DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

‘Lazarus’ Creator Shinichirō Watanabe On Modernizing His Action Anime Series & Teases Upcoming “Ghost Story”

June 20, 2025
in News
‘Lazarus’ Creator Shinichirō Watanabe On Modernizing His Action Anime Series & Teases Upcoming “Ghost Story”
494
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In Adult Swim‘s Lazarus, the latest anime action series from Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichirō Watanabe, one man aims to free the world of pain at a catastrophic price. 

The year is 2052 when an era of peace and unbridled indulgence reigns supreme. The reason for this? Humankind has been freed from sickness and pain after a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist, Dr. Skinner, invented a miracle cure-all drug with no apparent side effects called Hapuna. However, after society grows an unhealthy dependence on the pills, Dr. Skinner vanishes. Three years later, Dr. Skinner returns only to bring a message of doom. He announces that Hapuna, while vital to those hooked on it, has a short half-life, and everyone who has taken it will die in approximately thirty days since its release. A group of ragtag individuals forms a task force to locate Dr. Skinner and persuade him to develop a vaccine at the risk of humanity’s impending global extinction. 

Here, Watanabe speaks to Deadline about the creation of the series.

DEADLINE: What was the inspiration for the series? 

SHINICHIRŌ WATANABE: I always wanted to make an anime like 007 or Mission: Impossible.

The reason our project kicked off was because I got an offer from Cartoon Network. The inspiration for Lazarus specifically came from watching foreign news, where the topic often revolved around the opioid crisis. I thought that this isn’t something that’s really covered or touched upon in action movies. So, I thought it would be a great topic. Opioids are not illegal; you can get a legal prescription for some of them, but people will still get addicted to them, and people do die from them. I thought that maybe you could make a drug that would be similar in the way that it would be like an opioid but also designed to kill people in a certain amount of years. 

Whenever I talk about this, people ask if this is a metaphor for the opioid crisis, but it is not really like that. This is just media and entertainment, and it’s set in the future, so it’s nothing like that.

DEADLINE: I read that you teamed up with the director of John Wick, Chad Stahelski, to help create the series’ stylized fighting. Talk more about that. 

WATANABE: It’s been a while since I’ve made an action anime—about roughly 20 years, to be exact. So, I can’t just make the same type of action anime I made before. I needed to modernize. So, the best person to reach was Chad. 

DEADLINE: What has changed in the 20-year gap within the animation industry? 

WATANABE: In the past, anime production budgets were very low, so there wasn’t much wiggle room for what we could actually make. There was no way we would have been able to call on Chad’s team in the past due to budget constraints. Now, while the budgets are bigger, there’s a lot more we can do, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but there aren’t enough people in the industry to get the work done. We can’t just add more people willy-nilly; the animators are artisans and craftspeople, so they take a long time to train. That’s the reason we have a shortage now. This goes to directors, too. They take a lot of time to train and a lot of skills and experience to have a good director direct a series. 

DEADLINE: What were some themes that you wanted to get through on Lazarus? 

WATANABE: There are a lot of themes. But the biggest one is pain. Dr. Skinner does say in the beginning that not feeling pain is the same as dying, and for him, it’s a question of whether pain should be moved completely, both physically and mentally.

DEADLINE: What media have you been consuming lately that inspires you? 

WATANABE: I’d like to make a series based on a ghost story in the future. I’ve been consuming a lot of ghost-related media lately—specifically, movies where evil ghosts make an appearance. Oh, and I recently watched The Exorcist. 

[This interview was conducted through an interpreter add has been edited for length and clarity.]

The post ‘Lazarus’ Creator Shinichirō Watanabe On Modernizing His Action Anime Series & Teases Upcoming “Ghost Story” appeared first on Deadline.

Tags: Adult SwimAnimationawardsdialogueLazarusShinichiro Watanabe
Share198Tweet124Share
Packers’ Micah Parsons Provides Major Injury Update About Himself
News

Packers’ Micah Parsons Provides Major Injury Update About Himself

by Newsweek
August 29, 2025

Micah Parsons is now on the Green Bay Packers. After the blockbuster trade went down that saw him traded by ...

Read more
Books

Brittney Griner Takes Huge Step in WNBA Record Books During Dream-Wings

August 29, 2025
News

Trump Officials Move to Fire Most Voice of America Journalists

August 29, 2025
News

New media power couple: Vanity Fair editor Mark Guiducci and NYT’s White House correspondent Shawn McCreesh are dating

August 29, 2025
News

Is Burning Man demonic?

August 29, 2025
Ukraine updates: Russia launches ‘massive attack’ on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region

Ukraine updates: Russia launches ‘massive attack’ on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region

August 29, 2025
Nick Saban Delivers Blunt Answer on Calls to Become College Football’s First Commissioner

Nick Saban Facilitates Key Decision for Alabama Football Coach Kalen DeBoer’s Offense

August 29, 2025
Epstein ‘birthday book’ set to be handed over to Congress, House Democrat says

Epstein ‘birthday book’ set to be handed over to Congress, House Democrat says

August 29, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.