New animated series from ‘Cowboy Bebop’ creator ordered at Adult Swim

Adult Swim has ordered Lazarus, a new series from Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichirō Watanabe.

Per a report from Variety, Lazarus has been picked up for released on Toonami, though a release date has yet to be announced. The upcoming animated series is currently in production with MAPPA (Attack On Titan, Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen) on animation duties.

Also contributing to the series is John Wick series director Chad Stahelski, who Variety reports has “designed several action sequences for the series”. Like Cowboy Bebop, Lazarus will feature a jazz and electronic-heavy score, with Kamasi Washington, Bonobo and Floating Points tapped to compose the series’ soundtrack.

Lazarus, per Variety, will be set in 2052 and follows a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist who develops a cure-all drug that is revealed to cause death three years later. While further details remain unknown for now, Lazarus will also include themes of action and suspense.

More information about the series is expected to be revealed at the Adult Swim Festival in San Diego on Saturday, July 22.

Shinichirō Watanabe is best known for creating Cowboy Bebop, which released in 1998 and has become a cult classic. The anime was adapted into a live-action series for Netflix in November 2021 with John Cho, Daniella Pineda and Mustafa Shakir cast in lead roles.

The live-action series scored a two-star review from NME‘s James McMahon, who wrote: “In Netflix’s update, the space and inertia so core to the anime are jettisoned for a pacy tempo that really doesn’t fit with the story. It turns Cowboy Bebop into just another show.

“Just another show. Just another sausage stuck in the grooves of the pop culture conveyor belt. Just another sacrifice to the relentless churn of the streaming machine. When will they ever learn?”