“Los Angeles 2032. A young woman wakes up with no memories, and possessing deadly skills. The only clues to her mystery are a locked data device and a tattoo of a black lotus. Putting together the pieces, she must hunt down the people responsible for her brutal and bloody past to find the truth of her lost identity.”
That’s the official description of Blade Runner: Black Lotus, the upcoming anime series from Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. It’ll debut later this year, but during today’s Virtual Crunchyroll Expo, the opening of the show was revealed by directors Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama. Check it out below.
Also revealed was this brand new poster, which just looks slick as all hell.
Blade Runner has always been known for its props, like those unforgettable guns and vehicles. But now we’ve got samurai swords? Bigger guns and vehicles? Black Lotus is taking things up a notch.
That’s especially interesting because the story is set between the events of the 1982 Ridley Scott film and 2017 Denis Villeneuve film. We know where things begin, and we know where they’re going. But, sometime in between, we’ll follow a brand new replicant named Elle (voiced by Jessica Henwick in English and Arisa Shida in Japanese) who has deep ties to the growing mythology of futuristic Los Angeles. She’ll be jointed by characters voiced by Will Yun Lee, Samira Wiley, Brian Cox, Wes Bentley, Josh Duhamel, Peyton List, Stephen Root, Barkhad Abdi, Gregg Henry, Henry Czerny, and Jason Spisak.
The 13-episode season of Blade Runner: Black Lotus will debut this fall on both Adult Swim (in English) and on Crunchyroll (in Japanese). It’s one of those things we really hope lives up to its namesake.