During Adult Swim's “Toonami on the Green” event, held at Comic-Con International, the trailer for “Lazarus” (Lazaro in Japanese) was shown first-hand, Toonami's new original anime in collaboration with Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy).
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Therefore, the animation is from the MAPPA studio (Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan The Final Season).
Personally present at the event, Watanabe also presented the character designs and concept art for the project. The team stated that they aimed to complete the project by 2024, but were not committed to that launch date.
Jason DeMarco, senior vice president and head of anime and action series at Adult Swim, confirmed that Watanabe is then directing each episode. Chad Stahelski (stuntman and director of John Wick) is responsible for the action sequences in the science fiction anime. The anime's soundtrack is provided by jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington, as well as producers, DJs and musicians Floating Points and Bonobo. Sola Entertainment is producing the anime.
Lazarus Synopsis
The year is 2052 – an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity reigns across the world. The reason for this: humanity has been freed from disease and pain. Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Dr. Skinner then developed a miracle drug called Hapuna, which has no apparent side effects. Hapuna soon becomes ubiquitous… and essential. However, shortly after Hapuna's official introduction, Dr. Skinner disappears.
Finally, Watanabe directed notable anime productions such as Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, Carole & Tuesday, and Terror in Resonance. Furthermore, he also directed the anime short “Blade Runner: Black Out 2022”. Watanabe screened his short film “A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot” at the 26th “Fantasia International Film Festival” in Montreal, Canada in July 2022.
Source: Adult Swim
