It's a secret, but when I decided to apply to 'Shonen Magazine,' it was already past the deadline, so I had no choice but to go with 'Shonen Jump.' My motivation for becoming a cartoonist was... to put it bluntly, the ¥100,000 prize money."

I don't remember the very first animation I saw, but the one that stays deepest in my memory is definitely 'Astro Boy.'

I have memories of reading comics when I was in primary school, but that's about it.

There have been times when I didn't quite make my deadline.

Leaving America means renouncing your citizenship, moving out of the country and leaving family and friends behind. You can retain your citizenship if you like, but you'll still be away from loved ones and still be paying taxes. You lose all the good stuff about America and have to keep all the bad stuff.

Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years.

When I was young I was one of the second generation of black people in Holland. My father was the first. My mother was white, and living with a black man at that time and having a how-you-say half-caste boy is not easy.

I have always been part of a family with a great appreciation for the arts.