Shinichirō Watanabe’s New Anime Lazarus Has the Juice

We live in an era where we get more anime in a single season than we used to in an entire year, and 2025 is packed with tons of shows competing to be the must-watch show of the year. Among them is Lazarus, and the premiere episode of Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichirō Watanabe‘s hotly anticipated new sci-fi series on Adult Swim effortlessly leaves a lasting impression, marking it as a classic in the making.

Set in 2052, Lazarus takes place in a world on the brink of unprecedented peace and stability thanks to a painkiller named Hapna. Developed by neuroscientist Dr. Skinner, Hapna is a cure-all drug spread far and wide with the ability to free the world from pain—a very trendy theme in animation this year. Three years after Skinner, humanity’s savior, goes AWOL, he reemerges as its grim reaper, revealing the drug was designed with a fatal side effect that will kill anyone who ingested it. Unless Skinner is found within 30 days, humanity is set for extinction. A special task force called Lazarus is assembled with the sole mission of playing a global game of Where’s Waldo with Skinner and uncovering a cure to stop the apocalypse.

Lazarus boasts an impressive all-star lineup of creatives: animation by Mappa, the studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man; action choreography by John Wick director Chad Stahelski; and musical accompaniment by jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington and electronic producers Floating Points and Bonobo. And its premiere episode lives up to the hype of a series marking Watanabe’s grand return to the genre.

Saying Lazarus is an anime that’s even more than the sum of its parts would be an understatement. Everyone involved in its creation put their best foot forward, and this excellence shines brightly across the five episodes we saw for review–but especially so in its premiere episode.

Lazarus‘ action, music, and animation truly sing in its first episode as its Spike Spiegel-type lead, Axel Gilberto (Jack Stansbyury), parkours through his grand prison escape. In an episode-long chase sequence, the creative team showcases their collective expertise as Axel executes leg scissor takedowns on prison guards, scales the sides of LED billboards on skyscrapers, and vaults through stairway railings. Meanwhile, the show’s electronic and jazzy soundtrack, which deserves a place on any work or workout playlist, perfectly complements the rhythm of his improvised escape. It would be difficult to believe that Lazarus is an episodic series rather than a feature anime film, given the exceptional quality of its production from start to finish.

Even the anime’s sound production, which is helmed by Formosa Group, the sound effects company behind Dune and Game of Thrones, brings a grounded, Hollywood-level sound quality to the series. The sound effects of punches knocking the wind out of people’s lungs, combined with the subtle reverberation of voices echoing in cluttered rooms, the clanking of keys, and gun rounds sounding off in a dense city street, are as much a feast for the ears as its animation is for the eyes. Even minor, nostalgic stylistic details—such as the show incorporating creative typographical eye-catchers midway through its episodes, its referential Cowboy Bebop opening, and its provocative closing theme animation (accompanied by 90’s Britpop band the Boo Radleys’ “Lazarus”) —smack of the unique charm that only classic anime can provide.

By the end of its first episode, Lazarus firmly establishes itself as a series capable of delivering a compelling anime without compromising on animation quality, musical score, or thematic depth in its early goings. Hopefully, Watanabe’s new joint will maintain the momentum of its premiere episode throughout its entirety. As it stands, Lazarus has all the tools to be something truly exceptional.

Lazarus is slated to run for 13 episodes, kicking off April 5 on Adult Swim with next day streaming on Max. Japanese with English subtitle episodes of the series will debut on Adult Swim and Max in May.

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