- As an influential animator, he played an essential role when two important directors in Japanese animation, namely Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, made their theatrical debut. In 1965, when Toei Doga chose Otsuka for animation director of their tenth feature film, he recommended the studio to pick out Takahata for director. This tenth feature film resulted in Takahata's theatrical debut Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968). Again in 1979, when Tokyo Movie Shinsha asked him to make the second "Lupin the Third" movie, he invited Miyazaki to direct it. This collaboration resulted in Miyazaki's theatrical debut Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).
- He was the first person in Japan to have purchased the Fiat 500 vehicle, which served as the inspiration for Lupin III driving a Fiat 500 in Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).
- He believed that genuine realism doesn't suit animation and "constructed realism" is more suitable. Hayao Miyazaki compared Otsuka's approach to early Japanese comedian Ken'ichi Enomoto.
- During a visit to Tsuwano Station at the age of 10, he saw a steam locomotive for the first time. He began to take an interest in locomotives and their operation and would frequently sketch them.
- In 1945 his family moved to Yamaguchi Prefecture where there was a military base. He began to draw the array of military vehicles located there while also drawing a variety of subjects in different styles.
- According to Miyazaki, a "completely drunk" Otsuka roared off one night in his Fiat 500. He appeared mud-spattered the next morning, having buried the car in a road under construction.
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