cowboy bebop, Samurai Champloo, space dude, carol and tuesday – The legendary director behind all those blockbuster animations – Shinichiro Watanabe – is dropping a new anime, Lazarusfirst broadcast on adult swimof far wave 2025. Lazaruspast projects, music, and more.
Watanabe Multiverse
How about it Lazarus Building on your past projects?
Shinichiro Watanabe: I always thought my show took place in the same universe.
Wait, really? cowboy bebop, Samurai Champloo, space dude?
Watanabe: Smile slightly and nod.
Watanabe: (English) Of course.
John Wick + cowboy bebop
you have to do something Lazarus Have you never done this before?
Watanabe: This exhibition gave me the opportunity to pursue important collaborations. One of them is with Chad Stahelski,director John Wickcreate action choreography with us. As part of their service, they even filmed live action fight scenes for us.
So cool! How did this happen? did you just call John Wick team?
Watanabe: Of course, all I did was ask.
Seriously?
Watanabe: No, that’s a joke. (laughs) I held him the whole time. John Wick The film series is held in high regard. I kept watching them. Not just in how real his movements look, but in how modern it feels. The way he incorporates modern gun technology is a joy to watch. So when I called, I asked his team if they could give us tips on how to create similar action scenes, even though his team couldn’t do the action choreography themselves. But they said, “Leave it to us! We’ll choreograph it for you!”
When this happened, we were a little worried about how much the project was going to cost. I had to apologize and tell him upfront that we had never used a Hollywood-level budget. When I said that, Chad said on the phone, “Don’t worry about the cost. cowboy bebop and Samurai Champloo has inspired me for years. Let me do this for you.
violence + calm
Wow. That’s incredible! So, what is the key to a good action drama?
Watanabe: I’ll tell you what Chad told me. For example, there is a scene cowboy bebop The characters fight in the church.
Episode 5 “Song of the Fallen Angel!”
Watanabe: Yes, in between the peaks of action, there are quiet moments. It’s the rhythm or contrast between scenes of violence and tranquility. he [Stahelski] Really encouraged me to base it on a scene like that because he thought it was a great action scene.
billie eilish collaboration
What music are you currently listening to? What are your top 5?
Watanabe: Unfortunately, I only had time to choose one. Yesterday, I went to Madison Square Garden and met Billie Eilish. This is very inspiring. If you can contact us, please tell her that I am very interested in cooperation.
best moment of career
We’re going to work on this immediately; the internet went crazy when they heard the news. What do you consider to be the best part of your career so far?
Watanabe: Even before I became an animation director, I had ideas for stories and characters in my head. I once served as a film director, assisting the chief director in producing the film. As an assistant, I wasn’t able to put as much creative input into it as I would have liked. So I have a backlog of ideas for stories I want to make. These ideas have been put into practice cowboy bebop. So it’s kind of like an up-and-coming band putting all their ideas into their first album.
green bird
What is your favorite song from all your series?
Watanabe: exist cowboy bebop In episode 5, Spike falls out of the window. The way I paired the music with that scene is one of my proudest moments.
