Cowboy Bebop director says no one will let him make a movie

More than 25 years after the debut of Cowboy Bebop, no one can stop obsessing over Cowboy Bebop. Overwatch 2 cashed in on the everlasting craze for the anime earlier this year. Then Logic dropped new merch as part of a collab with Crunchyroll. Composer Yoko Kanno continues to play for packed houses around the world. Not even Netflix’s middling live-action take could kill enthusiasm for the original sci-fi anime series in 2024. Cowboy Bebop is simply an all-timer, a one-of-a-kind confluence of action, music, and genre, and always will be.

So why can’t Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe get a dang movie made?

During a lengthy interview out of this year’s New York Comic Con, Watanabe said that, despite working mainly in small-screen anime over the years, he’d jump at the chance to make a feature film. But that would require buy-in from people with deep pockets — and he hasn’t had much luck with those types. “As far as theatrical projects go, they’re quite difficult, even for me,” he said via an interpreter.

In October, Watanabe was stateside to discuss his new anime, Lazarus, which very well may be the culmination of all his interests, from jazz to science fiction futures to man’s acrobatic potential. Discussing Lazarus so early — Adult Swim has only promised it will air “in 2025” — put Watanabe on edge, leading him to murmur “no spoilers” several times in our discussion. He was even more cautious about spilling the beans on any projects he has in development.

Case in point: While in New York, Watanabe met with celebrated illustrator Nikolas Draper-Ivey over lunch, leading us to wonder whether Draper-Ivey had a hand in designing characters for Lazarus. That wasn’t the case, Watanabe said, but he admitted the two were “developing another project together” — and left it at that.

While the anime legend dreams of making a movie, TV is not by any means a fallback plan. “[Lazarus] was conceived as a series,” he said, adding, “but I wouldn’t mind doing a film.” Perhaps standing in Watanabe’s way is his own bar for quality; while many anime series directors make the jump to feature directing — often as extensions of their own franchises — the director has resisted for-hire jobs or establishing his own studio to pump out content, the kind of move that may have given him the chance to direct a movie. He works on his own terms, even on a project like Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

“It’s my belief that having someone tell you to do sci-fi action or something else is not the way to make it great,” he said. “I have to feel like I want to do it. There are no shows in my filmography that I didn’t want to do.”

Watanabe doesn’t need to make a movie to achieve greatness — Bebop, Macross Plus, Space Dandy, and his Animatrix shorts are just the tip of the iceberg in a sprawling career. But there was a genuine twang of sadness in his voice when he spoke, begged even, for the chance to make a movie. He has been glad to see his friends get their shot — he recalls watching Inu-Oh in 2021 and immediately texting his friend Masaaki Yuasa with high praise — but where is his shot?

Watanabe shows his hand ever so slightly as to what he might be dreaming: While Lazarus season 1 is completely in the can, a second season isn’t a guarantee. But he would like to see it continue, either with season 2 or “even [making] a theatrical version! But that doesn’t depend on me.”

So if you are rolling in dough and want to do a great service to animated art, please see Shinichirō Watanabe. He is waiting for your call.

“I’d like to be introduced to someone who would finance my film!” Watanabe said as we wrapped up. “Please publicize that!”