PairPuri volume 8 Crosstalk
Akutsu Jin’s VA Sasaki Nozomu x Kite Eishirou’s VA Shingaki Tarusuke The two who play the most “bad” characters in the series will make their characters’ charm vividly clear while talking about that conflict and philosophy!
How were your auditions and first encounter with your characters? Sasaki: When I was invited to the audition, when I first saw a picture of Akutsu and a selection of his lines, I thought “what a scary character.” (laugh) Shingaki: I knew about the Prince of Tennis anime very early. At that time, I said something like “they have people to play such far off characters,” it was a very distant world. When I was invited to audition, I was surprised. “What, the anime isn’t over?” (laugh) I’m from Okinawa, so I thought that’s why they’d chosen me. When I saw the lines at the audition, Kite was speaking in a very standard way, it didn’t feel like Okinawan dialect at all! Sasaki: Then did you speak normally at the audition? Shingaki: Well, I thought if I spoke normally, it would lose meaning for me to be the one doing it, so I just changed the intonation. Normally, it would be like ~desu ↓, so I spoke with the intonation changed to ~desu↑. Up until then, readers didn’t think he had an accent, and when they saw the anime it seems they were surprised. “Wow, he has a strong accent!” (laugh) Sasaki: Hahaha, in my case, I thought of being given the role of Akutsu as a new challenge, and I played him in a way that was different than everything I had done before. I decided the range of my voice’s tone for myself and tried not to stray from that…. But with my lower limits for tone, there were times during recording when I would think “making my voice a little higher would definitely be easier” (laugh).
What’s the appeal of playing a villain like Akutsu or Kite? Sasaki: I didn’t think about it as playing a villain. People who see him probably think he’s a villain, but I don’t think Akutsu himself thinks he’s a bad guy. He sticks to his own justice. I wasn’t consciously playing him as evil or scary. Shingaki: I don’t think I was trying to play a villain either. I thought that Kite and the rest of Higa are clearly unique, so I was trying for something like that. They have a presence that’s like “we’ll do anything to win!” the voice actors for my teammates had the same thought. But truthfully, during recording, I planned to think of myself as the away team during recording. We got caught up in the feeling of being the away team, we played lines like “we’ll make them surrender” brimming with spirit...that was fresh. Akutsu is more of a lone wolf, huh? Sasaki: Now that you mention it, there aren’t many scenes where he talks to the other Yamabuki players (laugh). Shingaki: Wasn’t there a scene where he gives Dan advice? “Don’t follow me,” it feels like he’s pushing him away. Sasaki: Dan is so much smaller, and he’s not the same kind of player as Akutsu, so he’s saying “your aim shouldn’t be me, it should be Echizen.” That’s his kindness. Dan is the only one he calls by his first name, Taichi. In that scene, Akutsu has lost to Ryoma and thinks he’s uncool, he’s ashamed and doesn’t want to recognize his own uncoolness, so he’s probably telling Dan “don’t come with me (who lost).” With Dan, I feel like we can see Akutsu’s humanity.
What about “afterwards?” Sasaki: Akutsu returns in New Prince of Tennis, but I think he thought a lot after his match with Ryoma. Akutsu isn’t a character who always appears in the story, but he’s come to encourage Kawamura and has showed up many times after quitting tennis. I’ve thought a lot about what he’s doing and thinking in the points between his appearances. Shingaki: I’m the opposite, I worry. In the OVA Another Story “Prince of Naniwa,” after the national tournament, everyone from Higa runs into Seigaku in Osaka on the way back to Okinawa and they have a pillow fight together. I worried about how to connect that Kite to the desperate battle of nationals. I ended up playing it without consciously thinking of that connection.
Please give a message for the fans!
Shingaki: First I’d like to say that I’m looking forward to the new beginning in New Prince of Tennis too! I’m happy that with this development we have even one more way to be involved, and I’m going to keep playing my beloved character when the time comes. I’ll do my best! Sasaki: The series I love has been powered up even more, and I’m truly happy to hear that Akutsu will also be active in this development. I hope there will be more opportunities to meet everyone, and I’m looking forward to the day I can play Akutsu again.
PairPuri Crosstalk Column [I couldn’t make out this word in the scans] with Kite, who is prominent in character songs! Will the teamwork Higa has showed awaken Akutsu to the power of friendship?
Sasaki: At TeniFesta (TeniPuriFesta 2011 in Budoukan) everyone from Higa sang together, and it looked fun. Shingaki: Right. There’s a song on Kite’s album Faith called Chuba Fighters where we all sing. It was planned for the five of us from the beginning, but we wanted to ask Shiranui and Aragaki’s actors Inoue Suguru and Kako Rion to participate too. Only the five of us were at the event, but we said selfish things like “can’t seven people sing it?” Our dream of singing it with everyone was realized on the album! Sasaki: I participated in the event, but everyone was teamed up with their schools, so I felt very jealous. I’d like to gather all 5 Yamabuki members and sing together next time. Shingaki: Maybe the time has finally come when Akutsu understands the power of friendship!
