@kooriiko and @sitraxis will be tabling at #CosplayMania2017 this coming weekend at SMX! We got some official #CinderellaPhenomenon goods and fan merchandise for you. 😉
It's no secret about the freaking long line in Cosplay Mania just to get in. What really fuel us to get in was seeing Koutarou Nishiyama and Wataru Hatano. After 2hrs of long lines, we managed to get inside the venue.
The panel was scheduled to start at 3pm so my friend and I prepared ourselves for the battle ahead. Hall SP strictly follows no recording and photo rule. We agreed to do take note of keywords and jot down everything after the session. It took us the whole night to relive everything because we are still hanged up how fun and awesome the panel was. We want to share this with everyone. This transcript is not exact and the English translation is based on the host's and translators' word but we hope that you enjoyed it.
The panel started exactly as scheduled and the host proceeded in advising everyone the house rules. The crowd was really excited to see the guests. After brief introduction of the voice actors' portrayed characters, Koutarou Nishiyama and Wataru Hatano entered the stage with their 2 interpreters.Both seiyuu were surprised with the warm welcome they received. Host asked the audience to keep the noise minimal so everyone can hear their answer for the interview.
1. How is your stay in the Philippines?
Wataru: it's our first time here in the Philippines. We were brought to a lot of places by the staff and ate a lot of food. They also taught us how to say "Konnichiwa", it's "magandang hapon", also "masarap to".
Kou-chan: "Jolibee", I love Jolibee!
Wataru: We also ate that sweet pasta.
Host: That's the Jolly Spaghetti!
Wataru: Also, the chicken. We put the gravy on the rice. Delicious!
Kou-chan: yeah it's delicious!
Wataru: We also learned what to say in the elevator: "Bababa" (everyone laughs) The accent is pretty much the same in Japanese. We also learned that "baba" is this. (points to chin). It's really interesting!
2. Do you eat other food aside Jolibee? Filipino cuisine, maybe?
Wataru: We ate that soup.
Host: What soup?
Wataru: What's that again?
Kou-chan: What's it name again? Hmm
Wataru: "SINIGANG"!
Host: How was sinigang?
Wataru: We ate shrimp sinigang. EBI SINIGANG, DELICIOUS! (everyone laughs)
Host: Any other food? What is your favorite?
Wataru: "Pansitto" (Pansit) Yakisoba!
Kou-chan: Yakisoba! Mecha Mecha masarap, ne? (everyone laughs)
3. What's your mental image of the Philippines before actually coming here? Kou-chan: I believe it's a very warm country where the food is delicious and there are many fruits.
Host: What fruits did you try?
Wataru: What we ate yesterday.
Kou-chan: Mango, Banana
Wataru: Banana masarap to. Mecha mecha masarap!
Kou-chan: We ate a lot of food for 2 days and it's really delicious. The taste is similar to Japanese dishes.
4. On how they were welcomed here in the Philippines
Wataru: It's our first time here and you welcome us like this. We would like to do more event here.
Host: Would you comeback here in the Philippines?
Wataru: I will come back here.
Kou-chan: We will come back here. Salamat po!
5. Why did you chose to be a voice actor?
Wataru: I never given it a thought. It similar to anyone who likes cosplay. When I was little, I really like Laputa, the Ghibli movie and I want to be Pazu. So, being a voice actor is really my life goal.
Kou-chan: really? (laugh)
Wataru: It's your turn now!
Kou-chan: My middle school friends invited me to do the voice acting job. I find it so fun so I just continued doing it.
Wataru: We are completely opposites! My reason is very serious and yours is not. (laugh)
Kou-chan: That's not true!
6. How did you become a voice actor?
Wataru: How was it again? hmmm. I never had any experience until 18 years old. In school, I never joined the theater club because they stand on the ground and did this really weird thing to rehearse the words. I was really embrassed to do that, so I never did any acting. (Wataru queues the translator to do the same shouting reneactment he did. LOL everyone is laughing)
Translator: It is really embarassing!
Kou-chan: She was traumatized! (laugh)
Wataru: I went to Tokyo when I was 18 to study being a voice actor and I had a lot of coaches. I was 21 when I got my first job so it was really a short time to study.
Kou-chan: How was it again? hmmm I just smiled and keep everyone smiling and I can't stop being a voice actor right now. I just realized that I was alreay doing a lot of voice acting job, I did all the auditions I can get.
Wataru: Koutarou just suddenly appeared!
7. Challenges you have as a voice actor
Wataru: There's a lot of challenges for me. For a voice actor, there is this wall of challenges. There is no specific challenges I can say right now, it's all walls in front of me
Kou-chan: The challenges are very similar with Wataru-san. But for me, the number one challenge for me is during auditions, where I always want to get everyone's attention to get the role.
Wataru: To get a role, we actually have to get into auditions and to get one role, it's not just 1 audition, you have to do a lot of it. It's like the cosplay tournament. Before you get to the national championship, you have to get through the regional championship and do cosplay tournaments all year around.
8. Which character do find most challenging to voice act?
Kou-chan: Which one is it? hmm
Host: Who do you think, everyone? (Audience shouting different name of the characters they did)
Wataru: Idolish 7? I played Gaku in the game. (He did a line in Gaku's voice) Kou-chan: I voiced Minami Natsume in the game (He did a line in Natsume's voice)
Wataru: Good.
Host: (laughing hard) Did you just understand what he said? He said he just farted! (everyone laughing).
Wataru: Every character is difficult. Remember my character in Kuroko no Basuke? When I was in school, I played a lot of basketball when we heard that Philippines like basketball as well, we felt close. In Kuroko no Basuke, you know that in basketball, shooting only takes a few seconds, right? But in the anime, when they shoot, they float and speak their lines. It was very difficult. (Everyone is laughing so hard because Wataru is demonstrating the difference between real life shooting vs anime shooting while the translator is speaking)
Kou-chan: For every character I play, they are different and difficult. The most memorable character that I played is, do you guys know Binan Koukou? I played the main character, Atsushi. I was very nervous when I was recording.
9. Advice for those who want to be a voice actor
Wataru: Who wants to be a voice actor here? (audience raising hands) In the first voice actor event that I attended, they asked who wants to be a voice actor as well and I raised my hand. Whatever people tell you, as long as you do your best, you can become what ever you want, like what I am today.
After the host questions, fan questions were asked. They were asked how being a voice actor changed their life? Wataru-san said that being a voice actor is his life goal and being one is like reaching his dream little by little. As for Koutarou-san, being able to meet a lot of people from different places is very cool. They were also asked what will be their job if they are not voice actors? Someone shouted "idol". Wataru was like: really, idol? But for him, he can't think of another job because he wants to be a voice actor since he was little. For Koutarou-san, everyone is cheering "Actor". Koutarou is like "do you want me to be an idol?". He said that during elementary school he wanted to be a baker and make delicious bread for his mother. The host asked: "Do you want to eat his bread?" (LOL) and everyone is shouting "TABETAI! TABETAI!" (LOL). Both voice actors were asked if they can make an otome game, what would it be? Wataru said that he will make an seiyuu-otome game, in VR and his main character will be Koutarou-san. Kou-chan said that his voice will be Wataru's. Wataru acted out what he called "the Ending" of the game and said "Mahal Kita", then it was Koutarou's turn and said "Bababa ba?" (lol) The host also asked them to read the fansigns and gave out flying kisses to everyone and as expect, everyone went wild! The host also asked if there are fans from other countries. There were fans from Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. They were really surprised that they have fan outside their own country and really thankful about it. Wataru said they have no idea how foreigners receive their characters and they are very grateful for those who went to see them.
After that, the raffle for the 10 winners of shikishi board happened. Both voice actors drawn the 10 winners and we are just glad that the Japanese fan was one of the winner! When the raffle was done, both guests and audience played "Pinoy Henyo". They need to ask the audience if it's yes, no and maybe. What's awesome about this game was it was the way to surprise Koutarou. The last word to be guessed is "cake" and Wataru's clue for him was "you are eating this since you were born". Surprisingly, Kou-chan answered "Blueberry cheese cake" in a cute way and Wataru said it's too specific, so Kou-chan said "cake" and the host announced that a cake was fit for the celebration and since it is October, it is Koutarou's birth month! A staff brought out the cake and everyone sang happy birthday. He was really touched and surprised with the gesture and told everyone "Mahal ko kayo!" The panel ended with a group photo with the audience and fans still screaming for more.
To be short, Wataru was on fire and Kou-chan was laughing so hard and was touched with the surprise. The crowd surely had tons of fun. I hope we get to see more of this voice actor panels in the future.
DECULTURE! ✨ Walkure cosplay group with my friends last Cosplay Mania 2017 ♡ After 1 year of planning we were able to complete this Cosplan. 😁 #Cosmania2017 #CosplayMania2017 #CosplayMania #CosplayPH #Cosplay #Walkure #MacrossDelta #Macross
Cosplay Mania 2017, Day 2! Oh man it took about 3 hours to get inside the convention center. Despite the long wait and the massive crowd, we all had fun! Plus, it was the first con my friend (Red Riding Hood), my cousin, and his gf ever attended, so it was definitely an experience for them. It was also my first time to make matching costumes for myself and my brother, all within 1 month! Got separated from him though so we didn't get much pictures together :c But! We found Ash and he was a good sport! Highlight of the day though was getting a picture with the Animax mascots - they were super adorable and playful! Also, the cosplayers were amazing as always. Looking forward to an even better CosMania next year :)
Some photos during and after Cosplay Mania with my bros. I saw that Baymax cosplayer again and saw a T-rex coser as well hahaha! So cool. 😆😂😆😂😆 First batch for portrait photos. Well we're still bitter we didn't make it and ran out of Hikarin merch all because we had to line up half of our stay there. 😬 #cosplaymania2017
