to her.

Or maybe it’s nothing!

In the end, the whole experience makes the family feel closer than they ever have before. Jerry is respected, Morty and Elle are in love, and both Beths and Summer feel a real sense of achievement. But then Rick busts out a double-wide Men in Black style memory fucker, and all was for not. 

We’re halfway home with this show and each episode consistently ramps up the interest, the action, and the intrigue. Latter half of Rick and Morty: The Anime – show us what you got!!