Amid all the Comic-Con commotion, Adult Swim treated anime fans to their first glimpses of some highly-anticipated Toonami titles. In addition to dropping the energetic, interdimensional madness of Rick and Morty: The Anime (more here), attendees toured Shinichirō Watanabe’s vision of the near future in Lazarus, recently greenlit by the network, and delved deeper into the unsettling black-and-white frames of the long awaited Uzumaki series, adapted from the manga by Junji Ito.
Check out the videos below:
Lazarus
The action-packed story takes place in the 2050s, unfolding after one Dr. Skinner introduces a miracle drug called Hapuna which cures all illness and pain, before mysteriously vanishing. Three years later, the doctor reappears with a terrible warning: Due to Hapuna’s short half-life, everyone who has taken it will die approximately three years later. A five-person task force known as “Lazarus” is gathered from across the globe to save humanity from Skinner’s plans for a medically engineered judgment day.
Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo), the series is animated by MAPPA and produced by Sola Entertainment, featuring action sequences designed by John Wick franchise stuntman/director Chad Stahelski and music by Bonobo (featured in the trailer), Floating Points, Kamasi Washington and others.
Uzumaki
This four-episode mini series based on Junji Ito’s manga centers on teenage high school student Kirie Goshima; her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito; and the citizens of the small, fictional Japanese town of Kurouzu-cho — which is cursed by supernatural events involving spirals.
Originally slated for a 2020 release, the anime adaptation is directed by Hiroshi Nagahama (Mushishi films, The Reflection, The Flowers of Evil) and produced by Production I.G, which delivered the FLCL sequels for Adult Swim (currently in production on FLCL Shoegaze).
