Last week's short, 2048: Nowhere to Run, was a promo/prequel that helped to explain the story and time gap between the original Blade Runner film and the soon-to-be-released Blade Runner 2049. It was made by Ridley Scott's son, which is pretty unsurprising, given the new film's lineage (and production team). The second of the promo shorts, 2036: Nexus Dawn? Also from Luke Scott. (Again, unsurprising.)
This week's, though—2022: Lights Out—comes from an unexpected cinematic source: Shinichiro Watanabe, long-time sci-fi and anime legend. It's as visceral and violent and unsettling (and engaging) as you'd expect. And it somehow manages to feel both distinctively Watanabe-ish and entirely Blade Runner-y.
In 2022, an EMP detonation has caused a global blackout that has massive, destructive implications all over the world. Directed by "Cowboy Bebop" and "Samurai Champloo's" Shinichiro Watanabe, Blade Runner Black Out 2022 is a new and highly-anticipated animated short which serves as a prologue for the upcoming feature film Blade Runner 2049.
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