Rick and Morty is coming back to Adult Swim sooner than expected.
The adult animated series just finished its 10-episode season-five run last September, but Cartoon Network’s nighttime programming block has already set a return date for the fan-favorite sci-fi sitcom.
Based on Toonami’s October 16th programming schedule, a Rick and Morty horror short, titled The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara, will air early in the morning in the U.S. at 4:15 ET.
LINEUP NEWS ?
Mark your calendars! #BlackClover doubles up for the season finale on Oct. 9. #DCFanDome returns to #Toonami on Oct. 16, featuring #BatmanNinja and #Batman: Under the Red Hood. Plus, a horror short that takes place in Akihabara. ? https://t.co/rDgQz5oLdS pic.twitter.com/UVntDxTyCh
— Toonami Faithful (@ToonamiNews) September 30, 2021
A Rick and Morty fan account on Twitter pointed out that the short will debut on Adult Swim Canada on October 10th at 11 p.m. ET. The account also managed to obtain a synopsis of the Halloween special, which reads: “Rick plans to build the ultimate AI toaster; Things take a strange turn when he and Morty are forced to travel to Akihabara for spare parts.”
Rick and Morty Halloween Special:
The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara
Set to debut on Adult Swim Canada on Sunday, October 10 at 11pm ET/8pm PT. pic.twitter.com/GVM4gZQTqZ
— Rick & Morty Dimension C-137 (@RnMDC137) September 30, 2021
The short’s runtime is not clear at the moment, but based on the runtimes of previous Rick and Morty anime shorts, The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara could probably be 5-minute, 8-minute or 15-minute long.
The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara is the fourth Rick and Morty short. The first one, titled Samurai & Shogun, was released in March 2020. It was directed by Kaichi Saton and was produced and animated by Studio Deen.
The second one, Rick and Morty vs. Genocider, aired in July 2020 and was written and directed by Takashi Sano. It was produced by Sola Entertainment and animated by Telecom Animation Film.
The most recent Rick and Morty short is called Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil). Aired just last August, the short was also written and directed by Sano, and produced and animated by Sola Entertainment and Telecom Animation Film, respectively.
All three previous Rick and Morty shorts feature Japanese dialogue with English subtitles, so it’s likely that it will also be the case for The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara.
Though it doesn’t have a release date yet, Rick and Morty season 6 has long been confirmed as part of a multi-year deal back in May 2018 that ordered 70 new episodes of the show over an unspecified number of seasons.