The Simpsons has riffed on dozens upon dozens of art styles throughout its unprecedented 33-plus years on television. From the gothic caricatures of Edward Gorey and the sci-fi minimalism of Don Hertzfeldt to Lawnmower Man-style CGI and beyond, Matt Groening’s long-running animated sitcom never passes on a chance to tip its hat to some of the biggest animated properties on the planet.
Next up on that list: Death Note, the 2006 anime series based on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s popular psychological thriller manga, according to a recent clip of the upcoming Treehouse of Horror episode that appeared online on Tuesday.
“Treehouse of Horror XXV,” set to premiere on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, will feature a Death Note-inspired short called “Death Tome,” with Lisa Simpson substituting for the villainous Light “Kira” Yagami. DR Movie, the South Korean animation studio known for its work on such anime as The Rising of the Shield Hero and animated series including Avatar: The Last Airbender, is credited with the short’s animation.
According to Carolyn Omine, one of the writers on the episode, this year’s episode is filled with Easter eggs, which shouldn’t be all that surprising given what can be seen in the clip above and the series’ aforementioned history. This is far from the first time The Simpsons has referenced anime, with plenty of past episodes nodding to the likes of the films of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, Attack on Titan, Pokémon, and more across the years. I myself long ago succumbed to Simpsons fatigue, but this episode looks intriguing enough that I might actually make time to watch it.
