Kamasi Washington’s theme tune ‘Vortex’ has been nominated for the award.
The nominees for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced by The Television Academy on Wednesday, 16 July. The popular anime series Lazarus, made by Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop, officially received a nomination. The MAPPA anime, created for Toonami, was nominated for the “Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music”, for its opening theme song ‘Vortex’ by Kamasi Washington.
Lazarus has been nominated with five more titles
Although ‘Vortex’ from Lazarus has a chance of winning, it’s not the only song to be nominated for the title theme music award. Songs from the shows Dept. Q, Dune: Prophecy, The Residence, The White Lotus, and Your Friends & Neighbors have also been nominated. The results will be announced on 14 September, 2025, when the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcasted.
The 13-episode long Lazarus anime was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and produced by MAPPA. Chad Stahelski designed the action sequences while Akemi Hayashi designed the characters. Stanislas Brunet designed the concept while Miho Sugiura was the art director. It features a tune by Kamasi Washington, Floating Points, and Bonobo. Sola Entertainment produced the music for the anime. The opening theme song ‘Vortex’ is performed by Kamasi Washington, while the ending theme song ‘Lazarus’ is performed by The Boo Radleys. The main cast of the series includes:
- Axel voiced by Mamoru Miyano
- Doug voiced by Makoto Furukawa
- Christine voiced by Maaya Uchida
- Leland voiced by Yūma Uchida
- Eleina voiced by Manaka Iwami
- Hersch voiced by Megumi Hayashibara
- Abel voiced by Akio Ōtsuka
- Skinner voiced by Kōichi Yamadera
The anime streamed on Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block in the USA. Adult Swim describes the story as:
The year is 2052 - an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity prevails across the globe. The reason for this: mankind has been freed from sickness and pain. Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has developed a miracle cure-all drug with no apparent drawbacks called Hapuna. Hapuna soon becomes ubiquitous… and essential. However, soon after Hapuna is officially introduced, Dr. Skinner vanishes.
Three years later, the world has moved on. But Dr. Skinner has returned - this time, as a harbinger of doom. Skinner announces that Hapuna has a short half-life. Everyone who has taken it will die approximately three years later. Death is coming for this sinful world - and coming soon.
As a response to this threat, a special task force of 5 agents is gathered from across the world to save humanity from Skinner's plan. This group is called "Lazarus." Can they find Skinner and develop a vaccine before time runs out?
