We have finally gotten to the end of this show and the finale is about as rushed as expected. Toonami original series pretty much never have satisfying finales and this is no exception. This was yet another highly flawed Toonami original and I’d probably still put Ninja Kamui above it. Without further ado, let’s recap the speedrunned conclusion.

The episode begins with us learning about the secret origins of Hapna. The government was using Dr. Skinner’s research in order to develop biological weapons. Said biological weapon happens to be the secret ingredient in Hapna. It appears that part of Dr. Skinner’s motives to create the killer drug was to show what evil purpose the government was planning to use his research for. This reveal does not make Dr. Skinner seem like a heroic person trying to expose a corrupt military industrial complex, but rather an omnicidal self-righteous maniac willing to cause wonton destruction and death just to make his points. The corrupt military guy who created the bio-weapon to create Hapna gets arrested and we cut back to the big climactic final battle.

The big climactic  final battle between Axel and the assassin is gorgeously animated, but it feels like a waste of time at the same time because the end of the world is a way bigger deal than a random grudge match against a villain that isn’t very compelling in terms of personality or motivations and is extremely divorced from the main plot. The two exchange their blows and a helicopter comes to shoot them both down. The assassin uses a rocket launcher to blow up the helicopter and this causes the skyscraper rooftop the two are fighting on to collapse. This leads to a visually impressive scene of the two jumping off the pieces of rubble in order to safely make it to a safe surface. The assassin whips out his wire to begin swinging on the rubble and Axel uses his parkour skills. As anyone can predict, Axel survives, but the rubble ends up landing on the assassin. The assassin says, “I guess I’m not a monster anymore,” a scene that attempts pathos in the character that just kinda rings hollow.

After the big flashy fight scene that served mainly as a distraction for the main plot, Eleina asks the bald guy who brought Lazarus together how she survived her Hapna fever. We get another wild reveal. It turns out that the airport incident discussed a few episodes ago where the police attacked Skinner and the gas from the prototype Hapna leaked killed a bunch of people, that is except for five people in that airport that were killed by Hapna and got mutated by the drug and brought back to life. These five people ended up being recruited into the Lazarus team and we learn how the team got its name. It appears that no one on the team remembers this incident.

Popcorn Wizard successfully tracked down Skinner and it turns out he was in the homeless camp this whole time. Viewers noticed that one of the men Doug interrogated at the homeless camp in that episode looked like Dr. Skinner and this episode flashed back to that episode to confirm that yes, he was right there and Doug was too stupid to notice. Dr. Skinner ends up giving the chemical formula for the cure and team Lazarus talks about whether or not humanity deserves to live or die. Axel says that the world has redeeming qualities and that should keep on living. The government offers full pardons for the Lazarus team for saving humanity and removes the bracelets. The government offers to keep the team intact in case they need them to go on missions to save the world, and in case this show gets a season 2.

The show ends on a credits montage showing the aftermath of the events of the events of the show. It seems like the world was able to distribute Hapna throughout the world fast enough to prevent its extinction. I don’t know how, maybe the same way Santa delivers all those presents in just one night, this makes no sense. The comic relief cop guy who has a brief five second gag in every episode is credited with saving the world and we find out that Dr. Skinner dies.

Well, that’s the end of the show. This episode was pretty hilariously dumb and this whole show ended up being a dumb show pretending to be smart. Science fiction has often had the cliche of humanity being judged for its sins and the worth of humanity, but this series did nothing with that plot that wasn’t explored thousands of times better in other science fiction works. If you wanted to see flashy visuals, To Be Hero X is the better alternative for Spring 2025. If you want a better story and characters, To Be Hero X is the better alternative. I had such high hopes for Lazarus, with it being from the mind of Shinichirō Watanabe, creator of Cowboy Bebop. Toonami just seems to have the reverse Midas touch. Every original turns out massively disappointing. Because of its thrilling first half, Ninja Kamui probably still has my vote for least bad Toonami original.

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