Why Did I Choose To Watch This:
When the news of a new upcoming anime by the name of Lazarus dropped, there was nothing but hopes and expectations for it. Lazarus has some of the biggest names and entities behind it. Starting off with Shinichirō Watanabe, the director behind Cowboy Bepob, Chad Stahelski, the director behind John Wick, and to top things off we had MAPPA animating the series. Aside from the big names luring me in, I still wanted more. After reading the synopsis, there was nothing holding me back.
Plot Mechanics:
High stakes, a badass team assembled to save the world, and a massive mystery materializing, Lazarus had all the right elements in its premise.
Hapna, a cure-all miracle drug, is revealed to be a lie. Although the drug did remedy everything, there was a shocking truth to it. The story starts with Dr. Skinner, the neuroscientist who developed Hapna, revealing that the miracle drug is in fact a death sentence. It turns out anyone that takes the drug will die after a three year period. To make matters worse, he revealed this information 30 days before the drug hit the market and promptly disappeared without a trace. With the entire world in panic, a specialized task force, Lazarus, is assembled to find Skinner and a cure. Of course this is where we meet the main character and his fellow team members gearing up to save the world.
The world building was impeccable. The anime did a great job of depicting what a worldwide crisis would look like. With things like multiple nations rushing to find Skinner and a cure, stock market crashing, people rioting, and so much more. The story takes place in 2052, so there are some cool technological advancements that were used in the anime as well.
Plot: 10/10
Aesthetics/Vibes:
You can feel this anime trying to give us the nostalgic vibe while mixing in epic action scenes. Sometimes it delivered and other times it felt very forced. The soundtrack and music didn’t resonate with me which really hurt the show’s impact on me. The show wasn’t dull by any means but it just didn’t leave a lasting impact.
Aesthetics/Vibes: 5/10
Characters:
The Lazarus team is colorful on paper: a tech wizard, a femme-fatale, a fierce fighter, a street-smart hustler, and a cunning analyst. However, we never really got much out of their characters. The supporting characters did have their own moments and stories but none really struck a chord with me nor did I find them interesting.
The main character, Axel Gilberto, initially seemed like a badass but it felt a tad bit overhyped. Yes his fight scenes were cool, his background was cool, but that’s all we really got. No emotional depth was presented on his character nor any of the others on Lazarus.
Characters: 6/10
Art/Animation
The art and animation was extremely solid. What stood out to me was the nostalgic feel of the animation, but also how modern it looked. MAPPA always delivered with its animation. The fight choreography was absolutely incredible. There isn’t really anything negative to say about the art and animation, although I wish we got some more scenes with the world in chaos.
Art/Animation: 9/10
Execution
It really comes down to the last few episodes. I’ll be as spoiler free as possible here. The last few episodes felt episodic with no real sense of urgency as the 30 day time limit neared. And of course the biggest gripe would have to be with how everything unfolded. The mystery’s answer, boring. Skinner’s confrontation, boring. The forced fight that added nothing to the story, boring… but also why? I was left more frustrated with the ending than satisfied with learning the secrets behind Hapna.
Execution: 4/10
Overall Rating/Recommendation
Lazarus might be one of the all time busts in my opinion. The set up and plot had such great potential and with big names behind the anime how could it fail. I guess we know how, it’s the way everything came together at the end. I won’t sit here and say that the ending was egregious, but I will say that it didn’t satisfy me at all. I would still recommend it to anyone that wants a nice nostalgic feel to an anime but with modern day animation and epic action scenes. If you’re ok with an ok ending, give the anime a shot. If you hate being edged, don’t watch this.
Overall Rating/Recommendation: 7.5/10
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