Lazarus, New Anime From Cowboy Bebop Creator, Gets A Jazzy Trailer And April Release Date

Lazarus, the new series from legendary anime director Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Kids On The Slope), just got its official release date: April 5 at midnight. The series will premiere on Adult Swim’s Toonami and will make its way onto Max the following day.

Set in the year 2052, the series is a sci-fi thriller about a world recently gifted a miracle drug called Hapna that alleviates any source of pain. But of course, it comes with a catch: after years of being in use, the creator of the medicine, Dr. Skinner, reveals that the drug will mutate in 30 days and kill everyone who has taken it. He has the antidote, but his pursuers only have weeks to stop doomsday. Based on the trailer, it seems the story will follow a plucky group of operatives called Lazarus who are out to nab this bad guy and save the day.

In a press release, Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen wrote the following: “We’re talking Watanabe here – this show is an amazing mix of great characters, super fun high-stakes, brilliant directing, and of course, some pretty great music. We are all so lucky to be able to watch this genius do his thing.”

Lazarus will mark Watanabe’s eighth stint as the director of an anime series and will be his first since 2019’s Carole and Tuesday. It will also feature action sequences choreographed by Chad Stahelski, the director of the John Wick films, alongside a score that includes artists like Kamasi Washington, Floating Points, and Bonobo. The ever-prolific Studio MAPPA (Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, Ranma ½, Vinland Saga) will handle animation duties. Hopefully, the series will prove a redemptive turn for Adult Swim’s anime output after both Uzumaki and Ninja Kamui started strong before falling apart due to dips in animation quality.

In a reversal of how anime are typically dubbed, the series will premiere with English voice acting. Episodes in Japanese with English subtitles will debut on Max 30 days after the English-language versions. As for the English language casting, it’s as follows: David Matranga as Dr. Skinner, Jade Kelly as Hersch, Jack Stansbury as Axel, Luci Christian as Chris, Bryson Baugus as Leland, Jovan Jackson as Doug, Annie Wild as Elaina, and Sean Patrick Judge as Abel.

You can view the full trailer below: