This week’s Lazarus brought some of the most beautiful scenery seen so far in this series, and the most unsubtle commentary on environmental issues that is the crux of this entire series. So without further ado, let’s recap what happened in this episode.

The episode begins with the protagonist asking each other their ages in a scene where we actually see something resembling comradery. We really don’t learn much aside from character ages as Doug is 23 and Christine does not want to divulge her age. We already established that Eleina and Leland are the kids of the group. Axel tries to light a barbecue with a blowtorch in a humorous scene. After that, the actual plot kicks off.

The major environmental disaster Dr. Skinner predicted, the melting of the polar ice caps and the flooding of several coastal areas. Despite the whole drugging most of the human race with a poison that is about to kill them, several people hail Dr. Skinner as a prophet for correctly predicting the exact moment of this environmental disaster. The Lazarus team discusses how the aftermath of this event will lead to worldwide political instability and World War III, but the populace we’ve seen in this series seem so chill and nonchalant about the end of the world. The Lazarus team watches a video where Dr. Skinner declares himself not the destroyer of the world but merely the seventh trumpeter. Our main characters, and presumably the Japanese audience not familiar with the Bible, get a condensed synopsis of the Book of Revelation. Okay, this is a common trope in environmental disaster stories where humans destroying the environment is the actual cause of the Biblical apocalypse.

The main characters then decide to split up and  search flooded coastal areas on various islands throughout the world to find clues on Dr. Skinner’s whereabouts. Christine has enough money from Lazarus’s bank account to buy a $75,000 boat. Also, we get the obligatory anime cheesecake of Christine in a bikini for all the teen boys watching this show. What ensues are beautiful vistas of the sea and the beauty of the ocean and the fish in it. This is juxtaposed against the destruction of major cities like Manilla. The scene is mostly dialogue free with only the ambient music providing accompaniment. Towards the end of this scene, the characters have internal monologues about the beauty of the ocean and how humans have ruined the environment and its majestic beauty. Christine theorizes this wild goose chase for Dr. Skinner is his way of making the Lazarus team retrace his step and experience what he experienced. Essentially, the quest for Dr. Skinner seems to be his method for the protagonists to see the world his way and see that humanity deserves to be wiped off the map.

Hersch goes to an art museum and looks at Rembrandt’s paintings because Dr. Skinner is fan of his work. The notable painting she looks at is The Raising of Lazarus. Hey, the title of this cartoon is Lazarus, maybe there’s a reason for the title of the show and its titular team. We see lots of Biblical concepts coopted in this show, seemingly more accurately than other anime, which isn’t a high bar to clear considering all the creative license anime often has with Christianity and Catholicism in particular like wizard priests and nuns. We still have no clue exactly what the significance of Lazarus and the concept of resurrection is in this show. Maybe Dr. Skinner believes that the death of humanity will lead to the rejuvenation of life on earth, but that seems to be an odd interpretation of a Biblical story about showing compassion towards humans. It will probably take a few episodes to determine what Watanabe is trying to say and the exact meaning behind the Biblical symbolism.

The episode ends with Christine meeting a mysterious woman who calls her Alexandra. I’m guessing next week will be Christine’s backstory as episode 6 was Eliena’s. In conclusion, kudos to the audio and visual department for their incredible work. This episode was the most politically charged episode of Adult Swim’s most politically charged show ever. We’ll let the audience decide their opinions on it’s themes of environmental issues. The apocalyptic Biblical symbolism is very clear, but the significance of the Lazarus story to the anime’s plot is still muddy.

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