Summary
- Opening of sci-fi anime Lazarus features jazz music by Kamasi Washington, creating a visually stunning experience.
- Lazarus may have similarities to Cowboy Bebop, but its unique opening showcases the main cast in space.
- Strong emphasis on music in Lazarus, with talented cast and crew contributing to the series’ unique style and direction.
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One of 2025’s most anticipated anime releases, Shinichirō Watanabe’s original sci-fi anime series, Lazarus, is set for release in April, forming part of the Spring 2025 anime season. There has been quite a lot of information about the series that has been released in recent months, with the most recent being the reveal of the series’ opening sequence, the theme to which was previously been announced to be “Vortex”, performed by multiple Libera and UK Music Award, as well as Grammy Award winner, American jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
The Lazarus opening video was released on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel, and almost immediately, the first comparison many viewers draw is a similarity to Watanabe’s most acclaimed work, Cowboy Bebop.
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About Lazarus’s Opening
Watanabe’s Love For Jazz Is On Display Once More
The Lazarus opening sequence is a work of art, with Kamasi Washington’s music being a brilliant fit for the colourful visuals that have a pop art feel that can also make it feel reminiscent of the Cowboy Bebop intro; however, such comparisons are really only skin deep. The entire Lazarus opening features its main cast falling in space, while the background is littered with a bold, grungy typeface as random words appear behind them.
Their silhouettes are revealed first, before light of a different colour for each character fills out the expression on their faces. As the music gets to a climax, the somewhat dreamy feel of the opening sequence gets a more dynamic feel as the silhouettes jump, flip and hop about while the series’ title card appears. We’re only four months into the year, and Lazarus might just have dropped a contender for best opening sequence of the year.
The series clearly has a strong emphasis on music, with Bonobo, Floating Points and Kamasi Washington credited on the soundtrack, while we most likely have Miho Sugiura, a highly talented art director with either art direction or background credits on titles including Steins;Gate, Psycho-Pass, the gorgeous Maquia movie and Black Clover. The cast of Lazarus includes:
- Mamoru Miyano as Axel
- Makoto Furukawa as Doug
- Maaya Uchida as Christine
- Yūma Uchida as Leland
- Manaka Iwami as Eleina
- Megumi Hayashibara as Hersch
- Akio Ōtsuka as Abel
- Kōichi Yamadera as Skinner
The series is directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, with John Wick stuntman and director Chad Stahelski designing the action sequences, while the scripts are written by Dai Satō, Shinichirō Watanabe, Takahiro Ozawa and Tsukasa Kondō. The series has animation production by Masato Matsunaga, while Kana Tanabe serves as colour designer; Takuma Sakamoto the series cinematographer; Mitsuhiro Sato the compositing director; and Lauren Stephens as sound effects supervisor.
Lazarus will premiere on April 5 at 12am EDT (effectively April 6) on Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block.
Source: ANN
- Release Date
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April 5, 2025
- Network
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Adult Swim
- Directors
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Shinichirô Watanabe
- Writers
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Shinichirô Watanabe