# Lazarus (TV series)

Lazarus (Japanese: LAZARUS ラザロ, Hepburn: Razaro) is an upcoming original anime television series produced by MAPPA and Sola Entertainment that is set to premiere in Japan on TV Tokyo and the United States on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in April 2025.

## Plot

In the utopian year 2052, Dr. Skinner discovered a miracle drug known as Hapna. In 2055, Skinner announces that the drug has a three-year half-life and soon everyone who took it will die.
A task force of five agents is assembled to locate Skinner and create a vaccine. Its name is "Lazarus".

## Characters
### Axel

    Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese); Jack Stansbury (English)

### Doug

    Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa (Japanese); Jovan Jackson (English)

### Christine

    Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese); Luci Christian (English)

### Leland

    Voiced by: Yuma Uchida (Japanese); Bryson Baugus (English)

### Eleina

    Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (Japanese); Annie Wild (English)

### Hersch

    Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese); Jade Kelly (English)

### Abel

    Voiced by: Akio Otsuka (Japanese); Sean Patrick Judge (English)

### Dr. Skinner

    Voiced by: Koichi Yamadera (Japanese); David Matranga (English)
    A neuroscientist-turned-mad scientist who has deceived humanity with his seemingly cure-all wonder drug, Hapuna, which is later revealed to be a deadly poison that kill those who take it in 42 months.

## Production and release

The series was announced by Adult Swim in July 2023, and will be directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, most notable for directing the Cowboy Bebop anime television series. Chad Stahelski, who is notable for directing the John Wick film franchise, is designing the action sequences. For music composition, the series will feature a score by jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington, and producers, DJs, and musicians Bonobo and Floating Points. Animation for the series will be done by MAPPA while Sola Entertainment handles general production.
A teaser trailer for the series was shown at Adult Swim's "Toonami on the Green" panel at San Diego Comic-Con two days later on July 22. During the presentation, the production staff stated that the project is planned to be completed by 2024, but did not promise that the series would release in that year. In July 2024, it was announced that the series will air in 2025.
In an interview conducted in October 2024, Watanabe said that the opioid crisis was one of the inspirations he had for creating the anime. He mentioned that the production team worked closely with Stahelski so they could be provided with fight scene choreographies and on how the team needed to recruit animators outside of Japan due to a lack of experienced animators they could recruit domestically for such sequences. In a November 2024 interview, Watanabe mentioned that he held the John Wick movies in high regard on how the fight scenes were done.
In December 2024, a new visual was released along with the announcement that Kamasi Washington would perform the opening theme song "Vortex", while The Boo Radleys would perform the ending theme song "Lazarus".
In January 2025, it was announced that the series would broadcast in Japan beginning in April 2025 on TV Tokyo and its affiliates, accompanied by the release of a new visual. Adult Swim followed up with an announcement shortly thereafter on Instagram that the series would also air the same month on its network. In February 2025, it was announced the series would air on April 5, 2025, in near-simultaneous broadcasts in both Japan and the United States.