Blade Runner: Black Lotus
Blade Runner: Black Lotus is a neo-noir science fiction animated miniseries based on the Blade Runner franchise, which itself is based on the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The series aired from November 14, 2021, to February 6, 2022. It was a co-production between Adult Swim and Crunchyroll, in partnership with Alcon Television Group.
Plot
Black Lotus takes place in Los Angeles in 2032, ten years into the aftermath of Blade Runner: Black Out 2022, but before 2036: Nexus Dawn, and centers on a female replicant protagonist. It also includes "familiar" characters from the Blade Runner universe.Characters
;Elle;Joseph
;Alani Davis
;Niander Wallace Jr.
;Niander Wallace Sr.
;Marlowe
;Josephine Grant
;Earl Grant
;Doc Badger
;Senator Bannister
;Doctor M
;Hooper
;Selene
Production and release
The anime was announced back in November 2018. The series was animated by Sola Digital Arts with Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama serving as co-directors. Shinichirō Watanabe, director of Blade Runner Black Out 2022, served as a creative producer. It aired on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in the United States from November 14, 2021, to February 6, 2022. Crunchyroll also streamed the series in Japanese with English subtitles.Canada's Corus Entertainment announced at their June 2021 upfronts that the series would air in the Fall on Adult Swim Canada. It would later be confirmed that the series would air in simulcast with the U.S.
In July 2021, both Japanese and English casts were revealed along with the announcement of a planned panel for the virtual 2021 San Diego Comic-Con. The opening theme is "Feel You Now" by Alessia Cara.
On September 28, 2022, Jason DeMarco, the senior vice president of action and anime programming for Warner Bros. Discovery, confirmed that the series was written off by Warner Bros. Discovery after it had been removed from Adult Swim's website.