Birthday: September 6, 1964

Hometown: Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Blood type: B

An anime director and voice actor best known for his chaotic, over-the-top adaptation of Rikdo Koshi's Excel Saga—where he also voices the character Nabeshin, a fictional version of himself. His self-insert cameos have become something of a signature move; he's popped up across various anime including Puni Puni Poemy, Tenchi Muyo! GXP (as NB), Dotto Koni-Chan (as Inu-Afro), Mahoromatic, EyeShield 21, and Hayate no Gotoku. There's even an unmistakable Nabeshin cameo in Nurse Witch Komugi, though he had no involvement with that project.

According to Watanabe himself, the nickname "Nabeshin"—a mashup of "nabe" from his surname and "shin" from his given name—came to him from God. He won the Individual Achievement award at Animation Kobe's 3rd festival in 1998.

(Not to be mixed up with Watanabe Shin'ichirou, the director behind Cowboy Bebop.)