I believe samurai in the Edo period and modern hip-hop artists have something in common. Rappers open the way to their future with one microphone; samurai decided their fate with one sword.
In 'Space Dandy,' I'm trying to challenge myself and do stuff I haven't done before. I'm aiming for a really funny, cool, and crazy creation.
When creating 'Cowboy Bebop,' I thought it would be more interesting if I added different types of elements together to create something that was completely new.
When you're making anime, if you get all of your inspiration from anime... it's going to lack originality and creativity, so I try to get my inspiration from different genres.
National borders have always been arbitrarily drawn by people, and in ancient times there was a lot of exchange of people and culture with the continent.
I've been interested in hip-hop since it first appeared: the fact that it was born not in the music industry but on the street, the idea of using a turntable as an instrument, singing vividly about reality instead of typical love songs, and its links to graffiti and dance.
When it was released in the 80s in Japan, 'Blade Runner' was actually a series that influenced the Japanese media very much so. I assume that everyone in the anime industry has seen Blade Runner at some point.
With 'Space Dandy,' you've obviously got your image of the space and 80s music, and blending them together is how I created it.
I wanted to have lots of characters in 'Bebop' without white skin, and if people weren't used to that, well, maybe it would even make them think a little bit about it.
Lots of times when you watch anime, the characters all have white skin - all the characters in fantasy stories all have white skin, which I never liked.
I feel like I want to make anime that destroys the norms, something that would be strong, even if it is unconventional.
The work that has influenced me the most in my anime profession would be, of course, 'Blade Runner.'
When I was very young, even before I went to what you call elementary school, I used to read and watch Japanese comic books and anime all the time. These were the seeds of my future.
After I began in elementary school, I was able to go to the movies, and that was how I would spend my weekends, watching several movies one after another and almost all of them American movies. This is how I fell in love, at so young an age, with American movies and culture.
The anime that inspired me the most and one that I probably have influence from is the very first series of 'Lupin the 3rd.' I'm very drawn to 'Enter the Dragon' and 'Dirty Harry,' too. They definitely inspire me.
I was influenced by American movies of the '60s and '70s, especially Don Siegel's 'Dirty Harry' and the films of Sam Peckinpah. And, of course, a lot of the film noir movies of the '40s.
Some people compare Spike Spiegel to Dirty Harry, and they're both antiheroes. But Spike is an extension of myself.
I loved 'The Matrix,' so when they asked me to do some animation relating to it, I was thrilled.
Usually, the things that are quickly slapped together become the big hits, rather than the ones you would painstakingly deliberate on.
