Lazarus Episode One Review

When I saw the original teaser above for the anime Lazarus I was intrigued…and I haven’t been able to say that about many teasers as of late. Created by Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of the original (and superior version of) Cowboy Bebop, all we really got was the animation, and I really wanted to know more about the main character in the teasers. Why was he running? Was he the bad guy or was he part of some cyber-dystopia? The version I saw was from one of the production companies, and wasn’t even subtitled. I liked the parkour movements, but I couldn’t even find a plot.

So when I found out the show made it’s debut on Adult Swim’s “Toonami” block, I took the chance that Sling Freestream’s Cartoon Network preview channel (you have to go into the live TV guide, which is odd) might have the first episode. No longer having cable/satellite TV it was my best chance unless I brought up the Adult Swim app again, and my Firestick only has so much room. I was in luck. Episode 1, “Goodbye Cruel World”, was up there and I got to watch it. Now I get to tell you if it’s any good.

If you didn’t watch the trailer (or it’s gone now for some reason), the story takes place in the future. A wonder drug called Hapna brings great things for humanity…until a few years later when it’s creator, Dr. Skinner, comes out of hiding to tell everyone it’s actually poison and everyone is going to die in a month. Criminal Axel Gilberto is requested by the organization Lazarus to track down Skinner, who has promised to give the cure to whomever finds him. They just have to convince him it beats breaking out of prison and going on the run.

The first episode only briefly introduces the other members of Lazarus and I only got names from Wikipedia. The focus is totally on our protagonist and audience entry character, Axel. Serving numerous life sentences (we aren’t told why), Axel is also apparently really good at breaking out of prisons, using the “job interview” as a method of escaping. The rest of the team does take him down, making me wonder why they want this guy. We know he’s great at parkour and busting out, and he does so without a single loss of life (threatening his “interviewer” may have been a bluff given how he treats the guards and even the Lazarus team as they chase and shoot at him). We don’t know what skills he brings beyond that, and we don’t know what he’s in trouble for. The other members show off more of their talents: the strategist, the gun-happy woman that Wikipedia tells me is Russian but you wouldn’t know it from the English dub, the school student who is an expert operating drones, and the young girl (Wiki says she’s 15) computer hacker. It’s mostly an action piece start to finish, but it does at least introduce the basic premise and the skills of each member. Presumably (and hopefully) we’ll learn more about the individual members over the next four episodes that have been announced.

Wantabe’s style is pretty obvious, which may be on purpose. William Street, who is behind the Adult Swim and Toonami blocks and helped put this show together (animated by MAPPA and produced by Sola Entertainment, with Warner Brothers listed as the licenser), hasn’t had the best history with original anime. IGPX is rather obscure outside of anime fandom (and since I never see anybody talk about it I’m not even sure it’s a big deal there) while season two of The Big O is kind of a narrative mess and a narrative downgrade from the Japanese produced first season. That gives me concerns about how Lazarus will be received, and if having someone of Watanabe’s talent will succeed where those shows failed. The opening visuals and the jazz score (more modern sounding than Cowboy Bebop‘s) are clear fingerprints to Western anime fans, though I don’t know how it was received in Japan. It’s not set in BeBop‘s world (though Watanabe said otherwise in an interview, I’m not sure how all his previous works could take place in the same reality) and has a different visual tone than the dirty and gritty world of Spike Spiegel and friends, but that’s a benefit. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to be typecast by his biggest international success.

Kamasi Washington’s “Vortex” is a good intro song, while the end credits, sharing the show’s name and produced by The Boo Radleys, features the cast all dead from the Hapna (whether or not any of them have taken the drug and are thus victims is not yet revealed) while Axel rises at the end, is a nice closing. It’s not dark and shocking to a depressing level, as this is the situation Lazarus is trying to stop from happening. The couple holding hands is the biggest gut punch, but going too dark would go against the tone of the show.

According to Watanabe he was inspired by the opioid epidemic, but it’s not some diatribe against them thus far. Having Chad Stahelski, famous for his work on the John Wick franchise, doing fight choreography certainly helped the action scenes, though this show showed more parkour and less shooting everybody. Even Axel’s fighting style, while more non-lethal than John Wick’s, is interesting to look at, knowing when to get close to seem more visceral and when to back off so we can actually see the action, especially the parkour stuff. If you want gun fights, the “Russian” lady loves her guns and the cops and guards do take shots at Axel during his various escapes. In the above interview, Watanabe says that when he called Stahelski, he was happy to go beyond just giving tips, sighting Cowboy BeBop and Samurai Champloo (which isn’t a Watanabe creation but he did direct it…not sure where that gets it placed in the Watanabeverse) among his influences. Good influences to have.

Overall, I was impressed with the action, but it’s the story we’ll have to see about as the series goes on. It’s a short series if they only go with the six  half-hour episodes, so they’re going to have to get in gear fast if there isn’t a season two planned. I’m hopeful, but we’ll have to see if I’m even able to check it out. The show will air on Toonami and then be available on Max, though their recent animation decisions makes it iffy how long it will remain up there. I hope I do get to see more. The teasers had my interest, and the first episode has my attention…but can it keep it?