among Japan's best animation directors. Watanabe directed the anime short film Blade Runner Black Out 2022, which was released in 2017. On November 29, 2018, it was announced that he would be creative producer of Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an anime series produced for Adult Swim and Crunchyroll. He received an associate producer credit on the Netflix adaptation of Cowboy Bebop but wasn´t involved in its production and criticized it after its release. 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) Other The Vision of Escaflowne (1996; episode director (5, 8), storyboard artist (5, 8, 12, 16)) Ergo Proxy (2006; storyboard artist (19)) Tetsuwan Birdy DECODE (2008; storyboard artist (12), episode director (12)) Michiko to Hatchin (2008; music producer) Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (2012; music producer) Death Parade (2015; unit director (ED)) Sonny Boy (2021; music advisor) Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021; creative director) Films Macross Plus: Movie Edition (1995; director) Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (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) Music videos "More" (featuring Anderson .Paak) – Flying Lotus (2019; director) Use of music Cowboy Bebop is heavily influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, hence the title "bebop". This style is blended with a score by the prolific composer Yoko Kanno featuring jazz, blues and funk music. The anachronistic soundtrack of Samurai Champloo, though an Edo period piece, draws heavily from hip hop music, while the later series Kids on the Slope demonstrates many classical forms of jazz, and Space Dandy draws from primarily new wave music. His series, Terror in Resonance, utilizes post-rock and ambient music influenced by Icelandic band Sigur Rós. His series Carole and Tuesday is based entirely off of the bonds made by music. References External links Sunrise (company) people 1965 births Anime directors Japanese film directors Japanese television directors Japanese animated film directors Japanese animated film producers Japanese music video directors Japanese animators Living people People from Kyoto