Second Emulation

Lazarus: The Spiritual Successor to Cowboy Bebop

• Shawn Juarez • Episode 84

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Dive into the dystopian world of Lazarus, the latest masterpiece from Shinichiro Watanabe, creator of Cowboy Bebop. This ambitious sci-fi anime plunges viewers into a near-future where humanity faces extinction after a "miracle" painkiller called Hapna turns out to be a deadly toxin with a three-and-a-half-year expiration date.

The premiere episode "Goodbye, Cruel World" introduces us to a five-member task force assembled to track down Dr. Skinner, the elusive scientist behind Hapna, who may hold the key to humanity's salvation. With only 30 days remaining before mass extinction, the clock is ticking. What makes Lazarus stand out isn't just its high-stakes premise, but how it delivers on multiple sensory levels. The animation strikes a perfect balance between nostalgic Bebop-style visuals and fresh, innovative camera techniques that immerse viewers in the action. Most notably, the jazz-infused soundtrack doesn't just accompany the story—it actively shapes the narrative, functioning as its own character within this richly textured world.

While the show demonstrates exceptional craft in its visuals and sound design, questions remain about whether all five task force members truly bring essential skills to the mission. Some characters appear to have overlapping abilities, potentially signaling character development to come rather than practical necessity. Regardless, Lazarus delivers a captivating first episode that blends dystopian themes with stylish execution, earning a solid 3.5/5 rating that promises even better things to come.

Subscribe to Second Emulation for more anime deep dives, leave a review if you enjoyed this episode, and share your thoughts with us through our social media channels. What did you think of Lazarus? Does it live up to the Cowboy Bebop legacy? We'd love to hear your perspective!

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  📍 Hi, hello, and welcome to Second Emulation! Oh my God, you guys, I’m so excited for you to listen to this episode—like, it’s going to be so good! Your amazing host is about to take you on a deep dive into all things movies, anime, gaming, and pop culture. Seriously, it’s, like, the best way to spend your time. So, grab your favorite drink, maybe a latte or something cute, and get ready to have the best time. Okay, love that for you! Here’s your host!

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Second Alation, new and current listeners, the show where we deep dive into the latest anime and see what's worth your time. I'm Sean, your host, and today we're gonna be talking about the first episode of V Lazarus as part of my series of doing anime reviews. This will continue the trend of the new content of first episode reviews.

Lazarus is a new sci-fi anime that just premiered on Adult Swim and can also be viewed on the streaming app. Known as Max, which will be now reverting to HBO Max. If you're a fan of sci-fi, I think this might be one on your radar.    Stick around as I break it down, share my thoughts and see what other enemy fans are saying about this series as a whole.

All right, so let's get into it. Now brief synopsis for those who haven't seen it yet. Lazarus is just a near future sci-fi anime series created by Ro Watanabe, and I do apologize if I mispronounced that, who's also known for his work for cowboy  b. Now the show follows five members, task force as a race against time fining a scientist known by the name of Dr.

Skinner, who created a seemingly miraculous painkiller called  Hana, however, turns out to be a deadly toxin with a three and a half years life expectancy and skin air resurfaces to reveal that everyone who took it will die. Now first impressions. When I first heard about Lazareth and later saw the trailer, I actually thought I was watching a sequel to Cowboy Bebop because the animation seemed to be similar of that, of Cowboy Bebop, and it's  stand to reason because it is the creator who's producing it.

I was able to kind of like see that within the animation, which    brought those similar feelings as Cowboy Bebop is a beloved anime. It's only one, one season. And though they have attempted to do a live action, it did not turn out the way it was supposed to.  Due to Netflix always.

Dropping the ball with trying to adapt live action.  Animate. Now, moving on with my first impression. I liked it. You know, watching that first episode was a lot of nostalgia, just me remembering the art style, the animation, how everything, like the camera angles  really shouted  cowboy bebop.

And I'm not sure if like that was the direction that  the producer was going with. But it worked because not only this is like an original IP, I believe, but it did also play on that familiar familiarity for those who've seen his earlier work and that art style. So I feel like first impressions very well, and not only that, but the music also.

 Compliments the show itself, which  for those who have not seen Cowboy be Bobb  I can say that Cowboy Be Bobb does have a good soundtrack for the series and it's something I feel like you should also have a chance. To watch and listen to the music as well. And I felt like everyone who's watched that trailer had the same  kind of like nostalgia moment or aha when they watched the trailer and you could see it in their eyes like this was a successor.

It like, it was almost like a sequel. They were seeing.  Cowboy Bebop within this series and  reviewers who I've was watching on YouTube were excited for this and I was excited as well. I. Now what worked within, you know, this first episode, which will set the tone for the whole series, I believe it's  continuing that narrative of a  dystopian tone like in the future.

It does have that, I don't wanna say Mad Max, but also Blade Runner feel to it because it is set  in a a time where there's technology, there's robots or AI and their people are still  there. So it still has those undertones, but it also. With that dark tone is very bright colors, very reminiscent of  the color palette of  cowboy bebop.

And for those who don't know, I'll probably be using Cowboy Bebop for a reference for a lot of this, because what they've done in this show  just always refers back to Cowboy Bebop as a whole. Now the first episode is titled Goodbye Crew World. Now, if that doesn't read,  tell you what to expect or to set the tone for the series as a whole.

Nothing knows because that in itself is telling you shit is about to go down. Shit is  has hit the fan. What are we to expect? The characters are gonna have a, a bleak outlook  going forward and    what the narrative will be. Now, uh, what also kind of worked for me was. The standout for music, because not even maybe 15 minutes in, we are introduced to a soundtrack and it's almost like a  hype music as we're introduced to maybe three characters at the be three characters at the beginning of the series.

And it feels like the music that's selected, which is a jazz iteration of a song, which I. Did not catch the name, and it was played almost like a reminiscence of like a, an entrance or a walkout type of song. And that type of tune and jazz and blues type of ensemble is very iconic with in  cowboy bebop.

And I kind of see that  brought up in,  this show with a lot of roots to Cowboy Bebop as predecessor anime. It's very interesting and it's  kind of sets what you're going to expect, that the good music choices are gonna compliment the action and help progress the story. Because what was good, I have noticed, is that throughout this episode was.

Music was also a character. It also helped progress. The story also helped  change the tone.  When you know there were words not spoken, there was just action. It just helped set that tone and put you in the mindset of what was actually going on. And were introduced to  the five task members with, you know, within the first episode.

But iconically, the first character I believe were introduced to is Axel, and I'll have to double check the name.  But I believe his name is Axel and he, I've,  I have to say the way he's designed looks like  a sibling to spikes  from Cowboy Bebop, and I. Just the way he looks, looks like a younger or an updated version.

And so it's, you can see the roots of like how integrated the art style from the previous show, how the producers really, you know.  Pulling on that nostalgia, which I'm not mad at it.  I like it because I grew up and I watched  cowboy bebop, which I feel like I, that helps progress or helps makes this work because it does have.

A prior fan base of a previous anime, and those who have seen that are going to, you know, when they watch the trailer and watch the first episode, they're going to see a lot of similarities and hopefully that's going to  bring in the draw  because the fan base of  his prior work will flock to this now.

So with that being said, there are some things that, oh, we'll move on. There's also, one thing I also wanted to say that worked was how the camera worked with action. There's a specific scene with, I'll say Spike version two. A case axle is when he attempts to escape. He is very,  it does parkour. Now, the way the camera kind of moves to follow him, typically when he does like a, a jump flip over a guard and his movement is very different and it's very reminiscence of cowboy bebop, but also introduces a new type of,  transition and animation instead of doing a side profile  it's almost like gorilla tactics where like a point of view  almost point of view to the back that we're seeing  from his perspective of him jumping over and landing hand, we're following like right. Behind, like the cameraman's, like right behind him as he is doing his parkour  and not doing like a pan out where we just  pan out and just see him jumping, like we're right there behind him and.

It is very different  than what people might be used to in that type of animation or type of camera angle. 'cause I know some  producers, animators would always opt to do like a wide view because it's, they can animate less frames, uh, and kind of get a, get away with that. But it's nice seeing that no corners and just the first episode were cut, like everything was put out.

I feel like in the first episode to kind of tell you like the producer is not kidding around. He wants this to be a full series. Now we're gonna go on to what didn't work. And I wouldn't say there's a lot of things that didn't work because this show has a lot of  NAS nostalgia behind it and name recognition from the previous work.

I feel like that in itself is also going to hinder, uh, the show. Because there might be a lot of people who are not  used to that type of art style that might think it's too bright or they might think, you know, the undertone of dark dystopia is just not their thing.  I.  And they might feel like, oh, I might have to watch Cowboy Bebop to kind of watch Lazarus, and it might turn off a lot of fans.

As I mentioned earlier, the show has a lot of name recognition from the producer,  hardcore fans of the previous work will flock to watch this because they know how good the previous work is. In that same vein, it might deter a lot of people from watching it because,  they may feel like they may have to watch the earlier work to kind of appreciate what's going on in Lazarus, and that's not the case.

But I feel like that's one thing that might work against the show is that it has a huge, big name recognition behind it, and it might deter people from it because then they have the assumption that they, in order to get into this, they have to watch previous work. Now, one thing I wanna say is that one thing that might not work is  the trope.

I felt like  there's been many animes. Um, I.  Who utilize like, Hey, we need to, you know, we're building a crew, you know, until they either stop the order or go on a venture and we need this one person based on their skills.  And not to say that's a bad thing, but it does  follow that template, which has, you know, been done.

   Over the years, cowboy bebop, you know, is, has done it. And there's been other animes over the years that followed that kind of template in  Issa Kai's Action Adventure  over the Dun, and it's been played Now this is  one of.  Follows that same template and I feel like it, you know, it doesn't work  in the fact that  we need these five characters in order to track down    Dr.

Skinner. And unfortunately,  when you watch the first episode and you see  why, what's the reason for each character being there and what kind of skillset they have? You start to realize that  maybe not all of 'em actually need to be there  because of their skillset. Like none of them are really that talented or have serve a purpose.

Like there was one character I felt like. Seeing what he does. You know, with like techno, more like surveillance and drones  there was another female character who does  that and to the extreme who's a hacker, and it made it seem like, I don't know why you need both of these characters. I get it.

That.  The female hacker is like an introvert and a shut-in, and she stays all by her computer, but she could easily  hack surveillance and drones and things like that to help monitor. So there was no point I felt, personally for me that didn't work. No point for this other character who  has a drone and can do surveillance.

Like I feel like he wasn't needed in the show and that. This other character who's like a, a scholar of sorts for academia was also not needed. Yeah. He has, you know, parti   a certain set of skills that might  seem, be useful, but, and the type of steam and  trajectory of what they're trying to accomplish.

He seems. You know, his set of skills and what he brings to the table was, I feel like more useless. So the only ones I felt like might be  acceptable  is the hacker axle, and I think the female  who's either the gun for hire of, of. Of sorts. Now, it could just be me and it's pretty fine, but I felt like based on the crew that we got, you could get by with just three.

Now that might be, you know, me being a negative on it, but once you watch the first episode, you could see like, okay  seeing what we're encountering with, we could get by with just three of these characters. It is kind of like with the guardians of guardians of the Galaxy  as a whole, they're great, but as you  dis dissect the team and who brings what you could  come to the assumption that you don't need all of 'em, like there's a few of that tor the core team that you could just utilize and not have to worry about it.

And an example would be Star Lord. Star Lord  was is someone that, you know, they had propped up to be part of a celestial or have blood of a celestial in one of the movies. He's done his part, but after that he's really not much needed. Like he's. His character is not like, he doesn't serve a purpose, a part of a team other than like being the leader of the Gardens of the Galaxy, as  series everyone else has a better, stronger skillset than him.

So I kind of use that as an example, as with. Lazarus, even though it's the first episode, you might get the idea that why do we have all these characters in these task force when only a set few are doing most of the the job. Now, what also doesn't work? I feel like it's gonna be accessibility for the show.

Now it does air on adult swim. Slash Cartoon Network at midnight and is also accessible on  HBO Max. Now with that, if you don't, if you're a cord cutter  and only have the streaming apps  this might be good for you. But the reason why I say it might be good or might be a negative, and the reason why is that this is HBO's.

 Second or adults swim second attempt at an anim producing an anime or create having an anime in their time saw that's a original ip. Prior to that was Ninja Kimo, and that started off great, but just went downhill and so. If you're looking for something new to watch on Adult Swim, you may be not so inclined or hesitant to watch this just because    ninja Kamo was  had high praise but just turned out to be a dumpster fire at in the end.

And so that could also deter you. Also along with like, if you don't have any streaming apps and you only watch things on tv, then having to wait  at midnight when the show is aired on Adult Swim to watch, it can be a burden for some who you know. Can't stay up that late. And if you miss it, there's no rerun for you.

 You may have to wait until the series completes in order to catch up on the show. So I feel like that doesn't work. And also, as I mentioned the name recognition  it might deter people and if you're not, so use, I think another thing, what does. Isn't gonna work is the animation. Now, I know I said I like the animation, but for some who've never watched the series or cowboy bebop, if you're, if this is your introduction to, uh, this producer's work, you might not like  the animation, the artwork  and the tone.

You might not get it. And just because it is also set in a dystopian era that might deter a lot of people from watching it.  Because there's so many different anime coming out, you, this has to compete with  I. Crunchy Rose Spring Anime Release Anime is being released on high dive. There's a lot of other shows coming out that this has to compete with, and it's also placed at a unique time that you might not have a lot of eyes on it.

So I feel like that itself  isn't gonna work. I kind of wish that  it was also promoted a lot. That's one thing. That I feel like didn't work for the series or the show right now is that there wasn't a lot of promotion.  From what I saw, you know, was just people were viewing the trailer.

I. And I watched them over the trailer and that's how I  knew about the show. Other than that, there wasn't any marketing, there was no  heavy marketing about this show in itself. So it was kind of like under the radar. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but if it had gone, like, if it had gone that way and I did not see people's reviews of the trailer.

I'll be honest, I would not have known about the show. I probably would've went on  HBO Max saw it there and probably, you know, if they had a trailer, watch it from then and kind of like, you know, be hesitant because I wouldn't have all the information. So I feel like that didn't also hinder it, is not having a  being marketed in a way to have a lot more people,  eyes on this show, uh, than expected. Now, it could be that they're very hesitant as they did kind of promote know Ninja Kuai, and that didn't do well.    If this they're not, I'm not sure what their mindset or what they might be thinking, like, you know, this might be a hit and miss for them. And if it  succeeds, great.

If it doesn't, ah man, it would suck. Now another thing that might  well, I feel like didn't work is something that  they did where prior to the episode, they do kind of like,  an excerpt of the character  re like their own little narration or like their opinion of how things happened, what their experience was prior to Hana, um, before the episode even starts.

So you kind of get like their point of view now. I know  for me I feel like it's interesting, but it something that might not work because.  It's something new that people who watch it will be like, I don't understand why they're doing it. They're giving me insight on this character  who I don't know what's going on as you get further into the episode.

So that in itself is a new take, which I feel like,  I feel like doesn't work for it because you're setting up this  preconceived motion of, or maybe touch on like  feelings prior to the episode of what to expect.  The tone, which the tone is already dark, but it's also kind of like hammering away 'cause you're getting these characters  kind of like their feelings of what they felt when HNA was first introduced.

What, you know, what were they doing. And now that things are like, at the end, however, you know, everything is gonna play out. Also, another thing I feel like doesn't work is the timeline because  there's a set timeline that they need to get Dr. Skinner, you know, within a set goal of like, you know, spoilers 30 days, humanity has 30 days.

To get Skinner in order for him to create a cure. I don't know if the show itself is gonna go through a whole 30 days  if there's gonna be any time lapse, but they have a limited time and so they're kind of like  a race and I'm not sure. If I've watched any anime that have done this  but I feel like that might not work for the show.

 Okay,  I don't really have to watch every episode because it's gonna be  time skipped. Like they're gonna be progressing very quickly. And depending on like how many episodes the show has, you don't know if.  They will resolve it, or it'll just end abruptly and there'll be another season.

So I feel like having an actual countdown, um, within the episode might not be the best, and I feel like it doesn't work.  You know, I feel, I feel like it doesn't work for the show as a whole. Now, with that said. What, you know, I like to give the show an overall rating. Now for me, I'm gonna rate it a four, a 3.5.

 Overall, four Lazarus, just because the show has a lot of name recognition behind it, and a lot of like an already prebuilt fan base.  Based on earlier work, the show is gonna do fine.  Where it lacks is that bringing in new  new fans, new  people to the anime of this type of genre of dystopia.

And death. I feel like that is gonna be much more of an uphill climb for the show. Lazarus is bringing in new people to the series and  the producer's work.

But I do feel that within this genre, if you  like the genre of dystopia, you know, death tone, almost like it has that death note  ghost in the Shell vibe. Um, what other show? Anime? Yeah, those are the ones, uh, to name a few of just what shows. That kind of have that tone and style  that you could put this show with.

So again, I stand by  a 3.5 of, you know, the rating for the show, but let's  go into the next summit where you try to get a, uh, read off of review  for the series and see what people are thinking. Now there. Wasn't any  reviews that I could find  saying, you know, what fans are thinking about Lazarus.

 So I had to go to Google and  go to ID or Im BD and I was able to pull off  find one review as a whole.  But a lot of the,  a lot of like the review sites  like rot tomatoes, were giving the show a good rating. So ROT tomatoes rated it like a, an 80  an 80% I believe. I'll have to double check.

 An IDBM  also high rating.  And I guess it's to be expected as a show that, you know, with a lot of name recognition that it does have  is going to get, get good reviews. So this user  Jim at the box says. I'm blown away by Lazarus. The character and story are captivating. The animation is topnotch, the themes are thought provoking, and the animated Cinema McGrath cinematography is exceptional.

It's a must see series from the creative of Cowboy bebop, anime. Um, they gave it  a four out of five. Now I agree with this, uh, user who I got from the review from IMBD. I agree with them because the show itself is a masterpiece. There are some areas which I mentioned that are lacking, but it is dealing with tones  of, you know, tones of death and of realism that we kind of can see play out in our, you know, day to day lives.

What's going on in the political climate right now. And it's a good show. So those tones that it's playing with, like we could see, you know, some doctors saying that, Hey  they're producing a medical cure drug that cures everything  and then turn around and be like, gotcha. So that type of tone we can see play out.

And I do agree with them that everything about the animation story, um, and  just. You, it is just great. I'm sorry, like I am, I'm hyping it, but also I had some negative things to say because the show, uh, the an just by based on the first episode was really good, and I'm going to continue watching it now.

I'm, I'm hoping that. This doesn't get like the 12 episode treatment that we do get a, you know, maybe 24 episodes. Who knows? I don't know how many seasons it's going to be, but I am going to continue watching it going forward. Overall, the first episode of Lazarus is.  At 3.5, the show itself is gonna get a four out of five.

 But if you're a fan of this  dystopian sci-fi type of genre  then I feel like you should give Lazarus a chance, watch the first episode, and then make a decision.  But I know like the fans who are fans of their previous work are going to just. Just going to devour this series as a whole. And I feel like that's to be expected, but based on everything I've, that I've seen in the first episode, I will give this a go.

 You should, you know, watch it and continue watching it.  But the first episode sets the tone  and it blows out a lot of the expectations for anime  in regards to good writing. Good story, good animation. It just hits a lot of marks, which is to be expected from the producer of Cowboy Bebop.

With the episode coming to a close, I wanna thank everyone for tuning into this episode of Second Alation. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, share it with your friends. You can also follow us on our social media, which will be, um, the link in the episode description. And if you have any recommendations, shoot us a message.

We're always open to hearing, you know what you guys want us to watch. If there's new anime or anime you watch that you want us to review, we're always open and we love to hear your thoughts. Thank you and have a nice day. Bye.

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