In episode 5 of Lazarus , released on May 4th, the group finally seems to have a clue about Skinner's location. After discovering that Dr. 909 obtained information about Hapuna through the pharmaceutical company Delta, 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 voice used for the narration is Axel's, which shows that those responsible for each narrative are indeed members of the Lazarus group. The protagonist mentions that, after trying Hapuna, the first thing he did was bang his head against the bars of the prison where he was being held.
However, he says he felt a lot of pain and that the medicine had no effect. Hapuna is cited as a miraculous analgesic that liberates humanity from pain. Therefore, the fact that the protagonist says the medicine didn't work for him is, at the very 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 opening minutes of the episode, the scene shows Ahmed, president of Delta, sleeping with very deep dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating he's having terrible nights of sleep. However, what really stands out is the moment when he picks up his cell phone and looks at an image resembling 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 in search of new information, Elaina finds the same image that disturbed Ahmed among Dr. 909's files. Furthermore, she notices that the pharmaceutical company uploads music every week from their server. However, upon listening to the sound, the Lazarus group realizes it's not music, but a very strange noise.
Doug, suspicious of the file, asks Elaina to open the music as an image, revealing several clinical studies related to Hapuna. However, the strange thing about this scene is that Hirsch, the team commander, quickly understands that the images are related to clinical studies, and it's noticeable that Doug finds her behavior odd. Therefore, it's possible the story will revisit this event and reveal something about the character.
Finally, the group realizes that the pharmaceutical company encrypted the test data and posted it on a social network because the company is trying to reach a hidden recipient, who, it seems, is Skinner himself, making it appear that Delta is in direct contact with him. With this in mind, they decide to break into the building where the pharmaceutical company's president lives.
The Lazarus group devises a plan to lure Dr. Skinner
Episode 5 has little action; the only time Axel really needs to fight is while trying to break into the Delta president's apartment, and the whole 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 are dealing with.
Of course, Axel, just during the time it takes for the elevator to reach the top of the building, manages to take down the security guards one by one in a quick sequence of punches and with the help of a chokehold. However, unfortunately, once again they are back to square one, since the president of the pharmaceutical company has no idea of Skinner's whereabouts. Furthermore, he also didn't know about the harmful effects of the painkiller 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. The intriguing part of the account is that the monkey's eyes lost their color and adopted a pattern resembling 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 lure the scientist to them. Hirsch then proposes a conference to announce a cure for Hapuna. The Portuguese dubbing of Lazarus is very funny, especially Axel Gilberto's mocking lines when he talks to the pharmaceutical company president.
Rin's invasion, the Popcorn Wizard hacker
During the conference, Elaina, who is on standby in case any hacker tries to break into the system, receives an access attempt. The entire place is invaded by a hacker, who takes control and enters the system through the security guards' walkie-talkies.
With this, the hacker, who the group later discovers is Rin, known as the Popcorn Wizard, manages to access the information and discovers that the conference was just a trap for Skinner. This event is relevant to the narrative, since the hacker's interest in discovering whether the cure is real or not may be directly related to the scientist.
The episode ends with the team back at square one, with only some information about the Hapuna, which, it seems, is indeed lethal. Another interesting point is that Elaina is receiving considerable attention. Despite not being on the front lines of missions, she plays a fundamental role in the team. So far, most of the clues found have been thanks to her skills.
Furthermore, now that we know another hacker is involved, a dispute between the two might occur. Also, at the end of the episode, right after Mago da Pipoca calls the group, Elaina smiles slightly. Her reaction might 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 high point of the narrative, and it seems to me that a surprising twist is coming. With each episode of Lazarus , our curiosity intensifies regarding Skinner's location and the existence of the cure. Furthermore, the work maintains a pleasant animation style that, despite the lack of action scenes in episode 5, stands out when there are fight scenes accompanied by the saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
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