ShinichirŠWatanabe (渡辺 信一郎, Watanabe Shin'ichirŠ, born
May 24, 1965) is a Japanese anime television and film director. He is
best known for directing the critically acclaimed and commercially
successful anime series Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Carole and
Tuesday, and Space Dandy.Watanabe is known for incorporating multiple
genres into his anime creations. In Cowboy Bebop, for example,
Watanabe blends classic cowboy western with 1960s/1970s New York City
film noir, jazz/blues music, Hong Kong action movies, and sets the
entire series in space. In his later work, Samurai Champloo, Watanabe
unites the cultures of Okinawa, hip hop, modern-day Japan, and
chanbara.Watanabe was born in Kyoto. After joining the Japanese
animation studio Sunrise, he supervised the episode direction and
storyboards of numerous Sunrise anime, and soon made his directorial
debut as co-director of the well-received Macross update, Macross
Plus. His next effort, and first full directorial venture, was the
1998 series Cowboy Bebop, which received universal praise and is
considered by many to be one of the greatest anime series of all time.
It was followed by the 2001 film Knockin' on Heaven's Door. In 2003,
Watanabe directed his first American-produced anime, the short films
Kid's Story and A Detective Story, both part of The Wachowskis' The
Animatrix, an anthology of animated short stories from The Matrix. His
next directorial effort was the critically acclaimed 2004 anime series
Samurai Champloo which began broadcasting on Fuji Television in Japan
on May 19, 2004.Following the release of Samurai Champloo, Watanabe
directed a short film called Baby Blue which was released on July 7,
2007 as a segment of the anthology film Genius Party. In recent years,
he has been active as a creative music producer, overseeing the 2004
film Mind Game, 2008's Michiko & Hatchin, and supervising the
storyboards for episode 12 of Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode. In 2012, he
directed the anime series Kids on the Slope (Japanese title: Sakamichi
no Apollon), a coming-of-age story about young jazz musicians, which
premiered in April 2012 on Fuji TV's Noitamina block.
May 24, 1965) is a Japanese anime television and film director. He is
best known for directing the critically acclaimed and commercially
successful anime series Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Carole and
Tuesday, and Space Dandy.Watanabe is known for incorporating multiple
genres into his anime creations. In Cowboy Bebop, for example,
Watanabe blends classic cowboy western with 1960s/1970s New York City
film noir, jazz/blues music, Hong Kong action movies, and sets the
entire series in space. In his later work, Samurai Champloo, Watanabe
unites the cultures of Okinawa, hip hop, modern-day Japan, and
chanbara.Watanabe was born in Kyoto. After joining the Japanese
animation studio Sunrise, he supervised the episode direction and
storyboards of numerous Sunrise anime, and soon made his directorial
debut as co-director of the well-received Macross update, Macross
Plus. His next effort, and first full directorial venture, was the
1998 series Cowboy Bebop, which received universal praise and is
considered by many to be one of the greatest anime series of all time.
It was followed by the 2001 film Knockin' on Heaven's Door. In 2003,
Watanabe directed his first American-produced anime, the short films
Kid's Story and A Detective Story, both part of The Wachowskis' The
Animatrix, an anthology of animated short stories from The Matrix. His
next directorial effort was the critically acclaimed 2004 anime series
Samurai Champloo which began broadcasting on Fuji Television in Japan
on May 19, 2004.Following the release of Samurai Champloo, Watanabe
directed a short film called Baby Blue which was released on July 7,
2007 as a segment of the anthology film Genius Party. In recent years,
he has been active as a creative music producer, overseeing the 2004
film Mind Game, 2008's Michiko & Hatchin, and supervising the
storyboards for episode 12 of Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode. In 2012, he
directed the anime series Kids on the Slope (Japanese title: Sakamichi
no Apollon), a coming-of-age story about young jazz musicians, which
premiered in April 2012 on Fuji TV's Noitamina block.
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