Shinichiro Watanabe

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.

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.

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.

With 'Space Dandy,' you've obviously got your image of the space and 80s music, and blending them together is how I created it.

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.

I loved 'The Matrix,' so when they asked me to do some animation relating to it, I was thrilled.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.