‘Cowboy Bebop’ director Shinichiro Watanabe’s new anime ‘Lazarus’ confirms 2025 release date

Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe’s new series Lazarus has received an official release date.

• READ MORE: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ review: jazzed-up anime adaptation misses a beat

The new sci-fi anime series’ official X account confirmed on Friday (January 24) that the show will be broadcast in Japan in April 2025 on Tokyo TV. The series is expected to be made available on the Crunchyroll streaming service at a later date.

Alongside the release date announcement, the show also shared a visual featuring all of the main characters.

／#渡辺信一郎 監督最新作『#LAZARUS ラザロ』
2025年4月からテレ東系にて放送決定📺
最新ビジュアルが公開💊
＼

ひと月限定の救世主となるエージェントチーム
「ラザロ」は人類を救うことができるのか！？
4月からの放送＆配信をお楽しみにhttps://t.co/ubJd2H5Lus pic.twitter.com/JAC1jyK6Zh

— アニメ『LAZARUS ラザロ』Official (@lazarus_jp) January 24, 2025

The synopsis of Lazarus reads: “The year is 2052. The world has entered an era of unprecedented peace and stability, largely due to Hapna, a drug developed by neuroscientist Dr. Skinner. Hapna spread throughout the world as a “miracle drug” with no side effects and freed mankind from pain. However, its developer, Skinner, suddenly disappear and no one knew where he had gone.

“Three years later, he reappears as a demon who leads the world to ruin. Hapna was a trap, a drug that causes death after three years of use. ‘Thirty days left. If you can find my place by then, humanity will survive.’ The only way to save the world is to use the only vaccine Skinner has.

“Lazarus, a team of five agents gathered from around the world to fight Skinner’s plot. Can they save humanity? And what is Skinner’s true purpose?”

Watanabe writes and directs the original story, while Dai Sato, Takahiro Ozawa (Ume), and Tsukasa Kondo make up the rest of the writing team. Chad Stahelski (John Wick) serves as action supervisor and Akemi Hayashi provides the character designs. The series’ music comes from Kamasi Washington, Bonbo and Floating Points.

You can watch the official trailer below:

In other anime news, Solo Leveling voice actor Taito Ban (Sung Jin-woo) recently teased that the remaining episodes of season two will take the show in a “darker direction”.

Debuting as a web-comic in 2016, Solo Leveling was made into an anime series with the first season premiering in 2024. Set in a world where hunters with mysterious powers hunt monsters, Sun Jin-Woo finds a way to level up his abilities, turning from one of the weakest hunters to the most formidable.

NME’s four-star review described the series as “an addictive anime that deserves all the hype it’s getting”.

Episodes of Solo Leveling season two air in the UK on Crunchyroll. Solo Leveling: ReAwakening, a compilation film of the first season, arrived in cinemas last December.

You can view the original article HERE.