‘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 more Blade Runner first. Adult Swim and Crunchyroll dropped the trailer for their new anime series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus at their Comic-Con@Home panel. The series was created by the some of the folks behind Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, The Animatrix, and Appleseed, so it already has some serious cyberpunk cred.

Blade Runner Black Lotus Trailer

“Los Angeles, 2033.”

There’s no more iconic way to start a Blade Runner story than the setting in white text on a black screen. The rest of the trailer maintains much of the Blade Runner aesthetic: moody neon lighting, rain-soaked streets, boxy flying cars, and Coca-Cola logos abound. The environments are all pure Blade 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 Henwick in the English dub/Arisa Shuda in 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 Lotus has one serious sci-fi pedigree. Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) and Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex) directed all 13 episodes of the series. It was executive produced by Joseph Chou, best known for his work on Appleseed and The Animatrix. Shinichiro Watanabe, who directed the incredible Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 and Cowboy Bebop, served as a creative producer.

“The Individual Against the World”

During the Comic-Con@Home panel, the creators spoke candidly about their love for Blade 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 Lotus intends to continue in the anti-capitalist vein of the original movie, while also possibly setting up the events we see in Blade 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 Fuji voice Joseph, a mysterious man who owns a spare parts junkyard. Samira Wiley/Takako Honda voice Alani Davis, a fresh LAPD recruit. Brian Cox/Takaya Hashi voice Niander Wallace Sr., founder and CEO of the Wallace Corporation. Wes Bentley/Takehito Koyasu voice Niander Wallace Jr., a brilliant scientist working for his father. (He was portrayed by Jared Leto in 2049.) 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 for Blade Runner: Black Lotus.