Lazarus 5d2y29

Only half way through the show but it's an anime made by Shinichirō Watanabe so of course I was going to check it out.

I still the first time I watched Cowboy Bebop and I went from a casual anime fan to a full blown fanatic. It was 2am in the morning and I had just woken up after falling asleep at around 10am. I alone in my room, an only child in 4th grade trying to stay up all night to watch the more mature anime airing after midnight on Adult Swim. I had no idea what I was getting into until the episode ... titled "Asteroid Blues" started and it was such a well thought out and animated story that I became a full fledged anime fan right then and there!

While watching this show it is impossible to not think about the anime Watanabe has made before this, this episode's background music had me reminiscing about Samurai Champloo's bmg with a huge smile on my face. Loving this show so far and we're only half way in. I can't believe we'd be getting another original anime from the GoAT in 2025!

What if the Apocalypse was coming....and no one cared?

The plot of Lazarus is that all-around do-gooder philanthropist and environmental "activist" Dr Skinner creates a wonder drug that numbs pain. After Skinner pulls a Greta Thunberg at the UN and no one cares, he decides to announce that said drug will mutate and kill everyone who took it within 30 days. Unless someone finds him in the safe space he's fled to where apparently he has the cure.

Now, if you think about this for more than 5 seconds and you're asking the question "why would anyone trust such an emotionally unstable, lying man who ... duped the world for over 3 years?", congrats! You thought about the plot more than the writers did.

But OK, surely every single government agency, police force, bounty hunter, vigilante....heck, any drug faced with 30 days to live is going to be looking for this guy........right? Nope. After we are told this in Ep1, it seems like the world just...moves on. In fact, we are specifically told in the very next episode THAT PEOPLE HAVE SEEN DR SKINNER - MULTIPLE TIMES - AND NO ONE STOPPED HIM. People just don't care. The world is exactly the same as it was before Skinner's Doomsday proclamation. Is this a thinly-veiled reference to people 'ignoring' Climate Change Cultists? Probably, but it's a bad analogy and makes the entire plot of the show seem pointless.

Or perhaps it's just so the writers can give us a squad of anti-heroes to save the day. Enter a group of handpicked criminals (because we haven't beaten that trope to death over the past 10 years). It's dollar store Suicide Squad - none of the characters have any special abilities, no one cares about the success of their mission, and they aren't even concerned with saving themselves (yes, they all took the drug). We have the totally-not-a-Spike ripoff who does parkour (insert Michael Scott saying "Parkour!" during his prison escape in Ep1 and it becomes more entertaining), a "genius" (who's tactics always fail), a weapons expert (definitely not-a-Faye ripoff), a random drone operator guy (really? This is the 2020s equivalent of making an RC car modeler the hero), and a hacker (who is somehow less tech savvy than the entire cast of the 1995 movie Hackers). All of the MCs seem to be incredibly inept at investigation, tracking, bounty hunting, or any other pursuit that would lead them to finding Dr Skinner. It's a bizarre way to frame your MCs.

Each episode plays out the same way - our team gets a lead, follows the leads, screws up, and is saved from their own ineptitude by some random plot point. Deus Ex Machina is not a strong enough word for how their situations change. It's repetitive. Moreover, it's BORING. I'm 3 EPA in and I'm bored. Nothing is going to happen in this show until (at best) the last 4 episodes. All the rest of filler.

The voice acting in the dub is atrocious. Everyone is doing their best disaffected young person routine. There's no emotion, no inflection, even in times of action lines are delivered in the same monotone voice. I could see one character doing this routine, but every single character is just so robotic.

Animation is just OK. I don't hate it but, like everything else, it looks so bland. The world doesn't feel "lived in", it feels like a movie set.

I might be biased, since I'm generally a sci-fi junkie, but I think Lazarus is one of the best animes of the year (and episode 4 strongly adds to this statement).

The plot isn't unique, but it's interesting enough to keep you hooked. The way the world is built is irable, and I personally find it both fascinating and a great depiction of a post-modern world. There are plenty of well-thought-out details (from the self-driving cars and the nightclub itself to the idea of AI replacing humans in even fundamentally human things such as music), and the action-like dynamic makes the anime really easy to watch.

At ... first glance, the characters might feel basic and narrow, but I think we're about to see much depth from all of them (and I think said depth is already hinted at in some of them, specifically Elaina). Additionally, Episode 4 showed us a lot of natural interactions that build up both the characters themselves and the relationships between them even more. I think most of the scenes in the club made Doug, Christine, and Leland easy to resonate with. The only character I'm somehow apathetic to is Axel, but I also have the feeling that Watanabe wants it this way, since he's planning something for him down the line.

The humour is enjoyable (and I often find it hard to get along with the classical anime jokes), and the references to pop culture, religion, and society as a whole are a well-executed touch.

All that being said, there's also something highly emotional about Lazarus. It's more than an edgy sci-fi action-packed drama, and I think Episode 4 deserves a lot of credit for this.

Lastly, there's something incredibly beautiful about the soundtrack. It's subtle, but it surely does add to the atmosphere. Undeniably, the Bonobo and Watanabe collaboration wasn't something I saw coming, but I am sincerely happy it exists.

I AM A LAZARUS APOLOGETIC.

plenty people parrot profusely peering past the plot’s purpose.

Preconceptions of how this show "should" feel like, cloud the judgement and enjoyment of so many—sad face.

Plot - This is a story we have all seen before—it's just someone's take on how it looks -> I think it's great.
The world these characters are in is literally just us + 30 years; so, yeah, I guess I understand how that can feel stale (I mean it's not like they're adding any plot device that is too crazy), but it feels nuts to fault them for it. Especially if it's because of some ... expectation of a hype show.
You know what this show is to me? Call of Night + Le "Bebop" Formula + sprinkles of "the writers read brave new world". I quite like that. I n f a c t -> I have been WAITING for something like this. There is something so comforting about a show that can transport you away and make you feel "CHILL". It's like Cowboy Bebop "Toys in The Attic" episode type vibe — I hope you know what I mean. It's chill, the underlying plot is everyone is going to die, it's chill, these guys are secret agents and there's plenty of fights, i t ' s c h i l l , there's robots and planes and explosions, BUT -> it's chill. You know?? I really, REALLY, dig that.

Character Designs - This is where I kinda understand where people are coming from—but not because of what you think, look: you see some character, slap "oh so this is Faye" / "this is spilke" / this is x, y, z... my man. That is missing the plot. Let it flow dude, you have NO idea who ANY of these characters are. There is no depth yet, and I mean SHOULD THERE BE? Like, I know we quickly can identify characters in trigun, shamploo, and cb since we've likely seen them multiple times over :: BUT :: how quickly did you get to understand their complexity, respectively ?? I understand that it might be going slow in understanding who these people are, and I mean ... TBH ....... they could mess up here .... they cooouuuld mess up; I might be DEAD wrong .... but, I think we'll get to appreciate their depth over more episodes if we just give it time and not slap other character molds into fresh batter.

Art/Animation - Fights are amazing. Animation is great. Not the prettiest/polished thing you will EVER see, but it looks great on the bigscreen.

Dialogue - The dialogue is literally how people talk. If you think you some dudes sound cool 24/7 -> no. It's quite calming. It gets annoying when they use some tech jargon, but I don't mind it not being perfect.

Music - Nice tunes, lots of replay value. Music plays quite an important role in how episodes feel like -> it feels more than just atmosphere.

I will say it again:

By looking at this show through a lens of what you think it aught to be, you will NOT enjoy it.

Just let it f–l–o–oooooooo–oooooww please trust me let it flow.

Like -> There are 6 minutes
!!!SIX MINUTES!!!
of the characters just chillin around for 6 minutes
!!! SIX MINUTES !!!
in episode 7. I LOVED EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF the 6 minutes.
!!! SIX MINUTES !!!
They're just chilling! Plot is super slowly progressing underneath yes, but, in the foreground they're: CHILLING for 6 minutes.
!!! SIX MINUTES !!!
I mean that's amazing right there. SO amazing.

watch it :P