“Do not forget what you are,” legendary voice actor Ryo Horikawa said in his interviews, which is an important lesson to remember, even if you aren’t the voice of a beloved and lasting character like Vegeta from the Dragonball Saga.

At Crunchyroll Expo 2018, I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to interview both Ryo Horikawa, as well as legendary music producer Shiro Sasaki who were both there to promote their new anime music streaming service ANiUTa, as well as discuss highlights from their illustrious careers.

As of now, the ANiUTa platform is predominantly geared toward Japanese language audiences, but the two legends are desirous to change that. When asked if the complete Japanese library would eventually be available to English speaking audiences, Sasaki San replied “of course.” In addition to being President and CEO of this new service, Sasaki San has produced music for Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Cardcaptor Sakura and Akira—just to name a few.

“[Producing music] is not so much choosing as it is gathering as much good music as possible,” Sasaki San mentioned when discussing his career. His partner in this venture, Ryo Horikawa admitted that he’d never imagined himself as an executive of an international company, but his credits speak for themselves having voiced beloved characters like Captain Falcon, Karasu, Zaruchimu and of course Vegeta among many others.

“I don’t think I play Vegeta, it’s who I am,” Horikawa San said of his most well-known and prolific international role. He is not, however, immune to the general excitement around his work, still growing to this day, “…it’s spread all over the word, which is very exciting for me.”

I asked Horikawa San how he felt that he’d imparted himself on the role of Vegeta and how the role had affected him in his own life, for which he had a very thoughtful and inspirational answer. “How you live and how you keep on living—what you’re aiming for, something like that, is very important thing for the actor to play the role. So I always keep myself up and go out so far far away, more and more, and I like to be a better one—better than now, better than what I am right now. I want to be more and more.”

In our own ways, I think that we all aspire to be more and more. I found these words very poignant.

“It depends on what I am, to make the role [the] real thing,” Horikawa San said, in response to which of his roles were his favorites, “…it depends on what I am right now, so I have to train myself and never get it… I always try to do my best. So, the next one—always the next one.”

Sasaki San agreed, his favorite project is “the next one.”

“So sometimes some fans ask me, what kind of characters or anime do you like best? I cannot answer it. All of them! Because I love it—I love them all. Every character that I do—that I did, is very adorable.” Horikawa San concluded.

I also asked both legends if they felt that they were more like Goku or Vegeta in their personal lives, in an attempt to know who they were as people, behind their prolific credits, “I think a combination of both,” Horikawa San answered, “because one doesn’t exist by itself, because he’s connected to another character, they’re connected to each other.”

Though Sasaki San seemed slightly taken aback by being asked a Dragonball question, despite not working on the show, he gave a very enlightening answer. “[I] like someone who is not the protagonist,” he answered after some clarification, “so, neither I guess.” Which is a very humble, Goku-like answer. That this titan of industry and legend of the music business is loathe to cast himself as protagonist of his own story speaks to his humility and relatability.

Humble and relatable are words that I think could describe both of these legends, and I felt blessed to be in their presence for even a short time. I was also impressed with their tact, never once forcing the discussion to their streaming service and answering each question thoughtfully and without judgment. When at last they were asked about the service, Sasaki San answered concisely, “anime songs by anime song lovers for anime song lovers.”

As the future looks brighter and brighter for anime and anime related properties internationally, we can only hope that more executives with the heart and spirit of Ryo Horikawa and Shiro Sasaki become the standard for corporate aspirations—desiring to better serve the fans before thinking of how to best serve themselves.

“Do not forget what you are.” Horikawa San said. These are words to live by.