Billie Eilish continues to be a favorite among anime and manga creators, and the latest artist to share their admiration of her is none other than legendary director Shinichiro Watanabe. In fact, he even mentioned his dreams of collaborating with her.
Watanabe is an iconic anime director who has been creating hit shows for many decades through Studio Sunrise. He is best known for crafting Cowboy Bebop, The Animatrix, and Carole & Tuesday. Ahead of the release of his next series Lazarus, Watanabe appeared at New York Comic-Con to promote the show.
Speaking with Anime News Network, Watanabe was asked who his top five musicians were, but he only had time to mention one.
“Unfortunately, I’ve only got time to pick one. Yesterday, I went and saw Billie Eilish in Madison Square Garden. It was very inspiring. If you can get us in contact, tell her I’m very interested in collaborating.
Wouldn’t it be cool to see Eilish’s music featured on one of Watanabe’s upcoming shows? Of course, that won’t be happening in time for Lazarus, but perhaps the next one. Anything is possible.
Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly depending on who you ask, this is far from the first time a creative in the anime space has spoken about Eilish and praised her music. In fact, back in 2023, the sound design team behind the Jujutsu Kaisen anime met with series creator Gege Akutami who told them to go for “a stylish, Billie Eilish direction.” If you thought that was major news, it only got bigger.
Following the conclusion of Attack on Titan, series creator Hajime Isayama has released several sketches featuring characters from his iconic manga, and following the release of Eilish’s album “Hit Me Hard and Soft” the mangaka shared a drawing of the popstar alongside Eren Yaeger, the main character of Attack on Titan.
The relationship between anime and Eilish isn’t just one-sided. The award-winning musician has been spotted wearing an Attack on Titan shirt in the past, and she even named a song on her latest album “Chihiro” after the main character of Spirited Away, an iconic anime movie from Studio Ghibli. She even said back in 2019 that the artistic direction of “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO” can be attributed to the film.
Given all of these connections, it doesn’t seem so farfetched that Eilish could contribute to an upcoming anime production, and we really hope that it happens. Watanabe’s next show Lazarus currently has no exact release date, however, it will be here in 2025 and broadcast on Adult Swim so look out for more information soon.
Published: Nov 28, 2024 04:19 am