Broadcast: 2020/9/8 (Part 1), 2020/9/29 (Part 2)
Original Name: アサデス。
Saito Soma was interviewed by Miyata Toshiya from Kis-My-Ft2, an avid seiyuu fan (and Soma fan, as you’ll see).
Miyata: Asadesu! Good morning! I’m Miyata Toshiya from Kis-My-Ft2, the Tuesday regular on this show! Now then, today I’ll be having another remote interview with a voice actor! He has a refreshing voice that even men will fall in love with. From the popular media mix project Hypnosis Mic… Saito Soma-san!
(Quick video featuring Saito Soma’s roles in Haikyuu!!, Furifura, and Hypmic, as well as his artist career)
Miyata: Miyata Toshiya from Kis-My-Ft2 here!
Saito: Thanks for having me~ I’m the voice actor Saito Soma~
Miyata: What a nice voice…
*both laugh*
~Reporter Miyata talks about the anime he likes that Soma was in~
Miyata: I really loved Piano no Mori. Also Doppio in JoJo, and Yamagi in Orphans. Personally, I think that you have the coolest voice out of everyone lately.
Saito: *deep voice* Really…? Thank you.
Miyata: Your voice is so good!
Saito: This is embarrassing *laughs* Thank you. I didn’t think you’d know about me, so…
Miyata: No no, what’re you saying? Of course I know you!!! You’re freaking Saito Soma!!!
(Quick Hypmic video)
Miyata: I heard that you’re an avid reader…
Saito: Yes
Miyata: What kind of genres do you read?
Saito: When I was a student, I read a lot of typical “literature” like Dazai Osamu, Miyazawa Kenji, and Tanizaki Junichiro, to name some famous ones. I like finding foreign books where only one book in the series has been translated into Japanese, or books that no one has written reviews for yet.
Miyata: You’re pretty serious about it, huh?
Saito: Yes, before I decided to become a voice actor, there was a period of time when I wanted to become an author.
Miyata: So, Asadesu is a Fukuoka-based program. Have you gone to Fukuoka before?
Saito: I went there last year for work. It’s a really nice place—I’d want to go there again if I have the chance. I like enjoying food and alcohol that go well together, and Fukuoka had both good food and good alcohol—oh and the air was clean too. I felt like I’d returned home, even though it was my first time working there.
Miyata: Ohh, that’s how much it resonated with you?
Saito: It was only a one-night trip for work, but I’d like to take my time exploring and seeing the scenery sometime. I wonder if this interview might lead to something… If you call me for something, I’ll come over right away
Miyata: When the pandemic is over, let’s film something in Fukuoka together
Saito: I’ll free up my schedule right away!!
Miyata: I’m holding you to that! Staff-san, did you hear that? He said he’ll free up his schedule right away!
Saito: The world continues to be in a difficult situation, but as a voice actor, I feel that fiction and entertainment have the power to enrich people’s hearts at times like this. Let’s keep eating lots of good food and living healthy, peaceful lives together. *Gentaro mode* That’s not a lie! Thank you!
~About Hypnosis Mic~
Miyata: The anime adaptation was announced, right?
Saito: Thank you *bows* Hypnosis Mic was based on CDs—songs and drama tracks— but when it’s only audio-based, it makes you wonder what facial expressions the characters are making, etc. Have you ever watched an anime where the character didn’t have a dialogue line, but their expression really hit home?
Miyata: I love the faces that girls (in anime) make the moment they fall in love
*both laugh*
~About why Saito Soma became a voice actor~
Saito: When I was a first-year in high school, some things happened that made me not want to go to school. I holed myself up at home for several months. When I was at home, I watched a lot of anime and found out about voice acting as a job. I felt that anime really helped me get through that time, and that feeling turned into admiration. I wanted to try being on that side.
Miyata: You sound like a light novel protagonist
*both laugh*
~About Saito Soma’s unexpected likes~
Miyata: I received info that apparently you love sports drinks; is that true?
Saito: *laughs* Yes… I played a lot of sports up until middle school, and I loved drinking Pocari Sweat afterwards and letting it seep into my parched body. So I’ve always been saying that I like Pocari Sweat, and one day, a radio director said, “If you say you like Pocari so much, then you should be able to tell the difference between them by taste, right?” So they prepared a quiz with powdered, bottled, and canned Pocari (tall and short) in paper cups and I had to guess which one was which. They should’ve tasted the same, but I happened to get them all right. The bottled one was obvious, but the two can sizes were just… intuition (“kan”) *laughs* Ahh, I’m going to be so embarrassed when that line airs on TV *laughs*
Miyata: It’s dangerous (“akan“), right?
*both laugh*
Saito: Now it’s like I’m a Pocari seiyuu… Is it okay to use this much time on this?
Miyata: It’s okay; when I interviewed Shimono Hiro-san, he talked a lot about karaage.
Saito: I watched a bit of that… he was more enthusiastic about karaage than his new song
Miyata: Yeah *laughs* So it’s completely fine to talk about Pocari
*they do the Asadesu pose together*