Shinichirō Watanabe’s Lazarus Reveals Poster Ahead of 2025 Release

The master of music-infused anime, Shinichirō Watanabe, is back with his new series, Lazarus, and fans have finally got a fresh look at the upcoming sci-fi show. Watanabe has made a name for himself with his original concept, single-season-long anime shows. He’s taken viewers to outer space and serenaded them with jazz in Cowboy Bebop, transported us back to the Edo period with a hip-hop twist in Samurai Champloo, and left us feeling dandy in space in, well… Space Dandy. As we all eagerly await Lazarus‘ release in 2025, a new poster and the artists behind the opening and closing scores have been unveiled.

Lazarus takes Shinichirō Watanabe back to the sci-fi genre. Set in the year 2052, the official synopsis reads: “An emergency task force is assembled when a miracle cure is hijacked for purging populations.” Fans have already been treated to a teaser trailer and a first-look clip. The new poster teases the mysterious “miracle cure,” with several hands either crawling to take it or dying as a result. Check out the poster below:

[RELATED: Cowboy Bebop Director Debuts Trailer for New Adult Swim Anime, Lazarus]

Lazarus‘s Soundtrack Features Great Musicians

As amazing as Shinichirō Watanabe’s original stories are, they’d be nothing without their incredible soundtracks. Watanabe assembled the now-renowned jazz group SEATBELTS for Cowboy Bebop and collaborated with the late-great Japanese music producer Nujabes for Samurai Champloo. While the full soundtrack for Lazarus hasn’t been revealed yet, we now know who will be singing the opening and closing tracks.

The opening track, “Vortex,” will be performed by Kamasi Washington. Washington is an American saxophonist who has worked with Thundercat, Snoop Dogg, and Raphael Saadiq. The closing score, “Lazarus,” will be performed by the English rock band, The Boo Radleys. The group has already released a song titled “Lazarus” in 1993. It is unclear whether the new score will be a brand new song or a re-working of their original hit.

Shinichirō Watanabe Worked with a John Wick Legend on Lazarus

Shinichirō Watanabe has paired with some serious talent for Lazarus. As well as Kamasi Washington and The Boo Radleys, Watanabe teamed with the insanely booked-up Studio MAPPA for the animation. To bring the action scenes to life, John Wick director Chad Stahelski offered his services for free as a fight coordinator. Stahelski filmed the fight scenes in live-action before handing them over as references to the animators.

Lazarus hasn’t been given an exact release date yet. The series will release on Adult Swim in 2025. With the release of the new poster, there’s a chance a new trailer could be released in the coming days, which might bring a proper release date with it.

H/T: Lazarus Website