Adult Swim and Crunchyroll treated Virtual Crunchyroll expo fans to a thrilling opening sequence from the anime series reminiscent of the live-action ‘Blade Runner’ franchise; check out the clip featuring a song by Grammy Award-winning singer- songwriter Alessia Cara.
Fans got a treat at the Virtual Crunchyroll Expo when Adult Swim and Crunchyroll treated them to a peek inside Alcon Entertainment’s highly anticipated anime series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus. Fans were shown new key art and the series’ thrilling opening title sequence that sets up the vibe for what we expect to see when the show drops later this year. The anime follows a young woman who tries to seek revenge on those that have wronged her while uncovering the mysteries of her past.
During the panel, “The Making of Blade Runner: Black Lotus,” Crunchyroll’s head of development Sarah Victor spoke with directors Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama about their process for creating the series and how it fits into the legendary Blade Runner universe. Aramaki and Kamiyama also spoke at length about themes within this new series, and how they worked hard to create a human story focused primarily on the replicants.
When unveiling the new key art, the directors discussed their process for character design and the stylistic balance they found between animation and photorealism. They also shared that their international production and creative staff helped them capture an atmosphere closer to a Hollywood production, and allowed them to create more diverse characters, much like you’d see in Los Angeles now.
Finally, the directors presented the opening sequence from Blade Runner: Black Lotus, which features the original song “Feel You Now” from Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Alessia Cara.
Check it out!
The English and Japanese voice cast includes:
- Jessica Henwick / Arisa Shida - Elle, a female replicant created for a secret and unknown purpose.
- Will Yun Lee / Shinshu Fuji - Joseph, a mysterious figure who owns a spare parts junkyard in Los Angeles.
- Samira Wiley / Takako Honda - Alani Davis, a fresh LAPD recruit.
- Brian Cox / Takaya Hashi - Niander Wallace Sr, founder, and CEO of the Wallace Corporation.
- Wes Bentley / Takehito Koyasu - Niander Wallace Jr, a brilliant scientist working for his father.
- Josh Duhamel / Taiten Kusunoki - Marlowe, a deadly Blade Runner.
- Peyton List / Yoshiko Sakakibara - Josephine Grant, the wife of the police chief.
- Stephen Root / Hochu Otsuka - Earl Grant, Police Chief of the LAPD.
- Barkhad Abdi /Takayuki Kinba - Doc Badger, a black-market dealer.
- Gregg Henry / Masane Tsukayama - Senator Bannister, a politician with strong feelings on replicant production.
- Henry Czerny / Akio Nojima - Doctor M, a brilliant doctor and professor of medicine.
- Jason Spisak / Kazuki Yao - Hooper, a journalist in the pocket of the Wallace Corporation.
Blade Runner: Black Lotus will premiere later this year on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. The series is produced by Alcon Entertainment and animation studio Sola Digital Arts, with Shinichiro Watanabe serving as a creative producer. Crunchyroll will stream the series in Japanese with subtitles to its global audience of more than 120 million registered users and more than 5 million subscribers while Adult Swim will air the English language version on Toonami, the network’s popular anime programming block
Source: WarnerMedia
