Lazarus is the latest anime from acclaimed director Shinichiro Watanabe, famous for his work on influential classic anime series like Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop. While the series does have a nostalgic feel that calls back to Watanabe’s older hits, Lazarus is very much its own animal. The series has an episodic flair, but it’s less-so than Bebop; and its combat (choreographed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski) is more modern kung-fu gun play than ancient hip-hop samurai. Lazarus will never stop getting compared to the classics, which will definitely lead to dissapointed viewers, but the hate the series gets is often overblown and undeserved.
One of Lazarus’ latest strings of comment-bombing on social media is by far the most ridiculous. While some critiques aimed at Lazarus are at least passable (like being offended at the portrayal of some viewers’ country), others are so rooted in criticism for criticism’s sake that it’s hard to take them seriously. This was the case with what many fans and critics have agreed is actually the best episode of Lazarus so far, Episode 4, “Don’t Stop The Dance.” This episode showcased Lazarus really coming into its own and separating itself from the other works in Watanabe’s storied catalogue, yet even it couldn’t escape a wave of angry commenters from condemning the anime’s highest point.
Chris’ Episode 4 Fight Scene Is Attracting Outrage for All the Wrong Reasons
Lazarus’ Best Fight Became the Subject of Social Media Hate
In Lazarus Episode 4, Chris shows off her combat prowess for the first time, and it’s definitely a sight to behold. After Sam Stephenson drugs Chris and a number of other women in an attempt to take advantage of them, Chris reveals (in true secret agent fashion) that she has developed too high a tolerance to such substances, rendering their effects null. Chris then proceeds to showcase her combat prowess against Sam and his thugs, beating them to a pulp purely with fisticuffs, no weapon needed. This, when combined with the rest of the extended action sequence showcasing Axel and Douglas in all their glory as well, was immediately lauded as the best fight in Lazarus yet, and deservedly so.
In celebration of this epic moment in Lazarus history, Toonami’s official Facebook page posted a clip of Chris’ fight for free. Unfortunately, many of the reactions weren’t what most probably would’ve expected. While plenty of fans did praise the animation and overall coolness factor of the combat, there were other commenters who reacted with more mixed reviews. This vocal minority expressed discontent at the fact that Chris, a female character, could possibly overpower and beat up Sam, a male character. Commenters claimed that something like this could never happen in real life, because “that dude would have her as a ragdoll in the first second of the fight.”
Others insisted this scene was the “opposite of what would happen” in real life, or even went so far as to suggest that fans only enjoy it because it “aligns with certain fetishes, fantasies or ideals.” And, of course, a comment section wouldn’t be complete without a few calling the anime “woke”, just because a female character — who was clearly heavily trained in combat — was able to beat a man who had clearly never fought a day in his life. This kind of discourse under an anime video is far from the norm in anime fandoms and is all-but-nonsensical.
Anime fans generally embrace a strong female hero who can hold her own in a fight. Many times, female characters may even be the strongest in the entire series, or the main hero protagonist. No anime fan bats an eye when Mikasa slays hordes of gigantic kaiju in Attack on Titan, or when Cha Haein outshines the male Hunters in Solo Leveling. Given that context, the hate toward Chris’ fight scene is completely out of left field. However, there is a likely reason why Lazarus is more susceptible to this kind of misguided critique than other anime series.
Lazarus’ Female Characters Are More Susceptible to Hate Than Other Anime
Airing on Adult Swim, Lazarus Caters Strongly to a Western Base
Part of the reason for the dialogue surrounding Chris’ fight in Episode 4 is that Lazarus is an anime more geared toward an American audience than most. The political discourse in America is consistently divisive, and American viewers unfamiliar with the medium of anime may not be familiar with the styles and tropes of the medium overall. Some even saw it as a means of ideological warfare, as though anime fans are so idiotic as to become convinced that women are biologically stronger than men just because they enjoyed an anime fight scene. The entire point of a fictional story like that of Lazarus is to pull the audience into something beyond reality, so applying “physics” (as one commenter appealed to) to the equation is a non-issue.
Even outside the anime medium, popular entertainment has been full of powerful and strong female characters in recent years. It’s incomprehensible that so many viewers might not be able to accept a woman who’s strong enough to fight men in 2025. On the other hand, there is a growing group of American film and TV viewers who actively push back against strong female protagonists in popular media. While claiming that an unrealistically strong female lead is an overused trope might be a quasi-fair argument, the reality is that even that argument wouldn’t apply to Lazarus because Chris is far from the main character of the series.
There is definitely something of a silicone-valley critique innate within Chris’ fight scene that also has the potential to ruffle feathers. Sam Stephenson and Dj Visionary are the ideal archetypes of the “tech bro” entrepreneur, which is certainly an image many young men in America idealize. That being the case, it’s not far-fetched for viewers who identify with the kind of characters Sam and Dj Visionary represent to be upset by the anime’s clear parody of their image.
Lazarus Episode 4 makes it clear by the characters’ reactions to Sam and Dr. 909 that they’re people who shouldn’t be celebrated, and that happens long before the fight with Chris ever even gets underway. That seed was planted in the stance on social issues that Lazarus takes, which is one advocating for climate change reform, supportive of the identity spectrum, and outright condemning of misogyny. In that sense, Lazarus’ best fight scene never had a chance of pleasing a subset of viewers from the very start. It was bound to be criticized before it even began, no matter how stylish it looked, how smooth the animation, or how cool Chris’ moves were.
Lazarus Doesn’t Deserve the Hate It Gets in General
Most Criticisms of Shinichiro Watanabe’s Latest Anime Have Been Missing the Point
The criticism of Chris’ fight in Lazarus Episode 4 is not only undeserved, but also represents a fundamental lack of knowledge about anime. It also just seems disconnected from modern fictional storytelling, which is ripe with strong female heroines even in the Western pantheon. Unfortunately, this is far from the first misguided criticism of Lazarus, and it’ll be far from the last. After the release of the first episode, viewers were already criticizing how little the characters cared about the end of the world, only to later learn that Hapna dulls the character’s emotions, rendering them unaffected. It’s just one example of viewers failing to read between the lines with Lazarus, and underrating its more nuanced storytelling by judging it purely at face value.
There are definitely fair critiques of Lazarus to be made, such as the fact that most of the characters still feel shallow five episodes in — though even that could be disproven by the end of the series. With fans already criticizing the anime out of sheer misunderstanding, the added “woke” critique of Chris’ fight scene adds unneeded fuel to the fire under Lazarus’ hot seat. In an era where anime is becoming more popular than ever, it can be shocking to see what happens when the divisiveness of Western political discourse is directed toward it. Unfortunately, these kinds of comment sections are likely only the beginning for the anime medium.
Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he plans to hit foreign movies with a 100% tariff. While the efficacy of the tariff policy is debated, what is virtually undebatable is the impact this specific tariff would have on anime in the West. The foreign movie tariff might not immediately affect anime television series like Lazarus, but it is immediately concerning for anime fans looking forward to upcoming anime film releases like the Dandadan movie, Chainsaw Man’s Reze Arc, or the newly revealed Jujutsu Kaisen Hidden Inventory film.
Whereas anime and Asian culture as a whole (by way of manga, manhwa, K-Pop, etc) have become more prominent in the U.S. in recent years, these recent developments could threaten the drastic steps forward international creative expression has taken. Mixing two great directors from opposite sides of the world, like Shinichiro Watanabe and Chris Stahelski, can result in beautiful pieces of art like Lazarus Episode 4’s fight sequence. If Western viewers can meet Lazarus in the middle, setting aside preconceived biases or political affiliations, they might just find one of the best series of the Spring 2025 anime season.
Lazarus is currently streaming on HBO MAX.
