'Hand-drawn is best': Anime director Shinichiro Watanabe on 'Lazarus'

TOKYO -- "Lazarus," the first new original anime by internationally acclaimed director Shinichiro Watanabe in six years, is now streaming on the Cartoon Network, and notably retains a hand-drawn style going against the industry trend toward computer graphics (CG) and artificial intelligence (AI).
The 59-year-old director, also known for the works "Cowboy Bebop" and "Samurai Champloo," says that music is the source of energy to inspire the works and while Lazarus is a TV series, "I make the episodes thinking of them as 20-minute movies."
The foundation of Watanabe's creativity was laid in his hometown, in the city of Ayabe in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture, where he lived until his high school years. While in junior high school, he and a good friend held "research sessions" on film and anime. "We would say things like, 'I hear the filmmaker (Federico) Fellini is amazing.' 'Oh really?' But we couldn't see his movies. There were no video rentals or online streaming in those days."
Watanabe read all he could on film theory through books from the library. Since there was no theater in Ayabe, he went to the neighboring city of Maizuru or Fukuchiyama to devour all he could. "I watched movies repeatedly after breaks in between and they left a deep impression," Watanabe recalled.
Watanabe got his information on Western music through magazines and FM radio delivered by public broadcaster NHK. He would read each monthly magazine issue from cover to cover until the next one came out. He could afford about one record a month, listening to it every day and memorizing the English lyrics.
"There was so little information in the countryside you'd be surprised. But the experience was profound. It was a rich experience. Having little information is not necessarily a bad thing," said Watanabe. While he also wished to become a filmmaker, he decided to aim to become a director of anime, which was booming. Those around him recommended going to university, but he instead went to Tokyo in 1984 after graduating from high school, thinking, "Four years of college is a waste. I want to create works quickly."
Watanabe visited Tokyo's many movie theaters daily while doing part-time work delivering liquor among other tasks. Half a year later he found work at Nippon Sunrise Inc., present-day Sunrise, the originator of the popular "Gundam" franchise and now a brand of Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. "The large number of movies I saw back then are still inside me and that's what I base myself on," Watanabe reflected. It was also a habit for him to visit imported record shops and check up on lesser-known artists. "I was busy every day" between my part-time work, movies and record store visits, he recalled with a laugh.
The first of Watanabe's works that he directed entirely himself, 1998's "Cowboy Bebop" was a hit overseas. "I worked hard to hone my skills, and I made it with all my heart. I never thought for a millisecond that it would be accepted overseas. Perhaps my taste for American films, which I grew up liking, was a good fit for the American people," he added analytically.
Watanabe's newest project, "Lazarus," was wholly funded by the U.S. Cartoon Network, and is receiving acclaim for its filmlike visuals, audio effects and stylish soundtrack, among other things. "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski designed and directed the action sequences.
On the project, Watanabe enthused, "I reaffirmed the appeal of hand-drawn animation. There's a lot of noise about making things easier using CG and AI, but it's not true. It's hand-drawn animation that's the best."
Watanabe's works also give a glimpse of evolution. "I want to be constantly changing. I want to constantly update. If I keep repeating what I did before, I'll stop growing. Creativity will also weaken. I don't make anime by watching anime. If I make anime inspired by other genres, it'll become an original work."
Now approaching 60, Watanabe mentioned, "When I was young, I wasn't sure whether to do movies or animation. I've made a lot of animated films, so I hope to fulfill the other dream of mine, a live-action film, one of these days."

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