Anime enthusiasts are buzzing about Lazarus, the latest original sci-fi anime from the visionary director Shinichiro Watanabe, best known for the groundbreaking series Cowboy Bebop. In a landscape often dominated by manga adaptations, Lazarus emerges as a bold and highly anticipated project, premiering on Adult Swim’s Toonami block in the U.S. on April 5, 2025, and subsequently on Max.
Watanabe’s ‘Lazarus’: A Sci-Fi Anime Game-Changer Blending ‘Bebop’ Vision
Set in the seemingly utopian year of 2052, Lazarus unveils a dark secret beneath a peaceful facade. Humanity’s pain and suffering have been eradicated thanks to a miracle drug called Hapna. However, this tranquility is shattered by the drug’s creator, Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Skinner, who resurfaces after a mysterious disappearance with a devastating revelation: Hapna will kill all its users within three years, leaving a mere 30 days to find a solution. A special five-member task force codenamed “Lazarus” is formed to race against time, track down Skinner, and develop a life-saving vaccine before humanity faces extinction. The high-stakes chase unfolds across the globe, promising spectacular set pieces.
For Watanabe, Lazarus marks a return to the hard sci-fi action genre that defined his early success with Cowboy Bebop. He revealed in interviews that the real-world opioid crisis in America served as a significant inspiration for the series’ central pharmaceutical nightmare. Watanabe, whose genre-bending works like Samurai Champloo and Carole & Tuesday have garnered international acclaim, is deeply involved in Lazarus, personally directing all 13 episodes. He describes the series as the “culmination of everything I’ve learned throughout my career,” hinting at its personal significance. While acknowledging his legacy, Watanabe has also expressed a desire for viewers to experience Lazarus on its own merits, rather than constantly comparing it to Cowboy Bebop.
Adding a unique dimension to the anime is the involvement of Chad Stahelski, the director behind the acclaimed John Wick film franchise, who designed the action sequences. Watanabe sought out Stahelski to inject a fresh and updated energy into the fight choreography. Stahelski and his 87eleven Action Design team, known for their work on films like The Matrix and Atomic Blonde, filmed real-world combat sequences performed by actual fighters. These recordings were then meticulously adapted by the animation team, resulting in a groundbreaking hybrid approach unseen in anime before. This collaboration promises realistic martial arts techniques, weapons with believable weight and recoil, and fluid, parkour-inspired chase scenes.
The animation for Lazarus is handled by MAPPA, the renowned studio behind hits like Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and the final season of Attack on Titan. MAPPA’s commitment to this original project underscores their confidence in Watanabe’s vision. The series also boasts an impressive voice cast in both Japanese and English, featuring industry veterans and rising talents. Notably, Koichi Yamadera, who voiced the iconic Spike in Cowboy Bebop, now voices the antagonist, Dr. Skinner, a casting choice that adds a layer of intrigue for longtime fans. The English dub, produced for Adult Swim/Max, features a similarly stellar lineup.
Continuing Watanabe’s tradition of integrating music as a vital storytelling element, Lazarus features an ambitious cross-genre soundtrack. Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington created the opening theme “Vortex,” while electronic producer Floating Points contributes to the tense atmosphere. Legendary DJ Bonobo provides a haunting insert song, and British alt-rock band The Boo Radleys perform the melancholic ending theme. This diverse sonic landscape promises to enhance the series’ action and thematic depth.
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Lazarus premiered on Adult Swim’s Toonami on Saturdays at midnight ET/PT, with new episodes available on Max the following Sundays. In Japan, the series airs on TV Tokyo and affiliates on Sundays. Interestingly, the English dub is being released first in North America, followed by the Japanese audio with English subtitles 30 days later, reflecting Adult Swim’s significant production role.
With its pedigree of a legendary creator, top-tier animation studio, groundbreaking action design, and genre-defying soundtrack, Lazarus is poised to be a significant event in the anime world, offering a meticulously crafted experience for both longtime fans and newcomers alike.
SOURCE – TOONAMI
