The long-awaited follow-up to Rick and Morty’s anime Samurai and Shogun short has been released – and it’s just as bloody and gleefully violent as you’d expect from the show.
Directed once more by Kaichi Sato, Part 2 sees Rick WTM-72 fending off a gang of Ninja Ricks – and Ninja Summer – in their pursuit of Shogun Morty.
Like before, this isn’t one for the faint-hearted: limbs are swiftly removed from bodies, buckets of blood fill the screen and, in one particularly gruesome moment, Rick WTM-72 slashes the eyeballs of a villainous, fork-tongued Rick.
It all culminates in that age-old anime trope: a deus ex machina. Despite being cornered and kidnapped, Rick WTM-72’s hara-kiri attempt inexplicably turns into a counter-attack thanks to his ‘ultimate power’ ability. Never change, anime. Never change.
This is the latest in a series of Rick and Morty shorts that might prove to some that the franchise’s best recent work can be found away from the mainline series.
A surprise 15-minute bonus episode, titled “Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil)” was released earlier this year. A more truncated short, “The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara” soon followed – and showcased a whole host of Japanese talent for western audiences.
Rick and Morty season 6, meanwhile, has been confirmed to air in 2022 – which will be music to the ears of fans who have been waiting (im)patiently, with the previous two seasons airing across three years.
Relive the show’s finest hours with our rundown of the best Rick and Morty episodes ever.