渡边监督谈及斯派克、菲和《混沌武士》

戳这里看Daily Texan原文：采访原文

【按：今天看到一篇很有趣的采访文章，是2006年渡边监督在美国演讲后做的，截取一部分翻译。因为谈到好几部作品，就放在《星际牛仔》这里好了。】

渡边监督表示，音乐是自己许多作品背后的源泉。

他说：“他们【粉丝】称赞我作品里的配乐，真的让我很开心。有的时候是先有音乐再做动画的。”

比如，《混沌武士》的第十四话中有一首冲绳乐曲，其前半部分在动画中完整保留。

他说：“我做《混沌武士》就是为了这个场景。”

《混沌武士》中的许多配乐是嘻哈风格，采用了例如Shing02的嘻哈音乐人。渡边监督觉得采样以前的音乐素材并加以变化很有意思。他说：“选取以前的音乐素材做出新的混音，很像我做动画的过程。”

就像嘻哈音乐人用麦克风就能表达自己一样，渡边监督说：“我希望用铅笔在一张白纸上自我表达。”

（中间介绍《Genius Party》和新作的段落略过——分别指的是短片《Baby Blue》和2012年的动画《坂道上的阿波罗》）

Daily Texan（以下简称DT）：你为什幺要做巡回演讲呢？

渡边监督：日本国际交流基金会要求我来美国演讲。他们让我从一些美国城市中挑选，我选了一个。选择休斯顿的原因是，这里是牛仔的故乡。

DT：你认为你的作品让更多美国的中老年人群接触动画了吗？

渡边监督：我其实完全不了解美国动画。你觉得呢？如果有和《星际牛仔》相似的作品，请告诉我，我很想观赏。

DT：做《超时空要塞》的时候，是你决定与菅野洋子合作的吗？

渡边监督：《超时空要塞》刚起步的时候，菅野洋子并没有名气。她没有作品，主要做的是商业合作。所以我当时不了解她。Victor Entertainment（胜利娱乐）公司的人强烈向我推荐了她。我看了她所有的广告作品，看的时候我觉得很棒，决定请她写配乐。

DT：她没有参与《混沌武士》有没有原因？

渡边监督：我想在《混沌武士》里用嘻哈音乐，但是她并不是嘻哈音乐人，所以我决定请别的音乐人。有人建议我让菅野洋子做一些嘻哈音乐出来，但我觉得，这样好像在模仿嘻哈音乐，而不会呈现真正的嘻哈。

DT：接下来还打算与菅野洋子合作吗？

渡边监督：我的确想与她合作，已经计划合作下一部作品，但还没有决定做什幺。

DT：斯派克的头发是黑色还是绿色的？

渡边监督：墨绿色。

DT：你在演讲里说，你创造的角色永远饿肚子，永远缺钱。在《星际牛仔》里，为什幺斯派克和菲这样的角色没钱吃饭，有钱买烟？

渡边监督：其实在我的牛仔宇宙里，烟特别特别便宜。而且我多说一句，你怎幺知道那真的是烟？我们就此打住吧。【笑】

DT：做《星际牛仔》第十七话《Mushroom Samba》的时候，你有没有研究人（包括狗狗艾因）吃了致幻蘑菇以后的行动和状态？

渡边监督：全都是我自己想象出来的。不这幺说的话我会被抓的吧。但是艾因不是普通的狗，你应该知道吧，艾因是数据狗。数据狗和普通狗不一样，会有异常的反应。不过其实我也不太了解数据狗。

DT：你有没有参与《星际牛仔》和《混沌武士》相关的游戏开发？

渡边监督：没有。我看到过一些。但我一般情况下忙于制作动画，所以没时间去做电子游戏。如果游戏不好玩，可不是我的错。

DT：你在演讲中提到，你觉得最像自己的角色是无幻和斯派克。可以解释一下吗？

渡边监督：首先，我经常开枪打人，拿刀砍人……开玩笑啦【笑】。斯派克和无幻不会直白地表达自己的感受。比如，哪怕喜欢的女孩就站在自己面前，他们并不会直接追她——实际上他们会做相反的事情，差不多会无视她。我觉得这一点挺像我的。总结一下，差不多是比较对立，或者比较反叛。

DT：你说的是斯派克和菲之间的关系吗？

渡边监督：当然。会有人问我：“斯派克是怎幺看待菲的？”我觉得他其实相当喜欢她。但他不是一个直白的人，所以他会确保自己不表现出来。

DT：《星际牛仔》第五话《Ballad of Fallen Angels》好像预示了最终话的内容。两者之间有关系吗？

渡边监督：《星际牛仔》中所有比夏斯出场的集数都和结局有直接关系。我在做第一话之前就已经想好了结局。尽管我想好了结局，我的工作人员表示强烈反对。他们很不开心，因为这样就没法做续集了。所以我跟他们说我会再考虑考虑，但是最后还是采取了我一开始的方案。

DT：斯派克去世，你收到负面评价了吗？

渡边监督：我从来没有正式表示过斯派克死了。现在，我能告诉你的是我不确定他的生死。我觉得，相对于把斯派克写死而受到诟病，大家应该更讨厌我做一部续集吧。

DT：下面这个问题你肯定听到很多遍了，很抱歉我要再问一次。

渡边监督：那过吧【笑】。开玩笑的。

DT：我们还会看到更多牛仔动画吗？

渡边监督：总有一天吧……可能，总有一天。

DT：制作电影和制作动画剧集有什幺不同吗？

渡边监督：动画的一个特点是你只有20分钟，所以你不可以讲一个很长的故事。我觉得电影讲了一个比较长的故事。比如电影里有一段20分钟的机器人动画，如果我要在动画剧集里做的话，会占用一整集的时间。

DT：经常听动画制作者说自己等了很长时间才等来独立做监督的机会。你是如何这幺快就做到的？

渡边监督：动画产业不太依靠年龄或者教育经历，更取决于一个人的技术和运气。就我个人而言，我监督的第一部动画《星际牛仔》非常火爆，因为它成功了，我才有机会做电影监督。你有多少技术其实不太重要，如果你没有成名作，或者一部大热的作品，你就很难获得这种机会。考虑到这一点，我觉得自己很幸运。

原文如下

Watanabe explained that music is often the driving force behind many of his works.

"I'm so happy when they [fans] praise my works for the music," he said. "There are times when music comes before the animation."

For example, Episode 14 of "Samurai Champloo" features a piece of Okinawan music that plays uninterrupted for the first half.

"I made 'Samurai Champloo' the series in order to make this scene," he said.

A great deal of Champloo's soundtrack is hip-hop from artists such as Shing02. The art of sampling old music and changing it intrigued Watanabe. "The technique of using old music and remixing it into something new is very similar to what I was doing with the animation," he said.

Much like hip-hop rappers can represent themselves with a single microphone, Watanabe said, "I would like to represent myself with a single pencil on a blank piece of paper."

Watanabe concluded his lecture by announcing three new projects to begin showing next year, though he was reluctant to give away any details. The first is a short film with a "boy-meets-girl" story called "Genius Party." He also verified that he is working on a live-action film and an anime series that will be "very mysterious and different from the past [works]."

It was with all of this in mind that I made the journey through the off-limits corridors of the museum to meet Watanabe himself. I found him sitting in a conference room regularly used by the museum's public relations department, with an interpreter beside him and a stack of memorabilia to be signed in front of him. There were posters, DVDs, CDs and a pair of neon yellow hot pants made by a fan to look like the clothing worn by the character Faye Valentine in "Cowboy Bebop." A museum aide joked with Watanabe to hurry with the autograph, because the fan may be waiting in the lobby wearing a trench coat. What she was wearing while her pants waited for a signature is anybody's guess.

Hot pants aside, Watanabe looked relaxed and eager to answer questions about his past, his future and whether Spike's hair is, in fact, green.

Daily Texan: What made you decide to go on a lecture tour?

Shinichiro Watanabe: I was requested by the Japan Foundation to come to America and speak. They provided a series of location choices within the States, and from there, I made a selection. The reason I chose Houston is because it's the hometown for cowboys.

DT: Do you think your work is making animation more accessible to older age groups in America?

W: Actually, I don't know much about American animation at all. So what do you think? If there's anything that's similar to "Cowboy Bebop," please let me know. I'd like to see it.

DT: Was it your decision to work with Yoko Kanno as a composer for "Macross Plus?"

W: At the time "Macross Plus" started, Yoko Kanno didn't have a name. She hadn't made a sound track. She was mostly working in the commercial industry. So I really didn't know anything about her. Somebody from Victor Entertainment recommended her strongly. I reviewed all of the commercials that her work was used in. While I reviewed these, I was impressed with what I heard and decided by all means yes, I would like to use her.

DT: Is there a particular reason why she wasn't used in "Samurai Champloo?"

W: I wanted to use hip-hop music in "Champloo" and since Yoko Kanno is not a hip-hop musician, I decided to use other people. There were some people that suggested we ask Yoko Kanno to create some hip-hop music, but I felt that that would be more of an imitation of hip-hop music than the real thing.

DT: Any chance of teaming up with Yoko Kanno again on your new projects?

W: I do want to work with Yoko Kanno, and I do have plans to work with her again on a future project, I just haven't decided exactly which project yet.

DT: Is Spike's hair black or green?

W: Dark green.

DT: In your lecture you said that you create characters who are constantly hungry and short on cash. In the case of "Cowboy Bebop," how are characters such as Spike and Faye able to afford smokes when they can't buy food?

W: Actually, in my cowboy universe, tobacco is incredibly cheap. And if I go on and say a little more, how do you know it's really tobacco? We'll leave it at that. [Laughs].

DT: For the "Mushroom Samba" episode of "Bebop," did you research how people, not to mention Ein the dog, would act under the influence of narcotic mushrooms?

W: It's completely my imagination. If I don't say that, I might be arrested. But Ein isn't just an ordinary dog. You may know this, but Ein is considered a data dog. As a data dog, he's different from a regular dog and has an unusual reaction or response. But actually, I don't know that much about data dogs myself.

DT: Are you involved with the video game versions of "Bebop" or "Champloo?"

W: Actually, no. I've seen a little bit of them. But I was often so busy creating the animation side of it that I didn't have any time to dedicate over to the video game side of it. So if the games aren't all that interesting, it's not my fault.

DT: You said in your lecture that the characters you relate most to are Mugen and Spike. Care to explain?

W: First, I'm often shooting people and slashing them up with a sword ... It's a joke. [Laughs] Spike and Mugen aren't very straightforward in expressing themselves. For example, even if there's a girl they like standing right in front of them, they don't pursue her directly - in fact, they do the opposite, they ignore her almost. I think that part is kind of like me. If I was to sum it up, it's kind of like being a little contradictory or rebellious.

DT: Are you talking about Spike's relationship with Faye?

W: Of course. Sometimes I'm asked the question, 'What does Spike think of Faye?' I think that actually he likes her quite a bit. But he's not a very straightforward person so he makes sure he doesn't show it.

DT: Episode five of "Bebop," "Ballad of Fallen Angels," seems to be foreshadowing the events of the final episode. Is there a connection?

W: Actually all of the episodes that contain Vicious that come out in "Cowboy Bebop" are directly related to the ending. Even before I made the first episode, I already had the ending in mind. Even though I had the ending in mind by myself, I was opposed by my staff. They were upset because they were saying that we wouldn't be able to make a continuation. So I told them I'd think about it a little more, but ultimately I decided to go with my original idea.

DT: Have you received any negative feedback for Spike's death?

W: I've never officially said that he's died. At this point, I can tell you that I'm not sure if he's alive or dead. I think probably rather than being yelled at for killing Spike, I think ... people are more upset that I might make a continuation.

DT: I'm sure you've heard the next question a thousand times, and I apologize for asking again.

W: Then I pass. [Laughs]. I'm joking.

DT: When are we going to get to see more "Bebop"?

W: Someday ... maybe, someday.

DT: How was working on a movie different from the series?

W: One thing is that with a TV series, you only have 20 minutes, so you can't convey a long story. I feel like I was able to convey a longer story in the movie. For example, in the movie there is a 20-minute mecha scene. If I were to do that in the TV series, it would take up an entire TV episode.

DT: It's common to hear animators remark about how long it takes them to be offered a solo directing opportunity. How were you able to do this so quickly?

W: The animation industry is one that doesn't really rely on age or educational background. Rather, it depends more on a person's skill and on luck. So for myself, the first TV series I directed, "Cowboy Bebop," was a hit, and as a result of its success, I was offered the opportunity to direct a film. It doesn't really matter have much skill you have, if you don't have a hit work, a popular piece, you won't get any offers to make a film. In that respect, I consider myself lucky.