Lazarus

‘Lazarus’ Got me Craving Baklava

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Lazarus Ep 3 Review

The hunt for Dr. Skinner has begun, yet so far, there are no leads as to where he could be hiding. Right when Lazarus thought they had a clue, it turned out to be a dead-end. However, with the fate of the human race in the balance, this ragtag band of misfits can’t afford to give up! Whether by fate or dumb luck, they manage to get their hands on another possible lead to Skinner…and it has to do with a delicious, Turkish pastry.

Firstly, though, it feels important to talk about how each episode starts off with a speech about the effects of Hapna, seemingly given by each member of Lazarus. They talk about their thoughts on the “miracle” drug and how it managed to change the world. This week, it appears to be Chris speaking, talking about how Hapna seemingly solved the pain that comes with living, but also questions if that pain is an integral part of life. It’s very philosophical, and it doesn’t always make sense. Yet it does bring up an intriguing question about life.

Never Underestimate a MacGuffin

At the end of the last episode, Lazarus’ resident hacker, Eleina, managed to locate Skinner using facial recognition technology. However, it would seem the Doctor thought ahead, paying someone to replicate his face on thousands of individuals. It seems brilliant, but as Doug points out, it all but eliminates the possibility that he’s disguising himself. In addition, Eleina is able to deduce that, besides herself, only two other hackers are capable of this feat. If they find the hacker, they can use them to track down Skinner.

Once again, the team splits into two pairs. Chris and Leland head to Skinner’s home to find any clues the authorities missed, while Axel and Doug look for Doug’s old mentor, who once worked with Skinner.

The searching of Skinner’s home might not seem that important, but upon closer inspection, there were a few things that stand out. The first is the sheer number of hardy plants he has, such as cacti. It may not seem like much, but the fact that he preferred plants know for surviving harsh conditions could help build a better psychological profile of the Doctor. If you know how a subject thinks, you can guess what they’ll do. The second is that Chris finds a small, orange pill that the authorities overlooked. It may seem insignificant now, but there’s a good chance it could wind up being important macguffin down the line.

Good on anime for the Transgender Woman

The real focus of the episode, though, is on Axel and Doug’s search for Doug’s old college professor. This takes them to a homeless shelter led by a friend from Axel’s prison days. And a quick sidebar: good on the show for deciding to make this person a transgender woman. Not everyone will approve of this, but including it demonstrates how society is working to become more accepting of such things. Plus, Jill also gives some insight into Axel and his ability to adapt to any environment yet never get too close to others.

Also, it might just be my imagination, but did one of those homeless people happen to look like Dr. Skinner? Was that a goof, or possible foreshadowing?

I now Want Baklava

Either way, while Doug’s mentor doesn’t know where Skinner is, he does give Lazarus their first concrete clue, mentioning the Doctor’s only known relative. As a result, Axel and Leland head for Istanbul in search of this relative, Grandma Belinda. The resulting chase and fight sequence provides another example of how Watanabe is able to craft attention-grabbing action without being overtly flashy. Plus, it was funny to hear the two get out of trouble by saying they wanted to try some of Grandma Belinda’s baklava.

There really is nothing better to eat in this world than the cooking made by one’s family. And once she opens up to them, Belinda is rather willing to help them find her wayward grandson. At the very least, she shows them a video he sent her three years earlier, possibly around the time he was getting ready to introduce Hapna to the world. Plus, Axel does find a hidden camera, presumably left by Skinner himself. And that ended up leading to the hacker making their move and falling right into Eleina’s trap.

Twenty-six days remain before Hapna starts to turn fatal, and Lazarus has its first real lead. The hunt is only going to escalate from this point forward. This is shaping up to be quite the globetrotting mystery!

I Give “Long Way from Home” a 4/5

Oh, Skinner, Where Art Thou?

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Lazarus Ep 2 Review

Twenty-nine days. That’s all the time that humanity has to find Dr. Skinner and the cure for Hapna. Otherwise, everyone who has ever taken the “miracle” drug is going to start dying. And since almost everyone has taken the drug, the human race faces extinction. Now, it’s up to Lazarus, a ragtag task force of misfits, to get to Skinner and save the world like superheroes.

There’s just one problem: they have no idea how to find Skinner!

Firstly, though, let’s gush over the OP to Lazarus. Whether it was Watanabe himself or the people who worked with him to create the anime, they must have been taking a page from Cowboy Bebop. From the way it makes extensive use of big, stylized text in the background while having the main characters remain shadowed or in black-and-white in the foreground, “VORTEX” takes a lot from Bebop. In addition, the music, while more subdued compared to “TANKI,” still has the notable inclusion of the jazz music that Watanabe is so fond of. It’s clear that Watanabe is aiming to make Lazarus the spiritual successor to Cowboy Bebop, and so far, he’s succeeding!

A Ragtag Bunch of Misfits

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The first half of the second episode is largely focused on one of two things: introducing us more to the members of Lazarus and exploring Dr. Skinner’s motives. When it comes to the former, the show seems to adopt a “less is more” attitude regarding their backstories, though it does establish that each of them has things in common. They’ve each committed crimes of some sort, ranging from petty theft to hacking on a global scale. Each of them is insanely talented in an area of expertise:

  • Axel is an all-rounder and a genius escape artist.
  • Doug is good in combat and can think well under pressure
  • Christine is skilled with multiple firearms
  • Leland is an expert on piloting drones
  • Eleina is a master hacker notorious around the globe

Furthermore, each of them admits to having taken Hapna, meaning they’ve got skin in the game and a reason to locate Dr. Skinner.

As for Dr. Skinner himself, the premiere already established that he made Hapna a deadly trap because he was fed up with humanity. This episode elaborates on that by giving us an exposition dump about his backstory, and it soon becomes obvious why he came to this mindset. He devoted his entire life to helping others, to the point where he gave up the money he could’ve gotten off patents for his drugs. In addition, he was a major voice in the fight against climate change, urging people to do everything they could to undo the damage humans have done to the Earth. As is often the case in real life, his pleas were met by apathy and silence from those in a position to do something about it. Hence why he likely made Hapna a trap; he decided mankind wasn’t worth saving.

And I don’t blame him.

Look, Mankind Needs to Get its Act Together

As much as I want to see mankind’s continued existence, there are times when I cannot help but wonder if it would be better if we weren’t around. That being said, I feel the ultimate solution is for us to spread across the stars so the Earth can have some breathing room. I still have faith in mankind’s ability to grow and change, and it feels like Lazarus is being set up as a symbol of that optimism.

In a layman’s terms, Lazarus might be a story of optimism vs cynicism, but we won’t know until the story is finished.

Oh, and Lazarus has armbands that will melt their hands off if they try to go AWOL. They’re basically the Suicide Squad meets the Avengers.

A Wild Goose Chase

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The back half of the episode sees the entire group splitting up to track down leads on Dr. Skinner. Unfortunately, the man seems to have covered his tracks very thoroughly to make things as hard as possible. Case in point, Axel and Chris head to a survival shelter they think Skinner purchased, while Leland and Doug head to the office of the company he bought it from. At first, the deserted atmosphere of both makes it seem like there’s a greater conspiracy at work, especially when people show up and start threatening the team. In a humorous twist, though, not only is the person they find not Dr. Skinner, but the people shooting at them weren’t even looking for him. They spent a whole day on a wild goose chase for a man who ran out on his debts.

This is going to be harder than we thought, and there are only 28 days remaining. It can be easy for someone of Skinner’s intellect to disappear, and it could take years to find him. Lazarus has less than a month before humanity faces extinction. In the meantime, though, I’m going to be enjoying this potential second coming Cowboy Bebop.

Join the chase. Catch an all new episode of #Lazarus next Saturday at midnight! Only #Toonami, on adult swim.

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— Toonami Squad (@toonamisquad.com) April 13, 2025 at 12:38 AM
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I Give “Life in the Fast Lane” a 4/5

Shinichirō Watanabe Presents Lazarus

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Toonami Announcements , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lazarus Ep 1 Review

Shinichirō Watanabe, one of the greatest directors in anime history. The director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Space Dandy. Next to the late Akira Toriyama, no other man’s works did more to help anime gain a foothold in the West than Shinichirō Watanabe. As longtime fans of Toonami and lovers of anime in general, it wouldn’t be right if the D&A Anime Blog didn’t cover his newest creation, Lazarus. And judging by the first episode, we are going to be in for a banger!

A Doctor Decides to End Humanity

The year is 2055, and humankind is facing potential extinction. Three years earlier, a man named Dr. Skinner released a painkiller called Hapna, a miracle drug that could potentially end all disease and pain. Most of mankind started taking the drug, and a while, it looked like the world was on the path to utopia. But then Skinner, who had gone into hiding a year earlier, gave mankind a message: Hapna was a giant trap.

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In a nutshell, Skinner said “screw all of humanity, we’re unworthy to keep living. You have a month to prove me wrong.”

From the outset, Lazarus is already showing all the hallmarks that make Watanabe’s works great. The cyberpunk, retro-futuristic aesthetic. The use of smooth jazz as background music. The incredibly attractive main characters with cool attitudes. It feels very much like Lazarus is meant to be a spiritual successor to Cowboy Bebop, and nowhere is this better seen than with the main male lead, Axel Gilberto.

The Second Coming of Spike Spiegel

If Spike Spiegel was the Lupin III of the 90s, then Axel could very well be the Spike of the 2020s. Hes got parkour skills that would make an Assassin’s Creed lover green with envy. He’s got Spike’s amazing sense of fashion and the confidence that made him a great husbando. And he’s got Lupin’s uncanny ability to talk his way out of any situation. In the span of the first episode, he proceeds to break out of the prison he’s in, outrun the police, and outsmart a police officer that doesn’t recognize him until it’s too late. The best part? He was serving 888 years in prison because he kept escaping like it was a game to him. The only reason he gets caught by the task force being assembled is because he’s caught off-guard.

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While Axel serves as the main focus of the episode, the premiere does introduce viewers to the other members of the titular Lazarus. Each of them is quirky in their own way, and they all seem to have their own unique talents. One is a college student who’s great with drones. Another is this girl who’s a master hacker. There’s a man whose good with guns, and we have this woman who feels like an expy of Faye Valentine. I can’t remember who is who yet, but I’m sure that will change in the next episode or so.

This is Gonna be Fun

Overall, Lazarus looks to be another big hit from the mind of Shinichirō Watanabe, but there’s another reason why the anime could be one of the big hits of the spring season: its name. Lazarus is often a name associated with the act of resurrection. There’s the biblical Lazarus, who was raised from death by Jesus. There’s the Lazarus Pits from DC comics, able to grant long life and revive the dead. And now we have the team, formed in order to save mankind from possible extinction. It’s possible that Dr Skinner is bluffing and that this is one big test to see how humanity will react to potential annihilation. However, I doubt that anyone would make such an announcement without be willing to back it up. Either way, this si going to be one fun adventure.

I Give “Goodbye Cruel World” a 4/5

Warm Up This Spring With Some New Anime

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RJ Writing Ink’s Picks for Spring 2025 Anime to Look Out for

The sakura blossoms are in bloom, and that means that spring is finally here! While that means that it’s time for anime lovers to say goodbye to the winter’s big hits like Solo Leveling, Zenshu, Sakamoto Days and more, there’s no reason to fret. Spring 2025 is packed with potential hits. From newcomers trying to make their mark to returning veterans, there will be plenty of anime to binge this spring.

I’m RJ Writing Ink for the D&A Anime Blog, and this is a list of some of the anime that people will likely be paying attention to this spring. Yes, I’m going to be watching most of it. Yes, there’s a chance I’m going to review some of this. And yes, I am aware that by the time this goes up, many of these will be out! That’s a consequence of covering four series at once over the course of the winter!

The Beginning After the End, April 2nd

Isekai anime might be dime a dozen these days, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a diamond in the rough. For the Spring 2025 season, that diamond might be The Beginning After the End, or TBATE. Based on the Korean-American Web Novel and Webcomic of the same name, TBATE is about Arthur Llewyn. Formerly known as Grey, Arthur was a powerful king in his first life before abruptly dying a mysterious death and waking up in a world of swords and magic. Now going by Arthur, the former king strives to master the powers that govern this new world while also making sure to enjoy everything that he missed out on in his first life.

Full disclosure: I’ve binge-read most of the webcomic after Aaron reccomended it to me, saying it could become the next Solo Leveling. While I wouldn’t got that far, the series certainly lives up to TV Tropes description of it being “Mushoku Tensei meets Naruto.” Since I love both of them, that makes it worth my time. The one downside is that everyone is complaining how basic the animation is compared to the likes of Mushoku Tensei and Solo Leveling. Hopefully, that won’t be too much of an issue.

Wind Breaker, Season 2, April 3rd

Let’s get ready to rumble!!! Wind Breaker, the deliquent anime of spring 2024, is back for round two. This time, Haruka Sakura and the members of Bofurin are up against a ruthless gang going by the name of KEEL. And from the looks of the trailer, the boys of Bofurin are going to be in for one heck of a challenge.

Despite seeming like another series extolling how cool the rebel deliquent life seems to be, Wind Breaker turned out to be an anime with a surprising amount of depth to it when it first aired. The fights themselves are well-choreographed and often serve as a means for the story to elaborate on why the characters are fighting in the first place. It may still be a series about fighitng, but sometimes, the questions of why people fight and what’s worth fighting for can be just as interesting as the fights themselves.

Devil May Cry, April 3rd

DMC fans, your prayers have been answered. Capcom’s popular half-human, half-demon Demon Hunter is getting another anime. And from the looks of things, it’s going to be an absolute banger. Set in an alternate contiunity from the games, Devil May Cry will follow Demon Hunter Dante as he comes face to face with the villainous White Rabbit as he attempts to stage a demonic invasion of Earth.

I know very little about Devil May Cry beyond the basic premise, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking this series has the potential to be one of the big hits of the season. Firstly, the animation looks absolutley gorgeous, brought to life by Studio Mir of Kipo and My Adventures with Superman fame. Secondly, the voice cast has multiple legends among it, with Johnny Yong Bosch voicing Dante this time around. However, it’s the inclusion of the late Kevin Conroy and Tony Todd that’s gotten plenty of people talking. Having recorded their lines for the show before their passings, this will likely be the final chance people will get to hear the GOAT Batman and Candyman. And I’m going to take full advantage of it.

One Piece, April 6th

It’s only been six months, but if you’re a One Piece fan, it’s felt like an eternity. After going on a vacation for the first time in its history, One Piece is returning with the second half of the Egghead Island Arc. When we last left off, the anime had just finished going over all of the major events that were taking place in the world at large while the Straw Hats are busy on Egghead Island. With everything abroad now wrapped up, though, the series is ready to focus on the Straw Hats as they try to defend the island and the genius Dr. Vegapunk from the forces of the World Government.

And things are only going to get crazier from here.

I’ve been covering every chapter of the One Piece manga on my own blog for years, so I know what’s going to happen with the rest of this arc. I am not exaggerating when I say fans are in for an absolute emotional rollercoaster. I can’t even say anything about what happens without veering into spoiler territory. What I will say is that you should be prepared for some of the most exciting moments in One Piece history as well as some of the most heart-breaking, tearjerking ones. Keep tissues ready!

Witch Watch, April 6th

This rom-com on Netflix is about Morihito Otogi, an ogre who looks like a human who’s loving his best high school life. Until, that is, his childhood friend, the witch-in-training Nico Wakatsuki, moves in with him and decides to make him her familiar. While Morihito is supposed to guard Nico, his job gets harder due to the fact that a.) she lets everyone know she’s a witch, and b.) she is madly in love with him.

After the end to 100 Girlfriends, I’m going to be needing a new rom-com fix. And judging by the description to Witch Watch, this series looks to be right up my alley. I’m a big sucker for the childhood friend romance trope, so I’m sure to enjoy whatever will happen here!

Lazarus, April 6th

If something seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. That is the lesson that the world learns when they discover the wonder drug, Hapna, will soon kill everyone who took it. The only way to prevent this is to find its creator, Dr. Skinner, in the next thirty days. Thus, the world’s best hope for salvation is in the hands of the task force known as Lazarus.

If this series feels like the second coming of Cowboy Bebop, that’s because it is. This series was created by none other than Shinichirō Watanabe, AKA the creator of Cowboy Bebop. Considering how instrumental the adventures of Spike Spiegel were in bringing anime westward, having Watanabe’s next work come to Toonami is a big deal. This has the potential to be this generation’s Cowboy Bebop, and I am all in for that idea! Bring on the gunfights!

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, April 7th

The story of Deku and Class 1-A might be winding down, but there are still plenty of stories to tell in the world of My Hero Academia. Nowhere is this shown better than with the new prequel series, MHA: Vigilantes. Taking place five years before the events of the main series, Vigilantes follows a pair of aspiring heroes who, after various things happen, wind up becoming unlicensed Heroes. Now they have to fight evil while staying outside the reach of the law.

The big irony of the world of My Hero Academia is that the concept of superheroes has become a profession rather than an ideal. In most works of fiction, superheroes are often vigilantes operating outside the law; people let them do this because they tend to be good at it. If the original MHA focuses on world-ending threats, then Vigilantes is going to be the series that focuses more on the streets, like Batman and Daredevil would. Either way, this should tide people over until the final season hits this fall.

Any anime we missed? I know that there are going to be anime we missed, so let us know in the comments below!