The first question had to do with the bear that frequently appears through out the series, and if Kanye West had any influence on it. Okazaki claims he had been drawing the bear before Kanye West and that it was actually a doodle that he had been drawing back when he worked as an illustrator, prior to drawing manga. Other notable questions had to do with his influences. Okazaki explained that he had started listening to hip-hop in High School, and it greatly influenced his world from that point forward. Another question had to do with his love for Watchmen and the potential for the live action Afro Samurai movie, at which point he claimed he loved the Watchmen movie--to my dismay, I personally thought it was trash--and that the Afro Samurai movie has not started production.

Regarding Rza's involvement with the soundtrack for the Anime, he claimed that he was approached by the artist, and being a fan of his work, immediately agreed to work with him on the project. Takashi was also questioned about the various elements he included in the series and mentioned that he tried to include everything he loved from Soul Train, and Kurosawa movies, to Star Wars, but felt the list went on and didn't want to spend too much time trying to explain it. One person asked about the future of the series, at which point Okazaki concluded that the future is still up in the air, and while he had plenty of ideas to still incorporate, all work on the series has currently halted and he is working on a new project that he can't really discuss yet.

So there you have it, he's working on something, and I can't help but be excited by the possibilities as I absolutely adore his artwork. That said, I was never really a fan of Afro Samurai's plot, which I've always felt was rather forced. Of course, I feel the same way about Gurren Lagann. Am I alone on this one?