Nobody has the right to sit in judgment and decide what's good or bad for you.

The characters are born from repetition, from repeatedly thinking about them. I have their outline in my head. I become the character and as the character I visit the locations of the story many, many times. Only after that I start drawing the character, but again I do it many, many times, over and over. And I only finish just before the deadline.

I myself become terrified of death when I am in a negative state of mind. But the thought of death ceases to bother me once I become productive.

I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where they two mutually inspire each other to live– if I’ m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.

I can't stand modern movies. The images are too weird and eccentric for me.

Plants exist in the weather and light rays that surround them - waving in the wind, shimmering in the sunlight. I am always puzzling over how to draw such things.

Actually I think CGI has the potential to equal or even surpass what the human hand can do.