As usual, don’t blindly trust whatever “news” you see going around that’s based on someone’s summary of Japanese interviews. This is framed in a very provocative and clickbait way, which doesn’t accurately represent what was said.
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I don’t know what the source is to confirm, but the story seems to be real. For its worth, her Japanese pixiv page has the quote as “the loli is necessary” (among others). But no source.
i think in particular it wasn't his fault for how the animation of for example uzumaki turned out, but it being in production during two major mergers (WBD, Sony & Crunchyroll, the anime was initially a co-production with CR) and the assorted budgetary troubles
The backlash against DeMarco also fits into the whole weeb narrative that evil Westerners are ruining anime and we need Japan to purge any connections with “the West” to return anime to it’s true “purity.”
“This is a completely original anime created from scratch by myself and the other staff. The offer came from an overseas anime broadcast company called Cartoon Network. They said they wanted me to create an original anime and would fund the whole thing.”
Mr. Jason Demarco, the man in charge, is a huge fan of “Cowboy Bebop” and a real music enthusiast. He said: “I can tell. You’re a director who uses music in a special way. I would love for you to make a series like that.” Specifically their offer was for an “action sci-fi show”.
I asked: “Something like Space Dandy?” and he replied “No, something more serious.” That was their only request: “serious”, aside from that I was free to make what I wanted. Generally speaking, they trusted me as a director and didn’t nitpick about the content.”
“Usually, productions with America involve a lot of meddling, but I was able to make this series fairly freely.” - Watanabe
The summary makes it sound like Watanabe pitched another Space Dandy, but it was only after they asked for action sci-fi. And it comes off as a “okay, what kind?” question.
Anyway, having a serious tone doesn’t mean a show can’t be fun. The opposite is also true. Even Space Dandy had a few somber moments despite the overall comedic tone. At the very least, Lazarus isn’t victim of “executives ruining things” if the interview is to be believed. Hope ppl give it a chance.
Maybe his question is better phrased as “Can it be like Space Dandy?” (スペースダンディみたいなやつでいい？) Since I think it’s fair to say Watanabe was interested in going that route. Which makes me feel like I’m splitting hairs here, but whatever. The serious tone may not be for everybody, but I like it.
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“This is a completely original anime created from scratch by myself and the other staff. The offer came from an overseas anime broadcast company called Cartoon Network. They said they wanted me to create an original anime and would fund the whole thing.”
The summary makes it sound like Watanabe pitched another Space Dandy, but it was only after they asked for action sci-fi. And it comes off as a “okay, what kind?” question.