In episode 5 of Lazarus , released on May 4th, the group finally seems to have a clue to Skinner's location. After discovering that Dr. 909 obtained information about Hapuna from Delta Pharmaceuticals, the members conclude that the company's employees have direct contact with the scientist.
The beginning of the episode, like the previous ones, tells the story of someone who consumed Hapuna. The voiceover is Axel's, which shows that the people behind each narrative are indeed members of the Lazarus group. The protagonist mentions that, after trying Hapuna, the first thing he did was headbutt the prison bars.
However, he says he felt a lot of pain and that the medicine didn't work. Hapuna is touted as a miracle painkiller that frees humanity from pain. Therefore, the fact that the protagonist says the medicine didn't work for him is, to say the least, intriguing, and this information could be important in the future.
Axel breaks into the apartment of the president of the pharmaceutical company Delta
In the first few minutes of the episode, the scene shows Ahmed, Delta's president, sleeping with deep dark circles under his eyes, making it clear he's having a bad night's sleep. However, what really catches our attention is the moment he picks up his phone and looks at an image that resembles an eye, with a kind of constellation inside. The strange thing is that the photo seems to disturb him, as he screams and throws the phone away.
While analyzing the pharmaceutical company's system for new information, Elaina finds the same image that disturbed Ahmed among Dr. 909's files. She also realizes that the company uploads music every week from their server. However, upon hearing the sound, the Lazarus group realizes it's not music at all, but a very strange noise.
Doug, suspicious of the file, asks Elaina to open the song as an image, which reveals several clinical studies related to Hapuna. However, the strange thing about this scene is that Hirsch, the team commander, quickly realizes that the images are related to the clinical studies, and it's clear that Doug finds her attitude strange. Therefore, the work may revisit the event and reveal something about the character.
Eventually, the group realizes that the pharmaceutical company encrypted the test data and posted it on social media because the company is trying to reach a hidden recipient, who, apparently, is Skinner himself, making it appear as if Delta is in direct contact with him. With this in mind, they decide to raid the building where the pharmaceutical company's president lives.
The Lazarus group devises a plan to lure Dr. Skinner
Episode 5 is light on action; the only time Axel actually has to fight is when he tries to break into the Delta president's apartment, and the entire scene takes place in the elevator. As the protagonist walks to the elevator, four security guards follow him and enter with him. However, they have no idea who they're dealing with.
Of course, Axel, just during the time the elevator ascends to the top floor of the building, manages to take down the security guards one by one with a rapid sequence of punches and the help of a necktie. However, unfortunately, once again they're back to square one, as the pharmaceutical company's president has no idea where Skinner is. In fact, he also didn't know about the painkiller's harmful effects until the scientist made the announcement.
However, Ahmed shares an interesting piece of information. According to him, before testing the drug on humans, the pharmaceutical company first tested it on monkeys, and one of them recently died. What's intriguing about the story is that the monkey's eyes lost their color and adopted a pattern that resembled a starry night. It's important to remember that the image shown at the beginning of the episode was the eye of the deceased monkey.
Axel, tired of chasing Skinner, devises a plan to get the scientist to come to them. Hirsch proposes a conference to announce a cure for Hapuna. Lazarus is hilarious, especially Axel Gilberto's mocking remarks when he talks to the pharmaceutical company's president.
The invasion of Rin, the Popcorn Wizard hacker
During the conference, Elaina, who is on standby in case any hacker tries to break into the system, receives an attempted access. The entire venue is overrun by a hacker, who takes control and enters the system through the security guards' walkie-talkies.
With this, the hacker, whom the group later discovers to be Rin, known as the Popcorn Wizard, manages to access the information and discovers that the conference was merely a trap for Skinner. This event is relevant to the narrative, as the hacker's interest in discovering whether the cure is genuine or not may be directly related to the scientist.
The episode ends with the team back at square one, with only a few clues about the Hapuna, which, by all indications, is truly lethal. Another interesting point is that Elaina is receiving significant attention. Although she doesn't serve on the front lines of missions, she plays a crucial role in the team. So far, most of the clues uncovered have been thanks to her abilities.
Furthermore, now that we know another hacker is involved, a dispute between the two may arise. Also, at the end of the episode, as soon as Popcorn Wizard calls the group, Elaina smiles. The girl's demeanor may indicate that the two know each other or have worked together at some point.
The anime still has much to explore, as the reason behind the invention of the painkiller appears to be the narrative's high point, and I think a surprising twist is on the horizon. With each episode of Lazarus , our curiosity about Skinner's whereabouts and the existence of the cure is heightened. Furthermore, the series maintains a pleasant animation that, despite the lack of action scenes in episode 5, stands out when there are fight scenes set to the sounds of saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
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