Share and Follow
Over 25 years ago, director Shinichiro Watanabe changed the anime world forever with his groundbreaking hit, Cowboy Bebop (1998). Now, Watanabe is gearing up for the television premiere of his upcoming Spring 2025 series, Lazarus — a work that its team is praising as “the highest level of entertainment we Japanese can create.”
As detailed on Mantan Web, an advance screening of Lazarus was recently held at the Shinjuku Wald 9 movie theater in Tokyo. Here, director Watanabe presented Episode 1 alongside several key cast members, including Mamoru Miyano (Axel), Makoto Furukawa (Doug) and Yuuma Uchida (Leland). Although the primary voice cast has worked on other projects, they are especially enthusiastic about this specific undertaking. Consequently, the first day of recording was extremely nerve-wracking, particularly for Furukawa. “I was very nervous. There are sweat stains on the script for Episode 1,” he admitted. “The performance was born because of that tension.”
Related
Cowboy Bebop Creator Returns in Official Lazarus Anime Trailer Reveal & U.S. Release Date
Adult Swim releases the official trailer for the highly anticipated Lazarus anime, set to be released on April 5 at midnight on Toonami.
New MAPPA & Adult Swim Anime ‘Lazarus’ Promises ‘Highest Level of Entertainment’
Like Cowboy Bebop, Lazarus is based on an original concept conceived by Watanabe. Its official synopsis reads: “The year is 2052 — an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity prevails across the globe. The reason for this: mankind has been freed from sickness and pain. Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has developed a miracle cure-all drug with no apparent drawbacks called Hapuna. Hapuna soon becomes ubiquitous… and essential. Three years later, the world has moved on, but Dr. Skinner has returned — this time, as a harbinger of doom. Skinner announces that Hapuna has a short half-life. Everyone who has taken it will die approximately three years later…” With death looming on humanity’s horizon, a special task force, including main characters Axel, Doug and Leland, is assembled to find a cure.
In addition to Lazarus‘ thrilling, high-stakes premise, the voice team also called attention to its highly realistic animation style, which informed their individual vocal performances. According to Miyano, the production team asked them to make their voices sound as raw and “real” as possible in the recording booth. “When we were shown the finished footage, we were surprised to hear our own voices in a way we’d never heard before,” he explained. “The footage has a realistic texture.” Notably, MAPPA — the production team behind gritty dark fantasy works such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell’s Paradise and Attack on Titan: The Final Season — is animating the series.
Related
Cartoon Network Has Good News for One Piece Fans
Cartoon Network’s Toonami programming block has an upcoming treat in store for One Piece anime series fans.
Lazarus will be Watanabe’s first original anime since his sci-fi drama Carole & Tuesday, which initially aired in 2019. While Watanabe is Lazarus‘ only director, the series’ writing team consists of himself, Dai Sato (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex), Takahiro Ozawa (Mazinger Z: Infinity) and Tsukasa Kondo (Sk8 the Infinity). The anime’s art director is Miho Sugiura, who is known for her work on Love Live! and the IDOLM@STER franchise. Akemi Hayashi (Banana Fish) is the show’s character designer. After witnessing the results of this team’s collaboration, Miyano is confident that Lazarus will become a major success. “I’m excited. I’m excited to think that this work will reach everyone,” he said.
Lazarus is slated to premiere on April 5. In the U.S., the anime will be broadcast in English on Adult Swim. Each new episode will become available to stream on Max the day after its television debut.
Lazarus