Quick Links
This article contains a discussion of sexual assault.
For the most part,Lazarusepisode #4 was a return to form for the anime, and it left plenty to be excited about for episode #5 and beyond. While the series has been gradually losing steam, episode #4 did a good job of reminding people of how muchLazarushas to offer, and hopefully, future episodes will find a good way to build off of that momentum.
Lazarusepisode #4 picked up where episode #3 left off, with Elaina finding another possible clue to Dr. Skinner’s whereabouts. While Axel and Leland were in Istanbul, Elaina discovered that a stockbroker named Sam Stephenson worked with the hacker Dr. 909 to sell massive amounts of Hapna stock right before Skinner revealed the truth to the world, which suggested that they helped Skinner disappear, sothe Lazarus team infiltrated Sam Stephenson’s club to interrogate Sam for information on Skinner’s whereabouts. It was another episode with plenty of great action and comedy, and hopefully, episode #5 will be even better.
What Time Lazarus Episode 5 Releases
Lazarus Episode 5’s Release Schedule
Shinichiro Watanabe’sLazarusisa Toonami original anime, meaning that cable or other forms of TV service are required for watching new episodes live, although new episodes will be streamed the next day on Max. Assuming there are no delays,Lazarusepisode #5 will premiere on Saturday, May 3 at 9:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST), 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 5:00 AM British Summer Time (BST), and it should be available on Max relatively early the following day.
Lazarus Episode 3 Review: Lazarus Is Starting To Lose Steam
Lazarus Episode 3 In Review
Overall,Lazarusepisode #3 is probably the anime’s weakest outing to date. While the characters are still fun to watch and even got some good development in episode #3, the narrative has fallen into a pattern of everyone doing random things as they try and fail to find Skinner, and seeing how little progress has been made with the plot is already tedious after only three episodes.TheLazarusanimeis currently doing a poor job of balancing episodic storytelling with a serialized narrative, and it’s one of the biggest things currently holding it back.
Even the animation isn’t enough to hold the show together. As great as the animation is, it’s hard to keep praising the fight scenes when they keep serving little narrative purpose; not every fight inCowboy BeboporSamurai Champloowas important, but they served a purpose more often than not, soLazarusis falling short ofShinichiro Watanabe’s other animeby not making its fight scenes worth watching beyond a visual level.Lazarusstill has more rough edges than people were probably hoping for, but fortunately, episode #4 showed that there’s still plenty of potential left for it.
What Happened In Lazarus Episode 4?
Produced By MAPPA; Directed By Kazuo Miyake
InLazarusepisode #4, “Don’t Stop the Dance”, Elaina discovered that a hacker known as Dr. 909 helped the stockbroker Sam Stephenson sell massive amounts of Hapna stock right before the truth came out and stocks plummeted, suggesting that they knew the truth beforehand and helped Skinner disappear. With them as their latest leads, Axel, Doug, Chris, and Leland infiltrated Sam’s nightclub while Elaina tried to track down Dr. 909 on the internet, and since Sam liked to invite women into his private lounge,Leland was forced to crossdress to increase the team’s odds of getting close to Sam Stephenson.
At Sam Stephenson’s club, it was, surprisingly, the cross-dressing Leland who was noticed by Sam, although Chris still forced herself into the mix. Things had already started uncomfortably with Sam’s blatant misogyny, but it quickly escalated when he and his friends drugged all the girls save for Leland to try to rape them. Fortunately,Chris had a high tolerance for drugs and beat up Sam before leading Axel and Doug into a fight with security, and as that happened, Elaina discovered that Dr. 909 was Sam Stephenson’s personal DJ, DJ Visionary.
Sam and Dr. 909 tried to make a break for it in a helicopter, but the combined efforts of the Lazarus team sent it crashing into a river. The two of them were quickly carted off to jail, but unfortunately, they had nothing to do with Dr. Skinner’s disappearance, with Dr. 909 learning the truth about Hapna by hacking into Delta Medicinal, the company that produced Hapna. The obvious answer was thatDelta Medicinal knew that Hapna would kill people and distributed it, anyway, and the episode ended on an ominous shot of chimpanzees being tested on with disastrous results.
Lazarus’ Latest Episode Was Shinichiro Watanabe’s Social Commentary At Its Finest
Shinichiro Watanabe Never Fails To Get A Message Across
Lazarusis another anime filled with Shinichiro Watanabe’s penchant for social commentary, and episode #4 is no exception. Having a more negative portrayal of AI in a creative setting was one thing, especially afterNetflix’sCarole & Tuesdaywas mostly neutral toward it, but making Sam an unapologetic rapist with the power to get away with everything was hauntingly realistic, and Chris kicking off his ultimate downfall was nothing short of cathartic.Lazarusepisode #4 excelled with its social commentary for how relevant it was to the biggest issues of modern society, and hopefully, there’s plenty more where that came from.
Lazarus Gracefully Recovers From A Weak Outing For The Most Part
Lazarus Finally Delivers Another Great Episode
Lazarusepisode #4 wasn’t the best episode, but it was certainly an improvement over episode #3. While it was another episode where the Lazarus team made little forward progress in their mission, there was far more development than in previous episodes, and even the action felt more organic, like it was serving a purpose beyond simply looking good. Add in some great comedic bits from the cast, andLazarusepisode #4 was a major improvement over episode #3 narratively, even if it still had the pacing issues that have been plaguing the series, as of late.
The biggest standout of episode #4 was undoubtedly Chris. Episode #4 was the first time Chris got to be in the spotlight, and sure enough,Lazarusepisode #4 did a perfect job of showing off how capable Chris was with how effortlessly she led the assault against Sam Stephenson and his henchmen, all of which was nothing but cathartic with how terrible a person he turned out to be. As much as the series has been stumbling,Lazarusepisode #4 was plenty of fun to watch, and hopefully, episode #5 will be no different.
Be sure to watchLazarusepisode #5 when it releases on Saturday, May 3.
