Anime director Shinichirō Watanabe released a new book, Watanabe Shinichiro no Sekai Cowboy Bebop Kara Lazarus Made (Shinichirō Watanabe's World: From Cowboy Bebop to Lazarus), to chronicle his work on several anime titles on Thursday. Included in the final pages is a list of Watanabe's top 100 movies.
Bruce Lee's 1973 classic Enter the Dragon takes the top spot on Watanabe's list. Watanabe stated, “I love Bruce Lee himself, not the movie.” His second pick is the 1980 Japanese movie The Beast to Die followed by the 1965 French New Wave movie Pierrot le Fou. Watanabe noted The Beast to Die is “the most traumatic movie. An unforgettable nightmare.” On Pierrot le Fou, he said actors “[Jean-Paul] Belmondo and [Anna] Karina embody the director's ideas."
Watanabe's top 10 movies are:
1. Enter the Dragon (1973)
2. The Beast to Die (1980)
3. Pierrot le Fou (1965)
4. Dirty Harry (1971)
5. Le Samouraï (1967)
6. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
7. The Conformist (1970)
8. Blade Runner (1982)
9. A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
10. La Jetée (1962)
Watanabe Shinichiro no Sekai shipped on June 26 for 3,960 yen (about US$27.40) with tax. The book features project proposals, storyboards, interviews, and behind-the-scenes stories from Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, The Animatrix, Blade Runner: Black Out 2022, Carole & Tuesday, Flying Lotus's “More (feat. Anderson .Paak)” music video, A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot, Samurai Champloo, Baby Blue from Genius Party, Kids on the Slope, Space Dandy, Terror in Resonance, and Lazarus. The book also published interviews with voice actors Kōichi Yamadera and Megumi Hayashibara.
Sources: Watanabe Shinichiro no Sekai Cowboy Bebop Kara Lazarus Made, Kadokawa, Comic Natalie
