This Is Where You Can Watch Blade Runner: Black Lotus

One of the most fun aspects of the rollout of Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049" was the litany of "supplementary notes" that the movie came with. In addition to the epic feature sequel to the original "Blade Runner," Warner Bros. also released three prequel short films that deepened the "Blade Runner" lore while also telling plenty of riveting stories in their own right.

The most beloved of those three shorts was the anime-styled "Black Out 2022," which enlisted a living legend of the genre, "Cowboy Bebop" helmer Shinichirō Watanabe, to be its director. Unlike the other two shorts, "2036: Nexus Dawn" and "2048: Nowhere to Run," "Black Out 2022" departed significantly from the milieu and characters of "Blade Runner 2049," and instead depicted the very beginnings of the human-replicant conflict that drove the film, a mere three years removed from the events of the 1982 original.

Now, the fascinating outlook on the "Blade Runner" universe introduced in "Black Out 2022" is being expanded upon with a new anime series. A Japanese-American co-production, "Blade Runner: Black Lotus" takes place in the aftermath of the short's titular blackout event, with a mysterious female replicant, Elle, as its protagonist. Here's where you'll be able to watch all 13 episodes of the latest "Blade Runner" story.

The short film "Blade Runner Black Out 2022" originally premiered on Crunchyroll on September 27, 2017 (via Forbes), before making its way to YouTube the following day. Now, the mammoth American anime distribution company is, to no one's surprise, also taking part in the release of "Blade Runner: Black Lotus."

Per Anime News Network, "Blade Runner: Black Lotus" is premiering on November 13, 2021, at midnight EST — which means you'll finish watching said premiere on November 14. Crunchyroll will be streaming the original, English-subtitled version worldwide. Meanwhile, those who prefer to watch the spinoff anime dubbed will be able to do so via Adult Swim's Toonami block, as the network has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the English-dubbed version.

The original cast of "Blade Runner: Black Lotus" will include Arisa Shida, Shinshū Fuji, Takako Honda, Takaya Hashi, Takehito Koyasu, Taiten Kusunoki, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Hochu Otsuka, and Takayuki Kinba, while their English-language counterparts will be, respectively, Jessica Henwick, Will Yun Lee, Samira Wiley, Brian Cox, Wes Bentley, Josh Duhamel, Peyton List, Stephen Root, and Barkhad Abdi.