OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)After revolutionizing the world with a painkiller called “Hapna”, the enigmatic Dr. Skinner returns to public three years later to tell everyone who used it that they will die. Axel Gilberto, an imprisoned convict with a pension for trying to escape jail, is recruited to a task force in order to find Skinner and his cure, called “Lazarus”.OUR TAKEWe have yet another adult swim original anime, and another done by the legendary anime director Shinichiro Watanabe, who really needs no introduction at this point. He’s of course done Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, both of which became Adult Swim staples for their time, but also done things that have directly contributed to the endurance in its current era, such as Space Dandy, which it’s hard to fathom came out over a decade ago. Kinda deserves a rewatch at this point, to be frank. His newest offering to the anime viewing public is Lazarus, which is a big throwback to his iconic 90’s style with modern visual techniques…and turns out to be a bit more poignant and timely than he probably predicted. If you saw that bit about the stock market tanking, you may be inclined to think he predicted the future. But unlike his more recognizable works, this one leans into more of a mystery, both in regards to its main premise and even its central characters. This week’s premiere mainly focuses on Axel, the guy with an addiction to getting his prison sentence extended to nearly a millennium, but we also get hints at other characters who clearly have a lot of things going on that we will likely see expanded in the next dozen episodes.Currently the series is running pretty much just on vibes and intrigue, which is probably all it needs right now. But sooner or later, we’re going to need some substance, both in what is happening to the characters and what is happening in the world. That said, we already have some groundwork for some of that, as having the focus be on a drug that was once seen as a miracle turned into basically a curse is something that will definitely guide the tone as things ramp up in intensity. And it probably helps that it will look and sound cool while doing it, is the musical introduction probably indicated. We’ll see how this all shakes out in the coming weeks, but as of this first episode, I am pretty much buying into whatever this show is selling, though of course I have functioning critical thinking skills and a standard of quality, so if it starts to veer off of that, I’m going to have to be honest about whether or not I think this show is fumbling the bag. But I’m hoping that doesn’t happen and the name of Watanabe can rise again.
