Carlos Morales
Blade Runner is still in our future as new anime series on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll
A new anime series titled “Blade Runner-Black Lotus,” totaling at 13 half-hour episodes all taking place in 2032 and will have some established characters from the “Blade Runner” universe making their way to the silver screen. Nothing else is known about the plot or release date.
Inspired by Denis Villeneuve-directed Blade Runner 2049 which in itself is a follow up to Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner, the new series will be realized by Alcon Television Group with WarnerMedia’s Adult Swim and Crunchyroll. Adult Swim has the worldwide rights to distribute the English dubbed versions of the series excluding Asia, and will air the English dubbed episodes of the show on its anime programming block, Toonami while Crunchyroll will handle worldwide streaming for its more than 45 million registered users and 2 million subscribers.
Sae Whan Song, head of business development for Crunchyroll said “Blade Runner is a seminal work, and its influence permeates the genre,” and followed up with “Adult Swim shares our excitement to bring this new series to fans, and we’re looking forward to building on this franchise together.”
Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) and Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) are directing the series, who are both providing directorial work for the new “Ghost in the Shell” series reboot. Along for the ride is Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) serving as creative producer, who previously wrote and directed the anime short film “Blade Runner Black Out 2022.” Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Laura Lancaster, and Al-Francis Cuenca of Alcon with Joseph Chou of Sola Digital Art’s will executive produce. Alcon’s Ben Roberts will serve as co-executive producer and production IG’s Mitsuhisa Ishikawa is participating as production adviser.