Hideo Kojima’s Nostalgic Return to Anime: Watching Lazarus Live!

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Summary

  • Hideo Kojima watches Lazarus and feels nostalgic about it, planning to watch more anime in real time.
  • Lazarus, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, centers on a miracle drug and airs on Adult Swim’s Toonami block in the US.
  • The series will have 13 episodes with no news on a potential Season 2, boasting impressive staff such as Chad Stahelski for action.

As an observer, I’ve noticed a palpable excitement among Cowboy Bebop enthusiasts, myself included, regarding the upcoming series. It appears that even Hideo Kojima, the mastermind behind Metal Gear Solid, shares this anticipation, as he recently took to social media to express his thoughts on the show.

As an avid fan, I’d like to share my enthusiasm for the gripping anime series, “Lazarus,” masterfully crafted by Shinichiro Watanabe. This captivating tale centers around a seemingly miraculous drug that, unbeknownst to its users, carries a grim three-year side effect: it kills those who took it. Given the widespread use of this drug before its deadly secret was exposed, governments and nongovernmental organizations are now in a desperate race against time to discover a cure. The key to saving countless lives lies in finding the brilliant mind behind the drug’s creation — the scientist whose discovery has both healed and doomed humanity.

Hideo Kojima Is Watching Lazarus

Kojima recently shared on his platform (previously Twitter) that he’s tuning into the TV show “Lazarus”. He mentioned it’s been quite a while since he last caught an anime on television; the last time was when the series “Lycoris Recoil” premiered in 2022.

He experienced a sense of longing as he watched it live, rather than later through streaming platforms following the initial broadcast, and it’s likely he’ll do so more frequently going forward.

I’m always sharing what I watch over on my Japanese account, and that’s a regular occurrence! However, you might not find many updates about the shows or films I’ve been enjoying on my English profile. That’s likely because it feels more comfortable for me to express myself in Japanese when posting online.

Lazarus: What Is It About And Where To Watch It?

Lazarus, a new production by Shinichiro Watanabe (known for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo), is established within the same universe as Cowboy Bebop. Interestingly, each anime produced by Watanabe is meant to unfold in this shared universe, but Lazarus stands out because it’s set just a few decades before Bebop, unlike other series which are spaced centuries apart.

The show is broadcast simultaneously in Japan and the US. In the U.S., you can catch it every Saturday, which translates to midnight Eastern Time (ET), or 9 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Adult Swim’s Toonami segment. Later, these episodes are made available on MAX, expanding their reach globally, though initially dubbed in English.

The series consists of 13 episodes, and it’s expected to conclude by around June. As of now, there’s no news on a possible Season 2, as creator Watanabe typically wraps up shows after a few seasons.

Lazarus boasts a stellar team, led by none other than Chad Stahelski, renowned for his work on John Wick, who crafted the action sequences. The script was penned by Takahiro Ozawa (Mazinger Z Movie: Infinity), Dai Sato (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex), Tsukasa Kondo (Altered Carbon: Resleeved), and Watanabe collaboratively. Studio MAPPA, famous for its work on Jujutsu Kaisen, is handling the animation.

Lazarus is first broadcast on Toonami (Adult Swim), and then added to streaming platforms.

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2025-04-07 02:26