Shinichiro Watanabe, creator and director of the acclaimed 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop, made his debut at Manga Barcelona last year. The director spent his four days on the convention engaging with fans in meet & greets, discussion panels, and sitting down for exclusive media interviews.
Watanabe-sensei’s filmography includes Samurai Champloo (2004), Kids on the Slope (2012), Space Dandy (2014), Terror in Resonance (2014), and Carole & Tuesday (2019). His latest directorial project, Lazarus (2025), was screened and presented by him during the convention.
Renowned for his experimentation with a wide range of music genres, Watanabe-sensei took the stage alongside composer Yoko Kanno, in charge of Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, to talk about music in anime. Leading the legendary group SEATBELTS joined by the Spanish “Big Band de Canarias,” Kanno performed two concerts during Manga Barcelona 2025.
For Watanabe-sensei’s fans, we have two great news: a Samurai Champloo live-action is in the works with the director’s involvement, and the interview you can read below. We dived into the creator’s mind and learned a lot about his creation process.
Portions of this interview have been lightly edited for clarity. This interview was conducted with the assistance of an interpreter.
Q: Watanabe-sensei, in Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Terror in Resonance, and Lazarus, the protagonists are all looking to form a family. Why is this a recurring theme in your productions?
A: Honestly, it is something I cannot quite explain; it just happens naturally. When I start producing, it always ends up that way. I think it is similar to what happens in the anime industry, where most people work on a ‘freelance’ basis. When a project comes up, they gather together and form a family. And when the project ends, they go their separate ways.
In the works I have made so far, this “gathering and parting” is heavily influenced by this style of working.
Q: In these anime, the characters are also fleeing from their pasts. In your interpretation, does this turn these stories into tragedies?
A: For most people, when we try to forget something, it is because there is something sad in our past. For example, we all have people we cherish deeply, and because they are human, they will die at some point. That is the moment we have to say goodbye. That is why I believe we as humans always carry around a past that holds a certain sadness.
However, I try to draw characters who strive to be happy, even if they might seem a bit distant or dry in how they interact, and who do not let themselves get caught up in this sadness of the past on a day-to-day basis.
Q: Likewise, it is interesting how all kinds of social issues—including the presence of religion, discrimination, and drug addiction—are depicted alongside the individual stories. Why is it important for you to highlight these themes?
A: I try to create characters who have both a positive and a negative side. If I do not do it that way, the characters end up being one-dimensional. It is better for the themes handled to be “heavier,” but I cannot go too far because otherwise they could not be broadcast on TV. I have to establish certain limits.
For example, if I were to create a main character who is a serial killer with psychopathic issues, I do not think they would let me broadcast it on TV. That is why, for my protagonists, I choose people who are a little bit more ‘normal.’
Q: Inevitably, I have to ask about the defining element present in your stories: music. You have highlighted music as a universal language, and in your works we have jazz, hip hop, and even Icelandic post-rock in Terror in Resonance. Are there any musical genres or styles you would still like to experiment with?
A: Someday, perhaps, I will do something with flamenco [art form and musical style from Andalucia, southern Spain]. Actually, when we were working on another project, we already had the idea to use flamenco for an episode. It was an episode featuring a killer who would shoot while dancing flamenco.
But the episode ended up looking like a parody, so we decided it did not fit the direction and it was canceled.
Q: Did you think of flamenco during your visit to Granada a few years ago? [at the convention ‘FicZone’ in Granada, Spain, in 2012]
A: I was in Granada years ago, but the episode I am talking about was from the production of Cowboy Bebop years before that. In Granada, I also saw flamenco, and it reminded me of the story of that discarded episode.
Q: The antagonists in your stories have had a major impact without needing to appear frequently. For instance, the stories of Vicious in Cowboy Bebop or Five in Terror in Resonance are told to us primarily through flashbacks, or Kagetoki appears only at the very end of Samurai Champloo. Does presenting them this way help make an antagonist more memorable?
A: Yes, absolutely. I think if they showed up in every episode, they would lose their mysterious side.
Q: Episode 17 of Cowboy Bebop, “Mushroom Samba,” includes one of my favorite scenes in anime, which perfectly represents that free style in both narrative and music: the train chase. Could you tell us about the creative process behind this episode and scene?
A: We had the rough idea during pre-production. We had only decided on the title, “Mushroom Samba,” but we had no idea what the story would be about. Yoko Kanno, even though we had not asked her to, sent us a demo track called “Mushroom Hunting” [Watanabe-sensei hums the song].
The song was very catchy. I thought I could make great use of it. It was based on that song that we created the episode and the chase scene. I think rather than an action episode, it is a musical episode.
Q: My favorite episode of Samurai Champloo is Episode 23, titled “Baseball Blues,” because it flawlessly represents that blend of a fresh, free style with the history of Japan. In fact, by the end of the episode, I was curious to know if this event actually happened. Why did you decide to include baseball right before the final arc of the series? Do you remember any anecdotes from creating this episode?
A: The reality is that when we make a series, the plot always becomes more serious toward the end. I thought that for Samurai Champloo, it was not a good idea for everything to be so serious, as that was not the style of the anime. So before reaching the final three episodes, which could be very heavy, I decided that the preceding episodes would be lighter.
One of the themes of Samurai Champloo was the mix of different cultures. For example, in one of the episodes in the second half of the anime, we mixed samurais with graffiti, and in another, samurais with zombies.
When I thought about themes I had not mixed yet, I realized we had never seen an anime that mixed samurais with baseball. I sought to do it in the most playful way I could.
Q: On previous occasions, you mentioned the influence of the opioid crisis and climate change on the plot of Lazarus. Did the COVID-19 pandemic also influence the storyline?
A: No, we had written this story entirely before the pandemic. We had made it all up, based on our own imaginations. When the pandemic happened, it actually made us a bit sad that reality was “reflecting” the idea we had.
Q: In Lazarus, you return to a visual and musical style similar to Cowboy Bebop, but with a different tone and ending. Do you consider that Lazarus delivers a more hopeful message? How important are Axel’s final words for the post-COVID society we live in today?
A: I think you cannot determine from Lazarus whether humanity is going to have a happy ending or a tragic one. But those problems do exist in the world we live in, and it is important for people to become aware of them. It is not a matter of thinking about tomorrow or the day after, but right now.
At the end of each episode, it is shown how many days are left. In the finale, the protagonists manage to save themselves, but the message of how many days are left still appears: zero.
My reflection is that even if we have resolved the problem right in front of our noses, I want people to understand that not everything is settled. Problems that have no solution continue to exist, and that is why we have no time to lose. Even if the trouble with Hapna has ended, there are still problems to solve for which zero days remain.
Anime Corner would like to extend our thanks to Watanabe-sensei for taking the time to do this interview. We were excited to discover the story behind his memorable works, and how he enjoyed talking about them!
Don’t miss the chance to be part of the next edition of Manga Barcelona the upcoming December 5-8 at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via convention center (Barcelona, Spain).
Special thanks to the Manga Barcelona staff for facilitating and making this interview possible.*
© Hajime Yatate, Sunrise, Cowboy Bebop
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