Shinichiro Watanabe

Who is Shinichiro Watanabe?

Shinichirō Watanabe is a Japanese anime filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for directing the critically and commercially successful anime series Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.

Watanabe is known for blending together multiple genres in his anime creations. In Cowboy Bebop, for example, Watanabe mixes 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 mixes the cultures of Okinawa, hip-hop, modern-day Japan, and chanbara.