He is best known for his popular 1984 work Birth, one of the first (after Dallos) original video animations released in the market.
His work on Galaxy Express 999 (1979) and Harmagedon (1983) were very influential to an entire generation of animators in Japan.
These two works also served as partial inspiration for Takashi Murakami's Superflat art movement.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he worked closely with director Hayao Miyazaki on several movies from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to Princess Mononoke.
[2][3][4] The final episode of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt was dedicated in memory of him, and his influential work garnered special praise from many industry figures, such as Hayao Miyazaki.