Lazarus

Within seconds of watching the first episode, the abysmal voice acting was apparent, and not just from one or two characters but across the board. It's very obvious that they did not give the English voice casting an adequate budget. What's shocking about this is the fact that this series was created by the same guy responsible for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, two of the best voice acted anime series ever created, but this show has bad voice acting even for an average anime.

Aside from that, Lazarus is extremely derivative and has a boring/generic setting. The whole premise of the show (so far, anyway) seems like it was thought up in a matter of minutes. It honestly feels like Watanabe is just kinda over making anime, and this was something he did simply because a really good offer came along.

Definitely don't go into this series expecting something on par with the likes of Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo. It's nowhere even close to that level of overall quality or artistic vision.

Lazarus doesn't really do anything unique or mind-blowing. Like his previous works, the protagonist on a wild goose chase in search of something. In this case, he's in search of a doctor who holds the only cure for a medicine that will eventually kill everyone who took it ever. The premise is actually pretty tame, realistic, and contained compared to other Watanabe's works. The characters aren't really standouts, even the protagonist. I would say it's worth the watch if you like his other works Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, Samurai Champloo but Lazarus honestly falls short of all of these titles by far. The dubbing also isn't good and breaks the gloomy vibe. I'd suggest the sub if you really want to not break immersion because sometimes the English VA is just...bad. The soundtrack, as per usual from Watanabe, delivers. The score during most scenes helps enhance the gloomy aesthetic that it's going for. Not a bad work by any means but it's not a must watch either.

An interesting series from which I expect a lot in terms of animation and entertainment.

Firstly, because the technical team is of high quality and it's a MAPPA production.

Although the first 2 episodes are easy to watch, the series doesn't escape the flaws of current productions:

• A basic scenario if you're a fan of Japanese animation that's afraid of going too far.

• a main character who's impossible to stop (prison, technology, policeman...) but a girl comes along! We know where this illogic comes from...
• a bunch of kids more intelligent than the population as a whole...

Given the media hype, I hope the anime will have the guts to take off beyond the usual mediocrity of series with an American touch.

To be continued...

It was a good show that explored similar themes of loneliness, much like Cowboy Bebop. The animation was solid-Mappa, as always, delivered incredible work. However, I felt the story lacked depth. While the characters' backstories were touched on, there were still many unanswered questions, and I didn't really connect with any of the characters, not even Axel. Given that Cowboy Bebop had twice the number of episodes, that's understandable. I wouldn't call this a bad anime, but I wouldn't say it's a great one either. If you're after action, good animation, a strong soundtrack, and themes similar to Cowboy Bebop, you might enjoy it. I hope that if there's a season 2, we'll see stronger character development.

I like this show, but it lacks the real depth Of his past animes, like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, it's about middle of the road good. The characters don't get explored enough, and it doesn't have the intensity. All in all, it fell short of expectations. I was so hyped when this was announced, and now it's already been forgotten. Maybe Watanabe just doesn't have what he used to when he was younger when it comes to creativity? Honestly, that's what I get from watching this series. It's not terrible. It's not great either.