Shinichiro Watanabe is a name synonymous with his epic, genre-redefining works. He started the trends that continue to influence anime even today. From Cowboy Bebop to Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy, his works have always been stylish and classy, with the appropriate amount of depth and heavy themes.
This balanced manner of storytelling is what gives the audience the full Watanabe experience. From the beginning to the end, the magic of the music, the laid-back characters, and the intricate plot all seem realistic as they slowly intertwine and give rise to a unique narrative.
This has been Watanabe’s way; he does not rush and hurry to skip out the parts that could flesh out the characters and deepen the essence of the narrative. The quirky characters and the effortless cool factor are important. Unfortunately, Lazarus seems to be taking a more serious approach.
Lazarus looks like Cowboy Bebop without the ‘fun’ parts
There’s no denying that Lazarus looks visually stunning. It has new-age art that looks dynamic and can display a lot of emotions. It feels like a mix of Cowboy Bebop and Terror in Resonance.
But the plot itself is another question, be it Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo, they all start off with laid-back characters who are basically calm, composed, and lazy (not to mention the extremely enthusiastic around women ‘Dandy‘).
From the cyberpunk setting to the epic action sequences (Chad Stahelski, so what could go wrong?), the show seems to be in line with the previous Watanabe hits on the face of it, but is it really?
The plot of Lazarus is an extremely serious one, and the entire narrative depends on chasing down the doctor and making a vaccine to save the entire world. This kind of pressurizing situation means that there will be barely any time for humor or ‘fun’ conversations and antics.
For instance, there cannot be any jokes unless it is to diffuse tension (because billions are going to die if you delay or fail). The influence from the past works is clear, but without the key element of humor, will it work?
Can Lazarus still deliver the full Watanabe experience?
The characters are too focused and the plot is killer serious, so can Watanabe sprinkle his magic dust properly this time? We have to remember that Watanabe has done his share of psychological and Seinen anime (Terror in Resonance).
The kind of pressure exerted means that there is space for a unique character who is calm and composed (not laid back, would not work here), Axel seems to be this character. His confident smile in most of the stills from the trailer shows us that he could pull off epic stunts with a great, classy track playing in the background.
Comment
byu/jjcjjcjjcjjc from discussion
incowboybebop
It is true that we might miss the kind of classy humor and antics we saw in Dandy and Bebop’s playful banter and conversations, but the essence will remain the same. The viewers will be able to spot Watanabe from a mile away.
Hopefully, once the series is in full swing, we will get a more charming cast that can balance the serious with humor and comedy (to maintain their mental states), and situational humor. People are flawed and Watanabe manages to tap into that feeling, so we can only hope he does it again.
Lazarus is going to be released in April 2025.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
