To promote Blade Runner 2049, Director Denis Villeneuve reached out to several talented groups to help set up the world his movie was going to be set in. Three short films were produced to tell significant events that tie into the main movie. The first of which, was an extremely well-done anime that resonated with the 80’s sci-fi vision of the first film.
Blade Runner Black Out 2022 is the cyberpunk noir setting we always hoped would find its way into animation. The film was directed by the very talented Shinichiro Watanabe, who worked on many recognizable projects such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, The Vision of Escaflowne, The Animatrix, and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.
The story is set a mere three years after the original film. The menacing Tyrell Corporation has launched its latest replicant line, the Nexus-8. These new replicants feature an extended lifespan, similar to a regular human. This change from previous models caused a backlash from the populace as bigotry and hate sets in driving people to hunt down and destroy, what they perceive as a threat to humanity.
The story picks up with a female replicant under attack by a group of thugs. Just moments before they can do their worst, a hero appears and handles the men like no human could. The man reveals himself to be another replicant, but one with a different kind of mission.
