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.

Children do not give up their innate imagination, curiosity, dreaminess easily. You have to love them to get them to do that.

I still believe that the best art - be it music, comedy, painting, etc. - is the art that hasn't been asked for, or is expected.

There is a very uneasy relationship between money and creativity, between money and almost everything. Its tendency to control and corrupt - whether it's in arts or education or politics, hardly anything is untouched by it. Journalism certainly is up there. Everything is susceptible to it.

I'm not an advocate of true rhymes, I don't think. I think that everyone who writes musical theater needs to know how to do true rhymes, because that's the tradition of it, but I do think that in order for the art form to grow, it's important to not let tradition get in the way of innovation.