- After Naruto and Bleach ended, he wasn't sure what Jump would become, but MHA's appearance put his mind at ease and gave him a motivation boost.
- His editor initially said the project would be too dark for a shonen magazine, and suggested changing the setting to a school (and so JJK 0).
- Having to make so many changes to his original idea ended up helping him a lot with the plot and characters.
- His editor suggested using the concept for a serialization, and it gave him the opportunity to delve deeper into the shonen basics. He revised the story to make it easier for readers to get into, and got the green light.
- He cites Bleach's first chapter as an influence on Kaisen's first. Also cites Naruto and the rules that govern its world. And then mentions Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai when talking about the shonen formula of a young boy with a hidden power inside him.
- He's asked if he has the story planned out, and says he knows how it'll end and what will happen to the main characters, but not everything is set in stone, and that it's important to leave the story open.
- Goes back to the idea of reviving the shonen formula, mentions Attack on Titan and MHA again, and the latter assuring him that Jump could still "breathe new life into its gears". This also made him aware that he would have to adjust if he wanted to compete.
- The promotional crossover between him and Horikoshi was the idea of their editors, and he says he really admires and respects Horikoshi, that he's a representation of the modern writer. This admiration only increased after they met, and when Horikoshi was kind enough to send illustrations so quickly even with a busy schedule.
- He wanted to give Itadori the traits of a shonen protagonist, but in his own way. He finds the 'super nice' protagonists annoying, and it's something he dislikes about classic shonen. Since he put a part of himself in the character, he's the most like him, and so more of a normal person. He was difficult to create, but says you can really feel his character.
- He wants all his characters to have some kind of flaw since he believes that no one can be 100% right. As for the curses, he wanted them to be as disgusting as possible to make them scary.
- He likes villains with strong ideologies (e.g., Sensui from YYH and Stain from MHA). Their ideals and motivations are clear, and he says it's important to not make the reasoning for their actions too abstract.
- While he was working as an assistant for Yasuhiro Kano (Kiss x Death), he was offered the choice of traditional or digital, and went with digital since it's a lot easier to correct any mistakes.
- He has 4 assistants that come in Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays to help with backgrounds and effects.
- When he has free time, he likes going to the movies (he enjoyed Whiplash). He watches Netflix/Amazon while he works, and loves shows like House. He loves reading manga, but hasn't had much time to read, but says he tries to read new things to give him ideas.
- Currently, he's trying to find books that Togashi used as inspiration (cites Junji Ito).
- He loves reading one-shots, especially by Tomoko Yamashito and Takako Shimura. Rereading shorter stories is helpful since he's worried that working on a longer series will make him forget how to complete a story in one chapter. He also enjoys anthologies and collections of short stories every so often, but has been focusing on manga given the lack of free time.
- He's asked what sort of power he would have, and says he would probably die young if he were an exorcist/shaman. He would just want something that would help him survive.
- He's asked about his pen name, and says "akuta" is the kanji for "waste", and he went with "Gege" because he likes repetitive sounds.
