Get Jiro Showrunners Talk Season 2 (Exclusive)

Adult Swim might, perhaps, be best known for its surreal comedies, but the long-running Cartoon Network programming block has been more than willing to step outside this box. Shows like Primal, Scavengers Reign, and Lazarus have shown how the platform can get deadly serious when it wants to. Such is the case with its latest hit, Get Jiro. Luckily, we here at CanonBreak had the opportunity to chat with showrunners Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka at the Savannah College of Art & Design Animation Festival about adapting the graphic novel and where the show might go with a second season.

For those who don’t know, Get Jiro was originally a DC Comics graphic novel by creators Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose. In adapting the comic to the screen, Tanaka started things off with the showrunners’ priorities: “We had to be respectful to the source material. Not just respectful, but we are fans of it, so we had to make sure we were delivering on it. I don’t think we changed A LOT, but we did expand on the world. The graphic novel was thirty pages, and we had to create five hours of content. We took what was there as a seed.”

Gatewood expanded on Tanaka’s statement while noting co-creator Joel Rose’s involvement, “We did have Joel, so we would talk with him to make sure we were honoring the material, thinking about what Anthony would want as well. We had someone to keep us on track if we were going in a different direction.”

Will Jiro Return For Seconds?

When asked about whether a second course would be on the menu, the Get Jiro showrunners were more than happy to express their interest in returning to this universe. “For sure, in fact, Joel and Anthony originally had an idea on where this universe would continue past the original graphic novel. We’ve actually thought about continuing Jiro’s journeys in different cities, so we’re hoping we get the chance to come back for more.”

As of the writing of this article, Get Jiro has not been renewed for a second season, though it’s clear that both showrunners are setting the groundwork for Jiro and his bloody cooking to make a comeback. If you have yet to catch the Adult Swim series, it is currently available to stream on HBO Max, with new episodes landing weekly on Saturdays at Midnight on Cartoon Network. Follow us here at CanonBreak for the latest on Get Jiro and the other animated efforts of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.