A - Who are the creators/manga artists who have most influenced you?

TH - I never intended to be influenced by anyone, but like most of my generation I was influenced the most by Nagai Go and Ikki Kajihara. The generation before me was heavily influenced by Osamu Tezuka. So I preferred "Tetsujin 28 Go" (Gigantor) to "Tetsuwan Atom" (Astro Boy), because it was more realistic - and I prefer those more based in reality works than pure fantasy ones. "Atom" can think, speak - in fact do almost everything by himself. I'm not really into that. To me, robots must be controlled by people and how they move is controlled by a remote controller which gives a more realistic, down to earth image. Plus I prefer big, gigantic robots to smaller ones like "Atom".

A - If you create an anime based on another original work - do you follow the original or add in your own style?

TH - I've only ever created 2 works based on others "Magic Knight Rayearth" and "Devilman Lady". For Rayearth the authors (CLAMP) were pretty young and allowed me to add in some of my own elements, which I really enjoyed doing. As for "Devilman Lady" - well I met Nagai Go for the first time then, but what he used to draw back then and his current works are quite different. Plus I'd already seen the TV anime version and we, myself and the scriptwriter, really couldn't stray too far away from the main setting or situations. In fact none of the staff involved could stray away from the influence of the previous versions of it. Also the presence of Nagai Go was really overwhelming for us - and it may be a bit out of line to say, but we wanted to have the same kind of feel that Nagai created back then - and that's how it turned out. Nagai was really kind and though he is a great master, he told me once "Anime and manga are different, so anime creators should create their own work as they wish". I remember being really moved by this - but then again it put a lot of pressure on me.

A - Devilman was like a manga story at first, so I didn't consider that it would evolve into such a serious piece, but the themes grew deeper as it progressed. From your previous comments on Dangaioh, you said that there are elements of both comedy and drama - are there connections to works such as Devilman?

TH - I don't think that I can escape from the influences of "Mazinger 8" or "Getter Robo". When I was young that kind of hero-anime was on everyday. At 6 or 7pm there was bound to be some kind of hero on screen - whether it was in anime or real SFX drama - the population of people who watched it was destined to increase day by day (laughs).