I'm finally home from Tsukino-con!!! Unfortunately I didn’t make it to yesterday’s late night panel but I had the opportunity go to the Ono Kenshou Q&A today!!!!!!! And I really don't think it's an exaggeration for me to say that this was the happiest I've ever been in my life!! I'm actually still shaking from excitement as I write about it now?? And I even had the opportunity to ask him a question!! I’ve put the report below the cut because it got kinda long oops
I hung around the room where the panel was supposed to take place like many others did about two hours in advance until an hour before the panel was supposed to begin, a staff member with a megaphone started walking towards the exit saying, "Follow me for Kensho Ono!" lol. A large line immediately went after him (including myself) and we were lead to a line where we stood outside for at least half an hour in the cold because they didn't have enough room in the hall for all of us :v
My nose was running by the time they brought us back inside and I wasn't really having a good time, but all those negative feelings disappeared immediately when Kenshou came into the room. He was really funny and adorable and sounds exactly like he does in anime and radio shows!! and he looked a lot younger in real life than I expected?? He was wearing a cap and had a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee with him.
Anyways, I made a note of the questions that I can remember from the Q&A. (But I'm dumb and was so overwhelmed and excited by the experience that I forgot to take notes even though I had an actual pen and paper... I probably forgot more than a few questions and there may even be parts of my report that are flat out wrong... oops... As such, the questions are also completely out of order.)
He started off by introducing himself in English before they began the actual Q&A. It sort of went like, "Hi, I'm Kensho Ono. (long pause) .... Hi." Unsure of what to else to say, he looked a little lost before he was like, “Can I sit down now?” which everyone laughed a little at and said yes to. He started off trying his best to answer the questions in English but gradually switched back into Japanese later on.
Q: What do you think of Riku and Ten-nii's relationship in Idolish7?
"He... loves him," which in English sounded x10 funnier.
Q: How are you enjoying your Tim Horton's coffee?
He started off by trying to explain in English that he was very tired because of jetlag (and some people applauded him for knowing the word "jetlag" lol) so he really wanted to drink some coffee. He then switched back to Japanese and explained that it tasted kind of like the ones he'd get in the studio; it was nothing special, basically. (Maybe the coffee he gets in Japan is really good? I've never tried it but I've heard that Tim Horton's coffee isn't too bad though..)
When he switched back to Japanese, the interpreter then had to begin translating what he said in English for us. While she was explaining what he said, he made a bunch of motions to pretend he was talking in English and it was adorable (*´ｪ｀*)♡
Q: Have you tried poutine (french fries topped with cheese and gravy)?
No, he hasn't. He talked briefly about how when he ordered from fast food places, the fries that came along with the meal were usually quite thick and that he was never able to finish them. He feels sorry for the fries doesn't finish.
Q: Have you tried the sushi here in Canada?
He was actually really interested in trying it out but people told him not to bother with it.
Q: How was it like working with the cast of Shounen Hollywood?
Everyone got along really well and after recording sessions they would go out together and have yakiniku or go bowling.
Q: What's a memorable phrase from Kuroko and can you say it for us?
He thought for a while and said that this was probably the most memorable for him because he says it quite a bit: "I'm a shadow."
Q: It's rather rare for seiyuu themselves to actually act in the stage play version of an anime. Since you're going to be acting as Kuroko, is there anything that you're worried about?
No. He's not too concerned about the actual acting part but he did mention that it would be different since there would now be movements and everything added to it.
Q: Can you say "Ignite Pass" as Kuroko?
He said that he didn't really remember having ever actually say "ignite pass" in the show so he instead offered to act it out since he'd have to do it anyways later for the stage play lol.
Q: What's a role you've had the most fun with and a role you've had the least fun with?
He didn't want to throw anyone under the bus so he said he'd change the wording of the question into something more like "what's the most gratifying role you've ever done and a role you found difficult?" (iirc...?)
He explained that Kuroko was definitely a role that made him feel most accomplished since it lead to him getting many other roles and that Slaine was one of his more mentally draining roles. He noted that both of them were still quite fun to do, though!
Q: How is recording lines for Prince of Stride different in the game as opposed to the anime?
He said that the main difference was that recording for the game was mostly him alone, reading over the script quietly, whereas for the anime they would have the whole cast together and be able to actually interact with each other.
Q: Do you have any siblings?
He has an older brother and a younger sister which makes him the middle child.
Q: Do you enjoy travelling?
Yes, he does! He mentioned that he puts his everything into his work in hopes that he'll get more opportunities to go overseas. He also mentioned that when he was in high school, he once went to New York and was so amazed like, "Wow, I'm actually in New York!!" While he was there someone said "excuse me" to him. Although the person actually meant “excuse me” as in “move out of the way”, with the extent of his English knowledge being basically what he learned from Japanese high school, he interpreted it as someone having business with him so he looked at them like "hm?? (yes? how can i help you??)" The person said "excuse me" again and he just went like “hm??” again until the third time when the person just pushed him out of the way. After that he thought to himself, "New York is a scary place..."
Q: Are there any other places you'd like to go in Canada, such as Vancouver?
He paused for a bit before he said Vancouver. The translator (or maybe Kenshou himself? I forget...) then asked how many of the people in the room came from Vancouver and the majority of the people raised their hand haha. Kenshou asked who came by ferry and I think the same people raised their hand again.
Q: How is your image of Canada different to when you actually came to Canada?
His image of Canada was basically just the maple leaf so he expected to see tons of maple trees. Since he arrived, he hasn't seen a single maple tree.
Q: Do you sing your songs when you go to karaoke?
He denied this one pretty quickly. He explained that he actually doesn't go to karaoke very often in the first place because it's hard on his throat and he's also shy about it. Whenever he does go though, his friends usually put a lot of his songs in.
Q: Today is Valentines Day, and in Canada, the boys are the ones who give chocolates to the girls. Can you give us a valentines message as Kuroko?
"Today is Valentines Day. I heard that in Canada, boys are usually the ones who give chocolates to girls. However, since I'm Japanese, won't you all give me chocolate instead?"
(thanks to whoever asked this question... u have my eternal gratitude)
Q: Is there a seiyuu you consider yourself to be close to?
Hosoya-san! He said that they get along well and that he even had lunch with him just before leaving for Canada.
Q: Will you be buying any souvenirs to bring back to Japan?
He bought some maple cookies to give to the people when he goes to work. He also said that he saw a cap that had the words "Tokyo Ghoul" on it so he bought it and is going to give it to Hanae-kun when he gets back.
Q: Who's your favourite character from Tokyo Ghoul?
He explained how he was voicing Rio in the PS Vita game Tokyo Ghoul Jail and said that that was his favourite character.
Q: What differences do you keep in mind when acting as Yuya and Yuri?
He explained that Yuya is bright, energetic, and is the protagonist so that's how he tries to act him out. Yuri has the exact same voice and face as Yuya, but is basically the complete opposite and speaks as if he's looking down on others as if confident of himself. One easy technique to differentiate between the two is that he never has Yuri's voice louder than Yuya's.
Q: How were you approached for the role of Kurokono Tasuke in Gintama?
He said that while he was actually reading the arc in Shonen Jump he thought to himself that he really wanted to do the voice for him. He said something to the effect of "I mean, it's me anyways so why not?" lol. So when he was offered the role, he immediately accepted.
Q: Do you have any funny stories from when you were working on Magi?
He was actually not too used to the whole voice acting thing yet when he was doing Magi and he didn't have that many seiyuu friends at the time so he explained that he was actually sitting alone with his script most of the time ;; The asker of the question mentioned though that it actually fits his role as Hakuryuu quite well to which he agreed with lol.
Q: Can you give a message as any character to cheer up students who will be taking their tests in a couple weeks?
He wasn't sure what character to do until someone said "Raichi" and so his message was something along the lines of, "KAHAHAHA!!! DO YOUR BEST!!!"
Q: What do you think of the relationship between Kuroko and Momoi?
He thinks that they have quite a good relationship and would like to see them make it to the goalpost but he also thinks that there’s also Aomine and Momoi’s relationship to think about.
Q: What roles would you like to do more of in the future?
He explained that his usual voice wasn’t that high pitched in real life so he would like to do more cool characters instead of cute characters.
Q: What are some of the differences between singing for character songs and singing for your own songs?
He said that he actually found character songs easier to do because a character will usually fall within a set range of notes. However, when singing for his own songs, there isn’t really a range because no matter how high or how low he sings, it’s always going to be ‘Ono Kenshou’.
Q: Last question (but not really a question lol) -- あなたはとてもかわいいです！(You're very cute!)
He actually covered his face, leaned back in his chair, looked up, and said, "Oh my god," in English and everyone in the room laughed sooo hard. He said it was good that they ended with that question.
Other bits I remember but don't remember the question for:
Someone mentioned that there was a part of the cup on the Tim Horton's coffee cup that you could peel in order to have a chance to win a car. He said that he was very lucky so he would probably win and the entire room gave him a drum roll and everything while he was peeling it but he ended up not winning.
He said that the people in Canada were generally very nice and that when he went to buy caps the other day, they went and brought out all the caps that were his size and said he could take his time choosing a hat that he liked.
He said that he expected it to be much colder in Canada but that it actually wasn't that cold when he got here, which is good because if it was any colder, he'd die.
He concluded the panel with saying how happy he was to see works made in Japan have spread as far as Canada and that he would like to take everything he has received from us here as input and hopefully be able to output it into his work when he gets back to Japan. He also asked if he could take a picture with all of us and if he could post it on his twitter. We all agreed and he has posted the photo here!
if i remember any other details later on i'll come back and edit the post. i actually really wanted to stay until the closing ceremony because they said that kenshou would be there as well but unfortunately i had to leave before then to catch my ride back home... in any case, i had a lot of fun today and i'm really glad i had the opportunity to go! thanks for coming to canada and please do come again, kenshou!! (o´ ▽ `o)ﾉﾞ
This month’s Nikoichi in Girl’s Style is Yamato and Gaku! Titled “Chocolate (alcohol) and That Person and Me and You”, the set-up for this one is that Yamato and Gaku appeared together on the same variety show, and Gaku dropped by Yamato’s dressing room…
*Small TL note: Gaku’s very last bubble is originally a stuttered よろしく, which has this connotation of being in someone else’s care or asking to be treated kindly.
Here’s this bonus picture, with the flavor text “These drunk two gladly put on the ears and tail! Furthermore, they then traded accessories and even gave a 22-year peace sign!”
i love when my preschoolers pretend to be talking on the phone bc if u leave them to their own devices and observe they just start saying things they’ve heard adults say into the phone like “hello i have an appointment, i’d like some rice”
dailybridgerton
ellievsbear
areudirty
