Original Article: https://movie.walkerplus.com/news/article/210904/
Published: 2019/11/3
Features:
Saito Soma (Furuta Tokio in Kimi dake ni Motetainda.)
Uchiyama Koki (Ashida Shigekazu in Kimi dake ni Motetainda.)
Tomizono Rikiya (Tojima Koutarou in Kimi dake ni Motetainda.)
Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (Sahashi Aki in Kimi dake ni Motetainda.)
Umehara Yuuichirou (Gotouda Shun in Kimi dake ni Motetainda.)
Q: Please tell us about the characters you voiced. They’re described as being “unfortunate” ikemen…?
Soma: I voiced Tokio, who’s not good at dealing with people. The people at school think that he’s a chuunibyou.
Ucchi: I voiced Asimo, an energetic, hot-blooded boy. He has a childish side to him, and it’s a character type I usually don’t voice.
Rikiya: I voiced Koutarou, a boy who struggles because his extreme cuteness prevents him from being popular.
Tsugu: I voiced Aki, who looks flashy but isn’t interested in girls, and tends to distance himself from others.
Ume-chan: I voiced Shun, who is a butler and has a more mature aura than the other four. However, he’s still inexperienced in some things, and this shows in the latter half of the story.
Q: All five of you were together for the recording. Did anything stand out?
Ume-chan: It was tough because we had to record it in a single day, but I remember the refreshments being luxurious. *laughs*
Soma: They were! Ucchi-san had a pretty hard time, right?
Ucchi: Yeah, I had a high-spirited role, so it drained all my energy…
Q: Uchiyama-san often voices quiet, cool characters, right? Did it feel like you used more power than usual?
Ucchi: It took some trial and error to get Asimo’s aura right, but I wouldn’t say that voicing quiet characters is easier. I did the best I could as usual.
Rikiya: This was my first time recording for an anime, and I was really nervous. But, I gradually calmed down as we ate lunch and talked about random things. I pored over the script and built up the role, but at the recording I was told to use a more normal voice, and that was a struggle.
Ume-chan: Matsuoka-kun was helping Tomizono-kun out.
Tsugu: Everyone’s nervous at first, and sometimes it doesn’t go well. It’s the same for the rest of us *laughs*. But when you’re standing in front of the mic, the senpai and kouhai hierarchy doesn’t matter. For the sake of creating something good, I wanted to set that aside and help Tomizono-kun when he was struggling. We worked on his scenes together.
Q: Which character do you think would be the most popular?
Tsugu: Isn’t it obviously the heroine, Horinomiya Sakiko? *laughs*
All: *laughs*
Tsugu: But among us five, I think it’d be Asimo. He’s fun to be around, and I think every school has that “kind of stupid but keeps everyone in good spirits” guy. The type that isn’t hiding anything.
Ucchi: I’ll return that and say Matsuoka-san’s Aki-kun. I like his whimsical, enigmatic aura. It makes you wonder what kind of person he is.
Soma: I want to root for Aki-kun too. Gotouda might be the most popular, but while Aki-kun is harder to approach, he doesn’t have any “unfortunate” qualities *laughs*. And perhaps because of Yoshitsugu-san’s acting, he seems suited to be the reliable one that keeps everything together.
Ume-chan: Maybe Koutarou? Isn’t that kind of Harajuku-style, androgynous guy popular these days?
Tsugu: He’s the cute type.
Ume-chan: Then again, if I were a girl, I’d want Koutarou to be more manly too. *laughs*
Rikiya: I like how perfect Gotouda is. Tokio is good too, though. He’s the protagonist after all!
Ucchi: Is that the reason?!
Ume-chan: He wins based on title alone. *laughs*
Soma: But, in this film it feels like all five of them are the protagonist.
Q: Aki wins with two votes. Matsuoka-san, how do you feel?
Tsugu: But the popular one is Aki, not me *laughs*. Wouldn’t anyone be fine if they voiced him?
Ucchi: No, you’re the only one capable of voicing that Aki.
Tsugu: In that case… I’m honoured! *laughs*
Q: What are the highlights you want people to notice in this film?
Rikiya: The visuals are very pretty. My character Koutarou is the cute type, so there are many scenes where he looks upward, and he’s really sparkly during those scenes *laughs*. Please notice that!
Ume-chan: My character Gotouda is the calm and composed butler of the Horinomiya family, but age-wise, he’s a high schooler just like the other four. You can sense his inexperience as the story progresses, so I hope you’ll pay attention to those inner workings of his heart.
Tsugu: It’s an adolescent story about five people struggling as they move forward. I hope everyone will see for themselves how the relationships between them change. The characters’ emotions also go through ups and downs, and I hope you’ll enjoy watching that.
Ucchi: At first, they aren’t that serious about winning the popularity contest, but through that contest, they run into the problem of “What does it mean to be popular?” They slowly form bonds with each other and tackle the theme of popularity. There’s also a scene where Asimo sings, and they actually composed a proper, complete song for it even though only the first part gets sung.
Soma: My top pick is the scene where Asimo funnels milk from his nose to his eyes! I really like it because you can feel Ucchi-san’s meticulousness as an actor, so please check for it *laughs*. The popularity contest is the major theme, but there are also slice-of-life scenes of high schoolers just having fun, so please enjoy those too.
Tsugu: The characters’ emotions rise up during the climax, so please enjoy it with them in the theatre!
