Adult Swim and Crunchyroll have debuted the first trailer for Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an upcoming anime series inspired by the Blade Runner movie franchise.
Black Lotus takes place in Los Angeles in 2032, putting it in between the events of Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner, set in 2019, and Denis Villeneuve's sequel Blade Runner 2049, which is set in 2049. The series follows a character named Elle, a replicant with special powers who appears to have been created for a specific purpose. We don't know what that purpose is — and neither does she — but the mystery will unfold over the course of 13 episodes.
In the trailer, we see her being hunted and constantly on the run. At the same time, she's piecing together her past and discovering her powers and capabilities. And we also discover that she's referred to as "Black Lotus."
The trailer is a little more action-packed than what we're used to seeing in the slower-paced films. Hopefully the series is more than just action and explores some of the deeper thematic elements of the movies. That said, it looks entertaining so check out the trailer below.
In addition to the trailer, the cast and characters were also announced. Elle is voiced by Jessica Henwick in English and Arisa Shida in Japanese. Here are some of the other characters:
- Joseph: a mysterious figure who owns a spare parts junkyard in Los Angeles (Will Yun Lee/Shinshu Fuji)
- Alani Davis: a fresh LAPD recruit (Samira Wiley/Takako Honda)
- Niander Wallace Sr: founder and CEO of the Wallace Corporation (Brian Cox/Takaya Hashi)
- Niander Wallace Jr: a brilliant scientist working for his father (Wes Bentley/Takehito Koyasu)
- Marlowe: a deadly Blade Runner (Josh Duhamel/Taiten Kusunoki)
- Josephine Grant: the wife of the police chief (Peyton List/Yoshiko Sakakibara)
- Earl Grant: Police Chief of the LAPD (Stephen Root/Hochu Otsuka)
- Doc Badger: a black market dealer (Barkhad Abdi/Takayuki Kinba)
- Senator Bannister: a politician with strong feelings on replicant production (Gregg Henry/Masane Tsukayama)
- Doctor M: a brilliant doctor and professor of medicine (Henry Czerny/Akio Nojima)
- Hooper: a journalist in the pocket of the Wallace Corporation (Jason Spisak/Kazuki Yao)
Blade Runner: Black Lotus will run for 13 episodes — all directed by Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama. It's produced by Alcon Entertainment and animation studio Sola Digital Arts, with Shinichiro Watanabe serving as a creative producer. No premiere date has been announced, but it's expected to debut this fall on Adult Swim (in English) and Crunchyroll (in Japanese).