 After seeing Shinbo's stylized presence, the new president of Shaft, Mitsutoshi Kubota, approached Shinbo with the desire to make Shaft a distinctive studio among animation companies.In an interview, Kubota cited "Le Portrait de Petit Cossette" and "The SoulTaker" among Shinbo's most distinctive products that caught his eye.His work at Shaft has been characterized by extensive experimentation within the visual medium of animation, and often includes pictures taken from real life cut into scenes, as well as art shifts, beat panels (despite the fact that his work is animated), kabuki sound effects, textures that remain stationary when the textured object moves, showing symbols or defining parts of a character (ahoge, hair decorations, foreheads, or more bizarre symbols) in place of characters during dialogue, written text in place (in opposition to dialogue), precise use of fan service, and head-turning cinematography (head-tilting, a style known as a Shaft specialty).