Umeda Shuichiro Tobitama article from Seiyuu Grand Prix July 2022 Translation
Below the cut is my translation for a magazine article about Umeda Shuichiro’s early career fan club livestream program called Tobitate! Game no Tamago (aka Sky-high! Game Egg)!
The article was in the July 2022 issue of Seiyuu Grand Prix, which you can still get at the publisher’s site here. Also they did two promo videos for the article on their youtube page that showed off some footage from Tobitama's episodes. They have officially made English CC-style subs (that's where I got the translation for the program name from), and you can see them here and here. Aside from the very brief clips on the Tobitama twitter page here, these two videos are the only surviving footage of this program as far as I know, so I’m really grateful this magazine posted them.
They also have a web interview here. At first glance I thought it was a direct web reprint of this magazine article, but comparing the Japanese text of the web and magazine versions, there’s actually a lot of differences both in the questions asked and the answers given, as well as the pictures. So that’s why I felt it was still worth posting my translation, even though some of the questions and answers are identical.
General disclaimer: My intention is educational aka I’m translating these articles so that the English-speaking fandom can learn more about my beloved #1 seiyuu oshi Umeda Shuichiro via translations that are done by a human and huge fan who knows more context than a machine translation would. I encourage everyone who can to support the magazine this came from and Umeda’s projects! ^_^
Umeda Shuichiro
The start of a program where we progress through games together!
Profile
Umeda Shuichiro. Born October 11th. Affiliated with Ken Production. Main works appeared in: Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie anime (Izumi-kun), The Dawn of the Witch anime (Sable), Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 Cross Boost (Ebihara Chikage), Final Fantasy VII Remake game (Chadley), and others.
Umeda Shuichiro’s
Sky-high!
Game Egg
Sky-high! Game Egg (abbreviated as SkyEgg) [In Japanese: Tobitate! Game no Tamago (abbreviated as Tobitama)] is a once-a-month livestream game variety program where Umeda Shuichiro-san interacts with his fans via playing various games. We bring you this interview with Umeda-san right after the first live broadcast of SkyEgg that aired on May 18th!
During this gaming livestream, it’s not just single-player gameplay, but also online multiplayer gameplay with the viewers!
Umeda loves ramen, so there’s a segment where he taste-tests noodles recommended by everyone. Pay close attention to this live, unedited food review!
A program wouldn’t be complete without a letter corner. People whose letters are read will get a special program sticker that has an illustration Umeda drew on it!
Umeda: I want everyone to get excited about playing online together!
Interviewer: I heard that the program’s title Sky-high! Game Egg was given by you, Umeda-san.
Umeda: It came about because I love birds in general, especially those like pigeons and white cockatoos, so I thought, “It’d be fun if we set it up like a game where with each subsequent livestream episode more of my beloved birds gather.” Thus, we made an interesting setting where in each episode one of our eggs hatches and the new friends steadily increase, and I gave it the name Game Egg.
Interviewer: Can you please tell us about your favorite games or genres you prefer?
Umeda: If pressed to say, I don’t really spend much time on RPGs. I’m not very good at grinding my way through the levels. [laughs] This is probably why I love action games where your skills and experience are easily applied. The game I played the most extensively is the fighter plane shooting game called Ace Combat, and lately I’ve been obsessed with an indie game called Outer Wilds where you journey through space. I’m so incredibly happy that I discovered this game, to the point that I want to lose my memory and play it all over again from the beginning.
Interviewer: Do you like individual-player games?
Umeda: I’m the kind of person who does things at his own pace, so if I have to pick between the two, I think I prefer games where I can progress slowly on my own. However, I really look forward to getting to do online multiplayer mode with my viewers during the program!
Interviewer: Your program has a corner where you taste-test noodles such as ramen. Do you really love ramen that much?
Umeda: I love ramen a ton, and while I can’t make anything too complicated, one of my hobbies is making my own ramen from scratch by making the broth by doing things like extracting the dashi from the bones using a pressure cooker, and making seafood or pork broth dipping noodles. However, where I’m living now has an induction cooktop with only a single burner, so it’s a struggle. It ends up taking half a day to make. [laughs]
Interviewer: Aside from games and good food, is there anything else that you’d want to try doing?
Umeda: I’d like to invite the people I’m close to. I think it’d be nice to introduce everyone to the people I love and have a personal relationship with. It’d make me so happy to invite the senpai that I respect, such as Tsubasa Yonaga-san, Sato Takuya-san, and Yashiro Taku-san, to be guests and get to do a program together with them.
Interviewer: Is there anything your senpai said that left an impression on you?
Umeda: When I was on set acting as the main character in The Dawn of the Witch, there was a time when I passed by Sato Takuya-san, who was playing the role of the villain, and he called out to me and said, “I heard your voice in the test footage.” I asked him, “H-how was it?” and he replied, “I thought it was a perfect fit, and that your acting was interesting.” I wasn’t able to ask him in what way he thought my acting was “interesting,” but it gave me confidence.
Interviewer: What was it that sparked your desire to become a voice actor?
Umeda: It started in my second year of college when I was invited to join the drama club. I’d always loved anime, so to me the world of voice actors was like something sparkling that I admired. When I joined the drama club and was in the position to act in something myself, I was shocked, but in a good way, at just how interesting acting could be. In that drama club, there were a surprising amount of people who were aiming to become voice actors. This changed my mind from thinking that even aiming to become a voice actor would be too difficult, to thinking that it was a viable option that I could possibly aim for too. For the first time in my life, I wanted to really put forth the time and effort to try doing something. Of course, my anxieties were massive, but I thought, “I won’t know unless I try!” and before I knew it, I had applied to a training school and was aiming to become a voice actor.
Interviewer: In the future are there any roles you want to try playing?
Umeda: I want to try playing twisted and perverse characters. [laughs] Also, I think it’d be cool if I could play adversaries, or rather, excessively strong-willed characters.
Interviewer: At last, SkyEgg has started. I’m looking forward to seeing how it grows from here.
Umeda: Because of this wonderful opportunity to spend a relaxing time playing games with the users, I think that even though it’s through a screen, by doing things together like having a drink or eating at the same time, everyone can feel closer to each other.
