Kyokai no RINNE - I Asked Kaito Ishikawa, the voice of Rinne Rokudo! Part 1 & 2

Translation by: Harley Acres

Born in Tokyo in 1993. He made his debut as a voice actor in 2012, and the following year he starred in the role of Red in Suisei no Gargantia. After that, he appeared in Terror in Resonance and Haikyu! Received the "Rookie Actor Award" at the 2014 8th Voice Actor Awards.

Finally the second season of Kyokai no RINNE has begun, what is the atmosphere like at the dubbing studio after all this time?

Ishikawa: The feeling is quite cozy and amazing. It's been a long time since I came here, but it's not that long, and it's not like my coming back was strange, you just ooze right back into it and I’m starting to get slippery (laughs). I feel honest. It seems that RINNE is in a similar place.

What’s the most memorable cozy sort of scene that you’ve done in Season 2?

Ishikawa: It was a recent story that we did since the second season started. We were doing the voice over work in the studio and we didn’t have one of the staple items we needed. I got blamed for that.

It was a staple item?

Ishikawa: Yeah, it was salty rice crackers that I brought to the studio during the first season. I wondered if everyone would like one but after I brought them no one ate any until the very end. I almost wound up eating them myself. So this time I didn’t bring any, which I thought would be no big deal. Then my seniors wound up blaming me (laugh), “Hey, we don’t have any salty rice crackers!” That’s the kindness of the senior voice actors who say things like that. It’s quite memorable. “I don’t eat them but if you don’t bring them you should be embarrassed!”

How do you like being a chairman? ^[1]

Ishikawa: From the beginning it’s something I carried with me since this is a historic series (in the sense that it the adaptation of a work by Rumiko Takahashi), but it’s a work that has so many senior voice actors, so I thought there might be a sense of tension. But that’s not the style of a show like this, is it? As I went along I started to wonder if my nervousness would inhibit making interesting things happen. It wasn’t anything to get worked up over, I wanted to create a cozy feeling instead. I think this is the feeling the senior voice actors helped to create, so I just ran with it too! I felt like the senior actors who were there really lifted me up as the chairman.

This is perhaps a boring question but are there any similarities between you and Rinne?

Ishikawa: (nibbling on something) No! I talk a lot, I don’t eat grass, that’s a mediocre answer but I’m just his voice (laughs).

In the works of Rumiko Takahashi, Kappei Yamaguchi is a frequent collaborator. I hear you’ve taken over something from him.

Ishikawa: “Gapyon” you mean? It’s a line that you say when you get launched into the sky. ^[2] It’s a classic piece of Takahashi’s works. You have to be careful though, it’s “gapyon” not “gabyon.” I once said “gabyon” and Kappei-san said “ it’s “gapyon!” (laughs) However I struggled with figuring out how to say this line while still maintaining Rinne’s character.

We had a question asked by director Sugawara of Kyokai no RINNE, “what kind of adult do you want to be in the future?”

Ishikawa: That’s tough... that’s tough... first of all what is an “adult”!? (laugh) Hmm... (worriedly)... Isn’t it tough to define what an adult is?

It is difficult. Do you think of yourself as an adult?

Ishikawa: I’m still a kid now, I’m a kid! (laugh) But I’m an actor so I wonder if I have to force myself to grow up. There are certain sensibilities that are unique to children, and I think they also have resentments and intense emotions too. I think there are joyful and strong emotions too. That’s very important for actors so... I want to grow up, but I also don’t want to grow up (laughs).

PART 2

How do you go about constructing your roles?

Ishikawa: I do it with logic. Because I said something like X here, I’m connected to those feelings and then the lines come out. That means I have to use this sort of phrasing here, but since this sort of phrase will come out later, I’m building a play with an idea of what’s to come. That said, I tend to to over-think it.

It’s kind of a theatrical theory, and what I’m talking about is awkward to convey, but when I decide the chief way to approach the character using logic then after that its just about figuring out the emotional lines and listening to the phrasing and the nuances on the spot. After receiving as much information as possible then you just go inside yourself. I want to digest it and instead of solidifying the wording I feel like I’m solidifying the chief approach.

What is important to you when you are crafting your roles?

Ishikawa: I must think about what the requirements of the role are what is required in an anime production.

Anime production?

Ishikawa: Anime characters are living as just one sort of person. However they don’t live in reality, and I’m using a voice that no ordinary person would use and connect to certain emotions that ordinary people wouldn’t connect with. I think that is what leads to laughter and emotions though. Of course, this changes for each work, so it really depends on the project.

So what is the core aspect of playing Rinne Rokudo?

Ishikawa: I think his kindness. In this work there are quite a few kind characters, but I’m hoping that Rinne can really be the core of that kindness among all of the characters. ^[3] I’d be glad if that kindness showed through.

I’ll change track here a bit. Frankly, what memories do you have of NHK animation?

Ishikawa: At the time of my debut I was doing mostly background character voices and I remember in Phi Brain: Puzzle of God, I had the line “oops” which I remember clearly. At the time, Shintaro Asanuma, who played the lead, remembered me and when I did another project he was the main character and he said “Oh!” and he chatted with me, so in that sense it was really great. I think that is a work that really connected those opportunities for me. NHK and animation are inseparable.

If you could appear in any NHK program what would you choose?

Ishikawa: That’s the toughest question. That’s difficult. Perhaps Rekishi Hiwa Historia (歴史秘話ヒストリア/Historical Ancedote Historia) or NHK Koukou Kouza Shodou I (ＮＨＫ高校講座　書道Ⅰ/NHK High School Calligraphy I) that had Yoko Hikasa (日笠陽子) on it! The calligraphic characters would be beautiful and it would be fun. I just want the calligraphy to be beautiful.

Kaito Ishikawa... what is a voice actor’s purpose?

Ishikawa: Well, its just my opinion (worries). Oh! I think an voice actor is an actor. If all you’re concerned with is saying the lines, then a robot could do that (laughs). I want to be an actor.

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Footnotes

• [1] A chairman is the lead role in an anime series. This actor is considered the organizer of the troupe of actors.
• [2] Kappei Yamaguchi (山口勝平) explains in his interview that "gapyon" (がぴょーん) was a word or sound created by Kenichi Ogata (緒方賢一) when he played Genma Saotome to Kappei Yamaguchi's Ranma. He would say it anytime he was launched into the air and Yamaguchi wanted that bit of Rumic history to be carried over into this new show.
• [3] Rinne was a very different sort of protagonist when compared to previous Takahashi leads. Rather than being boisterous he is extremely reserved and mild-mannered. The female lead, Sakura Mamiya, is much the same with Rumiko Takahashi even saying she often did not know what Sakura was thinking.

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