Adult Swim has announced that Lazarus, the highly anticipated new series from anime legend Shinichirō Watanabe, will premiere on Saturday, April 5th. The anime will debut at mdnight during the network's Toonami block.
Describd as a "pulse-pounding thriller," the new series, which also received an official trailer today, follows a group of bounty hunters as they attempt to track down the man responsible for releasing a miracle drug that turns out has a fatal consequence: anyone who has taken it will perish. The gorup has just 30 days to save humanity before all hope is lost.
“We’re talking Watanabe here - this show is an amazing mix of great characters, super fun high-stakes, brilliant directing, and of course, some pretty great music,” said Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen. “We are all so lucky to be able to watch this genius do his thing.”
The serries synopsis for Lazarus reads:
The year is 2052.
The world seemed to be on the verge of unprecedented peace and stability, and the painkiller drug “Hapna” developed by a lauded neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has had a lot to do with it. Pervasive throughout the world with no known side effects, Hapna is said to have freed humanity from pain.
But then, Skinner suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth.
Three years later, he re-emerges as a prophet who brings countless deaths and the end of civilization. Hapna is designed with a fatal, retroactive effect, which manifests three years after ingestion, even by those who have only taken it once. Just thirty days remain until humanity is doomed to extinction. The only way to save the world is to get the cure that only Skinner knows. For that we must first find him.
“Lazarus” is a team of five agents gathered from various corners of the world to do just that. Can they save humanity? And what is Skinner's true purpose?
Adult Swim has assembled a rockstar team to produce Lazarus. Shinichirō Watanabe, who is best known for the hit anime series Cowboy Bebop, is joined by director Chad Stahelski (“John Wick”) as designer for the shower's action sequences. The score, which definitely gives off Cowboy Bebop vibes, is performed by enowned jazz and electronic artists including jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington (West Coast Get Down); producer, DJ, and musician Floating Points (Floating Points Ensemble); and producer, DJ, and musician Bonobo. The series is produced by Sola Entertainment and animated by Studio MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan Season 4).
Lazarus will air on Adult Swim in English with new episodes available to stream the next day on Max. English-language encore airings will debut every Thursday at midnight beginning Apil 10th. Episodes in Japanese with English subtitles will also be released in the United States on Adult Swim and Max 30 days after their English-language premiere.