An interview with Yukari Tamura (Iori Minase) in Chara no! issue 1 to to commemorate the serialization of the Iori Sunshine! novel.
lori Minase's and Yukari Tamura's Happy Relationship
The ever-energetic lori Minase is always looking straight ahead. And the one energetically playing this lori is none other than our idol, Yukari Tamura. To celebrate the serialization of the novel, we'll talk about lori's and Tamura's happy relationship!
What we're chasing after is different, but what we're striving for is the same.
—First of all, what did you think of that cute forehead-ed lori Minase after you first saw her visual?
Tamura: When I was first shown the character sheet, I thought she looked to be a girl with a bit of a strong attitude. As for the forehead, actually, I already knew about it from the original game, THE iDOLM@STER. So her forehead wasn't much of a surprise.
—Iori loves Nebula and has been chasing after the robot since she was a kid. Did you have something that you were obsessed with when you were little, or any dreams you had for the future?
Tamura: Dreams, huh... I don't have interest in robots or anything like that like her, but back then Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel was airing and I really loved it. I thought it would be fun to be able to transform.
—So, when you grew up, you wanted to transform?
Tamura: Back when I was a kid, I wasn't good at anything and was really shy. So I was jealous of Creamy Mami being able to transform from her normal self to something more dazzling. I wanted to transform like that.
— Having played lori, do you feel as though you have anything in common?
Tamura: We're a little similar in that we don't tend to open up to people we've just met. In lori's case, she was jealous of the newbie Haruka coming out of nowhere and being able to pilot an iDOL. But, once they got closer, she couldn't help but always, always caring for her. So, in that way, I think lori and I are similar.
—I feel like the recording for XENOGLOSSIA is one of those that voice actors aspire for. What was the atmosphere like? It seemed like everyone would get along well.
Tamura: I thought it was amazing that so many voice actors could come together for this anime. Normally, with a group of this size — well, it's not exactly the size of a school classroom — but you'd usually gather around people that you're already well acquainted with. But that wasn't the case for XENOGLOSSIA. Everyone was really friendly and got along well with each other. It had a really nice vibe. Everyone was excited to work hard together.
My rival is myself. Believe in your own possibilities and look toward the future.
—lori has Makoto Kikuchi as a rival, but do you have any rival in your life?
Tamura: Yeah. It might be a bit of a cliched answer but, in the end I'd say I'm my own rival.
— You're your own rival?
Tamura: Maybe "rival" isn't quite the right word... but, for instance, when you compare yourself to others, they of course have things you don't have. And no matter how much you want what they have, you can't get it. Ultimately, if you don't have it, you don't have it. So, instead of being stuck focusing on what I don't have, I do my best focusing on things I can make a difference in. I guess it's like that.
—This might be an unusual sort of interview question but...Tamura... how are you such a genius?
Tamura: G-genius? I'm not a genius. I wouldn't say I am.
—There are so many anime being made nowadays that the number of voice actors winds up being limited. So you have viewers that can easily recognize, "Oh, that's them!" Of course, for voice actors working on foreign films, you need to have certain voice actors. But in your case, you synchronize so well with the characters that I don't hear them as "Yukari Tamura." In that way, I think you've done really well as a voice actor.
Tamura: Really? I haven't really thought about it too much. I guess it's pretty hard to know that about myself, haha.
—But you do consciously study and prepare to shape the character in a certain way, don't you?
Tamura: I don't know if it's the right way to go about it, but I don't really intend on changing my voice or the character... but acting is a different thing altogether. The other day, I was talking to Producer Furusato and I realized something — in anime, you aren't acting on your own; the art and animation are also acting. No matter how much you think about it and practice on your own, the animation might be different. Inversely, the animation helps out with my acting, and it turns out better than I expected. So I don't overthink things too much.
— Your adaptability is really amazing.
Tamura: Oh, no... I really don't know much, haha.
Packed with surprises. And strong characters.
—In this month's issue of Chara no!, Iori's novel kicks off the magazine, resulting in a 20-page "Iori Special Feature" of some sorts, haha.
Tamura: Huh, really?! That's amazing! (clapping)
—With that, lastly, would you please give a message to the fans of XENOGLOSSIA?
Tamura: I'm really excited for — and I'm not saying so just to be nice — what happens next in XENOGLOSSIA. For the moment, lori hasn't appeared lately, so I haven't been able to record much, and I'm just eager to see what happens next! So at another recording, I talked to Kaori Shimizu (Chihaya Kisaragi's voice actor), and I went "show me the script." Reading it, I thought, "ohhhh, so this happened while I wasn't around." I'm really looking forward to seeing how it progresses. All the characters are really good. I really didn't like Makoto Kikuchi at first. I couldn't figure her out, like, "what are you doing with my Nebula..." haha. But, there was a wonderful episode about Makoto-chan's anxieties and inner conflict. I realized that Makoto-chan really is a nice girl. Each of the characters have backstories, so even as a voice actor, there are so many surprises. Personally, I'm looking forward to entering the studio and putting my all into it. There may be people here that haven't seen it yet, but I think the DVDs will be sold soon, so I'd love it if you watched it. I really want you to watch it.
—Tamura-san, since you are tackling this project with such extraordinary motivation, we at "Chara no!" would like to show our support as well.
Tamura: Thank you. It's always, always fun acting in XENOGLOSSIA so I hope you'll watch it. lori looks really cute when she's in motion, so I also hope you'll love her.
XENOGLOSSIA appears in the Super Robot Wars Y Expansion Pack ~Infinite Dimensions~! Haruka and Imber appear in the Super Robot Wars franchise for the first time since the mobile game Super Robot Wars X-Omega! This is their home console debut!
The DLC is available starting from April 22nd, 2026 -- AKA, tomorrow!
Featuring the first newly drawn Haruka and Imber since the MODEROID Imber model kit from 2022! And the first new XENOGLOSSIA merchandise since the Sunrise World TOKYO Y2K event in 2023!
A translation of the Xenoglossia-related parts from an interview with Naotake Furusato, the producer of Xenoglossia. I skipped over the parts that weren't related to Xenoglossia.
You can read the original here.
THE IDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA was an anime born from the merger between Bandai and Namco, but it somehow feels like a successor to Machine Robo Rescue.[1]
Furusato: At the time, at Studio 8, two anime were in production, the first being the My-Otome's OVA series. The other one was a new TV series. So we reached out to the character designer of Machine Robo Rescue, (Hiroshi) Takeuchi. Then, with the new director (Tatsuyuki) Nagai and scriptwriter (Jukki) Hanada being added, I think we made an anime with a different vibe than our previous works. Nagai did storyboards for My-HIME, and they were full of emotion and all of the cuts were great, so I thought, "Why not combine this with mecha-action to make a new film?" And we brought him on.
Thus, we began our meetings. Nagai brought his own vision board he drew and memos completely packed with sci-fi concepts. There were a lot of sci-fi background settings and alternate histories and the like written. In the memos, there were explanations about iDOLs (meteorite removal humanoid heavy machinery), special robots that were created to destroy meteorites falling from space. After several of these meetings, we made various decisions. An "iDOL" would be a silicon structure (a living thing) that was discovered within a meteorite from the moon and hides infinite energy. Also, each of the robots would be full of personality, such as being shy and withdrawn, or high energy. We added a lot of fun details. It suddenly brought back memories of the energy lifeforms from my time working on the Brave series. It reminded me how unique the robots there were.
As well, it reminded me of what Fukuda told me during Gear Fighter Dendoh's production. He said, "Robots are either created by relatives or discovered in ruins (underground)." That fits perfectly, doesn't it?
You mentioned before that Machine Robo Rescue came from wanting to find a way robots can do something other than fighting. Did the part about the meteorite-destroying iDOLs come from that?
Furusato: In Machine Robo Rescue, they fought against disasters, My-HiME was a battle royale, and My-Otome had the concept of a proxy war. With that in mind, when thinking about what exactly the robots - iDOLS - in XENOGLOSSIA are, and what they are fighting against, we figured that they were beings that carry a special core and have attained immense power from somewhere.
When thinking about what kind of scenes could show off their abilities, we got the idea of them saving the world from a crisis, like some kind of disaster relief. I thought it was probably because we had staff that worked on Machine Robo Rescue.
However, Director Nagai did not participate in the production of Machine Robo Rescue, so you could say it was a coincidence. But, when you think about shy and withdrawn children providing disaster relief, it's quite an interesting suggestion and message, right? The Masters (the girls piloting the robots) tell them, "The outside world is a great place, let's go out there together!" But what lies beyond their words is saving the world. What an amazing development. However, I wondered what would be a good place for these iDOLs (meteorite removal humanoid heavy machinery), since they are such big and powerful robots.
Regarding the designs of the iDOLs, what did you ask for?
Furusato: Of course, I asked Mecha Designer (Junichi) Akutsu[2] to make something cool, haha.
Akutsu and I have been working together since Dendoh. His art has a flavor of solidity, strength, and realism, which give them a sense of presence. It also has a kind of earthiness and metallicness to it. Adding in the "data weapons" in Dendoh and the mythical vibe from My-HiME and My-Otome made for an even higher level of coolness. Even though they aren't real and are just drawings, it feels like you can touch them. Even without having physical objects typical of anime made to sell toys, his drawings feel tangible. Because of that, I had been mainly asking Akutsu to make unconventional mechas. But for XENOGLOSSIA specifically, I asked him to make very traditional and marketable robot designs. That's because customers tend to not want to look at things they aren't familiar with. In the past, we would have year-long broadcasts for viewers to grow accustomed to them and we were able to be adventurous. But when thinking about the merchandise for an anime with only 26 episodes, as a producer, I had no choice but to aim for mainstream appeal.
On the other hand, I had to take into account the thoughts of the directors and other staff. Director Nagai had the approach of the top and bottom halves of the mechas being able to move independently of each other with inertia control, so Akutsu came up with them connected by a spinal cord, and he created a unique design in his signature style. This kind of interesting design couldn't be made if we were thinking about toys.[3]
As a producer, I can't just say no to ideas that differ from the direction I had in mind. All of us worked together to make it, and the designs were finished reflecting the feelings of the creators who worked on it. (Of course, taking into account the practicality of using it in the animation.) In the end, if the staff I chose say they want to do it in a certain way, I'll just say, "fine."
Did you give any specific instructions regarding how the IDOLs were to be depicted in the story?
Furusato: I don't fully remember if I said I wanted to do it, but the takeoff scene in the streets of Ginza was really fun. Takeoff scenes are Sunrise's forte and I think are one of the biggest charms of robot anime. As someone who is just a small part of the DNA my predecessors and I created together, the anime I've been involved with – from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, to Angel Links, Dendoh, and Machine Robo Rescue – we've made launches from bases with big jets, battleships, giant robots, etc. Even in My-HiME, we had Gakutenou launch from a waterfall, and instead of shooting off from the rails, Mikoto drove out on the road. If possible, I would be happy if you rewatched these launch scenes.
My own little annotations...
[1] Machine Robo Rescue is (currently) the final animated series in the Machine Robo series that has been active since 1982. It is a Japanese toyline akin to Transformers with the robots being able to switch between mecha form and vehicle form. Machine Robo Rescue features a group of children who partner with these robots to provide disaster relief and perform general public servant duties, such as firefighting, search and rescue, and first aid.
Coincidentally, Yukana who voices R.I.F.F.A and Kazuhiro Nakata who voices Joseph Shingetsu have roles in Machine Robo Rescue. Nakata's character (Brad Bitou) seems to be very similar to Joseph, actually.
[2] Junichi Akutsu is known for his work on Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and Gundam Seed. He provides mecha design art for the Gundam model kits.
[3] The design they went with being incompatible with toys being made of the iDOLs is something Nagai and Hanada talked about in their interview in the Sweet Memories mook.
Director Tatsuyuki Nagai and Youzou Sakagami Discuss the Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Xenoglossia.
also xenoglossia x super robot wars collab stuff but i cut it out of the TL you can check the original yourself.
A talk show event held in September 2017 to commemorate Xenoglossia's 10th anniversary. The event began with a screening of 4 select episodes chosen by Nagai (director of Xenoglossia) and Sakagami (general producer of THE iDOLM@STER), and then the two of them discussed some parts about Xenoglossia. This isn't an interview, but a translation of a report of the event from Dengeki Online.
You can read the original here.
Sakagami is Xenoglossia's biggest fan?! A talk show revealing production secrets!
The host, Sunrise's Shibuya, began the event with a "Good YayoYayovening!" The fans in the audience also greeted back with "Good YayoYayovening!"
As the event started, Director Nagai and Sakagami appeared to the background music of "Binetsu S.O.S!!" The audience welcomed them with a great round of applause and the two of them gave a quick greeting. Soon after, the two of them began talking about THE IDOLM@STER Xenoglossia.
Listening to their conversation, Xenoglossia's situation, what led to its creation, and what hurdles they faced during its creation were made clear.
First, Sakagami recalled the situation at the time of its creation. When Xenoglossia was first being planned, the only THE IDOLM@STER content at the time was the arcade game. According to Sakagami, he had no idea what kind of series THE IDOLM@STER would become.
With that, Sunrise decided to use the term "Idolmaster" as a keyword to create the anime, and began gathering staff.
At the time, Sunrise told Director Nagai "We have this "iDOLM@STER" property, but we'd like to set that aside and do a robot thing." Sakagami and the audience went "ehhhh?!" in surprise hearing this completely blunt proposal. Aside from what Director Nagai was told, Sakagami had already been well aware from the beginning that Xenoglossia would be a robot anime.
When Sakagami was told it would be a robot anime, he wondered how in the world such an idea even came up. After all, for players of the arcade game, THE IDOLM@STER is about producing idols. However, the fact that a robot anime had been proposed, and then Director Nagai would actually accept it was an even bigger surprise to Sakagami. With that, he told Director Nagai, "Wow, you really took that up, huh."
Director Nagai was 30 years old back then and had little experience as a director. "I never even thought about turning down a director role," he said, describing how he felt at the time. However, Xenoglossia wasn't as straightforward of an anime as he had thought.
They just said "make it about robots," and when Director Nagai asked what they should do about the story, they replied, "That's for you to come up with."[1] He remembered being so shocked, surprised he was entrusted with so much as a director.
Director Nagai imitated things that he was familiar with when making the story and setting, filling Xenoglossia with things that he personally liked. "Given the circumstances, I honestly didn't have the chance to worry about THE IDOLM@STER source material," he confessed plainly, to which earned another big laugh from Sakagami.
At the same time, the game staff was busy with the development of the console version of THE iDOLM@STER. Though they were getting small bits of information about the anime, they mainly left it up to Director Nagai.[2] From their conversation, it seemed clear that the production of the anime and game could truly be described as "hectic."
And thus, the first episode of Xenoglossia was complete. When greeting the game staff in the screening room, Nagai admitted that he was too scared to look them in the eyes. The audience laughed.
Contrary to how Director Nagai felt, Sakagami and the rest of the game staff were very receptive, and were eager to receive the "white boxes" (video tapes distributed for review). After watching, Sakagami remembered feeling the idea of the robots being used for work rather than combat was unique.
At the time of broadcast, there were many people confused that THE IDOLM@STER's anime was a robot show, says Director Nagai. Including the reactions on the Internet, he says that it was a good experience and he has good memories of working on the anime.
Then, Director Nagai revealed that the anime was ordered to be a "robot show," in addition to being a "robot romance show." Director Nagai and Scriptwriter Jukki Hanada were confused at first about the robot romance part, initially thinking about just adding "a girl who likes cars", but in the end they chose to make it an anime about "a love story between a robot and a girl", and then the direction Xenoglossia would go in was finalized.
In regards to his thoughts of the anime as a romance after watching it, Sakagami commented "I felt sorry for Chihaya getting rejected by Imber." And "Including Chihaya's plot, the way the story builds up in the second half is just amazing."
As the story progressed, you could watch Chihaya's love escalate. That in particular left a deep impression on Sakagami.
Next, they discussed how their impressions of Xenoglossia have changed between then and the tenth anniversary. Director Nagai commented, "I'm satisfied with it, but if given the opportunity to do it again, I'd find it difficult to do."
As a slight digression, Director Nagai talked about his first encounter with THE iDOLM@STER and what happened afterwards. "I actually only got to really know THE iDOLM@STER after Xenoglossia had already finished," he revealed, to the surprise of Sakagami and the audience.
Furthermore, he talked about how he received an offer from his friend Atsushi Nishigori, director of the 2011 THE iDOLM@STER anime, to do some storyboards. He thought, "What kind of joke is this?!" which made the audience laugh.[3] While laughing as well, Sakagami commented, "I think Director Nishigori might have been serious."
Sakagami spoke about how he reviewed the anime in preparation for his appearance at this event. He emphasized his current impressions now that it has reached its 10th anniversary, about its solid animation, its clear plot, and the depiction of a pure love story between a girl and a robot.
"At the time, I felt that THE IDOLM@STER Xenoglossia was a challenge, but looking back on it now, I can see it more objectively," Director Nagai expressed his strong feelings toward the anime. He also added, "At the time, we were making it on impulse. As we reached the end, there were quite a few things that didn't end up going well," a comment revealing some of the frustration those working on it felt at the time.
As the event drew closer to a close, Shibuya asked Sakagami and Nagai why they chose these four episodes to be screened at the event.
Episode 1, "Penguin Going to Tokyo" and episode 26 (the final episode), "The Moon and Penguin" were chosen by Director Nagai. He commented that he wanted to look back on these two episodes - episode 1 being full of things that he liked and the final episode being written impulsively at the time - and see how they were.
Episode 19, "Goodbye", and episode 23 "RUN!" were chosen by Sakagami. Both of these episodes were turning points in the anime. Sakagami spoke passionately about the scene in episode 23 where Haruka told Imber "I love you" and Imber's response, and how it left a strong impression on him, showing the moment of a robot and a girl falling in love. He showed great love for the anime.
To close the event, Sakagami and Director Nagai offered short messages to the fans that had gathered.
Sakagami commented, "As THE IDOLM@STER celebrates its 12th anniversary, please support THE IDOLM@STER as well as THE IDOLM@STER Xenoglossia."
"10 years ago, I never thought I'd be able to stand on such a public stage as this. Thank you for remembering this anime these 10 years," Director Nagai said, expressing his gratitude. With that, the event concluded.
My own annotations...
[1] See "Sweet Memories" director/scriptwriter interview for more details about the anime staff's perspective. Also the Odd Eye Creative interview whenever I get around to it...
[2] See "THE IDOLM@STER MASTER BOOK" interview for more about the game staff's perspective.
[3] He doesn't specify whether it was for the 2011 anime or not.
A translation of the Famitsu interview with Producer Naotake Furusato that was published on March 6th, 2007. Didn't translate some stuff I didn't think was relevant (info about a preview screening/summary of ep 1). The original interview can be seen here.
A hot topic with a new setting! Producer Naotake Furusato gives his comments!!
THE iDOLM@STER, an idol production game released in arcades in 2005 has received a lot of support from many fans. In January of 2007, the Xbox 360 version was released and became a hot topic. Not only fans of the arcade game, but a whole lot of people are captivated by it! And now, THE IDOLM@STER is making its TV anime debut in April 2007!
The TV anime "THE IDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA" was based on the original game, but with significant changes. The first thing that will catch your eye is the setting. The story takes place on Earth, a hundred years after the event known as the "Lost Artemis" in which the moon was destroyed. After the destruction of the moon, gravitational anomalies occurred, with broken fragments of the moon leading to meteorite disasters, and humanity has lost about a quarter of its population… The science fiction setting created a unique worldview for the anime adaptation.
But, the most surprising thing of all is the giant machines known as iDOLs that protect the world from the moon fragments. That's right, "THE iDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA" is a sci-fi anime featuring giant robots!! Only girls selected as "Idolmasters" can board the iDOLs. The story is about the iDOLs and the Idolmaster candidates, and the friendship and trust between them.
The director is "Mushishi"s and "Honey and Clover II"'s Tatsuyuki Nagai. The writer is "Rozen Maiden"'s and "Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~"'s Jukki Hanada.
Character design was done by "Machine Robo Rescue"'s and DS game "Xenosaga I & II"'s Hiroshi Takeuchi, with mechanical design of the iDOLs done by "GEAR Fighter Dendoh"'s and "Mai-HiME"'s as well as "Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion"'s Junichi Akutsu.
And, "GEAR Fighter Dendoh"'s and "Mai-HiME"'s Naotake Furusato (Sunrise) as well as "Sumomomo, Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth"'s and "Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~"'s Toyota Todoroki (Bandai Visual) as producers.
The title "THE iDOLM@STER" is the same, as well as the names and looks of the characters, but the story is completely different. And there's also the robots known as iDOLs. It's so far removed from the games, but inversely it feels fresh. People are wondering what kind of show this will be, with anticipation high. But, on the other hand, fans of the game version are naturally worried. That's why, today, we asked Producer Naotake Furusato some questions. How did "THE IDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA" turn out this way, and what was the mindset behind its production? What did you aim for with this anime adaptation? With the TV anime due to air in about a month, Producer Furusato speaks…!
First of all, please tell us the highlights of "THE IDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA".
Naotake Furusato: The anime is about girls and giant robots working together to protect the Earth from meteorites falling from space. The intertwining feelings of the girls, the accelerating troubles, and the sci-fi setting make it quite exciting and thrilling, and I would also be happy if we were able to convey the gentle feelings of the girls. Personally, we made this anime as a fight song for the men watching. So, I'd be glad if, when you're watching the girls and Idolmasters working hard, you think to yourself, "Alright, I'll do my best too!"
How did the anime adaptation of THE IDOLM@STER come to be?
Furusato: The year before last, Bandai Namco approached Sunrise about an anime adaptation of the arcade game "THE IDOLM@STER". At the time, I was working on the bishoujo anime "Mai-Otome", so I think that's why they talked to me about it. I was really surprised. But at the same time, I thought it was interesting. There are several reasons… Sunrise has a principle of making original anime, and until then, I hadn't made anything except original anime, haha. But, for iM@S, though there are interesting characters, there weren't any manga or novels, so I thought we could have fun making up a story.
The anime is a lot different from the game. What was the goal in making the anime differ so much?
Furusato: When I tried out the game, I felt that adapting the game as-is would be difficult. The game is interactive and gives you a high level of freedom, with the player being able to empathize with the girls and watch them grow. It's very addictive.
With anime, there's only one direction the story can go in, and compared to the game where there are a number of ways for the story to develop, the anime would naturally have its limits. Because of this, we were quite troubled. There were too many differences between the mediums that we unfortunately felt we didn't stand on the same playing field.
So, just like I planned with "Mai-HiME" and "Mai-Otome", I thought we could introduce a "character star system" where actors can play different roles, just like in movies or theater. And thus, we planned for the game characters to play different roles in the anime - playing the part of pilots of giant robots.
What is the meaning of the name "THE iDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA"?
Furusato: The first thing I thought of was the meaning of the word "idol." It also has the meaning of "an idol of worship." So we had the idea of "girls are idols that boys like" and also "giant robots are idols that boys admire"… and in the first place, anime is a great idol, and giant robots are Sunrise's forte. We started creating the story with the idea that both pretty girls and giant robots appearing would be interesting. "Xenoglossia" means a fairy or spirit, and it can also mean a medium that can understand the language of the gods or the universe [1]. To find out what that means in relation to the anime, please make sure to watch until the end, and you'll understand.
My own annotations...
[1] This is not what "Xenoglossia", the actual word, means. "Xenoglossia", or "Xenoglossy", basically refers to the concept of speaking or writing in a language you haven't learned. Allegedly (aka I just checked Wikipedia), there were claims of mediums being able to suddenly speak a different foreign language... I dunno, maybe that's what he's talking about.
thank you so much for these interview translations. this is life-changing. hearing staff wish they'd had more time for down-to-earth scenes when the actual overarching plot felt so rushed is the funniest possible thing, i love xenoglossia
i'm glad you liked them!
the staff seemed to struggle a bit with the 26-episode limit. important plot stuff gets brushed over and they forgot to make mami an actual character lol.
there's actually a whole lot of fluffy concepts/scenes that didn't make it to the anime. some mundane things mentioned in the sweet memories mook i haven't gotten around to translating yet, like they use the iDOLs to cook fried potatoes. they put a lot of thought into slice-of-life stuff that just didn't fit in the anime lol.
THE iDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA Sweet Memories (Seiyuu Interview)
Translation of the seiyuu (Yuka Iguchi & Ami Koshimizu, Yui Horie, Yukari Tamura) interviews from the "sweet memories" mook. The mook was originally published on November 10th, 2007.
I would like to see Imber reborn as a human
Pair interview between Yuka Iguchi (Haruka) and Ami Koshimizu (Yayoi)
What were your first impressions of each other?
To start with, what were your first impressions of your character?
Iguchi Yuka: She isn't particularly skilled and is rather simple, but, in a good way, I thought she seemed like a normal and sensible girl.
Koshimizu Ami: Yayoi looked a bit younger than her actual age, so I thought she was bright and childish. But as I played her, she turned out to be surprisingly big-sister-like. She's a girl that didn't enter the entertainment industry on a whim.
Iguchi: Haruka has a normal and natural kind of charm, but she is also determined and strong. When she says “well, that’s fine, it’s not her being irresponsible, but her being a positive girl that does her best.
This was your first time acting together, so what were your first impressions of each other?
Koshimizu: Yuka-chan is about the same age as my little sister. So I thought she was a reliable girl – a grown up doing her job – but I was wrong.
Iguchi: Wha–? Isn't it normally bad impressions changing to good impressions instead of the other way around?!
Koshimizu: This was Yuka-chan’s first major role, and first time being a radio host, so there were many things she didn’t know how to do, or knew she had to do. So it was a little chaotic in the beginning, and I teased her a bit about it. But she was a quick learner. So, I suppose instead of an adult, I thought she was more like a smart, hardworking kid.
Iguchi: Oh, please put that part in big letters!
Koshimizu: Huh?! Nevermind, I retract that then, haha. Well, I think she’s a good partner, it’s easy doing radio shows with her, and I just love teasing her.
Iguchi-san, what was your first impression of Koshimizu-san?
Iguchi: I knew of Ami-chan before I met her, and I thought she seemed unapproachable. But as we performed and did radio shows together, I found that she was easier to get along with and more approachable than I expected. I started seeing her like a kind, older sister.
Scenes that left an impression
Do you have any scenes from the anime that left an impression on you?
Iguchi: When things weren’t going well for Haruka, she got into an argument with Iori. Haruka’s feelings during that scene were memorable, but when we actually got around to performing it, I ended up pulled along by Yukari Tamura, voice of Iori, and was able to express more than I expected. After that, the scene where Haruka asks for advice from Yayoi over the phone really warmed my heart.
Koshimizu: I thought the scenes that showed how everyone could get along and the strong relationships they’d built were amazing, like the one at the Izayoi dorm when Yayoi helped make gyoza with the others.
Koshimizu: We had a long talk about how to show them.
Iguchi: Oh, but when we’re doing the radio broadcasts, that’s all adlibbed.
Koshimizu: And it feels like you’re going to end up running out of material and die.
Iguchi: Speaking of material, the “Good YayoYayovening” thing was something Koshimizu-san made up in the first broadcast.
Koshimizu: Idols do greetings like that, so I figured I had to do it too. So when I greeted the viewers, I said “Everyone! Good YayoYayovening, it’s Takatsuki Yayoi!” The audio director said “You really dug your own grave, huh” and gave it the okay while laughing.
Iguchi: It’s difficult to say “YayoYayo” right? You came up with it, and even now you still use it.
Koshimizu: Yep. But, it was thanks to it that Yayoi became a character I have a strong attachment with.
Characters you’re interested in
Are there any other characters in the anime you would like to play, or be friends with if they were real?
Iguchi: It doesn’t necessarily have to do anything with iM@S, but I really want to play an evil character. In the anime, there aren’t really any truly evil characters, not even Chihaya, I think. I want to play a character who only does bad things. If iM@s had a character like that, I’d like to play that one.
Koshimizu: That does sound fun, doesn't it? For me, even though it'd be difficult, I'd say I'd like to play one of the operators. You need to have emotions, but you also need to be able to talk about mechanical things, don't you? So, there would be a lot of hurdles. You couldn't do it if you had bad pronunciation. I haven't really played a role like that, so I think I'd like to try it. As for a friend, I think I'd like to be friends with Ritsuko? She can cook food, haha.
Iguchi: Aaah, I didn't answer that part, haha. For me… I'd like to be friends with Iori-chan. I think it would be nice to butt heads with each other.
There aren't many male characters in the anime, but between Joseph and Daido, who would you pick…?
Koshimizu: Joseph, definitely!!!
Iguchi: I probably would have said Joseph before, but recently I've been liking Daido-types more.
Koshimizu: Ah, I really like mild-mannered people, so someone like Joseph who doesn't really get angry is good. A dad-like, easy going boss would be nice.
So, what about Karasu?
Koshimizu: Karasu seems fussy and bothersome. If his desk has just one speck of dust, he'd get annoyed and clean it, if I were eating something and came into his room, he'd have such an annoyed face… there would be so many troublesome things that it would suck. But it could be fun if we were just friends.
What if the characters' roles were swapped?
If Yayoi was in Haruka's shoes, what do you think would happen?
Koshimizu: I think Yayoi might not have Haruka’s level of genuine surprise and sadness? But, I think she would just get baited by Deko-chan and Makoto-chan’s provocations, but then end up surprisingly improving rapidly. Yayoi’s a hard worker. But, even if her friendship with Haruka developed in a different way, I think Yayoi would make the same choices in the beginning. Maybe at the very end, she would go to Haruka, crying about all of the good things that had happened. But she definitely wouldn’t cry until then. Like when Imber disappeared, Yayoi wouldn’t break down like Haruka did. The anime would have a bit of a different vibe.
Iguchi: If they switched places, Haruka would probably just be like “woooowww!” from the countryside.
Koshimizu: She wouldn’t be able to get involved in the story at all, haha.
Which iDOL would you want to pilot?
Koshimizu: For me, maybe Nubilum? He’s a masochist that wants to get bullied more, haha. But if Yayoi piloted him, I think they’d be a good match. Yayoi is a girl that likes moving forward, so she would chase after a guy like Nubilum who chases after enemies.
Haruka – or, Iguchi-san, is there any iDOL outside of Imber you’d like to ride?
Iguchi: If you asked me which I liked, personally I would go with Tempestas. He looks cool with that facial hair. The music that plays when he comes out is grand, but also a little sad, which I think is nice. I thought it was a shame that it ended with him just as his core. I wish we could have met properly.
What would you have liked to see more of in the anime?
Koshimizu: Maybe more about the past? Like Karasu’s childhood, or the true selves of the Cats. And more about the individual personalities of the Ground Crew, too.
Iguchi: The anime is full of amazing things, so I can’t say I thought anything was missing. So, instead, I’d like for there to be a sequel!
Koshimizu: Huh?! But the iDOLs aren’t there anymore. How could we continue it?
Iguchi: The iDOLs may be gone, but having fulfilled their role, maybe they could be reborn as humans, meet with the others again, fall in love… and Haruka could talk to Imber directly. I’m satisfied in the relationship that was created with Imber being unable to speak. But if he were able to meet her as a human, I wonder what they would talk about… I definitely would want to see it. But maybe I’m a weirdo for wanting that, haha.
Koshimizu: I think it would be cool if there could be split paths like a “what-if” story in a game. I’d like to see the story from the enemy’s perspective.
Iguchi: Oh, that would be nice. We’d be great bad guys.
Koshimizu: Changing perspectives, creating another work, explaining how other characters came together… I think any of those would be interesting.
Lastly, the anime has many elements, like robots and friendship, but what would you say is the main theme of the anime?
Iguchi: As Haruka, I think the most important things are being able to protect what you want to protect, and Haruka’s love for Imber. But it’s not necessarily a love story, so I think the bonds between Haruka and her friends may be the main theme.
Koshimizu: Right. Little misunderstandings of words can snowball into something worse, but on the other end, even something small can resolve issues. In the end, it’s about the relationship and difficulties between people.
Chihaya-san's heartbreak at the end definitely left an impression on me.
Interview with Yui Horie (Yukiho)
Hagiwara Yukiho is a very important character with that secret “well, actually…” aspect, but were there any other points you found to be difficult?
Horie Yui: It was after the recording of episode 2 that I found out about her being a spy for Turiavita. After that, it was difficult to convey Yukiho’s conflicted feelings between Haruka and Turiavita.
Were there any parts that left a big impression on you?
Horie: Many of the characters in this anime had a single-minded devotion that was able to move my heart. But Chihaya-san's heartbreak at the end definitely left an impression on me.
If you could be anyone in the iDOL Team, who would you want to be?
Horie: I want to be an elite operator like Sorewa-chan and be able to talk about difficult things as if they were completely natural, haha.
Every week, Iori-chan and I had fun together through these ups and downs.
Interview with Yukari Tamura (Iori)
Minase Iori is full of energy, so there probably were some issues when you were playing her, right?
Tamura: That’s right. She’s extremely emotional, so I have to keep up with her energy! So it was a struggle every week. It was tough, but every week, Iori-chan and I had fun together through these ups and downs.
Were there any parts that left a big impression on you?
Tamura: It has to be the ending, right? Imber’s message and Haruka’s tears really moved me.
Were there any characters that left a big impression on you?
Tamura: I feel so sorry for Chihaya. Being so single-minded and always going straight ahead, she ended up on the wrong path. I wish she could have been happy.
If you were a member of the iDOL team, what role would you want to have?
Tamura: Since they seemed happy that they were able to understand each other, I think I would want to be like Iori and pilot an iDOL!
Xenoglossia character popularity ranking polls. The first one is from near the beginning of its run, and the second one was from after the final episode.
THE IDOLM@STER MASTER BOOK [Akihiro Ishihara/Eriko Nakamura Interview About Xenoglossia]
A small part of the interview section from the MASTER BOOK, featuring the game's director, Akihiro Ishihara, and voice actress of Haruka Amami, Eriko Nakamura. It was from a longer interview, but this is only the parts that concern Xenoglossia. The interview was originally published March 24th, 2008 (hence, when talking about the "anime", they mean Xenoglossia).
I thought the broadcast of Xenoglossia was a good opportunity to develop the characters.
As for what stands out in the six months since the release of the Xbox 360 version of THE iDOLM@STER, the anime THE iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia started airing. It became a hot topic in a lot of ways, right?
Ishihara: I think it was a perfectly acceptable direction to take.
When it came to the anime, I thought there were two things that could happen.
If, for some reason, the game version of THE iDOLM@STER failed, the name will live on through the anime, and we could look for opportunities to make a follow-up work. And, if it didn't fail, and competed with the anime, it would become a hot topic online. No matter what happened, I thought we wouldn’t be losing anything.
Was Sunrise free to do whatever they wanted?
Ishihara: That's basically right. We're not especially picky about the setting. Characters are meant to grow, so we decided to not say "no, it has to be like this." If there isn't enough room for growth, the characters will die.
Of course, we didn’t have plans on changing the base characteristics like with height and weight, but I did want to add new sides to the characters through things like CDs and radio broadcasts that could increase the amount of fun that fans could have.
Even with things like jokes about Chihaya's chest size or Dark Haruka (Harukakka), as long as everyone was having fun, I thought it was fine. If the broadcast of Xenoglossia created a good image of Haruka, then I would like to take that in as well.
The casting of the seiyuus has been a big discussion among fans.
Nakamura: Actually, this is something I’ve been excited to talk about, haha.
Now, I’m glad that Haruka wasn’t me. The setting and character designs are quite different from the games, so I had doubts that I could portray Haruka as I always had. If you look at the pictures in magazines or look on the websites, the game Haruka is a whole lot different. If I played Haruka in the anime, then she would end up being a different Haruka, and it would be as if I was rejecting the Haruka I’ve played up to now. If I played the roles of both the game Haruka and anime Haruka, I thought the Ps who have gotten to know Haruka would get confused.
In that sense, even if it went in a completely different direction, it was fine to release.
Ishihara: At its core, Xenoglossia is also a part of "PROJECT IM@S". So if it meant making the name "THE iDOLM@STER" famous, then they were free to do whatever they liked. If nobody knows about it, then it won’t go anywhere. So, even if it meant getting haters, I thought it would be fine. Positive comments aren't spread that much, but negative reactions quickly show up. So, no matter what kind of reaction it got, I would be happy.
THE iDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA Sweet Memories (Director/Scriptwriter + Character Designer Interview)
Translation of the staff interviews from the "sweet memories" mook. The mook was originally published on November 10th, 2007.
The bond between a giant robot and a girl attracted to it
Interview with Director Nagai Tatsuyuki and Scriptwriter Hanada Jukki
From the start, it was a robot story
How did you first hear about this work?
Nagai: Was it the end of 2005? It all started when Furusato-san, who was working as the producer on Mai-Otome, asked me if I liked robots, and I said that I did. I later heard it was about THE iDOLM@STER and my first thought was what robots had to do with it.
Hanada: I was first approached because they had seen Rozen Maiden[1] which was airing at the same time as Mai-Otome, but the order was reversed for me. I first heard they were going to make an anime adaptation of THE iDOLM@STER, and since it's Sunrise, I kept thinking it would be similar to Sentimental Graffiti[2] and went to the briefing session. So when they said "actually, we want to make it about robots," I thought it was a joke and said "that's funny. Is it gonna be a ten-person robot?" But everyone that came to the briefing session had really stern faces… That's when I realized they were serious.
Did you two come up with the setting together?
Hanada: No, the setting of the moon breaking into an orbital ring was already decided by Director Nagai. Instead, I was in charge of deciding what to do with the original THE iDOLM@STER characters.
Nagai: But, the story takes place over a surprisingly long time span, and since there weren’t any characters over 50 years old, we ran into the problem of there not being anyone to actually explain the setting.
Hanada: That’s why we wanted an android, right?
Nagai: I wanted a character who could pull off anime-typical exaggeration, someone who could crush rocks with their bare hands. That's why R.I.F.F.A became a character with superhuman strength. For the other anime original characters, first of all there's Saku and Joseph. We asked character designer Takeuchi-san to draw these old men.
Hanada: The game only had young women in it, but as we were coming up with the story, we thought that men and older people would be necessary.
Nagai: Now that you mention it, I remember being told to not let young men appear. But I really wanted to have a character with an inquisitive name like “Naze,” and Hanada-san came up with “Naze naraba sorewa.”[3] And for some reason, I thought “Naraba” sounded masculine. So… as a result, only Naraba became a man, as an exception. He doesn’t get into a relationship with anyone, and he’s just a guy to make fun of.
What are the iDOLs like?
Was the iDOLs’ unique design based on the concept of their inertia control?
Nagai: Yeah. That’s why from the start, we talked about how they didn’t need legs or the like. I couldn’t imagine what something tens of meters tall would look like standing up straight. So, the upper and lower halves of the body’s inertia control move independently of each other. And as long as there’s a spine connecting them together, it works. But that also meant that we couldn’t make them into toys and other problems also came up, so it was a little unfortunate.
Hanada: Speaking of, I remember you (Nagai) said that you had the image of the iDOLs specializing in hand-to-hand combat. That’s why we ended up not using flying projectiles.
Huh? What about Nubilum's Schubbohrer[4]?
Nagai: Nubilum is a bad guy, so… haha.
I see. What other ideas did you have at the start?
Nagai: At first, I thought about having the arms and other parts be disposable and combustible. The shoulders are rails because I thought they could put spare arms there.
Also, the cockpit was located at the back because we wanted it to be in the safest place for a pilot, as well as to make a tactical space where the pilot's and iDOL's eyes can meet. From the start, we had already planned on the theme being the bond with iDOLs.
Hanada: We thought the girls riding the iDOLs wouldn't be excited upon defeating an enemy. So in that case, if a girl like Haruka were to ride the iDOL, we thought the iDOL would be someone she likes. With that, we thought a story about the bond between a giant robot that doesn't destroy things and a girl attracted to it would be the best.
What was it like from a directorial perspective?
Nagai: We talked about how in this story, once the girl ended up riding the robot, it would be pointless to have a boy show up as a love interest. Instead of a boy being her love interest, it would be a robot. And that made us all excited.
Hanada: So we talked about what kind of boy each robot would be like.
Nagai: Imber is a shy and hesitant shut-in.
Hanada: Hiems initially had an uncle sort of feel, being the smartest among them.
Nagai: He's a really wonderful uncle. And Nubilum is a bit masochistic and loves being bullied by girls. Nebula was originally sadistic, but as we kept writing, he gradually became more stoic.
Handa: Basically, he won't deal with someone that won't help him grow. Tempestas is single-mindedly devoted.
What about Epimetheus?
Nagai: As mentioned in the anime, it's a counterpart to the Bastards[5], so we had been thinking about them from early on. The basic personality is based on humans, so in that sense, it's basically human. Like a robot version of R.I.F.F.A.
Hanada: I think you said before that it has about the intelligence of a 5-year-old.
Nagai: Indeed. So, it can do what it's told, but it isn't able to think about the details.
But we do have some regrets…
Now that the broadcast has ended, are there any scenes that left a big impression on you, or you have regrets about?
Nagai: I'm disappointed that we weren't able to have Haruka say Gentoo penguins are her favorite. Yayoi doesn't know that much about them, so she wears all kinds of penguin kigurumis, but when it came to Haruka, we always used the Gentoo penguin. Actually, a nickname for the Gentoo penguin is "Ribbon penguin", so Haruka has some kinship to them. We put quite a bit of thought into it.
Hanada: The director was the one that said the "first penguin" speech in the last episode.
Nagai: Since we mentioned penguins enough already, I just left it at that proverb and gave up. But, I do regret not featuring corn dogs at the very end.
Hanada: For me, the end of episode 16, where Yukiho snaps and breaks the USB Haruka recorded a message on, left a great impression on me. That part actually wasn't in the script. But I do have some regrets. I wanted to have a part where the iDOLs kept getting played with by kids and then having the iDOLs get washed off in a pool or something. I thought it'd be nice if we could have something like that, but as the story kept getting bigger, I realized we couldn't do it.
Nagai: Speaking of which, we had planned on the pilots entering the iDOLs through a chute, but it didn't really appear in the anime. Oh, there's one more. I'm disappointed we weren't able to mention Iori's frugality.
Is Iori poor?
Nagai: She's not poor, but she lived with her grandparents and grew up very frugally, so the idea was that she had a kind of grounded, humble feeling.
Hanada: If they were cooking, she might cut in and say "don't you dare throw that away!" That was the sort of vibe we wanted.
Lastly, is there any message you have for the fans?
Nagai: Definitely buy a complete set of the DVDs and watch all the episodes. Buy three sets of the DVDs if you can, haha.
Hanada: Since it's an anime adaptation of THE iDOLM@STER, everyone was taken aback in just about every sense. But, even though it ended up being a show like this, I think if you watch it again, you'll end up enjoying it.
In short, "please watch the anime," haha. Thank you very much for your time.
Iori had this vibe that made it seem we could let loose with her.
Interview with character designer Takeuchi Hiroshi
Differences unique to the anime
First of all, how did you change the characters from the game?
Takeuchi: Rather than purposefully changing the characters, the designs of the characters were based on the original versions, and were adjusted to fit their personalities and roles in the anime. Since Haruka is called "Baka Ribbon" in the anime, we made the ribbons bigger to emphasize them. Yayoi was also intended to be a lot closer to Haruka, so we made her hair wavier to change her silhouette.
Were Azusa's and Chihaya's designs made to be more distinct than in the games?
Takeuchi: We made them more distinct with their hairstyles and their sharp/round eyes, emphasizing their differences.
Why are Yukiho's boobs bigger?
Takeuchi: Producer Furusato said to make them bigger, so I went ahead and made her a big-boobed character.
The pilot suit is like equestrian wear?
You had a lot of different ideas for Gyokuto High's emblem and uniform, right?
Takeuchi: I tried to narrow down the number of designs I wanted to show, but I may have ended up showing too many. I aimed for a natural-looking uniform, so not so stiff. I added some slits to the sailor-part of the uniform to make it look like a collar. As for the pilot suit, we talked about both Mondenkind and Turiavita having uniforms that look like equestrian wear. But for Mondenkind, we couldn't agree on what they would look like, so we ended up going "wouldn't gym clothes be fine?"
What about the anime original R.I.F.F.A's hairstyle?
Takeuchi: I wanted it to be memorable even after looking at it just once. I like weird-looking hairstyles. I asked them not to show her with her hair down, but they ended up making shots like that anyway.
What about the other anime original girls? Were there any troubles with them?
Takeuchi: There were fewer restrictions, so there were less troubles. But creating different variations, such as with changing their silhouettes, was challenging.
Looking at the rough drafts, the female characters didn't change much, but the male characters, especially Naraba, changed a lot.
Takeuchi: I wanted Naraba to look cool, but not too cool, and I struggled making that sort of image. I wanted something between the bishounen Karasu and bold Saku.
The hard parts
Which character was the easiest to animate?
Takeuchi: Iori had this vibe that made it seem we could let loose with her. It started with us saying we could have her forehead shine, and once we did that, things started escalating. So all the staff, including me, made sure to always highlight it. It was really fun, haha.
Inversely, who was the most difficult?
Takeuchi: Joseph. Since I drew it, it might sound strange, but it was so difficult to get his hairstyle right whenever he turned around. But he's my favorite.
My own little annotations...
[1] Hanada was the writer for Rozen Maiden. Season 2 aired in the same timeslot as Mai-Otome, but on a different channel (they call it a "rival show").
[2] Sentimental Graffiti is a dating simulation game first released in 1998 for the Sega Saturn. It was adapted into an anime by Sunrise in the same year, titled Sentimental Journey. The anime seems to be close to a sequel to the game, showing each girl's life after meeting and parting ways with the game's protagonist.
[3] It means something like "that's because–". It became the basis of the operators' names.
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