Gettin' My Eps In: Lazarus S1E1

Anime fans are always chasing the Cowboy Bebop high.

Lazarus
Season 1, Episode 1: “Goodbye Cruel World”
Written by Shinichiro Watanabe
Directed by Kazuo Miyake & Youhei Tsuchiya
Streaming on Max

For certain flavors of anime fans, Cowboy Bebop is so revered that it’s like a holy scripture. That series, which originally aired in Japan in 1998 and gained a following in the U.S. as part of Cartoon Network’s late-night Adult Swim block in the early 2000s, was an incredibly stylish fusion of sci-fi, noir, jazz, and martial arts action that was completely enrapturing. It featured gorgeous animation, cool futuristic concepts, engaging characters, and compelling drama, along with amazing music by Yoko Kanno. It was so good that it hooked a generation of viewers on anime, keeping them watching new series in hopes of finding something close to that level of quality.

Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe has continued to put out anime series and movies in the years since, and while he may not have equaled the success of that series, he has at least come close a few times. The series Samurai Champloo was a cool mashup of traditional Japanese samurai drama with hip hop style, and Space Dandy was a goofy sci-fi comedy that featured some dazzling animation. He’s worked on a few other series as well, but while nothing has been quite as exciting as some of his past highlights, it’s clear that he’s continually trying new things while maintaining his ability to combine nice animation with catchy music.

Watanabe’s new series, Lazarus, may be an attempt to recapture some of the old magic, since it features a futuristic setting, martial arts action, and jazzy music. But it may also be more in line with the types of serialized stories that seem to be more popular these days, while also exploring potentially apocalyptic ideas that are especially resonant in 2025. Where he plans to go with it remains to be seen, but based on the first episode, it looks like he’ll be pulling viewers along by providing exciting action and interesting characters.

The series takes place in the near future, with the world seeming similar to our own but featuring futuristic cars, drones, and computer systems. The plot involves a drug called Hapna, a painkiller that solved a lot of medical problems and gained widespread use throughout the world. Hapna was created by a scientific genius named Dr. Skinner, who had disappeared from public view after the drug was released. However, he reappeared several years later with a video message beamed to all of the major news services, stating that Hapna was engineered to mutate and kill anyone who had used it. He has decided that humanity is ultimately harmful to the planet, so he came up with this scheme to kill everyone off. While the fatal effects of the drug will kick in within 30 days, he does have a cure, so if anyone can find him before that deadline, they may be able to save the world.

Most of this is delivered in a couple of infodumps at the beginning of the episode, but we don’t have to dwell on these ideas for too long, because we’re introduced to a guy named Axel Gilberto, who appears to be the main character of the series. He’s serving an 888-year prison sentence when a woman comes to visit him, attempting to recruit him as part of an effort to find Dr. Skinner. However, he informs her that he has a habit of breaking out of prisons, and he promptly sets off on his latest escape attempt.

This gives us an action scene that pretty much lasts for the rest of the episode, as Axel uses martial arts and parkour skills to get past guards, evade the prison’s systems, and ultimately escape. It’s similar to the style of movement used by Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, with a focus on fluid bodily motions and acrobatic flair, as well as a lighthearted attitude in which Axel is clearly enjoying himself as he makes everyone chasing him seem like fools. Interestingly, the action sequences in the series have been designed by Chad Stahelski, the former stuntman who directed the John Wick movies. Everything is set to a jazzy score by Kamasi Washington, making for fast-moving action that’s both visually and aurally appealing.

After Axel’s escape, the woman who was trying to recruit him immediately starts working with a team of operatives to hunt him down, which lets the action continue throughout Babylonia City, which seems like it will be the main setting of the series. It’s a metropolis somewhat reminiscent of Tokyo, with lots of electronic screens everywhere, as well as tall skyscrapers and fast-moving trains. This makes for a parkour playground for Axel, who runs across the tops of buildings, jumps between cranes, and slides and skids all over the place as he tries to evade his pursuers.

However, they’re good enough at tracking him and predicting where he’ll go next that they’re eventually able to catch him, and as the episode ends, we learn that the team is known as Lazarus, and they want Axel to join them in their search for Dr. Skinner. Since this episode consists of an introduction and a lengthy chase scene, we don’t get to know who anyone else really is, although we get some brief glimpses of their personalities. There’s a somewhat shy girl who appears to be the tech expert, a woman who combines shooting skills with devious wiles, a man who is smart enough to avoid being baited into one-on-one combat with Axel, and a college kid who is a drone pilot. I’m sure we’ll learn all their names soon enough and get a better idea of their personalities and motivations, but these all seem to be pretty good ingredients for some cool capers and nice action.

With such a simple opening episode, this is really only a taste of what may be to come, so it’s too early to judge how well it will all work. However, many of the elements of success are already here, including a vibrant setting and fluid action. There are also hints at some interesting apocalyptic imagery from Jewish and Christian mythology that may fit into Dr. Skinner’s scheme. The animation style is mostly familiar, although there’s at least one unique bit in which Axel is knocked out, and his mental state is depicted as some amorphous black and white blobs that eventually coalesce into a feather, reminding him of his attempt to fly among some birds during the parkour chase.

I’m not sure if Watanabe has been involved in a project that’s this high-profile in recent years. The series has roped in several creative figures who come from outside the normal anime world, and HBO/Max/Adult Swim seems to be giving the series a push. Whether it will gain any attention beyond long-time Cowboy Bebop fans is yet to be seen, but it’s shaping up to be another solid example of the good animation work that’s currently being created. Here’s hoping it will be worth the attention and that it will find the audience it deserves.