The New Blade Runner 2049 Prologue is an Anime by the Director of Cowboy Bebop

Denis Villeneuve just stepped his prologue game up.

Following the two previous short prologue films meant to set up the world of Blade Runner 2049 (which you can watch here and here), Villeneuve has released the newest film: Blade Runner Black Out 2022, an anime directed by none other than Shinichiro Watanabe.

Watanabe is known primarily for two groundbreaking anime series, Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, and the original Blade Runner was one of his main inspirations.

Now you can watch the final product above. It bears Watanabe’s signature touches of philosophical musings, visually striking cyberpunk aesthetics and stunning fight scenes. Seriously, look at that movement—you can tell Watanabe enjoyed choreographing a fight scene for somebody who could go beyond the limits of a normal human body. It’s also as morally ambiguous as the original film, if not more so, as it follows two Replicants (that are sympathetic enough for the audience to immediately align with) that go on to purposely cause a blackout affecting an entire city, destroying the Tyrell Corporation.

This is a slam dunk, as far as we’re concerned—the perfect choice for a Blade Runner 2049 prequel. Watch it above, and then watch it again.