Blade Runner's Replicants are what make it stand out from the rest. These androids were the catalyst for both Ridley Scott's 1982 film and Denis Villeneuve's 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049. The movies are both about replicants, but the Blade Runners see the creatures primarily through their eyes. They must hunt them down and kill them. The upcoming Adult Swim/Crunchyroll anime Black Lotus will flesh out these beings and show Scotts side.
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Co-directors Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama discuss the creation of the show in a behind the scenes video. The original film is so strong that the co-directors struggled to figure out how their show would fit in. They decided to look at something that wasn't covered in the original films.
Kamiyama explained that we realized there was an additional world beyond our camera lens. Kamiyama explained that he wondered how it would feel if we explored the Replicant world or the time they lived in. This is a perspective Deckard and K could not fully use as Runners. Kamimiya explained that he did not want the original to influence the way he dealt with the androids. I tried to find a world not depicted in the original movies. If I allowed myself to get too involved in that, it might have led me to a world view that trivialized it.
Their protagonist Elle was another way they wanted to distinguish themselves from previous material. Aramaki describes Elle as a Replicant unique for her focus on revenge and not survival. Aramaki stressed the importance of self discovery. Elle will discover what her capabilities are, as well as the bigger mysteries that surround the world.
Joseph Chou, executive producer talks later about how the show was brought to life using CG art. Chou knew that while it was important for the show to feel like Blade Runner's, the show had to be its own entity, especially in terms of visuals. He said that we needed to establish what Blade Runner anime should look. He felt that motion capture and CG gave the anime an advantage over hand-drawn animation. Instead of trying to fit the show into an existing anime style, he wanted it to stand alone. We must arrive at a point where people can say that you guys did justice the Blade Runner universe. We want to ensure we do it right.
Blade Runner: Black Lotus will be available on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll starting November 13.
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