If you've watched any robot anime in the past 40 years, there's a decent chance Shoji Kawamori had a hand in it.

Kawamori, whose four decades in the anime industry were celebrated with a recent exhibition titled the Shoji Kawamori Expo, is best known as one of the creators of "Macross," the 1982 series that kicked off a franchise that continues to this day.

Kawamori has also spearheaded or contributed to classics like "Mobile Suit Gundam," "The Vision of Escaflowne," "Cowboy Bebop" and "Ghost in the Shell" — in fact, the list of titles he's been involved in is so long it might well take up the rest of this story. His designs have been featured in video games like "Armored Core" and "Devil May Cry 5," and even a version of Sony's robot dog Aibo.