Nakazawa Kazuto Guest Of Honor Panel Next up on Friday was Nakazawa Kazuto's Panel. Nakazawa-san has worked on many anime series (mainly as character designer), such as the original EL HAZARD OAV's, SORE YUKE! YAMAMOTO YOHKO OAV's, TENCHI IN TOKYO (SHIN TENCHI MUYO!), and KACHO OHJI. He proved to be quite a funny persona, as epitomized in his self-introduction: "I'm Nakazawa. 32. I draw pictures. I like eggs. I plan on living 'till 70."

Q: What's your favorite character out of all the ones you've drawn?

NK: Well, the easiest to draw is Jinnai (EL HAZARD). Because he has easy eyes to draw [laughs].

Q: Why was Ifurita changed between the original OVA's and the TV series?

NK: The director asked for it. In the OVA series, she was sexy; but in the TV series she was a bit empty in the head [laughs].

Q: Any possibility of a new EL HAZARD series to show Makoto and Ifurita getting together?

NK: The staff on the OVA felt it was a closed series at the end, so there are no plans to continue. So like Lupin and Fujiko, they never get together. Besides, they are from two very different times.

Q: Would you like to get into mecha designs?

NK: I would like to, but I can't even program my VCR, so I probably wouldn't get hired [laughs].

Q: Who's your favorite artist?

NK: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the character designer for GUNDAM.

Q: Where do you get inspiration for your clothing designs?

NK: I like Middle Eastern clothing a lot.

Q: You co-directed GAROU DENSETSU (FATAL FURY): THE MOVIE with Ohbari Masami. Do you like directing more or drawing? And what was it like working with Ohbari?

NK: I'm getting older, so I hope this will be a possible venue for me. Ohbari is the type of director that gives lots of freedom; he's very easy going and easy to work with.

Q: What do you think of the similarities between your original Ifurita and Sylia Stingray in BUBBLEGUM CRISIS 2040 TV?

NK: (At this point, Nakazawa starts laughing profusely) I think you're talking about Yamada-san of BGC2040? Back when he was an unknown, I was told that there was a guy who's style was just like mine. I said, "Who? Who?" but I never met him. I thought he was rude for drawing like me. But when I finally met him, he was very nice, so I chose to let him live [laughs]. And he did call me "Master". I think he's like a good little "junior" to me [smiles].

Q: What's the difference between being a character designer and an animation director?

NK: Well, being an animation director is more social as you interact with the whole animation staff; the character designer position is much more isolated.

Q: What's your favorite series you've worked on?

NK: The original EL HAZARD OVA's, because I was animation director on a lot of the episodes.

Q: Are you in any of your characters you draw?

NK: Yes. There's always an element.

Q: Like what?

NK: Like the way Fujisawa-sensei (EL HAZARD) drinks [laughs].

Q: How do you feel about US censorship?

NK: I don't think that's right at all.

Q: What are your current or future projects?

NK: DIGIMON the movie. Kitakubo Hiroyuki (GOLDEN BOY) and I are potentially working on something [smiles].

Q: How'd you get into anime?

NK: GUNDAM came out. I kept sleeping in school, when I was supposed to look for jobs. Then I heard that animators can sleep in as much as they want, but they couldn't leave until they finished that day's work, so I decided to become an animator.

Q: What are your thoughts on the use of CG in anime?

NK: There'll be even more digitizing of anime in the future.

Q: What do you think of Pixar (TOY STORY, A BUG'S LIFE)?

NK: I felt defeated when I saw it [smiles].

Q: Are there any real people that your anime characters are based off of?

NK: Yes, I like pro-wrestling. For example, I like the wrestler called "The Rock."