Shinichiro watanabe biography for kids

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This style is blended with a score by the prolific composer Yoko Kanno featuring jazz, blues and funk music. This show was loved by almost everyone and is still seen as one of the best anime series ever made.

After Cowboy Bebop, he directed a movie called Knockin' on Heaven's Door in 2001. This show also received great reviews and started airing in Japan in May 2004.

Later, Watanabe directed a short film called Baby Blue.

He is most well-known for the anime series Cowboy Bebop and the Macross PlusOVA. This was a new version of the popular Macross series. As a Music Producer, he has worked on such titles as Michiko to Hatchin and Lupin the 3rd - A Woman Called Fujiko Mine.

2025

Animé Los Angeles 2025 - January 9-12, 2025 in Long Beach, CA

2019

Con+Alt+Delete 2019 - December 20-22, 2019 in Rosemont, IL

2018

Japan Expo 2018 - July 5-8, 2018 in Paris, France
Animazement 2018 - May 25-27, 2018 in Raleigh, NC

2017

Madman Anime Festival Melbourne 2017 - November 4-5, 2017 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

2016

Nan Desu Kan 2016 - September 2-4, 2016 in Denver, CO

2015

AnimagiC 2015 - July 31 - August 2, 2015 in Bonn, Germany
Animazement 2015 - May 22-24, 2015 in Raleigh, NC

2014

MCM London Comic Con 2014 - October 24-26, 2014 in London, UK

2013

MCM London Comic Con 2013 - October 25-27, 2013 in London, UK
Otakon 2013 - August 9-11, 2013 in Baltimore, MD
London MCM Expo 2013 - May 24-26, 2013 in London, UK
Anime Boston 2013 - May 24-26, 2013 in Boston, MA

2009

Japan Expo 2009 - July 2-5, 2009 in Paris, France

2005

AnimeFest 2005 - September 2-5, 2005 in Dallas, TX

2002

Anime Expo New York 2002 - August 31 - September 2, 2002 in New York, NY
Big Apple Anime Fest 2002 - August 30 - September 2, 2002 in New York, NY

1999

Otakon 1999 - July 2-4, 1999 in Baltimore, MD

18 confirmed guest appearances

If you use information from this page, a link to AnimeCons.com would be very much appreciated.

Version 4.0

In 2003, he directed two short animated films, Kid's Story and A Detective Story.

Career

Watanabe debuted as co-director of the well-received Macross update, Macross Plus. This show was unique because its English version aired in the United States just hours before it aired in Japan in January 2014.

Watanabe directed the anime short film Blade Runner Black Out 2022, which came out in 2017.

He made his directorial debut as co-director of Macross Plus. When he falls from the church window, Spike falls headfirst and the camera zooms in on one of his eyes, in which the sky can be seen. In Cowboy Bebop Spike has eyes of two different shades of brown (one is fake). Shinichirō Watanabe is often considered one of Japan's top animation directors.

Shinichirō Watanabe's Creative Works

Television Productions

As director

Macross Plus (1994)
Cowboy Bebop (1998)
Samurai Champloo (2004)
Kids on the Slope (2012)
Space Dandy (2014, chief director)
Terror in Resonance (2014)
Carole & Tuesday (2019, chief director)
Lazarus (2025)

Other roles

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991; episode director)
The Vision of Escaflowne (1996; episode director, storyboard artist)
Ergo Proxy (2006; storyboard artist)
Birdy the Mighty: Decode (2008; storyboard artist, episode director)
Michiko & Hatchin (2008; music producer)
Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (2012; music producer)
Death Parade (2015; unit director)
Sonny Boy (2021; music advisor)
Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021; creative director)

Films

Macross Plus: Movie Edition (1995; director)
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001; director)
The Animatrix (2003; director, "Detective's Story", "Kid's Story")
Mind Game (2004; music producer)
Genius Party (omnibus): Baby Blue (2008; director)
Blade Runner Black Out 2022 (2017; director)
TAISU Project (2022; director, "A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot")

Music Videos

How Music Shapes Watanabe's Anime

Shinichirō Watanabe believes that music is a universal language and is very important in his works.

Music Styles in His Shows

Cowboy Bebop is greatly influenced by American culture, especially the jazz music of the 1940s.

These were part of The Animatrix, a collection of animated stories from The Matrix world.
More Acclaimed Projects
His next big directing project was the 2004 anime series Samurai Champloo. As of 2014, the project is in hiatus. 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.

His latest series, Space Dandy, draws from primarily disco and electronic influences.

Shinichirō Watanabe Wikipedia

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Shinichirō Watanabe facts for kids

Not to be confused with the similarly named Shinichi Watanabe, director of Excel Saga.

Quick facts for kids Shinichirō Watanabe
渡辺信一郎
Watanabe at the 2009 Japan Expo
Born	(1965-05-24) May 24, 1965 (age 60) Kyoto, Japan
Occupation	Animetelevision director, film director
Years active	1990–present

Shinichirō Watanabe(渡辺信一郎, Watanabe Shin'ichirō, born on May 24, 1965) is a famous Japanese anime director.

Director
Japan

Biography:
Born in 1965 in Kyoto, Japan, Shinichiro Watanabe is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and music producer. During FicZone in Granada, Spain, it was reported that Watanabe was collaborating with anime studio BONES on a space science-fiction comedy. There is also a brief zoom in on one of LeBron James eyes in Nike's "Chamber of Fear" shorts, and the singer's eye briefly fills the screen in Linkin Park's "Breaking the Habit" music video, both indicatively directed by Watanabe.

He is known for creating popular and highly praised anime series like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Space Dandy.

Many film and TV experts see Watanabe as a director with a very unique style. His next effort was the 26 episode Cowboy Bebop, followed by 2001's theatrical Cowboy Bebop movie, Knockin' on Heaven's Door.