'Lazarus' Is a Briefly Gorgeous Anime That Vibes Hard But Can't Outpace Its Own Silence

'Lazarus' Is a Briefly Gorgeous Anime That Vibes Hard But Can't Outpace Its Own Silence

'Cowboy Bebop' creator Shinichiro Watanabe's latest sci-fi anime with Mappa had legacy and time stacked against its pursuit to tell a lasting story beneath the cool.

Cowboy Bebop Director Reveals the Biggest Inspiration On His Work (& It's Not What You Think)

Studio Sunrise Shinichiro Watanabe is one of the most acclaimed anime directors of all time. His most lauded work, Cowboy Bebop, throws audiences head-first into a jazz-infused sci-fi world, filled with grungy aesthetics and moody characters all trying to survive. The director did it again with Space Dandy, another sci-fi series that acts as a love letter to jazz and funk music. His most recent hit, Lazarus (which recently dropped its final epis…

‘Lazarus’ Is a Briefly Gorgeous Anime That Vibes Hard But Can’t Outpace Its Own Silence - WorldNL Magazine

When Adult Swim first announced that it was working with director Shinichirō Watanabe, Jujutsu Kaisen studio Mappa, and John Wick director Chad Stahelski on a new anime project, Lazarus already had the cards stacked against it. In the rollout of its stylish and musical trailers, the anime hewed close to Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop aesthetics, setting it up to live up to a standard from a bygone era of animation that it would never be able to satisfy…