Director Shinichiro Watanabe has re-entered the world of anime with a new sci-fi action series titled Lazarus. Despite its unique setting and plot, viewers have not been able to resist comparing it to his iconic space adventure series, Cowboy Bebop.
Produced by anime studio MAPPA of Jujutsu Kaisen fame, Lazarus revolves around a scientist named Dr. Skinner who invents a miraculous painkiller called Hapna, which eliminates all suffering from human society. However, he later reveals that his drug is actually a toxin designed to kill anyone who takes it within three years. After being given a 30-day time limit to find the missing scientist and retrieve the cure, a group of unlikely teammates is assembled to find Skinner and save humanity. In a recent interview with Shueisha’s online news site Weekly Playboy, Watanabe addressed how many fans and media figures insisted on drawing comparisons to Bebop after its debut. «[At first], I left it alone, thinking, ‘It’s fine if it helps with publicity,’ but I’m actually thinking, the truth is completely different.»
Shinichiro Watanabe's New Lazarus Anime Was Inspired by Mission: Impossible & James Bond
According to Watanabe, the concept for Lazarus was based on American spy thriller works like Mission: Impossible and James Bond — two franchises that he had once hoped to be part of himself. «I thought it would be great to have a movie where a group of people with different skills work together to accomplish a secret mission,» he stated. «I thought, ‘I’m ready anytime,’ but I didn’t get any offers from either Mission: Impossible or 007 (laughs), so I had to make it myself.» Consequently, the Lazarus secret agent team consists of a 15-year-old hacker, a Russian femme fatale, a Nigerian strategist and an escaped convict with a «bad habit» of breaking out of prison facilities.
There are noteworthy similarities between Axel and Spike Spiegel, the respective protagonists of Lazarus and Cowboy Bebop. Both characters have rebellious — yet lackadaisical — personalities while living on the fringes of normal society. The late Keiko Nobumoto, who served as the series composition writer for Cowboy Bebop, played an important role in the «initial planning stages» of Lazarus. «…especially when creating the characters, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto participated for the first time in a long while,» Watanabe said. «When it’s just me and Nobumoto making it, it’s quite natural that it will have a Bebop-like smell. It’s inevitable.»
Cowboy Bebop Creator Asks Fans to View Lazarus as Its Own Anime
Notably, Watanabe also opted for certain design elements that also featured in Bebop. These are especially evident in Lazarus‘ opening sequence. «In terms of graphic design, the style of using simple monotone colors and making people into silhouettes in the style used by old movie title back masters like Saul Bass…I’ve always tried that kind of style, so I tried it again after a long time,» Watanabe said. The opening also showcases Watanabe’s love of jazz and blues music, which is present, to some degree, in most of his anime. «Please don’t be too critical,» he asked of his viewers. «Even if there are some similarities, Lazarus is still Lazarus.»
New episodes of Lazarus are currently airing every Saturday (effectively Sunday) at 12 p.m. (ET) on Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block, with Max streaming each episode the next day.
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Cowboy Bebop
TV-14 Action Animation Sci-Fi Western
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Koichi Yamadera
Steve Blum
The futuristic misadventures and tragedies of an easygoing bounty hunter and his partners.
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