Q: How did you and Kanno Yoko split up the music, like in the ESCAFLOWNE music?

MH: When I work together with her, she's my boss. (smiles)

Q: Usually on the average, how much rehearsal time do you get before you actually record the finalized work? How much time with the orchestra, I mean.

MH: Hmm ... [In English] Just one time. Just one time [of] rehearsal and recording.

Q: Do you ever do your own conducting?

MH: [In English] Yes. (Audience laughs)

Q: I guess I would like to follow up with that question as: Which works did you do your own conducting on?

MH: I have done conducting for the soundtracks of television drama in Japan, but not yet for recordings done overseas.

Q: What songs or what scores most represent you or what most stick out in your mind as well as those you like yourself?

MH: That's a difficult question, but first of all, when I'm working, there is some part that stands out. But usually I am so busy, I always have to meet deadlines. Whenever the work is finished, and then when the music comes together with the visuals, there is a different image. That is when I feel the music becomes greater. That moment comes to me many times. But at this moment, I forgot which songs those were. (Audience laughs)

Q: What musical artists are you inspired by, and what kind of music do you personally listen to?

MH: At the very beginning, [I listened to] waltzes and many other kinds of classical music. I started music from when I was three years old. When I was in junior high school, I liked British pop, Led Zepplin, the Beatles, as well as ... Pink Floyd (audience laughs) and Frank Zappa.

Q: Do you ever like to listen to your own compositions?

MH: (Laughs) Not for two years after. (Audience laughs)

Q: Yes, I was wondering if you would like to do a duet with Ms. Kanno next year at Anime Expo?

MH: If Expo invites us, certainly.

Q: How many people like the idea of that?

[Audience applauds and shouts yes.]

Q: It seems like all your songs tell stories or conveys specific moods. I just wanted to know which songs were like the hardest to get across the mood or feeling or what exactly is going on.

MH: I'm not the kind of person who can overcome too much. I really do have my own color, so I try to match whatever the requirement is with my own color.

Q: How did you work with Kanno on PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH?

MH: PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH was basically my own project. She helped with [composing] the ending theme.

Q: What it is your first contact with Kanno?

MH: I've known her more than nine years.

Q: After the soundtrack is completed and you listen to the music, is there anything you feel that needs to be done differently, or are you pretty much satisfied with the work after it's done?

MH: I'm never satisfied. (Audience laughs) I'm always thinking about the rest of the work. However, if I become satisfied, the next work will not come.

Q: Since a little bit has come out on the ESCAFLOWNE movie, are you going to try to keep the same tunes or the same themes throughout each of the songs, or you going to try out whole new different themes and whole new different songs?

MH: Actually, before going to this panel, I never saw this press release before. (Audience laughs) I'm surprised that the faces of the characters Hitomi and Van have really changed. I haven't had a chance at all to discuss the music with Ms. Kanno. (Audience laughs) We'll talk about it later ...

Special thanks to Bandai Entertainment's Ken Iyadomi for inviting Mizoguchi and interpreting; Kanno Yoko for volunteering to be Mizoguchi's substitute had it been necessary; and Jeremy Bunyard, Charles Gousha, Brian Mao, Karen Olympia, and Jacqueline Teng for help on the impromptu panel preparations.