Vampire Weekend hasn’t released a new album since 2013’s Modern Vampires Of The City, so if you’re a fan who’s been patiently waiting for some new material, we have some news that will either excite or infuriate you: Ezra Koenig has been busy writing… not music, necessarily, but an anime for Netflix called Neo Yokio.
It stars Jaden Smith as a rich “magistocrat” named Kaz Kaan who is trying to distance himself from his demon-slaying past. If you want to watch, the full six-episode first season is streaming on Netflix starting today. There’s plenty of reason to tune in beyond Koenig and Smith, as the rest of the star-heavy cast is rounded out by Jude Law, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Jason Schwartzman, Tavi Gevinson, Desus Nice, The Kid Mero, and others.
The show, described by its creators as “a postmodern collage of homages to classic anime, English literature and modern New York fashion and culture,” might not be considered a “true” anime by some purists: While it’s definitely styled like anime, the show isn’t entirely of Japanese origin, which some consider an essential qualifier for anime status. That said, the massively popular and critically hailed Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender was in a similar boat, so it’s possible that this show could still scratch the anime itch.
And for the record, Koenig did recently say that the band is “80 percent done” with their next album, currently titled Mitsubishi Macchiato: “It’s getting there. I feel like it’s close to being done. There’s not too many other ways I can say it.”
Check out a trailer for the show above, and watch the first season now on Netflix.
