Noriko Hidaka (Akane Tendo) & Sumi Shimamoto (Kyoko Otonashi)'s Dream Talk! "When you know the reality of the world, Mitaka-san is better than Godai-san.
Translated by: Harley Acres
Popular voice actresses Noriko Hidaka and Sumi Shimamoto held a "Dream Heroine Talk of Rumiko Takahashi's Anime" at "Kids Station Headquarters" in Shibuya, Tokyo, on March 28.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of Rumiko Takahashi career, a manga artist who has created many hit works including Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha, and whose unique worldview is known as the "Rumic World."
To commemorate this memorial year, CS Nippon Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) and Kids Station Co., Ltd. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) will be broadcasting anime based on Rumiko Takahashi's original works on the CS channels "Nittele Plus" and "Kids Station" operated by each company. Digitally remastered HD versions of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, and Inuyasha are currently being broadcast, and Ranma 1/2 will be broadcast beginning in June. Blu-ray boxes of `Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, and Ranma 1/2 will also be released.
The conversation was held between two heroines of Rumiko Takahashi's works: Sumi Shimamoto, who played the role of Kyoko Otonashi, the "manager" of Maison Ikkoku and Noriko Hidaka, who played Akane Tendo of Ranma 1/2 and Kikyo of Inuyasha. They reminisced and talked about episodes that can only be revealed now.
This is the first time that the two have met face-to-face for a conversation, and Hidaka said, "When I first became a voice actor, I co-starred with Sumi-san a lot, and I worked hard watching her from behind. I'm happy to be able to have a conversation with her," she said with deep emotion, as it was a kind of "master-pupil" conversation.
Regarding the casting, Shimamoto said, "At the time of the auditions, I had already been cast as Kyoko Otonashi, so I was looking to see who'd be case in the role of Godai-kun." Hidaka, on the other hand, had made a strong impression in the role of Minami Asakura in the anime Touch and said, "The audition result (for the role of Akane Tendo) was slow to be announced. I wondered who would get to play her, me or someone else.
Looking back on that time, Hidaka said, "The producer of Ranma was the same producer as the producer of Touch, and he was very anxious about whether "Minami" could play the role of such a strong-willed character (as Akane). He was very anxious, but after watching the recording of the first episode, he left feeling relieved. [1]
Hidaka continued, "Those who have seen Touch often think of me as "someone like Minami-chan". But truthfully, I'm more like Akane." She added, "with Minami, I acted by suppressing and myself back, with Akane, I was freed from that."
When asked about similarities in personality with Kyoko Otonashi, Shimamoto answered, "There are things similar and there are things aren't. We're similar in that she is the type of person who can make big mistakes, and when someone makes a joke, she'd believe it until someone later tells they were kidding. I don't think I come off like a widow. However, according to my family, I'm the one who manages the house, so if I were to manage the apartment, there would probably be a lot of stipulations," she laughs.
Hidaka said, "My father was a karate teacher, and surprisingly, he taught me up through the 6th grade of elementary school, so I was familiar with martial arts. Hidaka has two younger brothers and an elder sister. "Even though she was an older sister, she was like an older brother, and would push me away, and fight with me," she said, explaining the surprising similarities she had with Akane.
When asked about her most memorable line, Shimamoto said, "Please live longer than me, even if it's just for one day," which came from an important scene in the climax. She also reflected, "Many of the requests I received from everyone were, "●●-san, please do your best." Even in the original work, both lines were symbolic of Kyoko, such as being made fun of by Ichinose, who lives in the building. [2]
Hidaka said, "Many lines from various fights remain in my mind, such as "Ranma, you idiot!!" (says this with great force, pretending to be Akane) and "Enough joking about this 'fiance' stuff" , a line that symbolizes the relationship between Ranma and Akane. In particular, when Ranma 1/2 was broadcast in foreign countries, they held an event abroad once, "It was the first time that the audience got excited by saying 'Ranma you idiot!!'". (Laughs) Japanese anime has been popular in foreign countries for the past twenty years or so."
The coincidence of voice actors seems to be interesting, as Yuji Mitsuya, who played Tatsuya Uesugi in Touch, was cast to play Dr. Tofu Ono at the orthopedic clinic, the unrequited love of Akane Tendo, played by Hidaka, in Ranma 1/2. He says that he was cast as Tofu-sensei. ``At that time, I was surprised. The sound director said, "Hidaka-san gets nervous when Mitsuya-san comes in to record. She's like a cute maiden in love." She explains, "I usually work with a relatively young group of voice actors, so I was nervous to meet the veteran voice actors." [3]
Furthermore, Issei Futamata, who played Yusaku Godai, who is ultimately married to Kyoko in Maison Ikkoku, played the extremely dark Gosunkugi-kun in Ranma 1/2, she adds, "The voice actors are wonderful. It was a moment when I felt it first hand." She said she was overwhelmed by the wide range of acting by the veteran voice actors.
Hidaka shared that veteran voice actor Ichiro Nagai who voiced Happosai, the founder of "Anything Goes Martial Arts" and master of Genma Saotome (Ranma's father) and Soun Tendo (Akane's father), happily did the line, "Akane-chan's panties!"
When Hidaka saw this, she thought, "Do we really have to go to these lengths?" She added, "Ranma has a lot of characters that are impossible to imagine. Veteran voice actors would come as guests to voice unique characters. I really learned a lot from watching them do their best to make it interesting," she said, looking back on how it was very useful for her future work as a voice actor.
When asked about their favorite male characters in each work, Shimamoto made a bombshell announcement, "Normally, it would be Godai-san, but now that I know more about the reality of the world, I think it would be Mitaka-san. He's kind and a bit narcissistic, but I don't think he would have to struggle."
Hidaka added, "When it comes to Ranma 1/2, it would be Ryoga Hibiki. I used to like single-minded characters, like Kacchan (Kazuya Uesugi) in Touch, but now I prefer Ranma so that helps me to appreciate Tacchan (Tatsuya Uesugi)," she said.
In Urusei Yatsura, Shimamoto plays Asuka Mizunokoji, an extremely sheltered girl who grew up without ever knowing any men, including her father. Since she was a child, she has been trained while wearing heavy armor, and is a beautiful girl with superhuman strength and extraordinary athleticism.
Shimamoto said, "I didn't know the original story, and I'm such a shy person, so it was hard for me to make a big voice. The script said 'clink, clank' but in reality, it wasn't needed because it was a sound effect. I just read Asuka's character and tone, and it was interesting, so I was hired," he says, referring to the hilarious episode.
Hidaka, who plays Kikyo in Inuyasha, said, "It was difficult. Kikyo is dead, but she still has feelings for Inuyasha, and she is revived with these emotions, but I am a very easygoing person, so I don't fully understand her feelings. But since she's a serious character, my lines were long and I had to say them with a lot of tension."
However, Satsuki Yukino, who plays Kagome Higurashi, is said to be able to understand Kikyo's feelings. "Kikyo would say, 'I can't forgive you.' We would both say 'Kagome and Kikyo's personalities and roles are completely the opposite of one another.' That's why I'd like to try swapping roles between Kagome and Kikyo. Just for our enjoyment. I'd like to hear Satsuki-chan's Kikyo say, 'I can understand your feelings,'" she said, suggesting something like a spin-off.
Do the heroines of Rumiko Takahashi's works attract both men and women? When asked about their appeal, Shimamoto replied, "The men are all helpless guys. The heroes are no good men who would be ruined if the girls don't get it together, so the women have to hold things together," she said as if she had become Kyoko herself.
Hidaka added, "When I played Akane-chan, I received a letter from a girl at my elementary school who said, 'Akane-chan has a cute side. I want to be a strong girl like she is.' I honestly portrayed her with the same feelings. The appeal is that there's no hidden side to her. When the hero is useless and wavering between two loves, both are frustrating, but the boy's uselessness is portrayed in a cute way. I wonder if women who accept such boys are more attractive to them," she mused, explaining the complex psychology of women.
Finally, regarding the anime broadcast and the digitally remastered HD version, Shimamoto said, "I think it's a great opportunity to share it with people who want to 'relive their youth again' and share it with their children. I hope people will buy it or see it on TV."
Hidaka said, "Even though these works were created over 20 years ago, the gags never get old. It's still interesting even for today's children to watch. My children also fell in love with Ranma. You can enjoy it on a beautiful screen in the digitally remastered HD version. The old energy is coming back. I think it will fill you up. Laughing is good for your health, so enjoy Rumiko-sensei's impossible nonsense world."
Footnotes
- [1] She is likely referring to Yoshinobu Nakao (中尾嘉伸) who was a producer for Fuji TV on both Touch and Ranma 1/2. His other production credits include Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳/Hokuto no Ken) and Gu-Gu Ganmo (Gu-Guガンモ).
- [2] The famous line about outliving Kyoko comes from episode 94 while Kyoko constantly wishing Godai good luck on his exams is from episode 4.
- [3] These sort of castings of couples from one show as love interests in another production happened in Inuyasha as well, where Kappei Yamaguchi (Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2) was cast as Inuyasha and Noriko Hidaka (Akane) was cast as Kikyo.
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