‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus’ Trailer: Revisit The World Of Future Los Angeles In This Animated Series
In time we’ll all fade away like tears in rain, but at least we’ll have a chance to see moreBlade Runnerfirst. Adult Swim and Crunchyroll dropped the trailer for their new anime series,Blade Runner: Black Lotusat their Comic-Con@Home panel. The series was created by the some of the folks behindGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, The Animatrix,andAppleseed, so it already has someserious cyberpunk cred.
Blade Runner Black Lotus Trailer
“Los Angeles, 2033.”
There’s no more iconic way to start aBlade Runnerstory than the setting in white text on a black screen. The rest of the trailer maintains much of theBlade Runneraesthetic: moody neon lighting, rain-soaked streets, boxy flying cars, and Coca-Cola logos abound. The environments are all pureBlade Runner,though this seems like more of an action series and less of an existential drama.
The series will follow a new protagonist, a replicant named Elle (Jessica Henwickin the English dub/Arisa Shudain Japanese). Elle doesn’t seem quite sure of herself or her abilities, but they’ll be put to the test when Blade Runners start to hunt her down.
Black Lotushas one serious sci-fi pedigree.Shinji Aramaki(Appleseed) andKenji Kamiyama(Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex) directed all 13 episodes of the series. It was executive produced byJoseph Chou, best known for his work onAppleseedandThe Animatrix.Shinichiro Watanabe, who directed the incredibleBlade Runner:Black Out 2022andCowboy Bebop, served as a creative producer.
“The Individual Against the World”
During the Comic-Con@Home panel, the creators spoke candidly about their love forBlade Runner. Aramaki went as far as to say that his career was in reverence of the film.
“He wanted to try and realize what he saw and the impact it had on him,” he said, via Chou’s translation. “There’s so many things that you could do with it… it’s almost like a kid in a candy store.”
Black Lotusintends to continue in the anti-capitalist vein of the original movie, while also possibly setting up the events we see inBlade Runner: 2049.
“It’s somewhat reflected of what might be going on right now,” Kamiyama said. “But we wanted to focus on the struggle of the individual against the world. How do you find your own identity in a world like this?”
The cast of performers bringing those individuals to life is massive and full of top-tier talent.Will Yum Lee/Shinshu Fujivoice Joseph, a mysterious man who owns a spare parts junkyard.Samira Wiley/Takako Hondavoice Alani Davis, a fresh LAPD recruit.Brian Cox/Takaya Hashivoice Niander Wallace Sr., founder and CEO of the Wallace Corporation.Wes Bentley/Takehito Koyasuvoice Niander Wallace Jr., a brilliant scientist working for his father. (He was portrayed byJared Letoin2049.) The cast also includes Josh Duhamel, Taiten Kusunoki, Peyton List, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Stephen Root, Hochu Otsuka, Barkhad Abdi, Takayuki Kinba, Gregg Henry, Masane Tsukayama, Henry Czerny, Akio Nojima, Jason Spisak and Kazuki Yao.
On top of the trailer and the panel, Adult Swim also dropped the first official poster forBlade Runner: Black Lotus.
Check outBlade Runner: Black Lotuswhen it comes to Adult Swim and Crunchyroll this fall.
