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Mekakucity Actors Audio Commentary #7

Act 7 – Konoha no Sekai Jijou

Translation of the seventh audio commentary that comes with the DVD/Blu-ray of Mekakucity Actors. Raw version here. Please consider purchasing the original copies and feel free to message me about possible corrections. If there happens to be any issues with the link, please contact me on my main blog!

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Asumin: Hello to everyone listening to the audio commentary of “Mekakucity Actors Act 07 – Konoha no Sekai Jijou”! I’m the voice of Enomoto Takane. This time, I’ll be the host. My name is Asumi Kana. And...!

Suzuki: Eh, I’m the producer. Suzuki Kenta from Aniplex.

Ishikawa: Yes, and I’ll be the supervisor today. I’m Ishikawa from Aniplex. On this day, we hope to deliver Act 07, “Konoha no Sekai Jijou”. It’ll be a pleasure.

Asumin: I’ll be in your care~!

Suzuki: We’ll be in your care.

Asumin: What a rare combo.

Ishikawa: Sure is.

Suzuki: Yeah, right. It’s more than just “rare”. *laughs*

Ishikawa: No, no, no...

Asumin: *laughs*

Ishikawa: We’ve had this kind of episode before.

Suzuki: That’s right.

Asumin: Oh!

Ishikawa: Last time, for the sixth episode, we had Fujiwara Keiji-san together with us here.

Asumin: Ah! Eh? Keiji-kun?

Ishikawa: Ah, exactly, “Keiji-kun”.

Asumin: Eh~?

Ishikawa: Someone like me can’t call him “Keiji-kun”, though.

Asumin: *laughs*

Ishikawa: So, continuing from where we had stopped, we are once again doing it as a trio, this time with Asumi-san.

Asumin: Yes!

Suzuki: Yes.

Ishikawa: Last time, in Act 06, Fujiwara-san talked a little about you, Asumi-san.

Asumin: Yes.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Asumin: Hum, that’s right. We host your radio show and all.

Ishikawa: Thank you very much for it!

Suzuki: We owe you two a lot.

Asumin: So do we.

Ishikawa: You connect episodes six and seven very nicely.

Asumin: Yes!

Suzuki: Hm, indeed.

Ishikawa: Honestly!

Suzuki: Such a good progression.

Ishikawa: Exactly. A rather beautiful one.

Suzuki: If we’re to link the first and second halves of this series, as expected, it has to be from episode six.

Asumin: Yes!

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: Kenjirou included.

Asumin: Right.

Suzuki: It’s a very crucial episode indeed.

Ishikawa: A bit of a flashback arc, so to say.

Asumin: Yup, yup.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Ishikawa: Let’s see... last time, Asumi-san participated in the first episode, Act 01.

Asumin: Yes! That’s right.

Ishikawa: You were here as the voice of Ene.

Asumin: Yeah, I went from Ene to Takane.

Ishikawa: Right.

Asumin: For this time, that is.

Ishikawa: Yep.

Asumin: In the first time, the worldbuilding was pretty different. Actually, rather than the worldbuilding...

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Ishikawa: Well, you were digital before.

Asumin: Yeah! *laughs*

Suzuki: Exactly.

Asumin: There were changes in these episodes.

Ishikawa: That’s right...

Asumin: Well, this is actually her original self.

Ishikawa: True! Hum, it’s like, her process of turning into Ene.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: Hmm.

Ishikawa: That’s explained in episodes six and seven.

Suzuki: It’s all revealed;

Asumin: Yes... Eh, the fact that my character is above the one voiced by Nakahara Mai-san kinda makes me a little bit... excited. *laughs*

Suzuki: Aaaah...

Ishikawa: Right. But she’s somewhat of a senior.

Asumin: Yesss~!

Suzuki: Ah, in the Mekakushi-dan.

Asumin: Amongst them, she is.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Asumin: True...

Ishikawa: It’s surprising... hmm, “surprising” might not be the best way to put it, but...

Asumin: Emotionally speaking, well...

Ishikawa: No, no! Hum...

Suzuki/Asumin: *laugh*

Ishikawa: She has a surprisingly philosophical point of view.

Suzuki: Ayano is in a “big sister” kind of position.

Asumin: Yeah!

Suzuki: So she kinda seems like that. Older than she looks, I mean.

Ishikawa: Yup, yup, yup.

Suzuki: So there’s also that.

Asumin: Well, Ayano was doing her best in her own way being a big sister.

Suzuki: Yeeep. Indeed.

Asumin: It was cute of her.

Ishikawa: True. By the way, hum... when you came here last time, the recordings were not yet over.

Asumin: Yes! Aaah, were they? I see!

Suzuki: Aaah...

Ishikawa: If I’m not mistaken, I believe that’s when you participated in the commentary.

Asumin: Yes.

Ishikawa: It was just a week before the last episode aired, I guess.

Suzuki: Ooh...

Asumin: Ah!

Ishikawa: That’s about the time we did the first recording for these. But, well, it’s been a while since the recordings ended.

Asumin: Yes!

Ishikawa: Asking how it was would be too loose a question, but...

Asumin: Hmmm~! As expected, it felt rushed! *laughs*

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Ishikawa: Right...

Asumin: But in the last episode, when everyone, like... gathered up, finally all together, and faced the enemy, it was thrilling.

Ishikawa: It sure was. Hum, in the previous episode, Fujiwara-san also talked about this.

Asumin: I see!

Ishikawa: That the recordings of “Mekakucity Actors” are a bit unique.

Asumin: Yep!

Ishikawa: And depending on the episode, the people who participate in it change.

Asumin: Ah, true.

Ishikawa: The groups are scattered.

Asumin: Yup.

Ishikawa: We also asked him a bit about how the recordings felt like.

Asumin: Yes?

Ishikawa: As expected, Fujiwara-san was like, “The people who are there change all the time, so it was refreshing.”

Asumin: *laughs* Aah!

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: His words.

Asumin: During the final parts, at long last, I met Togashi-san, Hibiya-kun’s voice, for the first time. We greeted each other like, “Nice to meet you~”. *giggles*

Suzuki: Aaah. Is that so?

Asumin: We didn’t see each other at all before then. Miraculously.

Suzuki: Indeed, there are characters who don’t ever meet.

Asumin: Exactly.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Asumin: Yeah, yeah. Which is why I was happy that they gathered up.

Suzuki: Right.

Ishikawa: Hmm! They’ve been there since forever, but it feels like they aren’t present.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: Hm, hm.

Ishikawa: It is what it is.

Asumin: The one that was there the longest was Ayano, I guess.

Ishikawa: Ah, perhaps.

Suzuki: She’s there for most episodes.

Asumin: Yep, yep!

Ishikawa: Well, if I’m not wrong, she’s the one who narrates the C parts.

Asumin: Yeah.

Ishikawa: Nakahara-san tells the story of the “picture book”.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Asumin: That’s right.

Ishikawa: So she had many appearances, in a way. But in contrast, Nakahara-san actually didn’t have many dialogues.

Asumin: Yes.

Ishikawa: Or exchanges with other characters.

Asumin: Aaah! True. It’s in this part that she finally...

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: Yes, that’s right.

Asumin: Well, this series was crafted in peculiar ways.

Suzuki: Exactly.

Ishikawa: It’s a multi-protagonist story.

Suzuki: Yeah. It’s a story based off songs, after all.

Asumin: Right! Each of them is a main character.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Suzuki: It’s not an omnibus where each episode corresponds to one song.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: But if you piece them all together, you have a linear story of twelve episodes.

Asumin: Yes.

Ishikawa: As expected, this was mentioned ever since the phases where we were holding meetings for the screenplay.

Suzuki: That’s right. Most likely, in Jin-san’s head, Kagerou Project itself is a story composed of each and every song involved.

Ishikawa: Precisely.

Suzuki: And as one would expect, that’s the foundation of it.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Suzuki: The novels were probably where he dug deeper into that.

Asumin: Hm, hm.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzuki: And the manga was where he made it easier to understand by transforming it into art. So when the time to ask, “Then what form shall it take in the anime?” came around, this is how he structured it.

Ishikawa: Hm, hm, hm.

Asumin: Yep.

Suzuki: Therefore, he might have had this planned from the very beginning.

Ishikawa: That’s right. As you watch it, you have little discoveries, like “this one episode connects with that other episode”.

Asumin: Yep, yep!

Suzuki: Indeed.

Ishikawa: It does happen.

Asumin: Really makes me want to watch all the episodes over again.

Ishikawa: Yeah, yeah.

Suzuki: True.

Asumin: Right?

Ishikawa: Indeed, as you say. In contraposition, the people who are listening to this are the ones who bought either the blu-rays or the DVDs

Suzuki: Yeah.

Ishikawa: So maybe they would also want to watch everything over again.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Ishikawa: If they do that, they’ll discover all sorts of things.

Suzuki: Right.

Asumin: True. Each of the mediums is different. Same for the manga and the novels.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes. Let’s see... I don’t know whether this term is right or not, but they’re like “routes”.

Asumin: Hmmm!

Suzuki: Yep, yep, yep.

Asumin: The anime is the anime.

Ishikawa: Yeah. There’s this kind of magic to it. So we hope that the people who have only watched the anime will read the novels and comics.

Asumin: Right!

Suzuki: Right.

Asumin: They’ll be able to see the many differences.

Ishikawa: And of course, that they acquire and listen to the original songs and Jin-san’s albums, so that they may be even more deeply involved with this work.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Ishikawa: And so, Takane collapses.

Asumin: Hmm!

Ishikawa: Before that, Kenjirou stands up.

Suzuki: Yeah...

Asumin: Right~? The world was so peaceful till just a moment ago, and yet...

Ishikawa: The worldview inverted.

Asumin: It’s such a plot twist.

Ishikawa: And I think this is the key point for Takane to become Ene.

Asumin: Yeeep!

Suzuki: Hmm.

Asumin: Right. This is where Ene is born.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Asumin: Ah, but character-wise, even after becoming “Ene”, Takane’s spirit stays intact.

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Asumin: It doesn’t change.

Ishikawa: Exactly.

Asumin: It’s just her attitude that changed a bit. *giggles*

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Oh, yeah. Asumi-san, when you’re performing Takane and Ene – well, they’re the same character but with different personalities, so to say.

Asumin: That’s right.

Ishikawa: So was there any difficulty or any point that you had to be careful of when performing them?

Asumin: Hmm... How should I put it? When it comes to thought process, I thought I should remain as Takane.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Asumin: And when Takane is suddenly at maximum tension, she’s Ene, I believe.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Ishikawa: I see.

Asumin: And what else? Well, let’s see... As expected, I think her voice ought to sound like a mascot character. *laughs*

Suzuki: Aaah...

Ishikawa: *laughs*

Asumin: That’s what she’s like.

Ishikawa: Gotta be charismatic Ene, right?

Asumin: That’s right. That’s what I kept in mind.

Ishikawa: But indeed, Ene-chan is kinda... within this series, she’s an extremely catchy character.

Asumin: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Her tone is advertisement-like.

Asumin: *laughs harder*

Ishikawa: I don’t know if that’s how I should put it, but...

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Asumin: She’s loud, after all! *laughs*

Ishikawa: No, no, no! Not at all.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Asumin: It’s easy for everyone to spot her.

Ishikawa: She’s lovely. Very lovely.

Asumin: They made her movements really cute, which made me happy.

Ishikawa: Ah, this way of portraying her is excellent.

Suzuki: Right? Pretty good.

Asumin: Yeah~!

Ishikawa: And I think this was mentioned in the first commentary, but the monitor in Shintarou’s room is gigantic.

Asumin: *laughs* It is! Amazingly so.

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Ishikawa: But we were told that, thanks to this, Ene is able to move around with a sense of liveliness to her.

Asumin: Yeah.

Ishikawa: So, as expected... how can I put it? Be it inside a phone or a computer, being able to display her in this way or another in the anime enables us to explore the nature of “Ene” as a character even further.

Asumin: Right~? It feels like you can only do that in the anime.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Ishikawa: True. She’s a very catchy character.

Asumin: Yep, she is.

Ishikawa: And thanks to Ene being a catchy character, she’s in charge of many things, such as the narration of the anime’s CMs.

Asumin: Ah, yes! I did a lot of stuff.

Ishikawa: And also the concert at Shibuya Public Hall held on August 14th and 15th.

Asumin: Yes!

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Asumin: Right, right.

Ishikawa: Well, it was an event called “Make a Mekakucity”, where Jin-san was the focus – I mean, Jin-san and Mekakushi-dan.

Asumin: Yes!

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: And Ene-chan had a big part in it.

Suzuki: A big part!

Asumin: Yeaaah! I was surprised, like, “So that’s how it turned out”! Ah, I went to watch it, by the way.

Ishikawa: Thank you very much.

Asumin: No, no, no! Hum, how can I put it? I couldn’t see the whole thing.

Suzuki: Yes.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Asumin: So I had to *laughs* ask lots of questions in order to do the narration. Therefore, I was looking forward to how it’d be pieced together for the event.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Asumin: Ene... was singing and dancing, huh?

Ishikawa: She was.

Suzuki: Exactly.

Asumin: *laughs* Yeah!

Suzuki: She got to do whatever she wanted.

Ishikawa: Whatever she wanted!

Asumin: On top of that, the concert was supposed to look like the Mekakushi-dan set it up.

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: “Produced by”...

Suzuki/Ishikawa: ...“Mekakushi-dan”.

Asumin: Right?! *laughs* It was super fun. Never have I ever gotten to watch an event of an anime that I take part in as a main character from a completely impartial perspective like this one.

Suzuki: But of course!

Asumin: Yeah!

Ishikawa: You’d usually be on-stage rather than among the audience.

Suzuki: Indeed, indeed.

Asumin: Being there not as a participant was very new and fun to me.

Suzuki: Aaah, I see.

Ishikawa: Figures.

Asumin: I was able to see a series that I’m part of from the guest seats, like, “Ah! So this is how everyone enjoys anime events!”

Suzuki: Hearing you say that makes me happy.

Ishikawa: Attending an event must be such a rare opportunity.

Asumin: Yes, yes! It was incredible. The guests seemed to be having so much fun. And, as expected, there was a lot of young people!

Suzuki: Yeah, really.

Asumin: *laughs*

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Asumin: Must have been middle school students.

Suzuki: Feels fresh, doesn’t it?

Asumin: Yep, yep! It felt fresh and... what else? The music!

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Asumin: Like, this was a chance for me to listen to the songs once again after all of the anime ended.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Asumin: It made me so very happy.

Ishikawa: I see. Well, I myself was allowed to see a lot of things at the concert’s venue.

Asumin: Yes.

Ishikawa: When I saw the reactions of the guests, as expected, it seemed like something a little different from the usual anime events.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: Indeed.

Ishikawa: Even so, I was most certainly able to feel the enthusiasm of “Mekakucity Actors” very keenly there.

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Asumin: Trueee...

Ishikawa: Even though there are so many songs, each of them has a different point to enjoy.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: Indeed.

Ishikawa: So I think it was a very valuable event.

Asumin: It was fun.

Ishikawa: For the producers, I guess there was a lot to do other than just making the live concert happen.

Suzuki: Yes, yes, yes.

Ishikawa: So looking at it from the producers’ position, I believe this was a remarkable occasion.

Suzuki: “Remarkable occasion”... But this series—well, it might not just be this one series. We produce all sorts of events, not only for this title, and Asumi-san participates in some of them.

Asumin: Yes, yes.

Ishikawa: I see.

Suzuki: But people are already into the series in the first place. Through it, they fall in love with the characters, and then eventually fall in love with the voice actors playing them. That’s how the flow goes.

Asumin: Yeah.

Suzuki: So when there comes the time to hold an event, we always have the actors and cast participate.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, that’s right.

Suzuki: And while there are people who like the actors themselves, there are also those who project the characters onto the actors. I think that’s also one way to enjoy yourself.

Asumin: Yup.

Suzuki: But this series wanted to lean more towards the characters themselves.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

Asumin: Yeah.

Suzuki: How can I put it? This might be a bit weird to say, but it truly feels like they’re in the real world.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

Suzuki: Like the Mekakushi-dan exists and they made this concert.

Ishikawa: True, the guests themselves can feel it in their own skin, so to say.

Suzuki: Exactly. It’s like Jin-san and the Mekakushi-dan are standing there, side by side.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Suzuki: And that’s kind of like a virtual reality.

Asumin: Yes.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzuki: Like, “Wouldn’t it be fun if we could enact something like that?”

Ishikawa: Yup, yup.

Suzuki: That’s what Jin-san wondered at the beginning, when we were asking ourselves what to do for that event.

Asumin: Haaah...

Suzuki: This is the idea that Jin-san came up with.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

Asumin: Eeeh~?

Suzuki: I was thinking about that sort of thing too, so I thought it was extremely interesting.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: Hum, normal, we’d have Asumi-san participate in the event.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Asumin: Oooh...

Suzuki: Like, I think it’s totally possible that there’d be a part where she’d go, “I’m Asumi Kana, the voice of Ene!”

Ishikawa: It wouldn’t necessarily be a talk corner but you’d come up.

Asumin: If it’s something like that, we already have it in the usual scheme of things, right?

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Yes. We have the major and the normal stuff.

Suzuki: Yep, yep.

Asumin: But I do want to have more like these! *laughs*

Suzuki: Ah, really? Eeeh~!

Ishikawa: I see.

Asumin: Events that feature titles and their characters.

Suzuki: I think that’s quite a... difficult thing to do.

Asumin: Aaah...

Suzuki: It’s hard to make an event like that.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzuki: This time, we had music involved.

Asumin: Yes!

Ishikawa: Exactly.

Suzuki: So we were able to do it through making music the focus and inserting all sorts of aspects of the anime into it.

Ishikawa: Yeah.

Asumin: Yup, yup.

Suzuki: But there are series that aren’t like this.

Ishikawa: Right.

Asumin: That’s right...

Suzuki: So, as expected, I believe it’s definitely better to have the cast participate in those cases.

Ishikawa: Yeah.

Asumin: Hm-hm!

Suzuki: This time was a challenge, so to say.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: Thus, it turned out like this, but...

Ishikawa: So Jin was giving ideas already in the earliest meetings?

Suzuki: Precisely! It began from the basis that the Mekakushi-dan would be making the event, and from there, we’d go into the really minute details.

Ishikawa: I see.

Suzuki: Before reaching the peak, there were actually lots of setups.

Ishikawa: There were, yes.

Asumin: Yes! *giggles*

Suzuki: It’s as if the characters themselves were making preparations behind the scenes.

Ishikawa: Yes, that’s right.

Suzuki: And in the midst of that, since it’s the Mekakushi-dan, they make a few mistakes, as one would expect, so there’s sounds Mary dropping stuff, like, “BAM!”

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes. There were.

Asumin: *giggles*

Suzuki: Things like that.

Ishikawa: And there were big animals too.

Asumin: *laughs*

Suzuki: Ah, something like that! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seto-kun brings them over.

Ishikawa: Seto-kun...

Asumin: Yes!

Suzuki: These kinds of little jokes came from Jin-san.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Asumin: Yeeeaaah...

Suzuki: And as expected, for Jin-san, participating in the event mostly as one of the players must have been...

Asumin: He was so cool!

Suzuki: Yuuup, he was, wasn’t he?

Ishikawa: He sure was.

Asumin: It was my first time seeing it!

Ishikawa: His performance?

Asumin: Yes!

Suzuki: I see. I believe he hasn’t done that many live concerts.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Asumin: Aaah...!

Suzuki: So it’s also because of that.

Asumin: It was awesome. The people in the seats were calling to him in the same way they’d call to an idol, like, “Jin-saaan!” *laughs*

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: “Jin-saaan!”

Asumin: Yeah! They also said, “Jin-san, you’re so cute!”

Suzuki/Asumin: *laugh*

Asumin: Many were saying he was cool, too, of course!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Asumin: But yeah, I thought, “They sure love him...”

Suzuki: Amazing. It was wonderful, wasn’t it?

Asumin: Maaan...

Suzuki: Those days. Everyone who went on-stage, too.

Ishikawa: That’s right. Those two days were incredible.

Asumin: They were! I ended up crying during Ayano’s song.

Suzuki: Oooh...

Ishikawa: The one sung by Okui-san?

Asumin: Yeeeah!

Suzuki: Okui Aki-san, right?

Ishikawa: Yes.

Asumin: I’m weak to that song. *laughs*

Ishikawa: “Ayano no Koufuku Riron” was amazing, wasn’t it?

Asumin: Right?!

Ishikawa: It enveloped the venue in a warm atmosphere.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Asumin: But there were other cast members attending, so all the while, we were thinking things like, “I don’t wanna get busted!” *laughs*

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *laugh*

Asumin: “I don’t wanna ruin this!”

Suzuki: Is that so?

Asumin: But, wow, it was such a fascinating event.

Ishikawa: That’s right. And watching it was amazing.

Asumin: Yeah...

Ishikawa: And you had to read a narration as Ene from before the show started.

Suzuki: Yup.

Asumin: Yes! Exactly.

Suzuki: Ene quite literally had a big role in this one.

Asumin: Yes.

Suzuki: She was something like an MC.

Ishikawa: Right.

Asumin: Yeah.

Suzuki: In a way, everyone had commonplace roles. But Ene had to talk a lot.

Asumin: Yes, I sure did.

Ishikawa: Ene-chan also sang a song at the event.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Asumin: She was super cute back there!

Ishikawa: She was.

Asumin: Right~?

Ishikawa: Dancing so flashily, too.

Asumin: But really, we could only make this kind of stage happen because it’s the Mekakushi-dan.

Suzuki: True.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: By all means, I want to try and do this again if there’s ever another chance.

Asumin: Yep, yep!

Ishikawa: Indeed.

Suzuki: One more time, but in a different way.

Ishikawa: Well, the anime has finished broadcasting.

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: Then we had this two-day live concert.

Asumin: Yep!

Ishikawa: And there have been several events for Mekakucity Actors.

Asumin: Yes, yes.

Ishikawa: And Asumi-san had many opportunities to participate in them as Ene.

Asumin: Yes!

Ishikawa: Amidst all of that, was there any memorable occasion for you while working with “Mekakucity Actors”? Well, I do think the last event left a deep impression on you, since it’s the most recent one of these.

Asumin: That’s right~!

Ishikawa: But is there anything else? There were all sorts of events, such as the one in Sapporo.

Suzuki: Huuum... I see. The one held at Sapporo Station, right?

Ishikawa: Yes, the one at Sapporo Station.

Asumin: Aaah, that’s right! Ene was there!

Ishikawa: She was a government officer at the building for a day.

Asumin: She was!

Suzuki: She was taking care of the building.

Asumin: Yes, I did that. And, oh, yeah! I also went to Taiwan.

Suzuki: Right, Asumi-san went to Taiwan.

Ishikawa: Thank you so much for that!

Asumin: The Mekakushi-dan traveled there.

Suzuki: Unbelievable. “Mekakucity Actors” is extremely famous even in Taiwan!

Asumin: That’s right!

Ishikawa: True!

Asumin: The first thing that shocked me is that everyone is really paying attention to this series!

Ishikawa: *laughs* Yes, yes.

Suzuki: Yeah, and you too, Asumi-san, are very popular there.

Ishikawa: Ah!

Suzuki: Yeah.

Ishikawa: Thank you so much.

Asumin: Man, I didn’t think they’d gather around me!

Suzuki: That sure was impressive.

Asumin: I was thinking I’d be glad if at least ten or so people came up to me, and yet...! *laughs*

Suzuki: And yet, as expected...! *laughs*

Ishikawa: As expected, everyone came up to you.

Asumin: Yeah, yeah! At first, I was surprised. I was asking the guests, “You know me??” *laughs*

Ishikawa: Eeeeh??

Suzuki: I bet you would.

Ishikawa: Indeed, indeed.

Suzuki: But on that day, there was a mini-event where people could have an autograph from Asumi-san if they bought any merchandize.

Ishikawa: Heeeh~?

Suzuki: Also, there was a talk show and live dubbing.

Ishikawa: That’s amazing!

Asumin: It sure was.

Suzuki: There was a limit of 125 goods, and apparently, they were gone in 5 minutes.

Ishikawa: Eeeh?!

Asumin: Yeeeaaah...

Suzuki: It seems a lot of people couldn’t buy anything.

Asumin: That’s right. To think this series is loved beyond the seas...

Ishikawa: Yeah!

Suzuki: Makes you so happy, huh?

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Asumin: I didn’t know it personally, so when I went abroad...

Ishikawa: Right, you have to go there yourself.

Asumin: Exactly!

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Asumin: When I saw it right before my eyes, it was such an enormous thing.

Ishikawa: Taiwan is pretty good, isn’t it?

Asumin: Yep, yep, yep!

Suzuki: It’s the same as the Japanese fans, really.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Asumin: Yeah!

Susuki: It really is, isn’t it?

Asumin: Their feelings of loving anime and loving fictional characters are truly the same as ours.

Suzuki: Seriously.

Ishikawa: It feels like looking at a mirror, doesn’t it?

Asumin: Yeaaah!

Suzuki: For real, for real.

Asumin: It’s so amazing that people from so many countries have one thing in common that they like, isn’t it?

Suzuki: It is.

Ishikawa: Sure is.

Asumin: This could lead to world peace! *laughs*

Suzuki: It really could.

Ishikawa: Indeed.

Asumin: Boy, I was really happy. Everyone was so good at Japanese.

Suzuki: Ah, they certainly were.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: Lots of people came up to talk to Asumi-san.

Ishikawa: They sure wanted to have a chat with her.

Asumin: They talked to me in Japanese!

Ishikawa: Eeeh~?

Asumin: That’s right. So many of them said they studied Japanese because they like anime and video games.

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: That’s something to be grateful for. They love even the casts that take part in the series.

Asumin: Yeah...

Suzuki: There were also people who aspired to become voice actors in Japan, right?

Asumin: Right, right! There were! They told me they liked anime so much that they wanted to be seiyuu! *laughs*

Suzuki: Whoa...

Ishikawa: Amazing...!

Asumin: That was so powerful...

Ishikawa: Just breaking the language barrier is already so hard, and yet, they want to become... professionals in that area. I have no idea if that’s the right word for this.

Asumin: It is. And the passion of those people was really so...

Ishikawa: Isn’t it pretty difficult to do the correct intonations, for example?

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: I mean, talking and dubbing are two different things. You have to go beyond.

Ishikawa: There’s all sorts of difficulties to it.

Suzuki: And yet, there are people aiming for that.

Asumin: Riiight~? But y’know, when I felt their passion, I thought they could totally make it!

Suzuki: Yeah, for real.

Ishikawa: Seriously.

Suzuki: They’re really passionate.

Asumin: It truly made me happy.

Ishikawa: It’s wonderful how much people love this series.

Asumin: Yeees...

Ishikawa: It’s all because it’s “Mekakucity Actors”.

Suzuki: Really.

Asumin: That’s what makes me happiest. Isn’t that right~?

Ishikawa: Yeah. And while we were talking about that, we’ve arrived to the ending theme of episode 7.

Asumin: Yes!! *laughs*

Ishikawa: Now that we’re at the ending, episode 7’s commentary was the most... how should I put it?

Asumin: Yes?

Ishikawa: Should I say it was the most down-to-earth one until now?

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Ishikawa: The others were serious as well, but this was the one where we dug the deepest into all sorts of topics.

Suzuki: Ah, really?

Asumin: Aaah...!

Suzuki: Ah, I’m glad!

Asumin: Ah, out of all the audio commentaries?!

Suzuki: It’s all because Asumi-san came over!

Asumin: Eeeeeh?? Seriously?! *laughs*

Ishikawa: I think the last commentary was pretty fun too, but...

Asumin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Asumin: “Fun”?!

Suzuki: Keiji-san was here.

Asumin: I’m super curious now!

Suzuki: He had a big part in that.

Asumin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Asumin: No, but I’m honestly happy that I was able to co-star at something with Keiji-kun!

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *laugh*

Suzuki: Yeah, and he talked about that!

Asumin: Save from when we’re doing our radio show.

Ishikawa: It seems he was nervous about being called “Keiji-kun” during the recordings.

Asumin: *laughs* Is that so?

Suzuki: Yeah, and he was jealous.

Ishikawa: He was jealous.

Asumin: I see~!

Ishikawa: He talked about all of that.

Asumin: Heeeh~! But man, there’s a lot of Takane’s growth being depicted here.

Ishikawa: Yeah, in this episode.

Asumin: Her weaknesses and whatnot.

Ishikawa: It’s the story of her realizing her feelings and what happens after that.

Asumin: That’s right.

Suzuki: Yeah.

Ishikawa: From here on, the plot goes back to the present and keeps on gathering strength.

Suzuki: Precisely.

Ishikawa: The next one is episode 8, as in “Act 08”, right?

Asumin: Yes.

Suzuki: Hm.

Ishikawa: We hope everyone will look forward to it.

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Asumin/Ishikawa: Yes.

Ishikawa: That being said, here’s the C part, or the picture book part.

Asumin: Yes!

Ishikawa: We gradually learn who the “monster” of this narration is.

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Ishikawa: This is a point where the story is well-outlined.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Ishikawa: So it’s going to set itself in motion once again, and while we’re like, “I wonder what’s gonna happen in episode 8”, did you like episode 7, Asumi-san?

Asumin: Yes! It really... Hum, we might have not talked much about the plot itself— *laughs*

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: No, no! No problem, no problem!

Asumin: But the fact that everyone accepts it is everything. Really, many of the stories in “Mekakushi” are kind of frustrating, aren’t they?

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Ishikawa: That’s right...

Asumin: When everyone gathers up, something is born.

Ishikawa: Yeah. The previous live concert, too, was something they all did together.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Asumin: Yep!

Ishikawa: They joined hands and made it happen.

Asumin: This story will develop further, so by all means, keep enjoying it. We will be in your care.

Ishikawa: Yes! Thank you very much.

Asumin: Yes, thank you very much!

Ishikawa: Suzuki-san, please give a message too, if that is okay.

Suzuki: A message?!

Asumin: *laughs*

Suzuki: “Keep watching from this point on too!”

Asumin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Suzuki: “Buy the DVD!”

Ishikawa: That’s very producer-like. But to be honest, it makes us very happy that this series is making its rounds out there.

Asumin: Yeah! Very happy!

Suzuki: Right. Keep looking forward to the continuations.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Asumin: Yep!

Suzuki: And when you finish, go back to the beginning.

Asumin: Yeeep!

Ishikawa: Yeah, watch it over and over again.

Suzuki: Exactly. That’s about it.

Ishikawa: We think the most important thing is that people enjoy this series.

Asumin: Hmm!

Suzuki: Yes!

Ishikawa: Eh, the seventh episode ends here.

Asumin: Yes!

Ishikawa: Thank you very much.

Suzuki/Asumin: Thank you very much!

[dennou-translations]

Mekakucity Actors Audio Commentary #6

Act 6 – Headphone Actor

Translation of the sixth audio commentary that comes with the DVD/Blu-ray of Mekakucity Actors. Raw version here. Please consider purchasing the original copies and feel free to message me about possible corrections. If there happens to be any issues with the link, please contact me on my main blog!

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FujiKei: Hello to everyone listening to the audio commentary of “Mekakucity Actors Act 06 – Headphone Actor”. I’m the one who had a great breakthrough as the voice of Tateyama Kenjirou, Fujiwara Keiji.

Suzuki: And I’ll be participating today as well. I’m Suzuki Kenta from Aniplex.

Ishikawa: Yes, and I will be the one supervising the process. I’m Ishikawa from Aniplex. The three of us will be the ones to deliver Act 06. I’ll be in your care.

FujiKei/Suzuki: We’ll be in your care.

Suzuki: We have Fujiwara Keiji-san with us.

Ishikawa: Yes!

FujiKei: My, I was really looking forward to being called over.

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: Nobody was calling me at all.

Ishikawa: That’s true.

FujiKei: So I was wondering what was going on.

Ishikawa: I see!

FujiKei: And now, finally.

Suzuki: You managed to get into Act 06 because of this kind of thoughtfulness.

FujiKei: They gave me the spot!

Suzuki: *laughs* After warming it up for you, that is! Thank you very much for coming.

Ishikawa: Thank you.

FujiKei: Speaking of Act 06, it was dead-on a very easy episode for me to dub.

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *laugh*

Ishikawa: Well, yeah.

Suzuki: Kenjirou has a lot of screen time in these episodes.

FujiKei: Yes, yes. But see, isn’t this quite difficult?

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: Overall, it is.

FujiKei: Overall, yes. I received the story settings, character backgrounds and other such things on the spot, right before the recording!

Ishikawa: That’s right, you received the contextual materials. It was pretty thick.

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup!

FujiKei: The more I read them, the less I understood.

Suzuki: Oh?

Ishikawa: Eh?

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *laugh*

FujiKei: I read about 50 pages of it.

Suzuki: Oh, thank you so much! You read that much?

FujiKei: I did. And once you start reading, surprisingly enough, you do get where this and that connect.

Ishikawa: Ah, that’s right. Surprisingly, you find out that one thing connects with this other thing.

FujiKei: Exactly.

Ishikawa: Something that you see on page 3 connects with something from page 50.

Suzuki: Yeeep.

FujiKei: It’s quite an inexperienced way of doing things. Is it okay to do it like that?

Ishikawa: It is.

Suzuki: But one of the good things about this series is being able to enjoy these mysteries.

Ishikawa: The audience savors the experience.

FujiKei: I see...

Ishikawa: That’s what’s charming about it.

FujiKei: It’s exactly my idea of fun!

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: That’s literally how I felt back then.

Suzuki: I see. Hum, out of the twelve episodes of this TV anime, episode six must’ve been quite easy to understand, well, as a story.

FujiKei: It sure was.

Suzuki: Right. I imagine it must’ve been easy to dub for you, Keiji-san.

FujiKei: I would’ve been okay with any episode.

Suzuki/Ishikawa: Thank you very much!

FujiKei: All of them are fine.

Suzuki: That’s literally what Kenjirou would say.

FujiKei: It is.

Suzuki: Yes, yes, yes.

FujiKei: Oh! Pretty talented! Is that me?

Suzuki: It is! *laughs*

Ishikawa: *laughs*

FujiKei: Splendid acting, isn’t it?

Suzuki: It is, as expected.

FujiKei: I did think I had done well, but this is even better than what I’d thought, wouldn’t you say?

Suzuki: When you listen to it yourself...

FujiKei: Yep, when you listen to it yourself...

Ishikawa: You get hooked into the character, huh?

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: I do, I do. And the other person is...

Suzuki: Yes?

FujiKei: Isn’t it Asumi Kana-san?

Suzuki: Precisely.

Ishikawa: It is.

FujiKei: To tell the truth, the people who are aware of this will know, but I rarely ever get to perform with Asumi Kana-san.

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: True.

FujiKei: We have hosted a radio show together, but...

Suzuki: Right.

Ishikawa: That’s a bit of a pity.

Suzuki: Through our company, Aniplex, you and Asumi Kana-san were in charge of hosting a radio show.

FujiKei: Yes. Thank you very much for it.

Suzuki: It was quite good.

FujiKei: But other than that, we didn’t get to perform together at all.

Suzuki: Yes.

FujiKei: Ah, maybe this was our first time properly performing with each other?

Suzuki: Right. As regulars, perhaps.

FujiKei: It was very new.

Suzuki: Really?

FujiKei: When I came to the studio...

Suzuki: Yes?

FujiKei: ...Asumi Kana-san was there.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: I see. So when you were recording for the radio show, you felt used to the atmosphere of it.

FujiKei: I’d be like, “Yo, Asumi.”

Ishikawa: I see.

FujiKei: And she’d be like, “Keiji-kun, good morning.”

Suzuki: *laughs* So Asumi-san calls you “Keiji-kun”.

Ishikawa: *laughs*

FujiKei: But aren’t there other people performing with us? That’s why I had a bit of resistance to being called “Keiji-kun”.

Suzuki: Of course. *laughs*

Ishikawa: But of course! If you do that in this business...

FujiKei: People go, “Eh?” and it’s uncomfortable.

Suzuki: Indeed! As expected, age and career time are also involved.

Ishikawa: That’s right!

FujiKei: But I was kinda looking forward to it.

Suzuki: I see!

FujiKei: And she did call me “Keiji-kun”.

Suzuki: Ah, so she did it! As expected of Asumi-san! So she created a stir.

FujiKei: Like, “Whoa, whoa, what was that?”

Suzuki: Using “kun” for you.

FujiKei: Yes, yes.

Ishikawa: *laughs*

FujiKei: But my first time performing with her was fun.

Suzuki: Must have been.

FujiKei: Yes...

Suzuki: We would like to talk about it.

FujiKei: Eh, yes.

Suzuki: This time, the creator...

Suzuki/Ishikawa: ...Jin-san...

Suzuki: ...is absent.

FujiKei: Ah! I see. Jin-san was always here on every episode, without fail, right?

Suzuki: Exactly.

Ishikawa: Until now, that is. Until Act 05, we had Jin-san participate on every episode.

Suzuki: Yes.

Ishikawa: But this time, Fujiwara Keiji-san would participate, so he told us, “Rather than ending up with Keiji-san asking about someone like me, there are many things that I would like to hear from him instead”, and this is how it turned out.

FujiKei: Ah, so it was on purpose?

Ishikawa: Yes!

Suzuki: So he’s stuck with us, salary man.

Ishikawa: Also, there were a few adult circumstances involved.

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Well, by “adult circumstances”, I mean schedule issues.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: So for this time...

FujiKei: Yes!

Suzuki: Keiji-san is going to be sandwiched by two salary men.

FujiKei: Yes.

Suzuki: We’re sorry about that.

FujiKei: No, no, it’s no problem. Well, it is a pity that he isn’t here, though.

Suzuki: Yup.

FujiKei: But we shouldn’t get caught up in how it’d be if he were here or on the fact that he isn’t here.

Ishikawa: *laughs*

Suzuki: That’s right. It isn’t the focus.

FujiKei: It isn’t.

Suzuki: Yes.

Ishikawa: *nods audibly*

Suzuki/FujiKei: *muffled laughter*

Ishikawa: That’s right. Anyway, Fujiwara-san, when it was first decided that you’d take part in “Mekakucity Actors”, I believe there was probably an entrance to it for you, where you were thinking, “What kind of series is this?”

FujiKei: Yes.

Ishikawa: So, Fujiwara-san, do you have any memory of what it was like coming in contact with “Mekakucity Actors” or “Kagerou Project” for the first time?

FujiKei: Let’s see... if I rummage through my memory...

Suzuki: *muffled laughter*

FujiKei: Well, hum, when we were doing the auditions, wasn’t the title “Kagerou Daze”?

Suzuki: Aaah...

Ishikawa: That’s right; it’s the novel.

FujiKei: Ah, so that’s how it is. I see.

Suzuki: Exactly. This was quite a while ago, most likely.

FujiKei: So when my participation was green-lit, it was “Mekakucity Actors”.

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *laugh*

FujiKei: I was like, “Uh? Hm? Eh?”

Suzuki: Like, “Hold on a minute.”

Ishikawa: *laughs*

FujiKei: Like, “What was it again?”

Suzuki: I see, I see. Well, first things first, the title of the anime is “Mekakucity Actors”. But when it comes to the light novels and manga, it’s “Kagerou Daze”, which is a reference to the title of one of the songs. This happened when the title of the anime wasn’t yet decided, so...

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: When we reached out to you, Fujiwara-san, that’s how it was called.

FujiKei: And wasn’t it quite popular on the internet? Everyone was like, “It’s gonna get an anime adaptation!”

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

FujiKei: So I got curious and did a search. I found out that it was a hot topic.

Suzuki: Hmm.

FujiKei: And so, I was like, “Oh, what kind of guy am I going to be in this? What’s gonna be my role?” and tried to guess it.

Suzuki: Ah, so you were imagining it?

FujiKei: Exactly.

Ishikawa: Oooh...

Suzuki: Ah, I see, I see.

FujiKei: And then...

Suzuki: Yes?

FujiKei: There was a character that looked a lot like the type I’d voice.

Suzuki: Oh.

FujiKei: I was like, “All right, all right, all right.”

Suzuki: So there was someone who fit you to a T.

FujiKei: There was.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

FujiKei: I was like, “It’s okay for me to play him, right?” and tried to rehearse it.

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *laugh*

FujiKei: This helped out a lot, though he turned out to be different.

Suzuki: That’s right. But for starters, Jin-san and Sidu-san, the person who makes the illustrations, work as a duo. Jin-san makes the music and Sidu-san makes the art and creates videos for the songs. They upload them to Nico Nico Douga and that’s how they gradually expanded the range of it.

FujiKei: Ah, so that’s how it began?

Suzuki: Exactly. That’s how it developed.

FujiKei: Heeh, is that so?

Suzuki: Yes. And when the anime was green-lit, the topic of who was going to voice who was brought up to the two of them.

FujiKei: Hmm.

Suzuki: And the talk was like, “If it’s for Kenjirou, this person. If it’s for Ene, this person.”

FujiKei: Yes!

Suzuki: During that discussion, the first name that came up was “Fujiwara Keiji-san”.

FujiKei: Is that true?

Suzuki: Yes.

FujiKei: Didn’t Aniplex-san oppose to it?

Ishikawa: *laughs*

Suzuki: No, why would you ask that? *laughs*

Ishikawa: That almost sounds like...

FujiKei: They didn’t?

Suzuki: No, no way they would!

FujiKei: Like, “Nah, that guy??”

Suzuki: No, no, no! That wouldn’t happen.

FujiKei: Weren’t they thinking anything like, “It doesn’t have to be him”?

Suzuki: They were like, “If he can participate, we want Keiji-san. The only problem is his schedule.”

Ishikawa: That’s what they said.

FujiKei: For real? Then... Then, you recommended me?

Suzuki: Well, of course!

FujiKei: Really? Thank you very much!

Ishikawa: We wanted to—

FujiKei: So it was like a company meeting?

Suzuki: *laughs* Why would it?!

Ishikawa: We were like, “By all means, we’d love to leave it to him.”

Suzuki: It wasn’t like a meeting at all. Don’t we owe you a lot from that radio show?

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: And from the several roles that you played?

FujiKei: You mean it?

Suzuki: I do.

FujiKei: *laughs*

Suzuki: For some reason, you don’t seem convinced! *laughs*

Ishikawa: *laughs*

Suzuki: I wonder why!

FujiKei: Well, rather than that, let’s talk more about the series, you two!

Suzuki: You’re right.

FujiKei: What are you doing?

Suzuki: My deepest apologies! *laughs*

FujiKei: You have to take this seriously!

Suzuki: That’s right. Hmm... Welp, shall we move on with the conversation?

FujiKei: Are we already in the B part?

Suzuki: Yeah. It went by fast!

FujiKei: So fast!

Suzuki: We have entered the B part...

Ishikawa: Compared to Act 05, the timeline here is...

Suzuki: Right.

Ishikawa: Yes. It’s a story that happened in the past. It’s from about two years before the main story, which begins on episode 1.

Suzuki: Exactly.

FujiKei: Two years in the past?

Suzuki: That’s right; it goes back in time a little.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

FujiKei: I thought it was about three years. So it’s two?

Ishikawa/Suzuki: *laugh*

Ishikawa: Eeerm...

FujiKei: Ah, is that so?

Ishikawa: Hm, yes. In this story, we see Kido in a slightly different light from what we had seen until now. Like, she’s a bit of a weaker character in comparison to her usual self – or rather, to the present time. And, well... this time, she appears here as Takane, but Ene-chan was also still attending a school where Kenjirou worked as a teacher. The circumstances are a bit different in this story. But, well, these are also part of the highlights of this episode.

FujiKei: Aaah... I see.

Suzuki: *laugh*

Ishikawa: I just started talked seriously for a moment there.

Suzuki: No, no, no.

FujiKei: It’s fine.

Suzuki: This episode does have that kind of side to it.

FujiKei: Hum, about the people listening to this audio commentary...

Ishikawa: Yes?

FujiKei: ...I wonder what they’re after.

Suzuki: “What they’re after”?

Ishikawa: That’s deep.

FujiKei: Is it an explanation about the show?

Suzuki: Aaah...

FujiKei: Or does it not have to be related to the series?

Ishikawa: Like, if they just want to hear your voices? Or want to know about what the recordings feel like?

FujiKei: I wonder which of these.

Suzuki: It might be all of it.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: As expected, there are viewers who are after inside stories and others who are...

FujiKei: Isn’t there any inside story about my character?

Suzuki: An inside story?

FujiKei: Yes.

Suzuki: An inside story, huh...

Ishikawa: Inside story...

FujiKei: It’s okay if there isn’t!

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: It’s okay if there isn’t any.

Suzuki: I wonder if we have anything.

Ishikawa: When it comes to anything that could be considered an “inside story” in these episodes...

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Ishikawa: ...surprisingly, there’s nothing.

FujiKei: *chuckles*

Everyone: *laughs*

Ishikawa: There might surprisingly be none...

Suzuki: True...

FujiKei: Let’s leave it as that, then.

Suzuki: If anything comes to mind, we’ll talk about it.

Ishikawa: That’s right. We’ll cross that bridge when we remember it.

Suzuki: Also, Keiji-san.

FujiKei: Yes?

Suzuki: You’re here with us, so I think there are some people who will want to hear, for example, about stories from you that they usually don’t get to listen to.

Ishikawa: Hmm!

FujiKei: Y’know, people tell me that I look like I’m lying even when I don’t say anything.

Ishikawa: No way!

Suzuki: Is that true?

FujiKei: I mean, don’t I look fishy right now?

Ishikawa: *laughs*

Suzuki: No, no! Not at all!

FujiKei: Like, y’know, the people listening to this won’t be able to tell, but you two keep giving me these crooked smiles and making faces like you’re about to laugh.

Suzuki: *laughs* No, no!

Ishikawa: That’s not it, that’s not it!

FujiKei: Your faces look like they’re asking, “What’s this guy saying?”

Suzuki: We don’t think that.

FujiKei: You don’t?

Suzuki: No, no, no.

Ishikawa: Not at all.

FujiKei: Hmm, really?

Suzuki: On the contrary, your approach is very proper. To an uncanny extent.

FujiKei: Is that so?

Suzuki: It is.

FujiKei: That’s fine, then.

Suzuki: You’re a gentleman, after all.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

FujiKei: Hm, hm, hm.

Ishikawa: Ah, this is the one that Miyano-san voiced. Eh... Haruka-kun, right?

Suzuki: Exactly.

FujiKei: This is Miyano-kun?!

Suzuki: That’s right.

FujiKei: So this was Miyano-kun...?

Ishikawa: It was.

Suzuki: Yeah.

FujiKei: Kaaah...!

Suzuki: Miyano-san played, well, t... three roles in this series, was it?

Ishikawa: That’s right. Counting with this one.

FujiKei: Ah, is that so? He had this character and...

Ishikawa: His characters are interconnected with each other.

Suzuki: Yeah, there’s Konoha.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Suzuki: There’s the one who’s showing up here, Haruka.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Suzuki: And there’s a character who appears in the last episode.

Ishikawa: That’s right; he shows up here and there.

FujiKei: By the way, as always, the art style is rather unique.

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

FujiKei: This is a trademark of SHAFT-san.

Suzuki: Yeeep.

Ishikawa: They have a particular style.

FujiKei: It’s pretty mysterious.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Suzuki: Sure is. As expected, the art changes for each series.

FujiKei: Yes, yes.

Suzuki: But in the end, SHAFT-san has a style that is specific to them.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: Like, the way they do the photography and the art composition.

FujiKei: I mean, like...

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: Did they go around—no, did they run past those guys?

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

FujiKei: There’s no way that they could run past them, right?

Suzuki: Yes, that’s right.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: It’s like they turned into ghosts or something.

FujiKei: There’s no way they could do that.

Ishikawa: It half looks like they ran past them but we can’t really see from that angle.

Suzuki: Hmm.

FujiKei: Quite an unique kind of photography, isn’t it?

Suzuki: That’s right.

FujiKei: It’s an interesting animation, huh?

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: In contrast, we thought, during the recordings, that “Mekakushi” is a little different from other series. Well, I think this is also evident in the atmosphere of the recordings.

FujiKei: Hmm.

Ishikawa: Is it different from the recordings of other shows?

FujiKei: As expected, when the staging is different, the way you get hooked into performing along with the animation also becomes a little different.

Suzuki: Ah, I see.

FujiKei: That’s how I view it.

Suzuki: Ah, right.

FujiKei: Well, indeed, there are things such as how they divide the cuts and scenes.

Ishikawa: That’s right, the cuts.

Suzuki: Yeah.

FujiKei: They make it in a rather interesting way.

Suzuki/Ishikawa: Hmmm.

Suzuki: Indeed. How should I put it? It just turns into that kind of animation.

Ishikawa: Yup, yup, yup.

Suzuki: As expected, when it goes from the scenario and storyboards into the screen, it really makes you go, “Ah, there it is”.

Ishikawa: That’s right

Suzuki: I find myself thinking every single time, “This is a work by SHAFT-san, after all.”

Ishikawa: Yep.

FujiKei: Well, that’s what properly hooks us into it while we pour our hearts into the performance.

Suzuki/Ishikawa: Hmm!

Ishikawa: Well, the same goes for the art style, of course, but the atmosphere during the recordings is also a little bit eccentric.

Suzuki: True.

FujiKei: Right.

Ishikawa: Wow, but you’re right, this gust of wind blowing from the head downward...

Suzuki: *laughs* Well, yeah.

FujiKei: Well, it’s part of the staging, so that people will understand what this means.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

FujiKei: But I think we, the performers, are all conscious of this.

Ishikawa: Also, speaking of stories from the recordings of “Mekakucity Actors”...

FujiKei: Yes?

Ishikawa: ...depending on the episode and the characters that show up in them, the actors’ line-up changes completely.

FujiKei: That’s true.

Ishikawa: Yes. When I watched the recordings, I thought very keenly that this was also one of the exceptional points of this series.

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Ishikawa: Like, sometimes, people who had showed up without fail for the previous episodes weren’t there for the others.

FujiKei: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Suzuki: Ah, yes.

FujiKei: That’s why, during the recordings, when I hadn’t showed up for a few episodes and then had to show up on another, I’d be like, “Uh? The situation’s changed quite drastically here...”

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

Ishikawa: As if you’re in a different place, right?

FujiKei: Well, this will happen much later, so it’ll turn into something pretty different from what it is now.

Suzuki: Exactly.

Ishikawa: Right.

FujiKei: So whenever I had to come over, follow along with the new atmosphere.

Suzuki: I see.

FujiKei: Yep... you gotta renew your feelings for that.

Suzuki: I see, I see, I see.

FujiKei: That’s what’s both difficult and fun about it.

Suzuki: As expected, this is something that happens in multi-protagonist stories.

FujiKei: That’s right.

Suzuki: There are many characters who could be considered to be the lead – or rather, all of the characters are leads when the focus is on them.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Suzuki: All of them are the stars of the show, in a way.

FujiKei: Yes.

Suzuki: As expected, only in this kind of series do we have something like that. For example, Terashima Takuma-san and Asumi Kana-san. They show up in the beginning, but after that, they don’t have screen time for a while.

Ishikawa: Ah, that’s right.

FujiKei: And one more thing I was scared of was...

Suzuki: Uh?

FujiKei: ...the fact that there were frantic dialogues.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: That’s right.

FujiKei: *laughs* Why?

Ishikawa: They came up a lot on episode 2, right?

Suzuki: Indeed. Momo and Kenjirou kept going off at each other.

FujiKei: It was so scary.

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: No, but thank you for entrusting it to me. I was torn to pieces, though.

Suzuki: No, no, no. But then again, there might be lots of characters, yet there’s a limit to the amount of people who can speak in each part.

Ishikawa: They can monopolize it.

Suzuki: Exactly.

Ishikawa: This is a work where the characters take turns to present themselves.

Suzuki: Yup.

FujiKei: And there are lots of dialogues without pause, so it makes your heart race.

Suzuki: *laughs*

FujiKei: It made mine race, at least!

Ishikawa: I think people will be able to tell if they watch the next episodes, but the character that Fujiwara-san plays, Kenjirou, is something like a core part of the story, so to speak.

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Well, naturally, by the time you were performing in episode two and six, you had already received an explanation about the fate of your character in the inevitable future, right?

FujiKei: W-Well, I was aware of how things would turn out.

Ishikawa: I see.

FujiKei: I was told that the “alternate personality-like thing” would be drastically different from the character I was playing at the moment, so I was conscious of it. Therefore, well, while stepping into that territory, I made sure to leave my doors open for it, rather than just performing for the sake of these specific episodes.

Suzuki: Yes, yes, yes!

FujiKei: I was conscious of that.

Ishikawa: This is part of the series’ charm.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Ishikawa: This is the younger Shintarou-kun, huh?

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Yes, he’s... about to win against Takane now.

Suzuki: This moment right here is where we see the origins of Shintarou and Ene’s relationship.

Ishikawa: Yeah, it’s been revealed.

Suzuki: Yep. It’s like... what lies underneath.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Suzuki: Why Ene calls Shintarou “Master”.

Ishikawa: “Master”.

Suzuki: And other such things. All kinds of foreshadowing.

Ishikawa: Exactly.

FujiKei: Well, that’s what we call “mystery solving”. There’s fun in that.

Suzuki: Yep.

Ishikawa: And this girl with the red scarf, eeerm...

Suzuki: “Ayano”.

Ishikawa: Ayano, voiced by Nakahara-san. It’s revealed that she’s Kenjirou’s daughter.

Suzuki: Right.

Ishikawa: All kinds of relations that these people have with each other gradually come to light.

FujiKei: We have to cherish our relationships.

Suzuki: *laughs* Exactly.

Ishikawa: That’s right. Just as you say.

FujiKei: *laughs* Did I say something that had nothing to do with it?

Suzuki: *laughs* No, no.

Ishikawa: Not at all.

Suzuki: It’s something that matters!

FujiKei: It is.

Ishikawa: It matters.

FujiKei: The bonds between people, so to say.

Suzuki: That’s right.

FujiKei: Makes you realize that they’re important. Once again, that is.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Thank you for that one. This is pretty nice. A very good commentary. There’s warmth to it.

Suzuki: It’s deep.

Ishikawa: Yeah.

Suzuki: Very much so.

FujiKei: Kinda like these songs. Just a little.

Suzuki: Yes. It’ll be great if your words just now will pierce everyone’s hearts too.

FujiKei: Yes, indeed.

Ishikawa: Ah!

FujiKei: “Just a bit more”. You’re thinking, “Just a bit more”, aren’t you?

Ishikawa: No, no, no!

Suzuki: About what?

FujiKei: “Just a bit more and this will be over”.

Ishikawa: No, no! *clears throat*

FujiKei: But there are still things we have to talk about, aren’t there?

Ishikawa: It’s just that Ayano is talking about Kenjirou in this exact moment.

FujiKei: Hm-hm.

Ishikawa: She was talking about her dad.

Suzuki: Hm.

Ishikawa: Well, on the topic of soundtrack, other than the theme songs, Jin-san was also in charge of producing the background music.

Suzuki: Yuuup.

FujiKei: He’s got all kinds of talents, huh?

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Right. He’s a self-made producer.

Suzuki: Well, he’s the person who made the theme songs, produced the OST and wrote the anime’s screenplay, after all. *laughs*

Ishikawa: Yeah.

Suzuki: He also wrote the novels himself.

Ishikawa: Yeah.

FujiKei: He’s amazing.

Suzuki: Hmmm!

FujiKei: Wow...

Suzuki: He’s multi-talented in the very sense of the word.

Ishikawa: Right.

FujiKei: My, I’m pretty curious about what’s next. 70% of this gets you so curious that you can’t help it, huh?

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Indeed. These episodes are like that.

FujiKei: Right?!

Ishikawa: Just as you say, quite literally.

FujiKei: You think they’re gonna keep going on like this, just like a gang.

Suzuki: Yeah.

Ishikawa: Yep.

FujiKei: But after this...

Suzuki: My, my, my...

Ishikawa: And this is how the Cultural Festival ends.

Suzuki: Yeah.

Ishikawa: Yes. And from this point comes the ending theme – or the theme song – of this episode, “Yuukei Yesterday”.

Suzuki: Yep!

Ishikawa: And we get something of an ending sequence for this one, right?

Suzuki: That’s right.

Ishikawa: And, well, this time, the opening theme was “Headphone Actor”.

Suzuki: Yup, yup.

Ishikawa: But we have the same guest vocalist, LISA-san here.

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: Ah, they’re taking a test.

Suzuki: As expected, the series came from the songs, so...

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: So the songs that are related to each episode become the insert songs.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzuki: Jin-san gave this idea while writing the screenplay.

Ishikawa: Hmmm! I see. So this is the concept this time.

Suzuki: Well, yeah. There are twelve songs – I mean, we’re not using exactly twelve songs, but twelve of the songs make for an omnibus, so to speak.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzuki: In this anime, the climax of the story cuts off abruptly on each episode. And with this kind of construction in mind – how should I put it? They tried to get close to this image.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Ishikawa: Kenjirou is peeking.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Yep.

FujiKei: Hmmm...

Ishikawa: This is so nice. Youth at its finest.

Suzuki: Right? All that stuff they’re doing...

Ishikawa: Aaah...

FujiKei: Hmmm...

Suzuki/Ishikawa: *muffled laughter*

Ishikawa: He sure is humming very loudly.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Ishikawa: What a nice smile on Takane’s face.

Suzuki: Yeeep.

Ishikawa: All right. It’s August 15th.

Suzuki: Hm.

Ishikawa: Well, this is how the C part of episode six goes.

Suzuki: Yep!

Ishikawa: This time is a little different from what we’ve been seeing until now. Eeeh... well, the C part has always been the art of a certain picture book.

Suzuki: That’s right!

Ishikawa: But this time, we have this. It’s a bit of a special episode, so this is the C part of it.

Suzuki: Hm!

Ishikawa: Well, it’ll soon be time to say our goodbyes.

FujiKei: That’s right.

Suzuki: Hmm!

Ishikawa: How was it for you, Keiji-san, watching this episode?

FujiKei: Well, the sixth episode... the last part of it – well, I already talked about it earlier.

Ishikawa: Yes.

FujiKei: This is the part that I’m curious about.

Ishikawa: Ah, that’s right?

FujiKei: Like, “What’s gonna happen?”

Ishikawa: That’s right. This is where it begins. These developments are what drives the story.

FujiKei: Yep.

Suzuki: Yup.

Ishikawa: It’s an episode where we reach a peak.

FujiKei: Hmm.

Suzuki: Yes.

Ishikawa: Oh! Soon...

FujiKei: My, my...

Ishikawa: While people stay curious for what’s to come, the next time we’ll get to meet is on episode seven.

FujiKei: Yes!

Suzuki: Yes.

Ishikawa: Act 06 ends here, right?

FujiKei: Yeah, that’s right. Thank you very much.

Ishikawa: Yes, thank you very much!

Suzuki: Thank you very much!

[dennou-translations]

Jin’s Sing-and-Talk Livestream Side:Circle

Second part of the livestream from Jin’s official YouTube channel. Original video here. Part 1 here. Done on commission!

Keep reading

[dennou-translations]

Jin’s Sing-and-Talk Livestream Side:Alone

Summary of this year’s livestream from Jin’s official YouTube channel. Original video here. Part 2 here. Done on commission!

Keep reading

[dennou-translations]

NicoNico Douga Anniversary Interview with Jin

Summary of a three-way interview featuring Jin, sasakure.UK and Niru Kajitsu from a livestream celebrating NND’s 15th anniversary. Original video here. Mostly focused on Jin’s part. Done on commission.

Keep reading

[dennou-translations]

Maga Magazine Interview with Jin

What does Jin (Shizen no Teki-P), the creator of Kagerou Project – which has reached its tenth anniversary –, have to tell us about the surprising secret story of its birth and about his VOCALOID compositions!?

Kagerou Project is a music series that began in 2011 with “Jinzou Enemy” and depicts the outlandish fate of boys and girls. It boasts enough popularity to have been turned into both a novel and a manga under the title of “Kagerou Daze”, ultimately receiving an anime adaptation as “Mekakucity Actors”.

We have interviewed Mr. Jin (Shizen no Teki-P), who birthed this big-hit series and worked as its writer, original creator and composer in the boundaries between multi-media adaptations and who has been currently providing music in all sorts of fields.

Translated on commission || Raw version here

Keep reading

[dennou-translations]

Mekakucity Actors Audio Commentary #5

Act 5 – Kaien Panzermast

Translation of the second audio commentary that comes with the DVD/Blu-ray of Mekakucity Actors. Raw version here. Please consider purchasing the original copies and feel free to message me about possible corrections. If there happens to be any issues with the link, please contact me on my main blog!

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Jin: Hello to everyone listening to the audio commentary of “Mekakucity Actors Act 5 – Kaien Panzermast”. Eh, I’m the creator and screenplay writer, Jin.

Hoshii: Yes! Aaand... eeeh, I’m the voice of Seto Kousuke, Hoshi Souichirou. Pappy~!

(T/N: For those unfamiliar with it, “pappy” is Hoshi Souichirou’s catchphrase. He’s been using it as a greeting since the late 90’s.)

Jin: ‘Ello~!

Hoshii: ‘Ello!

Suzuki: And I’m the process supervisor this time as well.

Hoshi: Oh!

Suzuki: I’m Suzuki Kenta from Aniplex. Please take care of me.

Hoshii: Counting on you for it!

Jin: Please take care of us!

Hoshii: Yes~!

Everyone: *claps*

Suzuki: It’ll be a pleasure.

Hoshii: Yay! For sure!

Suzuki: We have Hoshi-san with us.

Jin: He came over!

Suzuki: Actually, no, you made me come over!

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: So that’s where we’re starting from? That’s where we’re starting from?

Suzuki: Nope, nope, nope.

Hoshii: Not really. I think the listeners don’t know what we’re going on about. Welp, thank you very much.

Jin: Anyway, this is disk is the fifth volume.

Suzuki: Yup!

Hoshii: Ah, wait! It’s been a while.

Jin: It sure has! Ah, ‘cause the recordings are over, right?

Hoshii: Yeah. After they ended, I became like this.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: Like this?

Hoshii: Is that okay? Is it? Hum, about Seto-san in the main story...

Jin: You’re the one who voices him!

Hoshii: For the people who know him, this must be one hell of a sudden change.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: That’s okay! It’s okay! This is a corner where we can enjoy more and more of these things.

Hoshii: ‘Kay!

Jin: All right! We’ll be in your care.

Suzuki: We’re in your care.

Hoshii: My! Ah, I’m so nervous. We usually do these things with fellow cast members.

Suzuki: That’s right.

Jin: Yes, yes.

Hoshii: When it’s between cast members, the topic can get dumb.

Jin: Yes, yes!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: But if we’re with the creators or directors, as expected, they explain the story very properly, so I get super nervous and clam up.

Jin: Nah, nah, nah.

Hoshii: Therefore, I guess I’ll keep quiet today too.

Suzuki: No, no, no. It’s best to do things like you usually do.

Jin: Do it like you always do! Seriously! I have been invited to all the other four volumes do to the audio commentaries.

Hoshii: Yep!

Jin: And we’ve hardly had any chance to do any proper talk!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: Basically, the topic disconnects all of a sudden and then we go, “Ah, time to wrap up! Byeee!”

Suzuki: Aaah, true. There’s no difference. Hoshi-san, you should act like you usually do.

Hoshii: Ah, but actually, right before this audio commentary started, I talked to Jin-san about this.

Jin: We had a general discussion.

Hoshii: There was a little bit of wait time, after all.

Jin: We’ve already asked what we wanted to ask at large.

Hoshii: We had a separate talk.

Jin: I already asked what I wanted to ask.

Suzuki: But if there’s a part of it that we can deliver to everyone, that’s good too. If you could talk about it once again...

Hoshii: Yup, yup.

Jin: The cast-off skin of it.

Suzuki: The “cast-off skin”!

Hoshii: “Cast-off skin”!

Jin: Like, the evil part of it.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: We’re hoping to hear about it from you!

Hoshii: All right. So, how did you like Mekakucity’s—erm... fifth episode?

Jin: Yes, fifth episode.

Suzuki: We’re in the fifth.

Hoshii: How was it for you?

Jin: About the fifth episode... the previous one was precisely “Kagerou Days”.

Hoshii: The rumored one!

Jin: Exactly – the one that happens within a sort of mysterious place.

Hoshii: Yes, that one.

Jin: It became a bit serious but the scenario has changed once again to the protagonist, Shintarou-kun.

Hoshii: Now it’s a peaceful everyday life, huh~!

Jin: Yes, a peaceful everyday life. Ah, here’s Ene-chan. She shows up in this one. Anyway, it’s a slice-of-life episode. Everyone’s frolicking about.

Hoshii: And then... hm? Seto had a pretty normal amount of lines in this episode, I guess. Didn’t he?

Jin: Probably, in the third episode, when they went to that department store—

Hoshii: Ah, the third episode?

Jin: They all went there together.

Hoshii: Ah, that’s right! Yes, yes, yes!

Jin: He did have lines back then, but this time, his cute side is on display.

Hoshii: So he has a cute side, huh?

Jin: I hope the people listening to this audio commentary will have expectations for Seto after this episode.

Hoshii: Oh! That’s great.

Jin: It’s kind of a goal. I want them to enjoy him.

Hoshii: That’s right.

Jin: We’ve ended up talking about this earlier, but...

Hoshii: We did.

Jin: Seto-kun is not only in the anime, but also in the novels, music and other mediums.

Hoshii: Yes.

Jin: Yet he doesn’t show up much.

Hoshii: He doesn’t?! Aaah!

Jin: He doesn’t.

Hoshii: I see. If I were to say it, I guess he has less appearances than the other characters.

Jin: That’s right, he’s a bit retreated to the background.

Hoshii: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jin: He’s kind of—oh, it’s the opening sequence.

Hoshii: He’s at the side.

Jin: We did things like, for example, right there on the anime’s title, the first syllable, “Me”, is painted in his theme color.

Hoshii: Yup, yup, yup.

Jin: Hum, in the anime, we’re...

Hoshii: Ah, so you’re sort of—

Jin: We’re sort of... lifting him up a little as a character in the anime, so to say.

Suzuki: I see. You were trying to make him stand out.

Hoshii: Ah, as expected, this green color is pretty nice.

Jin: “It’s pretty nice”! Well, we’ve already talked about this earlier, but as a character, he’s kind of like a big brother.

Hoshii: That’s right!

Suzuki: Aaah...

Jin: He’s a character who has it together and who goes “there, there” when something happens, and yet...

Hoshii: Hm?

Jin: ...he’s a character that doesn’t come forward much.

Hoshii: He doesn’t play dumb too often, huh.

Jin: Exactly, exactly! We can’t make him act dumb that much. He’s the one that has common sense.

Hoshii: Yes.

Jin: Now, as for the opening song that’s playing at the moment...

Hoshii: Yes?!

Jin: ...I just recently released a CD with it. And there were autograph sessions for it.

Hoshii: Autograph sessions!

Jin: I went around to some areas of the country to give out my signature.

Suzuki/Hoshii: Oooh!

Jin: And, hum, when I’m writing down autographs, well, I feel like chatting.

Hoshii: With each person that comes, right?

Jin: This time, I keep throwing them the question, “Do you have a favorite character?”

Hoshii: Eeeh~?

Jin: And it turns out...

Hoshii: Yes?

Jin: ...nearly all of them answered “Seto-kun”!

Hoshii: For real?

Suzuki: Oh! What a surprise.

Hoshii: That makes me happy.

Jin: Seriously, there were so many Seto-kun fans that he’s by far the decisive favorite!

Hoshii: Even though Seto-kun is so inconspicuous!

Jin: Despite that!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: I wonder what it is that—it’s probably the way he makes people feel.

Hoshii: Heeh? Aah, he’s comforting to them.

Jin: He is.

Hoshii: Ah, indeed, just looking at him heals you. He can comfort people even without talking.

Jin: He can!

Hoshii: *laughs* As long as there’s an artwork of him. Just an artwork!

Jin: You can heal just from looking at it.

Suzuki: So Seto is popular, huh?

Jin: Absurdly popular.

Suzuki: Heeeh~?

Hoshii: Ah, I’m so glad.

Jin: Therefore, I wanted to report this huge popularity of his to you.

Hoshii: Aaah, thank you! I’m so happy!

Suzuki: That’s wonderful.

Jin: I thought of using this occasion for it, but I ended up revealing it earlier, actually!

Hoshii: Ah! Yeah, I heard about it just now.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: No, but it’s okay, hearing it twice. Two, three times even.

Jin: You’d wanna hear about Seto-kun’s popularity two, three times!

Suzuki: Because it’s a good topic.

Hoshii: It’s a good topic. I wanna hear it as many times as I can. And next time, too, I wanna hear it as many times as I can.

Jin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Jin: So in the sixth audio commentary too?

Hoshii: Oh, but speaking of Seto-kun, at the beginning...

Jin: Yes?

Hoshii: I honestly had no idea how to go about him.

Jin: Ah, I see, I see.

Suzuki: Oooh...

Hoshii: During the recording of the first episode, the art wasn’t in very good condition, you know?

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

Hoshii: Which is normal nowadays. That’s the state that the recordings are in lately.

Jin: My deepest apologies!

Hoshii: But for some reason, even though this most certainly never happens, there were no facial expressions on the characters!

Suzuki/Jin: *lose their shit*

Hoshii: Is this a thing?!

Jin: It’s not!

Hoshii: Just impossible, isn’t it?

Jin: Impossible.

Hoshii: The facial expressions are decided in much earlier stages!

Jin: Right.

Suzuki: *still losing it*

Hoshii: There were no expressions on the characters, so I looked at the illustrations of the original work and other such things for reference.

Jin: Ah, geez, I’m so very sorry for that...

Hoshii: But to be frank... at first, I was just fumbling around.

Suzuki: Oooh...

Hoshii: Like, “Whoa, what should I do?”

Jin: Hmmm...

Hoshii: But when I watched it on air, surprisingly, it matched.

Jin: Ah, that’s right!

Suzuki: As expected!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Suzuki: You’re amazing!

Jin: Yes, amazing!

Hoshii: I was relieved. Glad that I went for that approach.

Jin: Ah, so something like that happened?

Hoshii: It did!

Suzuki: Hoshi-san, you did ask about it later, didn’t you?

Hoshii: Ah, right, right.

Jin: I was like, “That’s exactly how he should be!”

Hoshii: I’m glad. Well, I was sort of uncertain about it.

Jin: Yes, yes, yes.

Hoshii: So I asked the sound director, Tsuruoka-san, “Is it okay like this?”

Jin: Yes.

Suzuki: Ooh...

Hoshii: I did it after confirming that with him.

Jin: Yes!

Hoshii: So, well, I thought it wouldn’t be too out of place.

Jin: Yes.

Hoshii: But... but, you see...

Jin: Yes?

Hoshii: Something I was at loss about is that, right after this, we recorded a promo.

Jin: That’s right!! The... the one for the CM.

Suzuki: Yup.

Hoshii: Well, I did record it, but... his personality was different.

Jin: *laughs*

Hoshii: I was like, “Eh, is this okay? He’s a completely different character!”

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: It was pretty quick.

Jin: That’s right.

Hoshii: When I thought about it, I got a really bad feeling.

Jin: I see.

Hoshii: I was like, “Could it be that it’s okay for him to act like this in this situation?”

Jin: Yes, yes.

Hoshii: Like, “Will he go this way or will he go that way?”

Suzuki: Oooh...

Hoshii: It was the hardest time I’ve had amongst all of my job experiences until now.

Jin: Ah, I see!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: The possibility of you getting a terrible job!

Hoshii: Yeah! In regards to stamina, I thought to myself, “I’d hate if this job turns into a hassle” and had such a bad feeling, but when the series started, turns out he was an uplifting character.

Jin: Ah, that’s right.

Hoshii: Maaan, I sighed in relief.

Jin: I’m sure.

Suzuki: He might’ve been the character that shook you off the most!

Jin: He just might!

Hoshii: Back then, y’know, I kinda... on Nico Nico... Nico Nico...

Jin: “Nico Nico Douga”.

Hoshii: On Nico Nico Douga, they were writing terrible things about me!

Jin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Jin: Just like that?!

Hoshii: Honestly, even though I did so much for this character all on my own... it was the first time I got such horrible comments!

Jin/Suzuki: *still laughing*

Jin: I’m truly very sorry.

Hoshii: No, no, no! Well, the result was just fine in the end, so it’s okay.

Jin: Yes.

Hoshii: But, hum, everyone made me super anxious. *laughs*

Jin: They were like, “‘Deer’? ‘Deer’?”

Hoshii: Indeed.

Suzuki: The promo was supposed to be like a series of character studies.

Jin: Yeah, that was the plan. And, well, also to promote the anime.

Suzuki: Going by order, Seto was... hum...

Jin: Erm, if I’m not mistaken, he was the eighth.

Suzuki: The first ones had already done their promos properly, but the ones that came later were gradually... *laughs*

Hoshii: I mean, I wasn’t told anything! Especially about his attitude and such.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: I didn’t know when the episodes would be coming out.

Jin: True.

Hoshii: And hadn’t done any publicity for it before.

Jin: Yeah. Especially the “It’s a deer! A deerrrr!” part was rather...

Hoshii: I turned all of the fans of the original work into my enemies.

Jin: Eeeeh?!

Suzuki/Hoshii: *laugh*

Jin: It’s not like that! The fans of the original were like, “Aight. It’s okay like that.”

Hoshii/Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: Me too! Hum, when I watched it on TV, I went to Twitter and such to see how it went, and it was just... all about this “deer” thing!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: My timelines in my social media were all like, “deer”!

Suzuki: It was trending!

Jin: It became a trend!

Hoshii: Ah, but Mekakucity trends a lot with every episode, doesn’t it?

Suzuki: Yeah.

Jin: That’s right. It’s a mess in many ways when it becomes a trending topic, though.

Suzuki/Hoshii: Weeeell...

Jin: But it does trend.

Hoshii: Maaan, I’m so happy that I voice such a popular character...

Jin: Ah, hum, you had your worries, but now that the recordings are over, turns out you voice the number one favorite character!

Hoshii: My, my, thank you very much. So this is what “godsend” means.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: That’s right. And the people who come to the autograph sessions are, as expected, very hardcore fans.

Suzuki: Oh...

Hoshii: Ah! Must be.

Jin: They not only buy the CDs but also want them signed, after all.

Hoshii: I heard that the fans of this work are incredibly hooked into it.

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Jin: Ah, true!

Suzuki: They’re very passionate.

Jin: I’m very thankful for that.

Hoshii: Ah, crap! What should I do? I ended up saying these things in the audio commentary...

Suzuki: Oh?

Hoshii: It might be too late to ask, but should we have gone with this route?

Jin: Eh, what?

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: What’s gotten into you all of a sudden??

Hoshii: Maybe the people who didn’t know about it would be like, “Eh, he’s different from what I’d imagined” when they listen to this.

Jin: That’s not gonna happen! Not at all.

Suzuki: If it’s now, you might still have a shot at taking it back!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: We only talked about good things, yet you want to redo it?

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: Like, “Okay, anyways—”

Hoshii: If I do that, I might be able to hear from the autograph sessions again.

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

Jin: Ah! So that’s what it was about!

Suzuki/Hoshii: *laugh*

Jin: “Seto is so popularrr!”

Hoshii: Ah, I’m so happy.

Jin: You are? Thank you very much!

Suzuki: Hoshi-san has been recovering his HP several times by now.

Hoshii/Jin: *laughs*

Hoshii: Like, “Oh, is that so?”

Suzuki: Just flat-out.

Jin: Just flat-out! *laughs* But, well, Seto-kun is a memorable character for me.

Hoshii: Aaah, thank you so much for creating him.

Jin: Hum, I couldn’t flesh him out much in the original work, so I hoped he could have lines in several parts of the anime at the beginning.

Hoshii: He didn’t appear much, but at the end, it was pretty good.

Jin: It waaas!

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Hoshii: That’s what I thought. But it’s hard to get him out there.

Jin: It is!

Hoshii: Yep.

Jin: But that’s because I think he’s one hell of a fine man.

Hoshii: He really is. And surprisingly big, isn’t he?

Jin: If I’m not mistaken, he’s two—I mean...

Hoshii: Two meters tall?!

Jin: Ah, no, no! The second tallest of the Mekakushi Dan.

Hoshii: You said “two”!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: You said “two”, so...

Jin: The way he’d be viewed in the series would change a lot.

Hoshii: If he were two meters tall?

Jin: He’d be in the basketball team or something.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: The character named Konoha is probably the tallest one.

Hoshii: Ah, yeah. You’re right!

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Jin: And the second is Seto-kun.

Suzuki: Ah, I see.

Hoshii: But Konoha is voiced by Miyano-kun, so it’s no shock that he’s huge. However, the mic is positioned too high up when Miyano-kun is there, so I can’t go into the booth with him!

Jin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Hoshii: Gotta avoid that spot at all costs!

Jin: If I’m not mistaken, this happened on this episode too. With Kaida-san, I guess.

Hoshii: Yes.

Jin: Hum, her shoes—Ah, no, it was Nakahara-san, maybe? She said that the mic is too high up when when Miyano-san is around.

Hoshii: It is!

Jin: So she puts on high-heeled shoes for it. She said something like that.

Suzuki: Ooh, I see, I see.

Hoshii: But Kaida-san is quite tall too, so she can fit.

Jin: Right.

Hoshii: It becomes Miyano-kun and Kaida-san’s mic.

Jin: Aaah, man!

Suzuki: I see, I see.

Jin: A mic for two people.

Hoshii: And I go to the shorter people’s side. Hum, like... Hanazawa-san’s mic.

Suzuki/Jin: *laugh*

Suzuki: To that side?

Hoshii: Ah, but, when it comes to conversations between Seto and Mary, we gotta avoid that.

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

Jin: Right.

Hoshii: Like, “Whose turn is it now?”

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: “Should I go to the right? To the middle?”

Hoshii: “Whose mic should I go to?”

Jin: “Whose mic”! “The middle one, maybe?”

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: Ah, this is it. Speak of the devil, the tall Konoha-kun has come up.

Hoshii: Yep! Man, this one was terrible for Miyano-kun.

Jin: It sure was!

Suzuki: It was the worst.

Hoshii: The result was good, but he had a hard time.

Jin: It was horrible for him...!

Hoshii: Sure was.

Suzuki: He had to voice three characters with different personalities, after all.

Hoshii: He did. Man, I’m so glad I didn’t get Konoha!

Everyone: *laughs*

Hoshii: Seto is great!

Jin: And on top of that, the characters didn’t have facial expressions! Yet it’s three characters!

Hoshii: Right??

Jin: He must’ve been so busy... Ah, but, about this episode... for example, during the promos and the main story, a lot of characters come up.

Hoshii: Yup!

Jin: I was very uneasy as to whether or not I’d be able to explain to you guys what each of them are about. And I was wondering if you wouldn’t find it super difficult to understand, no matter how much I explained.

Hoshii: Aaah...

Jin: But it was amazing how, on the first try, all of you performed the characters exactly the way I imagined they’d be like.

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Jin: Yes. So I’m very sorry about that and, as expected, I wish I’d explained properly!

Hoshii: No, no, no! The way you did it was enough!

Jin: But, aaah, it was wonderful! I was like, “It’s perfect like this!”

Hoshii: I see.

Jin: Yet, in contrast, Miyano-san was like, “Is this all right?”

Hoshii: I guess we actors do get iffy about it, like, “Was it really okay?” because we didn’t yet have a proper image of how it was going to turn out.

Jin: My, it must’ve been truly hard. And it was over in a blink of eye.

Hoshii: Exactly.

Suzuki: Yeah.

Hoshii: The songs were also finished in a blink of eye.

Jin: They were.

Hoshii: It went by so fast.

Jin: It did!

Hoshii: I kept looking forward to it every week.

Jin: Ah, thank you very much, really!

Suzuki: Thank you so much.

Jin: I also kept looking forward to it every week.

Hoshii: Hm!

Jin: Oh, here it is. The scene we were talking about earlier. The one that’s kinda cute.

Hoshii: Ah!

Jin: It’s coming up. The one where Seto-kun...

Hoshii: That’s the one I did for the audition.

Suzuki: Aaah!

Jin: *laughs*

Hoshii: That was the one.

Jin: This... This... Hum, yes, yes. We had you do it in the audition and for the radio commercials. It was exactly this scene.

Suzuki: Right, right.

Hoshii: Yeah. So, since he’s different from his usual calm self in this scene, I was wondering if it was okay like that.

Jin: Aah.

Hoshii: I might’ve performed the wrong side of him.

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Hoshii: So I was like, “Are the people who like the comforting side of Seto-kun going to be okay with this?”

Jin: Well, the older female audience was like, “He’s so cute~!”, so...

Hoshii: Yeah... but he leaves!

Jin: That’s right!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: He offs to somewhere! Like... he goes away to see some nature.

Jin: He kinda fades out.

Hoshii: Yeah.

Jin: Hum, after this, in the eighth episode, everyone goes back to the hideout and there’s a part where they’re talking.

Hoshii: Yes.

Jin: In it, he says, “I’m gonna go looking for him” and just like that...

Hoshii: He leaves.

Jin: ...he goes away.

Hoshii: That’s right...

Jin: During the course of the main story, both in the anime and the novel, he’s always like this.

Hoshii: Hmm...

Jin: In some way or another, even when he should be there in the novel, everyone’s like, “He isn’t here right now because he has work today.”

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: All the time, it’s like, “He’s got work so he isn’t here.” *laughs*

Hoshii: Well, there are people like that.

Jin: He doesn’t show up at all!

Suzuki: *laughs* No, but maybe it might be best to keep people in suspense about him.

Jin: Right.

Hoshii: Like, to make them use their imagination?

Suzuki: Exactly. Like, “What’s he doing behind the scenes?”

Jin: I wonder what.

Hoshii: “Went out to see some deers, maybe?”

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: If he did go out to see deers, people would say he isn’t around but in the joke kind of way. There are fans who enjoy this gag.

Hoshii: Yes.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Jin: On the other hand, since he’s so absent, some people are like, “Isn’t he the mastermind behind all of this?!”

Hoshii: *gasp* Reading between the lines!

Jin: Like, “Isn’t he the leader of the bad guys or something like that?!”

Hoshii: Reading too much between the lines!

Suzuki: I see...

Hoshii: That kind of thing is possible.

Jin: They conclude that it’d be bad to put him together with everyone else.

Hoshii: It happens sometimes.

Jin: So maybe he’s a villain.

Hoshii: It happens, it happens.

Jin: But that’s not his case at all!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: Let me borrow this space to say it – he’s not like that at all!

Hoshii: There was no such thing. I’m so glad! I’m so glad that he was a good person!

Jin: He is.

Hoshii: I’m also glad that he wasn’t killed in the end!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: He almost got killed, though.

Jin: He almost did.

Hoshii: Also, during that flashback about the past...

Jin: Yes?

Hoshii: ...I voiced one of the villagers.

Jin: Ah! The villager! The villager!

Suzuki: Aaah...!

Hoshii: I think a lot of those people were just villagers.

Jin: Yes, yes. I believe they were ordinary villagers.

Hoshii: Even so... I was asked to voice one.

Suzuki: You, Hoshi-san?! *laughs*

Jin: WAS THAT OKAY?!!

Hoshii: No, it’s fine! I’m okay with it!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: It’s nothing much! I can do it! I can voice a nameless character, no problem. I can, because he does have a relation to Seto.

Suzuki: Everything here has a proper reason behind it.

Hoshii: He’s related to Seto-kun, everyone! Think about it for a second.

Jin: Looking at the character name “Villager C” must’ve been the worst!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: Their faces look alike, don’t they?

Jin: Yes, yes. They look exactly the same.

Hoshii: Don’t misunderstand, everyone.

Jin: That’s right. That was, hum... something like an ancestor.

Hoshii: Yeah. Is it okay to reveal that?

Jin: It’s totally okay! So, this was an ancestor and—

Suzuki: Like I said, everything has a proper reason behind it.

Jin: Yes, yes! I also thought this was in order.

Hoshii: Thank you very much.

Jin: But for some reason, I felt like being playful when writing the screenplay, so I granted Seto’s voice to Villager C.

Hoshii: Right?!

Jin: I should’ve made it Villager A.

Hoshii: *laughs* Indeed!

Jin: I put him in a sort of low position on purpose.

Hoshii: Aaah~!

Suzuki: I see, I see!

Hoshii: Eh, but there’s no helping it. A is the leader, as you’d expect.

Jin: Yes, A is the leader. And B is the second in command.

Hoshii: No helping it.

Jin: Hence, Villager C.

Hoshii: I can totally voice just a Villager C, though!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: That’s riiight!

Suzuki: As expected, there’s a proper meaning to it.

Jin: Yes, yes.

Hoshii: Right.

Jin: But when you do an audition and people instruct you on how to voice a character, it’s not so that you can be “Villager C”!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: That Villager C really did have a meaning to him.

Hoshii: No, hum, thank you so much, really! Speaking of auditions... I only did it for Seto.

Jin: That’s right.

Hoshii: For these kinds of things, you usually get, for example, the protagonist... some sort of main role.

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

Hoshii: And only then do you get another character. So this pin-point was kind of rare. Was it like that for everyone?

Jin: Ah, erm, I created the images of all the characters from the very first chapter of the original work.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Hoshii: Oh!

Jin: I did a lecture expressing how each character was supposed to be, like, “This is how I imagined them.”

Hoshii: Heeh...

Jin: I also had the names of all of them.

Suzuki: That’s right.

Jin: Yes, that’s how I asked them to perform.

Hoshii: Hm.

Jin: Back then, I also had several discussions with Tsuruoka-san – hum, the sound director, Tsuruoka-san.

Hoshii: I see.

Jin: And ultimately, we decided to have Hoshi-san do it, by all means.

Hoshii: No, no! Thank you.

Jin: That’s how it went.

Suzuki: So actually, Jin-san, you and the others had the image of the characters so clear in your heads that there wasn’t a single person who messed up.

Jin: Ah...

Suzuki: Each and every one of them did well.

Jin: No, but it was hard for them, wasn’t it?

Hoshii: For real...

Suzuki: Hm, indeed. But it paid off, right?

Jin: Yeah...

Hoshii: Honestly, it was the first audition that I passed in a while, so I was very happy.

Jin: Eeeeh??

Suzuki: No way!

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: For a moment there, I was kinda like, “Ah?! Ah!!”

Suzuki: That’s not possible.

Hoshii: It’s true, it’s true! To tell the truth, I don’t get approved very often.

Jin: Ah, is that so?

Suzuki: Aaah...

Hoshii: It’s because there’s actually a lot of people who take part in auditions.

Jin: Ah, thought so.

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Hoshii: So I hardly pass them.

Jin: But Hoshi-san, as expected...

Hoshii: I was happy!

Jin: Ah, geez, thank you. And yet, you got Villager C! It’d make anyone go, “Hey!!”

Hoshii: *laughs*

Jin: I’m really sorry.

Hoshii: No, no, no! It’s okay, really.

Jin: But, well, other than the Villager C, Seto-kun had quite a few appearances in the anime.

Hoshii: Ah, well, I was always there for the recordings of the latter half.

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Jin: Right. But if we’re speaking about just Seto-kun as a character, there was also a mini-arc in the past where a small Seto-kun had a lot of screen time.

Hoshii: Ah, that’s right! But voicing a small Seto-kun would’ve been difficult for me...

Jin: Well, yes. We did a voice switch.

Suzuki: Yeah.

Hoshii: I didn’t do an audition for little Seto or anything like that!

Jin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Hoshii: It’s not like I auditioned and failed! I didn’t audition for it at all!

Suzuki: Indeed.

Jin: Tsuruoka-san had decided on from the very beginning.

Hoshii: Yeah, yeah. Although, depending on the anime, they use the original voice actors for that.

Suzuki: Oooh...

Hoshii: There’s actually a ton of problems with that, but they’re like, “Can you do it?”

Suzuki: I see, I see!

Jin: Hum, Hoshi-san, I have watched some of the works that you’re in. There’s one that has several episodes set in the past. It’s a series that I’m quite fond of.

Hoshii: Ah, I see! That one. That one, right?

Jin: Everyone performs in the flashbacks just like they do in the present! *laughs*

Suzuki: Aaah, I see...

Hoshii: Well, how should I put it? This way of doing it is also a thing.

Suzuki: Hm, hm.

Hoshii: It’s like a gag.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Hoshii: It doesn’t go the realistic route. So it’s okay like that sometimes.

Suzuki: Yep.

Hoshii: But man, this series is so mysterious. The atmosphere of it, that is.

Jin: Ah...!

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Hoshii: I also feel that Director Shinbou’s direction matched it very well too.

Jin: Indeed, that’s right. Not even I thought it’d turn out like this.

Hoshii: Right?!

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Jin: Hum—Ah! Anyway...

Hoshii: Ah, it’s over!

Suzuki: The ending song...

Jin: The ending arrived in a blink of eye!

Hoshii: In a blink of eye!

Jin: We really couldn’t talk about the main story at all!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Hoshii: We did, a little.

Jin: At least till the part where Seto gets startled.

Hoshii: And leaves.

Jin: That’s right.

Hoshii: Aah, it’s going to end.

Jin: It is.

Hoshii: But there’s still more.

Jin: There’s still the C part.

Suzuki: There is, at the very end.

Hoshii: Speaking of the ending, LIA-san’s voice is so graceful that it heals you.

Jin: True.

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right.

Jin: The song is mine, by the way.

Hoshii: Ah!

Jin: I think I managed to create a good melody with it.

Hoshii: Yup! That’s right!

Suzuki: As expected!

Jin: But y’know, hum, we always cut right through the story every single time and arrive to this point.

Hoshii: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jin: So the image I have of this song is always like, “Eeeeh?!!”

Hoshii: Ah, I see.

Jin: It’s become a song that makes me go, “It’s already here???”

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: It’s unbelievable... So, we have reached the ending theme song of the episode once again. About the people who watch the series, I wonder how they do it. Do they listen to the audio commentary right after watching the episode?

Hoshii: Ah, but it might be like this, for example – when they buy the DVD, they first of all watch the series. I feel like that’s the majority.

Suzuki: Ooh...

Hoshii: Like, they watch the episodes on TV first.

Jin: That’s right. Maybe that’s it.

Suzuki: Yeah.

Hoshii: That’s probably it.

Jin: Indeed. Well, with that being said...

Hoshii: Yes?

Jin: Hum, if there’s anyone who’s going to watch the series once again after listening to this, we’re sorry for not elaborating on the contents of it!

Hoshii: Yeah!

Suzuki/Hoshii: *laugh*

Suzuki: Well, time has gradually come.

Hoshii: Yes.

Jin: Yes!

Suzuki: We’re going to be doing this over again, but please, do leave a message.

Jin: All right!

Suzuki: Could Hoshi-san go first?

Hoshii: Yeah! Eeeh, I’m happy to have participated in “Mekakucity Actors”! Eeeh, it really was a blink of eye, but as expected, I myself would like to get involved with Seto-kun even more.

Jin: Aaah...!

Hoshii: And with everyone else. I wanna get involved with them, so I’ll do my best. Jin-san, too, by all means, please take care of me from now on too.

Jin: Ah, thank you very much!

Hoshii: Everyone, thank you for your support!

Jin: Thank you so much!

Suzuki: Jin-san, you too.

Jin: Yes! Well, let’s see... Just like Hoshi-san said, I would like to have everyone gather up once again after this.

Hoshii: Yes.

Jin: If there comes a chance for it, I’d love to do it too.

Hoshii: Yes!

Jin: Is this really something we should be saying at this point in the game?!

Suzuki/Hoshii: *laugh*

Jin: But we already said it, so...

Suzuki: No problem, no problem.

Jin: ...I want to do my best till this opportunity arrives!

Hoshii: Yes!

Jin: So anyway, thank you very much.

Hoshii: Yes.

Suzuki: Thank you very much. And this C part also has a meaning to it.

Hoshii: That’s right!

Suzuki: If you keep it up – if you keep watching it like this, you should be able to tell.

Hoshii: At the beginning, I really didn’t get it, so I watched them all in sequence.

Jin: Ah, thank you very much.

Hoshii: It piques your interest, doesn’t it? When you don’t understand something.

Suzuki: I hope people will watch it over and over.

Jin: That’s right.

Hoshii: Yeah.

Jin: I want them to watch it lots of times and go, “I see, I see.”

Hoshii: Yep, exactly.

Suzuki: Well, that being said...

Hoshii: There’s lots of fired-up songs in it too.

Jin: Yes!

Hoshii: Waiting for everyone.

Jin: Please keep looking forward to what’s to come as well!

Hoshii: Yeeah!

Jin: Yes.

Suzuki: Thank you very much. Well, this has been the audio commentary of Act 05.

Everyone: Thank you very muuuch!

[dennou-translations]

[dennou-translations]

Housekishou Richard: Jeffrey Web Short Stories

Compilation of all the short stories from Tsujimura-sensei’s site centered on Jeffrey so far (aside from the ones featured in the Fanbook). Feel free to message me about possible corrections. Please consider supporting the creators by purchasing digital copies of the official releases: Novel || Manga || Fanbook. If anyone is feeling generous: Ko-fi | PayPal. ( ╹◡╹)っ’･*

Someday’s June 28th

“Now, with all my heart, happy birthday—”

“Uwah, stop it already.”

“—tooo yooou.”

“Stop with those trailing notes too.”

“Happy birthday—”

“And stop imitating Marilyn Monroe.”

“—tooo yooou.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Happy bir—check out this falsetto I’m doing with all my might. BAAAH—”

“You sure are good at doing it for a joke.”

“—FAAAH—!”

“How long are you gonna hold that?”

“—FAAAHTH DAAAYAAAYAAA—”

“You really are good at doing it for a joke.”

“—AAAY, DEAR—”

“AH, AH, AH! I CAN’T HEAR IT!”

“………………”

“AH!! AH!! WAH!! Is it over?”

“Je—”

“AAAH! CAN’T HEAR IT, CAN’T HEAR IT! I CAN’T HEAR A THIIING!”

“Then let’s omit that part; happy birthday to you. Congratulations. The end.”

“Thanks. Whew, finally over…”

“You didn’t have to make me sing if you were gonna be looking like an ascetic monk.”

“I had a dream that I was a B-rank ascetic monk being tortured by an A-rank one, y’see, so I’m devoting myself to enduring penance every day. All right, all right, the cake! Foo! The candles are all off now. Good work~”

“Good work for you this year too.”

“True, that. How long do you think this is gonna go on?”

“No idea.”

Someday’s June 28th Part 2

“It’s past midnight, huh. Your birthday is today! Congrats!”

“Thanks.”

“Congraaats!”

“Thanks a lot.”

“You’re too calm. I can do anything you want.”

“You don’t have to. We don’t even have that kind of relationship.”

“What kind of relationship are you talking about? Celebrating a friend’s birthday is just the obvious.”

“………………”

“Hey.”

“………………”

“Heeey? Hellooo?”

“It’s nothing; I was just thinking, ‘So we’re friends’.”

“To me, if I meet someone once, they’re an ‘acquaintance’; if I meet them twice, they’re a ‘friendly acquaintance’; if I meet them thrice, they’re a ‘friend’. Therefore, we’re friends. We’ve already met about ten times, haven’t we? That’s what I mean.”

“Ah, so you had this kind of ‘Joachim code’?”

“I did. Now, what do you want me to do?”

“It’s okay; you don’t have to do anything.”

“I could dance for you.”

“It’s all right. There’s nothing in particular. That I want you to do, I mean.”

“Hmmmph. Well, that’s fine. I already knew. Your birthday’s probably the perfect day for celebs from all over the world to want to gather up, party and push stuff onto you anyway, right? You’re oversaturated, then.”

“It’s not like that. Besides, the people who send me presents are just the kind who make their secretaries do it in their stead, through arrangements and the like. It might actually be negative in the sincerity department.”

“Things are things. There are no pluses or minuses to them. An apple is an apple, no matter whether it’s a produce from a nun’s orchard or something cultivated by the great nemesis of the century, and it will satisfy your hunger. Accept them with gratitude.”

“Yessiiir.”

“Well, I don’t have anything ‘material’ to give to you. So do I really not have to dance?”

“It’s fine.”

“I’ve got new stuff, though.”

“It’s fine.”

“Something sexy.”

“I said it’s fine.”

“Are you being stubborn or what?”

“That’s not it. If I were to say it, I’m getting a present from you right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“………………”

“………………”

“………………”

“Say something.”

“You really don’t have any friends, do you?”

“Uuh? I have lots. You said ‘meet someone thrice and they’re a friend’, right? I’m full of friends from all over the world.”

“………………”

“………………”

“Hey, you, say something. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“‘Something’.”

“You’re so saltyyy.”

“Even if you say that we’re ‘friends’ using that context from just now, I kind of don’t wanna acknowledge it.”

“You’re truly nice, huh.”

“You’re only realizing that now?”

“Only now.”

“Aren’t your glasses lacking degree?”

“My, did I not tell you? The glasses are fake today.”

“Uh? Why?”

“I thought I was gonna take them off anyway. I wanted to see your face even when I didn’t have them on.”

“………………”

“‘Cause it’s my birthday.”

“………………”

“Say something.”

“‘Something’.”

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Hm. Thank you.”

Ogier le Danois and La Hire

“Hot. Hella hot. Too hot. Whoever said that it’s easy to spend the summer in Japan is a big liar.”

“Nobody’s ever said that.”

In a well-cooled hotel room, a man dismayed another man with long, mane-like, ashen gray hair styled in a ponytail. Seeing this, the man chuckled and brought him something to drink. He poured cold tea from a PET bottle into the hotel’s glass cups.

“I didn’t mean to say I’m tired or anything, okay? I’m the one out of the two of us who’s in a business where I need to keep my body in shape.”

“I trust that. It was my first time seeing someone make a round trip to Kiyomizu Temple’s stage without running out of breath. I was surprised.”

“And I was surprised that you were so friendly with those young Japanese tourists.

“Rather than ‘tourists’, they were more like ‘students on a field trip’...”

“What’s that?”

“Something like a Kyoto specialty of sorts, I guess. It’s hard to explain, though,” the man laughed in Queen’s English, to which the long-haired one replied with, “Aah, ‘s that so?” in a Brooklyn accent.

The former capital of Japan, in East Asia, located far from Britain and the United States, was surrounded by neon lights. The night view from the top floor of a large hotel connected to the Kyoto Station was somewhat more humble, calm and quiet than the ones of New York or London.

“Was today fun?” sitting on the hotel’s one-person couch, the man with droopy eyes asked the long-haired one, who was swaying his glass of green tea.

The long-haired man sat on the opposite couch for two people while gazing at the night scenery.

“It was fun.”

“Why the stiff language?”

The long-haired man played with his hair, and after sinking into silence for a moment, he spilled out in intervals, “You always... buy a lot of stuff, huh?”

“Uh, do you hate shopping now? Today, we visited temples, practiced Zen meditation, drank tea, observed the making of resist dyeing and Kyoto pottery, watched the workshop of a Kyoto jewelry crafter...”

“I didn’t hate any of that. We recently got ourselves a place to keep our stuff, too.”

“See, just as I told you. It was best to buy a house first.”

“You talk like we bought a storeroom.”

“We need somewhere to leave our things. There’s no such thing as a hotel without a storage, right?”

The long-haired man clenched his back teeth. As the droopy-eyed one gave him a look that asked what was wrong, the long-haired man held his knees on the couch and curled up his body.

Standing up, the droopy-eyed man planted a kiss first on his ashen-gray hair and then on his forehead. “Why’re you crying? Did I do anything that upset you?”

“Why’re you always thinking of goodbye?” As the droopy-eyed man became quiet, the long-haired one wiped his tears roughly, putting some strength into his hazel eyes. “Stop doing that. I can’t handle it.”

“I’m doing my best, though.”

“Cut down your monstrous black card limit.”

“I did. You told me just a while ago to do that.”

“Cut it down even more.”

“If I go that far, I won’t have any freedom in my everyday life...”

“To me, your definition of ‘everyday life’ is... Aah, no, that’s not what I want to say. Sorry about this talk. I’ll change my request. The money you use for my sake – make it less than a tenth of what it is now.”

“But I want to see your happy face.”

“It’s becoming quite a ‘conflicted face’, though.”

“More like the face of someone who’s ‘conflicted but happy’.”

“Whichever. It’s clear what you’re thinking. ‘I’ll leave behind as many tax-free goods as possible for him, so that he can turn them into cash after I’m gone’, right?”

“Well, that’s the basics of financial tech.”

“You don’t have to think about that stuff.” While the droopy-eyed man fell silent, the long-haired one stood up, and after making his companion sit down, he sat on the latter’s lap. “I have a lot of fun traveling with you, but it’s not like I’m doing that just to make a photo album to look through after we break up. Get that?”

“I get it.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“I do. It’s just... huuum—”

“‘It’s just’ what?”

“Just wondering how much I’m worth if I reduce my budget to a tenth of what it is.”

“I’m begging you, don’t say such sad things.”

“Sorry.”

“What’s with you? Get a grip. You’re like a ‘whole package’ of a man, but that’s why you’re caught up with a guy like me.”

“Meaning it’s all good in the end?”

“‘Cause if I say something like that, you reply with this.”

“That goes for both of us.”

“You’re seriously so cute.”

“You’re just as cute.”

“I know; thanks.”

“I’m glad.”

Silence.

“I’m so glad.”

After they exchanged a light kiss, the long-haired man settled down beside his partner. The modest nightscape lay below his eyes.

“They say that Antonius and Cleopatra were once having so much fun together that they slipped out of the royal palace in the middle of the night and went around knocking on the doors of Alexandria one by one. It’s what we call ‘ring and run’ today. Such an inconvenience, huh?”

“The one who was most inconvenienced was the servant forced to go through with it. The two definitely wouldn’t have managed to slip out by themselves, yeah?”

“But when I’m with you, I sort of understand the desire to do that kinda thing.”

“Hey, knock it off. I’m absolutely not gonna do that. The outcome would be people taking pics and labeling us as ‘problematic foreigners’ on social media.”

“I’m not gonna do it. It’s just an analogy.”

“Just to confirm, did Antonius and Cleopatra’s love have a happy ending?”

“A wonderful happy ending at that.”

Silence.

“You’re making one hell of a face.”

“Your face is too cool when you’re lying and I hate it.”

“Sorry.”

Once again, this time after a deep kiss, the two parted and sat on the same couch, both looking upward.

“Honestly, I can’t keep this up sometimes. Don’t you ever feel like trying to have a simpler love life for a little?”

“That’s a challenge. Try to put yourself in the shoes of a businessman who hasn’t had a decent relationship until his near forties. I have no idea what to do at all other than provide financial support.”

“Don’t we make out naked, though?”

“We do! But I don’t know what to do other than that and using money.”

“Like going on a trip?”

“We already are.”

“Like meditating together.”

“We did.”

“Like always holding my hand when we’re taking off and landing after I said that I was scared of flying.”

“We always do that, but were you scared for real?”

“What else did you think it was for?”

“I thought it was to cheer me up.”

The long-haired man slowly placed his hand on the knee of his partner, who was seated on the couch next to him. The droopy-eyed man smiled and rested his own hand on top of his, holding it tight.

After a moment of silence, the one who opened his mouth first was the long-haired man, “Well, one way or another, we have a good relationship. The two of us.”

“I agree with that one. But, and I think you already know, I can’t do much to make you happy.”

“I’ll believe that as much as I’d believe an oil magnate saying, ‘My dinner yesterday was a one-dollar Mac’.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Just to put it out there, I’m full of motivation to make you happy. If you don’t make me just as happy, I’ll sue you for one-sided exploitation.”

“Quim.”

“Just go take a bath already.”

“If we can go in holding hands, I will.”

“Whoa~. Now you’ve started talking like a teenager.”

“Don’t make such an obviously disgusted face. Even I can feel hurt by that.”

“My, I’m surprised you could tell.”

Laughing, the droopy-eyed man let go of his hand, took off his jacket and threw it onto the empty couch. “I’m not the least bit afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I used to think, and it indeed didn’t scare me before, but I’ve been scared of it lately.”

“I wish you’d gotten scared sooner.”

“People have all sorts of circumstances to them.”

“Like what?”

“Since long ago, I’ve been an expert at hiding that I was hurt. But I got myself a very sharp-eyed acquaintance recently and I can’t hide it from him. So even if I say, ‘I’m completely fine!’ when I’m hurt, he makes a sad-looking face. But I don’t want to make him do that.”

Silence.

“That kind of circumstance,” the droopy-eyed man said, laughing.

Suddenly, he realized that his right hand was occupied. The hand of someone with a skin color different from his was wrapped around the hem of his shirt, which he had been about to take off.

“What’s wrong?”

Staring back at the face of the droopy-eyed man, the long-haired one untied his hair and laughed, “Then, shall we get going?”

“To ring and run?”

“Dumbass.”

[dennou-translations]

[dennou-translations]

The Starry Night and the Lonely Two

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――Erase the loneliness from this world, even if just for an instant.

   Letters brought happiness to those who received them.

The fact that the other person had chosen those words for them. The time spent carefully selecting the stationery and envelopes. Even the moment of going to the post office to send the mail was endearing. Letters were already special just for existing.

These special somethings were delivered nearly every day to “our” home.

Envelopes with wax seals bearing the venerable crest of a royal clan. Delicate and beautiful stationery most likely chosen with the person’s character in mind. Even letters penned by children who had apparently just learned how to write.

“This one was sent by Lady Charlotte from Fluegel. I once ghostwrote love letters on her behalf...”

“I’ve heard about it. If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t she from a royal family?”

“Yes, she has now become a queen.”

“You have an incredible circle of acquaintances.”

Most of them were letters addressed to her, who lived with me.

“This one is yet another new volume by Mr. Oscar, the novelist, along with a letter.”

“That one makes me happy. I like his books too.”

“It seems his work has been turned into a stage play, so there are theater tickets inside. One is for you, Major.”

“I’m so grateful. Shall we go watch it?”

“The thank-you letter to him will have our joint signature.”

The age range of the senders was broad and they were probably divided almost equally in gender.

“Ms. Taylor’s handwriting... is better than before.”

“True. She also wrote the street name properly. Wasn’t there someone else named Bartlett among your pen pals...? No, was it ‘York’?”

“Yes. We make sure to exchange letters during the change of seasons.”

Perhaps it was more unusual for us to have days when there were no letters in the mailbox. This was proof that she had been sharing wonderful times with people in the life she treaded. I was sometimes envious of that, but for the most part, I felt proud. It gave me the actual feeling that my significant other was loved by many people.

“Major, I will be going to my room to write reply letters.”

“Aah, take your time.”

That was basically what I thought.

However, I found myself curious about the people she frequently exchanged letters with and, sometimes, when I saw her – someone whose facial expressions rarely changed – happily receiving the mail, I would end up wondering what her relationship with the other person was. I made sure not to bother her whenever she was writing letters, so I would also sometimes silently stare at the closed door, praying for her to finish it quickly.

In short, I was a little bit jealous of her letters.

There were twists and turns between us until we reunited and it had taken us a quite a while to live under the same roof like this. The time we spent not knowing what the other was doing had been long.

And one of the reasons for said twists and turns was that I had stayed away from her because I loved her so much, so I couldn’t just talk to her about the relationships that I had cultivated during my absence. I wasn’t that shameless.

Therefore, I also didn’t say anything when a letter from a young explorer arrived at the end of a certain summer.

   “This one was sent by Master Leon Stephanotis from Iustitia.”

Having come from the place where the famous Shahar Astrological Observatory was located, the letter was apparently from one of her former clients. It seemed she had become able to name the stars when looking at the sky due to his influence.

“He writes about his adventures during his travels and stories involving stars. He was once based at the Shahar Observatory, but he is currently journeying around the world and excavating literary works.”

“That’s amazing. What kind of person is he?”

“A gentle one.”

That was a rare word for her to use.

“‘Gentle’...”

“He would ask me if I was cold when we were looking up and the night sky. That kind of person.”

Surely, the two of them had had a wonderful time together. She cherished that memory. She didn’t often call anything “fun”, so there was no mistaking that this had been a particularly “fun” time in her life.

“I see; he’s a wonderful person, huh.”

“Yes, he gave me deep lessons about stars. Iustitia is a wonderful place as well, Major, so I would like to take you there one day. Do you have any interest in observing the stars of the night sky...?”

“I do know the names of some stars. That being said, though, I only know the really famous ones.”

When I said this, she slowly broke into a smile. “So Major, the stars pique your interest as well, right?” she said, bringing the letter to her chest as if to hug it.

“You like the stars?”

“Yes. Because the sky goes on.”

“Aah, that’s right.” I felt that the conversation was a little cross-purpose, but for the time being, I just nodded.

――Speaking of which, she often tells me the names of the stars when we walk around the streets at night.

Once again, I had learned about one more thing she liked. My beloved was fond of the stars.

“So I have a field of interest in common with you, Major. What an honor.”

Seeing her smiling immediately extinguished the tiny flame of jealousy in me. She was pleased. That was a good thing.

“It’s an honor for me too. By the way, you report to me whenever a letter arrives... If there’s anything that you want to keep secret, you can.”

“Major, there is nothing that I want to keep a secret from you.”

“Is that so?”

It was as if I made her say that. But she wasn’t one to lie, so it was most certainly the truth. While savoring that happiness, as if I were saying it to myself, I decided that I, too, should be honest with her.

“I report back to you... because I hoped to share with you at least a little bit... of everything I have seen and felt, as well as all my memories with the people I have met.”

I was genuinely surprised to hear those words. After all, I had been completely convinced that her reporting any and everything was a remnant of her time in the military.

――So she was trying to share her memories with me?

“The places you’ve been to, the people you’ve met, what you’ve felt, the stories you’ve witnessed... I also have interest in those things. Thank you; you’ve been trying to tell me about them, right?”

She nodded in agreement. The way she bobbed her head like a child was the same as in the past.

However, in the past, her trying to convey her feelings and experiences to someone else was something unthinkable. She used to the kind of girl who would stay silent the whole time if left alone, so she would not say anything if she was hungry, and if she injured herself, she would not even say that it hurt.

She was just nothing but a machine-like girl soldier who handled the matters in front of her.

“Was it not unpleasant to you...?” No longer that girl soldier, she looked my way as if testing the waters a little.

My hand reached out automatically.

“No way, I’m so happy... I see; so that’s what you felt when telling me those things...” I caressed her head, and just like that, I smoothly entwined her hair around my fingers. Her beautiful hair was like waves of gold.

“I was... Did I do... something bad?”

Perhaps I was treating her too much like a child, stroking the head of someone who had become such a praiseworthy young woman, but I found myself doing it accidentally. I hadn’t been able to do it much back when she was a wounded wild beast.

The two of us were already adults, but maybe we were attempting to fill up the gaping, open holes in our hearts with something. And we wished for the other to forgive this action.

“It’s nothing bad; not at all.”

Earning forgiveness made us feel relieved. “It’s still okay for me to live by this person’s side,” we would think. It might be an exaggeration, but receiving a positive feedback from a loved one could have that much of an effect.

“I’ll be happy if you keep doing that from now on too. I’ll do the same as well. That’s right... didn’t you have stationery and envelopes with stars drawn on them?”

“I do.”

“How about you write the reply on that? If he’s from Shahar, he would be pleased with it, right?”

Her golden eyelashes swayed, blue eyes shining. “What a great idea. He will surely be pleased. Thank you very much, Major.”

“Not at all. Thank you, too, for sharing these wonderful letters with me.”

In that moment, her innocent feelings purified my jealousy. Such unsightly jealousy was something that had never happened to me.

   I managed to end the matter without showing any ounce of sign that I was envious of the adventurer. However, my anguish didn’t end there. I would find her rereading the letter from Mr. Leon Stephanotis countless times after that.

I didn’t think anything of it in particular on the first time. I concluded she was thinking about how to reply to it or something like that.

On the second time, I was impressed, assuming that its contents must be exceptionally good.

On the third time, as expected, I inquired, “Staring at that letter again?”

Perhaps because I had asked with an expression mixed with complicated feelings, after briefly making a thinkative-looking face, she answered with an attitude that denounced she had chosen her words meticulously, “Yes, I want to read it enough to memorize it.”

And threw me deeper into a whirlpool of confusion.

“‘Enough to memorize it’?”

“Yes, enough to memorize it.”

Was there such a way of reading a letter?

――I’ve also read the letters I got from her after we reunited so often that I memorized them.

So did that mean she had these same feelings and passion towards the letter from Mr. Leon Stephanotis?

What was written in there? As expected, even I would be curious about that.

If I wasn’t mistaken, she had said it was about his adventures and the stars. Was it accompanied by an awe-inspiring poem or something of the sort? But her face when she was reading it wasn’t the face of someone whose heart had been touched by art. How should I put it? She’d make a face like she was studying academics.

Unable to make sense of it, I spent a few days with her enraptured by the letter.

   “Major, requesting permission to go outside late at night today. May I go observe a comet?”

The clarification for the mystery came surprisingly fast. After all, my darling asked me this question right after I woke up in the morning, carrying a luggage that made her look like she was going to do mountain climbing. At first, I thought she was going to take part in a military march or something.

“‘Comet’?”

As I had just woken up, my head wasn’t working well. This was also because I had seen her reading Mr. Leon Stephanotis’s letter right before going to bed, so I hadn’t been able to sleep.

Why was she doing that even before falling asleep? And why bring it to our bedroom?

“Yes, Master Leon predicted that I should be able to see it if the sky happened to be clear today. He wrote in detail about what kind of hill I should look for and what I need to take with me... in case I go out to observe the comet,” she informed in a slightly excited manner, unaware of my feelings. Her voice was stronger than usual.

Silence.

“May I go?” There was no need to request my consent, yet she asked the same thing once more.

I was finally digesting the course of events.

“So you were... making plans to view a comet...?”

She had been studying. Learning the teachings of someone whom she revered as a mentor regarding the stars.

“Yes. Fortunately, the weather appears to be clear today. If it continues like this until nighttime, it will be possible to see the comet through naked eye. I have prepared myself for it.”

That was probably what the heavy-looking baggage in her hands was for.

Embarrassed of myself, I covered my face with my hands.

“Major?”

“Of course, you’re free to do as you please...”

“Thank you very much, Major.” Her voice was lively.

She had been making preparations all this time until today because she wanted to see the stars. She was a pure-hearted person. What a fool I was.

That would mean I had been jealous because of an utterly wrong assumption.

“You’ll be doing it at night, right? Leave those bags on the floor for now...”

“Yes, Major.”

I apologized to Mr. Leon Stephanotis countless times in my head. His relationship with her was sound, and I was the one in the wrong for my unjust suspicions. If any letters from him happened to come again in the future, I would send him a fine wine together with the reply.

“Major, your face looks reddish. Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing...”

“My goodness. You have a fever...”

――That’s not it, my sweetheart.

“I’m okay. More importantly, we don’t have a telescope. Shall we go to the city to buy one?” She hadn’t yet checked the temperature of my head, but I made sure to look directly at her. I whispered this in intervals after peeling her hand off my face. I wanted to help her have fun, even if just a little.

“No, telescopes are expensive.” She shook her head.

“Comets aren’t something we see often, are they?”

“This comet is named Comet Fin, and apparently, it can be viewed every twelve years.”

“Twelve years, huh...”

――If she and I manage to stay healthy and not get any diseases until then...

They would be able to see it again. But this was up to fate, so one could not be too sure.

“As I thought, let’s buy a telescope. If you’d like, may I accompany you on that adventure of yours?”

She didn’t immediately shake her head at the suggestion.

“It is extremely flattering, Major, that you would give me your precious time... so if it happens to pique your interest, by all means, please come along.”

It seemed she had wanted to go with me.

“There’s no time more precious to me than the time I spend with you. I have to pack my own bags too...”

“Actually... I have prepared baggage for two.”

“Is that so? That’s a great help.”

Silence.

“What’s wrong?”

“From the very beginning... I had high expectations that you would join me.” She looked down. Her cheeks were usually rosy against her white skin, but now they were dyed vermillion. “That is fine because you readily agreed...”

She was acting uncharacteristically shy.

“I am embarrassed at myself for jumping to conclusions, although it is too late for that.”

“It’s not embarrassing.”

“No, it was foolish of me. And I regret basking in your kindness.”

“You don’t have to. I’m happy. Besides, you were looking forward to viewing this comet, right?”

“Yes. In the past, I was taught about comets by Master Leon and saw one for the first time. If I were able to see a comet again in my lifetime, I wanted to, at all costs.”

“I see; I’m looking forward to it. It makes me happy that you wanted to see a comet with me.” I smiled at her.

This time, she was the one who covered her face with her hands. Her prosthetics squeaked.

I caressed her head and waited for her blush to subside.

Eventually, she lowered her hands and spoke resolutely, “Now that it’s come to this, Major, I shall be your escort so that you will most certainly enjoy yourself.”

“Escorting at night is my duty,” I whispered as if to lecture her.

   In the end, while it was still daytime, we purchased a telescope covered in dust, sleeping at the back of a general store in the city, and readied ourselves for the night. As if listening to her wish, the day went by with the sky still clear, and in due course, the amber of it turned into nightfall.

The two of us went out together at the time when we usually would be getting ready to sleep. With the sky like that, it would be possible to view the comet even from our home, but apparently, Mr. Stephanotis wrote in the letter that it was best to do it in a place with no roof, so we headed to a small hill nearby.

Come to think of it, we might have never had this kind of nighttime fun together. Unbecoming of my age, I was elated.

We were now going to observe a comet. That was all there was to it, yet I was so excited, as if I had gone back to being a boy. I had the feeling that she was in high spirits too.

“Major, I can hold the bags.”

“Nope, I want to hold them myself.”

“But I am not holding anything.”

I walked on, having stolen all of the bags from her even though she wanted to hold them. When I looked up at the sky, the Moon was shining brightly.

“Then hold my empty hand. And then you can take the lead. You’re the one who decided on the destination, after all,” I said while offering my hand to her.

“But then would you not be the only one at disadvantage and I the only one who will be ‘happy’?”

“Holding your hand as we walk is something that makes me ‘happy’. It’s no disadvantage. Carrying my significant other’s belongings makes me happy, too. I wouldn’t be able to do it without you here, after all.”

She held my hand as if resigning. “I understand. The road is dangerous at night. I shall watch your step.”

“Thanks; please do that.”

In the end, she did wind up escorting me, but she let me carry the bags, so it was okay. She was courteous to an extent that, if left to her own will, she would treat even me like a princess, so if I weren’t this insistent, she would end up doing everything by herself.

I was deeply moved by that. After all, it reminded me of her past self.

――You’ve become capable of doing anything by yourself, huh.

I had created situations that would enable her for this.

――And yet, the two of us are together now.

I had wished for that.

――I’m a fool.

While walking, I tightly squeezed her hand, which was devoid of body heat. I couldn’t fathom letting go of it anymore.

   Once we reached the small hill, we found that there was a number of groups of people with telescopes other than ourselves. As it was nighttime, we greeted one another silently.

“I have laid sheets here, so please take a seat. This is not a cold night, but the wind is blowing, hence I have brought lap blankets as well.”

“Got it. Come over here.”

“Over there?”

After having her sit down, I also sat in a way that I was covering her up from behind. By doing that, we could nuzzle just right.

“Lean closer if your neck starts hurting.”

Silence.

“Actually, you can lean closer already.”

When I gently pulled her shoulder, she entrusted her head to my chest in an uncomfortable manner.

“Making my Lord into a chair... and leaning against him is...”

“I’m no longer your Lord, and it’s nature’s providence that the big ones make sure to protect the little ones because of their difference in physique.”

“Nature’s providence...”

“Nature’s providence.”

She didn’t seem very convinced, but the words “nature’s providence” appeared to have worked. No matter how much time passed, she would always have a wild beast-like side to her in some respect, so using down-to-earth reasoning when negotiating with her was rather effective.

“Is it all right to let you spoil me, Major, if it is nature’s providence?”

I stroked her head without a care in the world. This position was nice because it was easy to do that.

“I want to spoil you even when there’s no reason for it.” When I said this, she entrusted to me even more of her body weight than earlier. I smiled.

We wouldn’t be able to do this during the day out of concern for people’s stares, but it was nighttime now. And she couldn’t see that my face was red. Good thing that it was night.

“Gives a strange feeling, doesn’t it?” I whispered while gazing up at the sky. “Is Mr. Stephanotis looking at the same sky, since he told you about the comet?”

“Yes, I believe that he is sure to be watching it from that enormous observatory.”

I also cast my eye at the other groups of people, of which I could only somewhat discern the positions in the darkness. “Same goes for them. We’ve been linked just by the information that a comet would pass by today. It gives me such a whimsical feeling that all of us have been treading different lives, and yet we’re looking at the sky tonight with the same goal.”

Should I call it an odd sense of sorority?

Illuminated by moonlight amidst the nightly darkness, she smiled. “The sky goes on, after all.”

I had once heard this phrase, I thought. “You said that before too.”

“Yes. No matter where I go, the sky continues on. When I was not able to see you, I sometimes thought that, even if we could not watch the passage of the seasons together, we might be looking at the same night sky. I was granted this kind of thinking because Master Leon taught me about astronomical observation.”

Silence.

“Perhaps, Major, the people you know are also looking at the sky now.”

“Brother probably isn’t.”

“I wonder. He often used to look up at the sky from the deck of his ship.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. He is fond of beautiful things.”

We continued having a random conversation while waiting for Comet Fin, which began to emerge little by little.

“The people who sent you letters might be looking at it too.”

And then, we would find ourselves imagining. About how people from other places, who had once crossed paths with us but were now living different lives, were spending this night.

“They might be.”

The princess who had married off to a forest kingdom far away. The novelist who was living a slightly lonely life while wishing to maintain his reputation. The sisters who used to live together in the past.

“Yes, they might be, Major.”

They were all under the same starry sky.

“It seems people say that there’s romance to this.”

By the looks of it, Mr. Leon Stephanotis was quite a good teacher to Violet. As expected, I ended up getting jealous.

“Major.”

“What is it...?”

Even though she had been finally looking up at the night sky, she turned back towards me. Her blue eyes gleamed blazingly even in the darkness.

“I am spending this time with you right now. Just the two of us.”

Back when we first met, I was terrified of them.

“Yeah.”

“Still... I suddenly find myself missing you. More than when I am alone.”

I used to be scared of that small living being. Because I could tell that she had been brought up in a chaotic place and knew that a bite from her could easily kill me.

“I am by your side and you are even sharing your warmth with me, yet this makes me feel lonely all of a sudden.”

But I couldn’t let go of her. This was what the footsteps chasing after me and the ragged sounds of her breathing made had me think. That it was okay if she killed me one day, but I had to create a place for this tiny wild beast to belong, as well as protect her.

“I was wondering why.”

And with time, I would begin to curse myself.

We snuggled up to one another in order to make up for the parts that were missing in each of us, which was grave and wrong, so no matter how precious and dear she was to me, I was never allowed to say it aloud. Because I was the one who had created this relationship between us.

“As expected... the time when I could not see you was torture for me.”

It would be best if we were separated, for all eternity.

“When I do things that fill it up... my ‘loneliness’ softens just slightly, like the calmness of the sea.”

The truth was that even our present might be a mistake.

And yet, we were by each other’s side. Even if other people told us that it was a mistake, we wouldn’t stop.

We were going to nestle up to each other until death.

“Major, are you not a little lonely right now?”

This might be a bizarre relationship. The truth was that there might have been different lives for each of us.

“If we continue spending time together like this, will there be a day when I will no longer feel lonely?”

But even if we were to start over, I would surely choose this path.

“Violet.”

――Because there’s no meaning in a life without you.

“It’ll be hard for that day to come,” I whispered words that could be considered a little mean to my violet blossom. “We’re lonely creatures by nature.”

After showing an enigmatic-looking expression, she recited my words, “‘Lonely creatures’...” The way she whispered the sentence sounded like she was digesting it. It felt like she had frozen up just from saying the word “lonely”, so I embraced her in order to make her warm. Letting me do as I pleased, she said, “Is that just you and I?”

“No...”

――If there were just you and I in the world, we wouldn’t have anything to worry about.

“Must be like that with everyone. Especially in the presence of their significant others... they get lonely even though they’re happy. It’s such a weird thing.”

“They feel lonely because they are in love?”

“That’s right. Yet loneliness, too, will diminish if we keep having this kind of contact with each other.”

“But it won’t disappear, will it? Major, do you... also feel lonely when you are with me?”

“I do.”

――I feel lonely all the time, Violet. It’s exactly because I’m in love with you that your every move makes me miss you. But I’m sure that’s what being in love is.

“Then I want us to feel lonely together forever.”

Violet’s words made me laugh. She was an optimist.

“Right. I feel like I’ll be missing you even after I turn into a wrinkly grandpa.”

“I shall deal with it.”

“How’re you gonna do that?”

“However you wish...”

I placed my forehead on hers. She seemed to understand what I wanted to do by that.

“My apologies, I am still unused to it, but...” Albeit displaying a shy attitude, she brought her face closer.

The comet was soon to appear. Before it did, we should be allowed to do this, if just for a little bit.

――That’s why, my dear, I want you not to look at the stars, just for the time being. Even if this is a special comet that we might not get to see in twelve years, just for now, look at me. This memory will repeat itself in our heads for eternity.

My chest felt like it was being squeezed.

――Aah, Violet. You were right; how lonesome this is. As long as I’m bound to you, I’ll feel as lonely as can be.

“Major... are you no longer feeling lonely?”

――Even though you’re already a flower that belongs to me only, I miss you.

“Still not enough...”

――No matter if I’m imagining the future or looking back into the past, or even in the present time, I suffer, because I’m in love with you.

“But the comet is...”

“The comet can wait.”

“It cannot.”

“It can. Just one more time.”

――Please. I want this pain to be gone. Close your eyes just for now, Violet. Because I want to erase our “loneliness”.

[dennou-translations]

Dietfried Bougainvillea If

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At the limits of its loneliness, a certain wild beast had found hope. The most overwhelmingly strong yet fragile-looking hope that it had seen amongst living things so far.

The beast’s hope – Dietfried Bougainvillea – was that kind of person.

He used abusive language and had an arrogant attitude towards the stranger. His spirit was like the blade of a drawn sword. There were lovable elements to him, but he had an awkwardness that made him ruin everything on his own.

The beast had found this man. These two terribly inept souls did not get along, but had managed to grow close to each other.

As fighting was the only thing that the beast could do well, it had sunk many of the man’s enemies into the sea. The man then granted the beast the lifestyle of a person and became its guardian. Although the two had never made any deal, this was how they worked.

In that meantime, something that could be considered “feelings” began to sprout within the ruthless man. A dangerous thing that weakened those who had it.

This emotion was unnecessary. He had to discard it. It was best to stay away from the beast.

Or so the man thought, but the beast refused. Could he part ways with it or not?

The beast and the man clashed intensely at that one point, but ultimately, the man gave in. He became unable to let go of the beast, who implored him not to leave it alone. Resigning to the fact that he had not thrown her away when he should have, the man decided to make the beast into a human being.

What did it take for a person to become human?

   The ship was in flames.

Sparks scattered about the ocean amidst the darkness. Angry roars of the Navy men who safeguarded the seas echoed on, drowned out by the waves. Unsuited for such a beautiful evening, their shouts were dispersed by reverberating sounds of explosions, melting away into the sea.

For battles on sea, unlike the ones on land, wreckage was hardly visible to the naked eye.

“READY TO FIRE!”

After all, the waves swept everything away. Panic, sadness, the people who were once there and even time itself were nothing but trivial matters to the great deep.

The sea erased everything. All to its own bottom.

That was how abysmal and cold the thing called ocean could be – it swallowed any and everything.

“DON’T FALTEEER! SHOOT BACK, SHOOT BACK!”

The Continental War was intensifying. Soldiers were forced to fight not only on land but also at sea.

“IT’S GONNA SHAKE THE HULL! BRACE YOURSELVES!”

“DON’T STAND AROUND SAYING NOTHING; IF YOU DON’T WANT TO DIE, MOVE!”

“BEGIN SHOOTING!!”

The warships of Leidenschaftlich – the pride of the military nation – were under heavy fire from warships of the enemy side.

“THE ENEMY’S FIRIIIIING!”

Going by mere assumption, Leidenschaftlich would eventually earn the bitter victory of this naval battle and the warship that was currently burning would arrive safely at the capital Leiden, but this was not the part of the story that should be told.

“PREPARE FOR THE SHOOOOOCK!”

What should be told in this story was that one man had not been able to call the name of one girl, who had been driven to a corner amidst such critical situation.

In the middle of the extremely turbulent sea battle, naval captain Dietfried Bougainvillea desperately searched with his eyes for his property, a girl soldier. At the edge of his field of vision, an attack from the enemy warship was imminent.

――Being as light as she is, she’ll fall off the deck from the impact of the bombings!

Sure enough, Dietfried spotted her body lightly floating in the air at the heart of the burning ship.

And so, an inaudible scream leaked from his throat. Of course it would. What he wanted to shout out – her “name” – was something that did not exist. After all, he had always called her “you”.

“I’ll give her a name someday. Should I pick one now? Nah, I can do it later.”

While thinking such things, he wound up arriving to this point without ever naming her.

――You’re my... My what? You’re my...

His tool? His monster?

――You’re my...

His thoughts did not guide the words properly and only the dread of losing her continued proliferating. In the end, the girl that was thrown to the sea caught sight of Dietfried’s emerald eyes. The two were not pros at communication, but Dietfried certainly felt like the girl had said something at that moment.

As in, “I do not mind if you forsake me”.

So Dietfried ran. “Don’t screw around,” he wanted to tell her. “Grab on!”

When she was about to fall, the girl reflexively grasped the hand stretched out towards her, Dietfried nearly dropping into the dark sea with her, but this time, one of his subordinates held him by the hips, thus he was somehow able to stand firm.

Although the soldier girl was usually able to slay several enemies like a demon, her body was too thin and lightweight. Embracing her, Dietfried was unable to move for a few dozen seconds from the excess of fear. “Hah, hah...”

The fear of losing this “tool” gave him tremors.

He had to rise. The war was not yet over. In order not to lose this girl or himself, Dietfried, the commander, had to take the lead. However, his body could not move soon enough.

“Captain.”

The two looked at one another once again. This time, her eyes were saying, “Don’t let me go”. Even though she had chosen death just earlier, plain and simple.

Her exceeding selfishness gave Dietfried an intense desire to kill her, but contrary to his thoughts, he embraced her tight. Their heartbeats merged.

This became a turning point for him and her.

Nevertheless, from this moment onward, it took Dietfried years to make use of this turning point. In that meantime, the Great War, also called the Continental War, had showed rapid development and was coming to an end.

The peculiar existence of this girl soldier became a blur after the war, but as always, Dietfried continued to give her assignments as his tool. Dietfried explained to those around him that this was due to his not having time to make a decision amidst the rush of post-war processing, but in reality, the choice of letting go of her had not even crossed his mind. It was already a given that the two of them acted together, no matter where they went or what they did.

Having gained leisure time by living away from the battlefield, the girl had cultivated language skills, learned general education and began studying military tactics, becoming a competent secretary in no time.

“Captain, the mansion that you had talked about was already sold. We have two or three more options, but the light of the afternoon sun that you are so concerned about is poor in them, thus I believe they are inadequate. The budget is abundant, so perhaps it might be best to just build one.”

“You, who put that idea in your head?”

As expected, she, who could no longer be regarded as a mere soldier girl, still lacked a name.

The two were currently having a conversation while seated on a bed in the Navy’s dormitory. It was morning, and as Dietfried was not ready, the girl was diligently combing his hair.

“Lord Gilbert said that he wants to provide you with land owned by the Bougainvillea. And Lord Hodgins said he can introduce you to a fine architect from Leiden.”

“You’re telling me to get a land that’s my little brother’s property?”

Her specialty was to tie the braids swiftly done by her smooth pale fingers with a ribbon as a finishing touch. Once the hairstyle was decided, finishing it was easy. Steadily, the girl prepared Dietfried for the day.

“According to Lord Gilbert, Captain, you have abandoned the entirety of your family heirloom at this point, so he wanted you to have at least this much.”

“Your ‘Lord Gilbert’?”

“Your Lord Gilbert.”

“So what did you tell him?”

“That it would most likely make you angry.”

Silence.

“However, Lord Gilbert insisted, hence why I am reporting to you.”

Dietfried glared at the girl. They had been around each other for a decent number of years already, so just her telling him that such proposal had been made was a mistake in itself. She knew that as well. Even so, she had brought it up. Dietfried’s eyes were asking her “why”.

“What’re you gonna do for me now that I’m angry just like you’d predicted?”

“Today, I have already secured a wine that will be in stock at a shop in the city. I will go pick it up later. It is the one that you said you ‘wanted to drink it but could not find’ during the war.”

Silence.

“Apparently, it has finally started circulating. Moreover, I found out who was the author of the painting you were looking at the other day. He has already passed away, but it seems that his bereaved family is keeping his works, so it will be possible to show them to you in our next day off.”

After putting on his jacket, Dietfried turned around and looked at the girl. He spoke not with a tone of irritation but of moodiness, “Hey, you, don’t go taking permission for a day off when I might say that I won’t go.”

“But Captain, you said you were devastated at the loss of so many artworks during the war. You have never acquired any works from the artist you liked, right? The bereaved family seems to be living in poverty. They said before that, rather than someone who would purchase the artworks with just a few sentences, it was best for someone with an unquestionable aesthetic sense to have them, for the sake of future generations...”

The girl had her mouth shut at that part. After all, Dietfried had pressed the ends of the braid against her lips without saying anything. He had long forgotten what had triggered this, but Dietfried did it whenever he told her to “be quiet”. It could also be considered as a little play of theirs.

The girl’s eyes, of a blue more vivid than that of the sea, blinked slowly while staring at Dietfried.

“Okay, that’s right. Quiet.”

Silence.

“I don’t need the land of the Bougainvillea. You’re gonna see Gil again anyway, aren’t you? Then tell him face-to-face not to say that ever again. If it’s possible, I’ll buy that wine every time it arrives at the shop, so go negotiate with the owner to make a regular purchase under the name of Dietfried Bougainvillea... As for our next day off...”

Silence.

“Where does that bereaved family live?”

Silence.

“Hey, tell me.”

The girl mutely pointed to the braid still pressed against her lips.

“In Lontano. It is within national territory, so we can go there and return in the same day. As for the transportation...”

“I’ll go with my new car. Also, don’t forget to ask the shopkeeper at Canaria Taylor if the jacket and pants I ordered are done. If they are, I’ll go there tomorrow to make the final adjustments. I’m gonna wear them on my next break. You’re obviously coming. Don’t make any plans with Gilbert.”

“Understood. I have memorized everything.”

Whenever this girl said so, it would turn out that she had truly memorized everything exactly how Dietfried had told her. The only thing that Dietfried did not argue with her was about what he did and did not say.

――Really, she’s so brilliant it’s creepy.

That was because he once had extremely unpleasant experiences with having his own statements parroted to him in a peculiar voice. He was vaguely aware of it, but this parrot – rather, this girl – that Dietfried had picked up possessed great intelligence. At first, she could not speak properly and was seemingly unable to learn how to read or write, but due to not wanting Dietfried to throw her away, she did not spare any efforts, thus her development had been visible and she was now an essential item for Dietfried.

“Tell me about their family tree later. You have no sense of beauty for gifts, so I’ll do that one.”

The fields in which Dietfried could beat this girl were of a limited number. When it came to fighting abilities, he, who was growing weaker with age, was at the very best on par with her, who could be said to be in her prime, but depending on the situation, he would be completely defeated.

“Yes, I have not nurtured knowledge in that area.” The girl promptly nodded, not at all bent on winning against Dietfried.

“‘Cause you’ve got zero artistic quality.”

“Exactly, Captain.”

Even though she was an essential to him, they had arrived to this point without him ever naming her. According to Dietfried’s assumption, the girl was soon going to turn fourteen.

Entrusting the girl with her miscellaneous tasks, he left the dormitory and offed to work at the Ministry of the Navy.

Dietfried headed to his office room, taking out a notebook from his desk drawer. Perhaps having been flipped over and over, the corners of the notebook were tattered. It was most likely an item that he used to carry with him not after the war, but during worktime. It had his date of service written on it.

Sensing from the quietude of the corridors that no one would come inside, Dietfried opened the notebook. In it, from the first to the next few dozen pages, there was a list of name options. From girl names to neutral ones.

One could tell that he had not kept calling her “you” simply out of fruitless obstinacy, but instead was properly thinking about it and had not made a decision yet.

――No idea which one she’d like.

Dietfried was a not-so-good type of perfectionist.

Some of the options were circled, and things such as the reasons why said names were good and even the folklore associated with them were written there. Perhaps the number of people who would do something so meticulous was scarce even amongst fathers awaiting the birth of a baby.

――Feels like none of them fits her.

The outcome of this repeated negation was their current situation. Unless he earned good results, he could not bring himself to let the other know about it. He was that kind of man, and so, once he left his family home, he disappeared without a trace as if his whereabouts had been long lost, but by the time he had become a fine naval officer, the gap between him and his family had widened to an irreversible extent and his father had passed away.

A problematic perfectionist. That was Dietfried Bougainvillea.

――Should I just let her choose?

Dietfried did have determination when it was about work.

――No, I can’t do that after putting so much thought into it. I’m the one who should give it to her.

However, he was a man who by no means could do things half-heartedly when there were feelings involved.

――I should do at least this much for her.

He had never properly done anything even for his younger brother, whom he cared for the most in the world. Not because he was shy or anything on that sort of perspective, but because he was twisted.

His familial environment had been a major factor as to why he had developed into this kind of person, but the reason he had still not given a name to the girl under his custody even now, years after their first meeting, was likely because of the poison he carried inside. Being the way she was, the girl had no questions or issues about being referred to as “you”, either.

People other than Dietfried called her “Undine”, as the infamy of “Leidenschaftlich’s Undine”, who was notorious for crushing down enemy ships, had spread among the military personnel. In fact, they thought it was her name.

Despite telling him to hurry and decide on a name for her every time they met, Dietfried’s younger brother, Gilbert, and his friend, Hodgins, had also established dialogue with her by calling her “Undine” and “Little Undine”.

She used to be regarded as a weapon with no registered name in the military, but halfway through, she became the “Fist of the Bougainvillea”.

She never even gave any name when interacting with outside parties. When contacting the shop to order wine or the artist’s unknown family, for example, she would introduce herself as “Dietfried Bougainvillea’s secretary”.

This was a lie that Dietfried had taught her to tell the people he did not want to interact with, as well as to make up an excuse and send them away. She had reached the limits of her skills mastering it.

While having a nonchalant conversation with her in her wind chime voice, by the moment that the other person found themselves thinking, “Come to think of it, what was her name again?”, the call would have already ended. The next one would also end with “it’s the secretary girl”. The girl had no friends or lover either, for Dietfried treated her as one of his essentials.

She did not feel inconvenienced by any of that. The only one who felt inconvenienced regarding her name was Dietfried.

That day, that time, on that burning ship, Dietfried had no name to call her. If she had died back then, what did intend to refer to her as when mourning?

“You”. “Shitty brat”. “Her”. “Monster”. Or perhaps “Nameless”.

None of these was appropriate for a life that he had taken under his wing after deciding that he would not let it go.

Dietfried prostrated himself on his desk and let out a rare sigh. It was about time he made up his mind.

Even if that turned out to be a bad ending for him.

   About ten days later, he was finally able to earn himself a holiday in which he could go out at leisure. Dietfried and the girl woke up early in the morning and went by car to the Leidenschaftlich city named Lontano.

Lontano was a city of art. It had museums, theaters used for plays and orchestra performances, and old book markets. It was built in a way that people who enjoyed such things would have fun walking around anywhere.

The city structure consisted of a castle in its center and houses gathered in its surroundings. The house of the artist that Dietfried was there for sat in the outskirts of the city. Just one main house in which, at most, only two or three people could live. The residence was unrelated to the artistic city – that was the impression it gave to those who entered it.

“We used to serve the castle in the center of the city. The owner of the castle is no longer here, so... ever since it became a tourist attraction, the city became weird, you see.”

The one who said this while welcoming them in was the artist’s mother. Dietfried wanted to say a little something to the woman’s words, who described the exuberant present-time state of the city as “weird”, but bit it down. The development of Lontano had begun in a modern era, so from the point of view of a family that had been taking residence in the city since forever, its current form must be heresy.

When the lady that had greeted them guided the two to the basement, they were finally able to see the artworks. The basement, which was mostly a storage room, had meager lighting and a strong odor. Apparently, the lady had put all of the deceased artist’s works away, as it became too hard for her to look at them.

Before Dietfried realized, he was saying, “I want to take with me as many of them as possible.”

He could not allow the paintings that had left such a deep impression on him to be lost in this basement, and just the thought of it made this feeling surge within him. It was the sensation of saving someone who was on the verge of death.

He picked the artworks that he wanted to rescue first and foremost for the time being, and while he was making the girl, whom he had brought over to use as luggage carrier, hold them, the lady spoke up in a feeble voice, “Captain Bougainvillea—”

Dietfried did his best to reply to the words said to him with a gentle voice, “No need to call me by my rank, Ma’am.”

He was not young, but neither was he old. The lady looked down, seeming a little embarrassed at being called “ma’am” by someone like Dietfried, who oozed the sex appeal of an adult man.

“Mr. Bougainvillea, I cannot understand what is so good... about my son’s art to you.”

Dietfried spoke the exact words that he would tell the artist if he were there, “Aside from his technique and color usage, his unique individuality is great.”

“Is he that good?”

“Superbly so.”

Silence.

The lady still did not seem convinced. After all, people decided on the quality of an artwork based ultimately on their own impressions, likes and dislikes, so those who stated that they did not understand it very well were by no means bad people.

She might show signs of understanding after quite a lot of explanation, but Dietfried did not feel like doing that much. What he wanted was time to marvel at the things he liked, not a moment of interaction with someone whose ideologies were different from his.

“I have an acquaintance in Leiden who owns a place where we can open a solo exhibition. I can introduce you to her, so let’s try to talk to her about it. I am going to take the ones I want with me, but I will properly lend them to her once the exhibition happens. If it goes well, your son’s works will last forever,” Dietfried said, at which the lady’s face distorted. “Do you not like the idea?” Dietfried asked, unsurprisingly unable to ignore her display of negative reaction, for he had been completely convinced that she would be pleased.

The lady repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, but perhaps not able to muster out the words properly, she stayed silent. Dietfried patiently stared at her as though urging her to say them, and so, she finally spoke out her next sentence, “Don’t you think it’s too late?”

The words that she muttered in intervals echoed through the basement with an empty tone quality.

They were making arrangements for a deceased’s belongings. It was bound to make her a little emotional, Dietfried thought, accepting it very easily.

“I do not. It’s never too late to do the right thing.” After saying this, Dietfried recalled the “right thing” that he himself had not yet done, but put it on hold and continued the conversation, “Leaving the works of your talented son to posterity is the right thing. It’s not late for that even now.”

“But I never even had any interest in the things that child made...”

That was a shocking thing for a mother to say.

“Is it really all right for someone like me to try to leave my son’s art to prosperity at this point...?”

Apparently, her son had not been what she aspired.

She had wished for a cheerful child who could play sports and work hard, but he instead was born an introverted scholar, fond of writing and painting. From her point of view as his mother, he was a slightly inferior child.

It seemed that, at first, she had hoped he would become what she wanted regardless, once he grew up. But the more she did so, the more introverted her child became, which created a distance between him and her. The lady did not understand her son’s thinking, and although the son enjoyed “expressing himself”, he never did so to his parents.

The lady had given up on her son halfway. “This wasn’t the son I wanted.” That was all there was to it.

Fortunately, she had other children, and so, she entrusted them with how she wanted them to be.

Most likely, these feelings had reached her son even without her saying anything. Once her son, who was a failure in her viewpoint, left the house, he rarely ever returned.

She had no idea what kind of job he had. He proudly declared that he was making art during his free time in-between work and had recently started selling it, but as having no interest in this, she ended up giving him a cold reply. Those were the contents of their last exchange, she said, and she remembered her son looking like he wanted her to praise him.

In that meantime, the Continental War intensified and the city where her son lived was bombed. She had searched for him in his destroyed house and waited for days, but he did not come back. Many such families had arisen in the Continental War. It was nothing uncommon.

The lady attempted to sort out her feelings somehow, telling herself that it was war, after all. Through tears, she brought home his remaining artworks as if they were keepsakes of him. They could at least serve as consolation. However, looking at them made her feel suffocated, as if her neck were being strangled. The paintings kept complaining at her to “look at them”.

“We have value.”

“We’re not worthless.”

“Why won’t you look at us?”

It felt as though her regretful past with her son was clearly being put on display. This scared her, the lady said. That was why she had tossed them into the basement without proper care, even though she herself had brought them with her.

Dietfried, who did not have prosperous relations with his family, did not find this story to be particularly sad.

“If only I had... tried harder to understand him...”

――Family issues are a thing everywhere, huh.

Only this sort of strong feeling came to him. If he were to overlay her with his father and imagine that it was his father saying this to him, he might have gotten angry and said, “What’re you talking about? Too late for that now”.

――What can I say to a woman who’s shackled to her home?

Dietfried had seen that his own mother was chained to their home and treated as an accessory much more than he had been. The lady in front of him was a little younger than his mother, but as expected, since she was nonetheless a “mother”, he could not bring himself to think of treating her coldly.

“Even in a family, it’s hard for people to understand each other when their lifestyles are different. Ma’am, you should be proud that you even managed to raise your children to the point of independence during wartime.”

This was something that Dietfried could say due to not having a bad relationship with his mother amongst his family members. Nevertheless, they had not been talking much ever since he had left home.

“But his art has value, right? He had talent, right?”

“Yes.”

“And yet, I... didn’t praise him when he was alive... It’s late... Too late. Getting money from you... and hearing someone else tell me that my son was great when I didn’t understand him at all... is just too...”

Her words stopped there. However, Dietfried guessed her next sentence, “‘Dishonest’?”

The lady was a little startled at the accuracy of his statement. Still, she had talked about it because part of her must have wanted Dietfried to say that.

“Yes, dishonest... Too dishonest to my son...” Sobs began to slip from her.

Dietfried showed a slightly hesitant attitude, but then whispered in a tone that was mild for him, “If I may talk about myself, I was estranged from my parents.”

“So it was like this in your home too?”

“Yes, my relatives were nothing but problematic.”

Silence.

“My family wasn’t necessary for me... rather, for my life, so I ran away from it. It’s my life, so I wanted to live the way I please. While I was doing that, my father passed away.” He was smiling. The smile was limited to his lips only. “He was the one that understood me the least in our house.”

However, those who were close to him would be able to tell.

“I still do not regret leaving home.”

That the face Dietfried was making now was a lonely one.

“But I’ve finally come to think that even after I left home... even after our paths separated, we maybe should have at least made concessions.”

The girl, who had all the while been standing in waiting at his side, was quietly staring at Dietfried as he spoke about the soft inner parts of himself to someone else, something he rarely ever did.

“If I could go back in time, I’d most likely make a few compromises. Even if we couldn’t have a complete reconciliation... And if this were no use, then there would be no helping it. Families, too, are just a jumbling of strangers anyway. It’s best for them to keep a bit of a distance from each other. But... both you and I have regrets, so...” Dietfried was the same as her in that he could not come up with the proper words. He brought a hand to his forehead and made a headache-bearing face before saying, “Even if it’s sentimental of you, it’s better to do it than not. Ten years in the future, you’ll probably once again have regrets for not doing it right now.”

Silence.

“The only thing we can do now is to keep endlessly making choices that may or may not give us regrets.”

“‘Keep making choices’?”

“Yes, it’s a matter of how meaningful a decision we can make until we get to see the ones who have passed. That’s it. It’s all we can do.”

Perhaps his last words struck a chord, as the lady curled her shoulders and let out another sob. The girl, who was still holding the many paintings, stood by and watched the lady, unable to even offer her a handkerchief. However, this was not an irresponsible or insensitive way of watching someone.

“You, go outside.”

She simply knew that her lord was one to take action at such times, thus she did not make any reckless moves.

“Yessir.”

The girl obediently complied and exited the basement as told, but before she left, Dietfried saw her rubbing the lady’s back, as if she were doing it to her own mother. A slight change had appeared in the girl’s perpetually expressionless face.

After closing her eyes as if something were obfuscating them, she climbed up the stairs and stepped forward, back into a world of light.

   The artworks retrieved by Dietfried were put on permanent display in Leidenschaftlich’s art gallery, becoming popular exhibits that attracted many people.

The Continental War had given everyone sad memories. The artist had passed away in it. In addition, he was also one of Leidenschaftlich’s young writers, so there was something about him that resonated with the hearts of people in times of post-war reconstruction.

For the lady, this publicity was a complicated way of doing things, but she had apparently accepted it, as this was better than not letting the artworks be seen. After all, she said, there was a limit to what the ones left behind could do for the departed.

Dietfried had thought that his exchanges with the lady would end there, but surprisingly enough, it continued after that. Whenever they saw each other at meetings for the art exhibitions, the lady would ask him questions, insistently attempting to educate herself on the art field, and he would set aside some time to answer them – that was the level of their relationship, but this was rare for someone like him, who did not want to have bonds with anyone. Perhaps Dietfried had wanted to do something of the sort with his own mother.

Year by year, that fierce man who used to be so strict to other people was growing softer around the edges. As for who was influencing him, it was mostly the nameless girl.

   “You got no plans for tomorrow, yeah?”

On a certain day, Dietfried asked the girl about her holiday schedule.

“From the moment you ask me that, Captain, they are dust before the wind even if I did have any.”

“Learned how to talk back, huh.”

She actually had always been prioritizing him over everything, so her answer was correct.

   Once their day off arrived, Dietfried and the girl went to visit a certain plot of land in Leiden.

Looking at the mansion that sat at the end of a path lined by lushly green, Dietfried gave a satisfied-looking smile. “Nice house, ain’t it?”

Their final search for a home, which the not-very-homely man had started after the war, ended shortly after they went to take the paintings. During his frequent visits to the gallery in order to assist the exhibition, an art dealer whom he was acquainted with introduced him to a wealthy man they knew who happened to own a leftover villa, although it needed a thorough renovation.

It was a perfect fit for the conditions that Dietfried had set. Indeed, it was old, but one could still live in it once it were renewed. It also had a good outer appearance, as expected of a rich man’s villa. The location was excellent as well. It was not too far from the capital, its surroundings overgrown with greenery. It seemed to be the kind of home that he would long for whenever returning from a battlefield.

In the garden, where it was possible to make a kitchen garden and flowerbeds without any problems, there were wooden swings with no one to ride on them. There must have been children in the house.

Dietfried commanded the girl to sit. Assuming it was for checking the strength of the swing, she obediently sat down, but for some reason, so did Dietfried. The scenery he could see once seated was terribly calm and much too peaceful for two military officers who used to be in a cycle of either killing or being killed. However, this was also something necessary.

“A mansion, huh.” Dietfried spoke intermittently without looking at the girl, only staring at the landscape, “It’s made so that you, me and quite a few other people can live in it, though I have no intention of inviting anyone else aside from Gil. Choose whatever room you want later. If you have any decoration or furniture that suits your taste, tell me beforehand. Or I’ll pick them myself.”

“I do not.”

“Right. That’s what I thought, so I already arranged them.”

Silence.

“Maybe I should’ve at least asked what your favorite color is. Well, if you end up not liking them, then replace them however you prefer with your own salary.”

“Captain, are we going to be coming home to this place from now on?”

“Yeah. It’s our final residence.”

When he said this, the girl blinked, looking surprised. “‘Our’?”

Dietfried responded in an evasive manner, “I’ll make you into a respectable person one day.”

Each time Dietfried spilled a sentence out, a change became visible in the girl.

“After all, no matter how you look at it, I’ll die before you.”

Now the girl’s breath caught.

“I’d been thinking about what to leave for you.”

Now the girl’s eyes were pleading. “Don’t say that,” they said.

“Keep living in it after I die.”

And now, the girl had grabbed onto Dietfried’s sleeve and was squeezing it. “I do not want to.”

The girl most likely would have been able to enjoy visiting the mansion, if only he had not brought this up. He could never tell what this girl was thinking, but she did express her emotions in some ways.

Right now, she was shaking her head in negation, just as a little child would do. “Captain, I will not let you die,” she said as if spitting out painfully.

No one could tell when it would come. Having the not-so-far future predicted to her, even though it was still a few ways ahead, the girl in front of him fell into desperation. Although she had never said that she was “scared” in any of her missions, she was shaking with unease today – the day on which she was granted her last home by her Lord.

The property was worth quite a sum. It was a reward bestowed upon her after an era of conflict had passed.

She should be happy about it, but was not.

Goods and money. They were in far too low a position in her book. After all, they could not alleviate her loneliness. She could not use them as proof of her existence. They would not give her orders.

Therefore, she preferred him over them. She was that kind of wild beast.

In the end, she was incomplete in some aspects as a human being, and if one had to say it, she was more like a machine. And also a monster who did not know love.

“I shall eliminate all of your enemies.”

She did not understand that what Dietfried was attempting to give her now was love.

The beast’s Lord laughed. “We’re talking about lifespan here.”

His hand reached out. He patted the girl’s head in a natural manner. It was the same as soothing a frightened animal. In the past, it would not have even occurred to him. The thought of caressing this monstrosity.

“I shall fight your lifespan as well.”

“It really feels like you could pull it off when you say that and it’s terrifying.”

“I can.”

“Don’t say stupidities. Think about life expectancy. There are things that can’t be helped even if you put effort into them.” While making a fool out of her, Dietfried crinkled his eyes, looking vaguely happy. “But, well, when I think that you’re gonna take care of me, it seems pretty fun, so it’s something I’m looking forward to.”

“It will not be fun.” The girl’s voice had a ting of quiver in it.

He was making her sad. Despite knowing this, Dietfried continued speaking, “I’m delighted.”

The girl crumbled down at the words he proffered.

“‘Cause you were always getting the better of me.”

The number of people and instances that could disrupt her was limited.

“I wanna make you cry in my last moments and then die.”

In short, being able to do that was in itself a proof of being important to her.

Dietfried was a helplessly complicated and warped man, but his feelings ran deep.

The hand that had been patting her head was now moving toward the eyes that had begun to overflow with tears. He scooped the teardrops with his fingers, but did not make it in time. The production of the droplets was faster than him.

“If you don’t want me to get the better of you, then show me a smile at least when you look after me.”

He spent a moment wiping the girl’s tears away, but seeing that they were still not stopping, Dietfried deliberately took out his notebook from his suitcase. In order to show the old notebook to the girl, he opened it on top of both their knees.

“What would this be?”

“Options for your name.”

“My?”

“You forgot ‘cause you’re an idiot, huh? You don’t have a name.”

“I have ‘Undine’...”

“That’s nothing but an alias to praise you for your military deeds.”

Dietfried flipped the pages. There were lists of well-thought-out names written on many, many of them.

Seeing this made the girl’s tears stop completely. With a rare aspect of excitement to her, she ultimately began flipping the pages herself.

The last page had a single name with a large circle around it. That was the name of a flower.

“Captain.” The girl looked up at Dietfried.

When she did so, Dietfried pointed towards the garden, which at present time had morphed into untended flowerbeds. “Looks like that one’s it. Your flower.”

“My flower...”

“I’ll also plant bougainvilleas. ‘Cause it’s my flower. In the end, after much indecision, I picked this one. When I visited this house, I could picture you standing among those flowers. So I thought I could just go with that already. Sounds good even if you add our surname to it. Not bad, right?” Dietfried’s handsome face came close to the girl’s. And so, he whispered from a close distance, as if to poke fun at her, “Linaria Bougainvillea.”

The name pronounced with such a pretty ring to it rapidly melted away into the girl.

Linaria. A beautiful flower. Combined with the flower of the ancient and honorable Bougainvillea household, the name was like a bouquet.

A bond that would have been unthinkable before had certainly been born between the two. Her name seemed to embody that.

“‘Linaria’...”

“Horrible pronunciation; say it again.”

“‘Linaria’ – Linaria Bougainvillea is my name.”

Tears wound up heavily overflowing from the girl’s eyes again. Seeing this, Dietfried laughed, looking delighted once again.

“I do not know what to give you in return for granting me a home and a name.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m notifying you of lifetime employment without checking if you’re willing.”

“Yessir.”

“You won’t be allowed to quit on your own.”

“Yessir.”

“This is a warning for you to never that I’m your Lord. Got it? It ain’t out of kindness.”

“I am happy about that warning.”

“That’s how you are. A hassle of a woman.”

“I take after my Lord.”

“You really learned how to talk back, huh.”

“Lord Dietfried, you made me like this. I am a wild beast. I change according to how my Lord acts.”

“You mean I have a strong influence?”

“A tremendous influence. Therefore, please live a long life and continue being my Lord,” the beast cried.

“I’ll make an effort.”

Watching the girl stroke the name written on the notebook, Dietfried found himself thinking. For how many years would he be able to look at her, he wondered. He had to make an effort to find people whom he could entrust her to after he died. Her shackles would elapse unless he provided her with a friend or two. Perhaps he should make her quit the military, but what else could she do? All sorts of thoughts crossed his mind and then disappeared.

――Not yet.

He was unable to sort out his thoughts. For now, he wanted to stay like this, comforting the weeping beast. To savor the moments when he was needed.

Dietfried Bougainvillea’s way of expressing love was awfully inept.

“Linaria, even if you die lonely by any chance, with this, we’ll be together in the grave.”

This is the story of a love that perhaps could have happened.

[dennou-translations]

Skream Interview with Jin

Jin, who entered the internet culture of the 2010’s as a revolutionary due to being the creator of the multi-media project “Kagerou Project”, has finally finished making his first mini-album, “Allegories”, in which he sings all the songs himself. Four years have passed since the release of “Mekakucity Reload”, his third album for Kagerou Project, in 2018. This work, which has set a new frontier for Jin – who has been releasing several music pieces sung by VOCALOID throughout these ten years since the start of his activities – is a fresh one that realistically reflects his way of life and half of his lifetime. What kind of feelings has Jin put into this work, in which he has sharpened his songs and melodies more than ever with the theme “folk song” in mind, and what is he contemplating for the future? We have asked him about it.

Raw || Index || Translated on commission!

“The ‘Kagerou Project’ series is a big project, but ‘Gojitsudan’ felt detached from it, as if it were something that I was doing separately.”

——At last, Jin-san, you have finished a work where you sing all the songs yourself.

Came out pretty quick, huh?

——Ah, is that so?

Making it in itself was difficult. I was able to do all I could, so to say. I feel that it materialized in a natural way.

——But Jin-san, haven’t you been making countless other works where you sing the songs yourself until now? I think you had the opportunity to step into that territory in this meantime, so what was the cue for you to do it only now?

For the last ten years until I arrived to this point, I’ve been doing things like providing music to other artists, projects using VOCALOID and writing. I produced a music piece for AlphaPolis’s TV commercial last July.

——“Gojitsudan”, right?

Yes. AlphaPolis is also an e-book site, where users can post their own works. I was commissioned to make a theme song for it. While thinking, “Who’s gonna sing that?”, I firstly sent them the song that I pictured. I made it as a provisional piece that went like “lalala”, and apparently, it was good. The people around me kept saying, “Why don’t you try to sing it yourself?” and things like that. But if I were to do so, the commissioners would be like, “Please let us think about it”, right?

——Yes. It turns into something more personal.

Exactly. Therefore, I decided to dig deeper into the lyrics while making them. I wanted to treasure the feeling of “Why is it again that I’m doing this as a writer?” when writing. I soon finished it. It’s something I’ve thought about thoroughly, but I didn’t have to remake it. Everyone from the staff accepted it, and everyone that had an involvement with my life, such as my mother and little sister, also told me that it was good.

——Jin-san, do you have your family listen to your compositions every time you finish them?

Whenever I send them to my sister, it leaks to my parents (laughs). I ended up singing it myself because I had this kind of support from them as well. I’ve wanted to create things in an elaborate way up until now, so to say – what I wished to do was to solidly create a miniature garden and think about what I wanted to put in it.

——A songwriting that carefully built up your world view.

That’s right. Which is why I rarely did anything like bringing out my feelings just the way they were. I used to think that it didn’t fit me. As you said, I had until now been receiving countless proposals to try singing the songs myself, but it just didn’t happen. Not out of selfishness from not wanting to sing them, but rather because the flow of things didn’t mesh.

——So there was simply no timing for it?

Right, right, right. This time, in contrast, everything meshed. I feel like I made each song one after another from that point onward. Then, when I was asked what kind of album it was going to be, I was especially pleased with myself when writing “Gojitsudan”. As if I’d written it in a small room. “Kagerou Project” feels like a really big project, but I got hooked into the sensation that I was doing something separate, which strayed away from it. This is like a debut work even though it’s been eleven years. I made it as if I knew that it was going to be like this from the very start.

——Didn’t you originally want to make a sequel of Kagerou Project as your next move after the release of the album “Mekakushi Reload” back in 2018?

Well, I want to keep working on Kagerou Project from now on too. However, due to it becoming a series that was simply too big, it went far beyond a category where I could navigate it as an artist. It’s a project that I write books, make music and set instructions for, but a lot of people take part in it. While I was thinking that I had to find a way to navigate it, I made “Gojitsudan”, so I felt like it had straight up spurted out of KagePro. I should work on Kagerou Project when I want to work on it. After all, it isn’t the only thing I’m doing. I’ve started to think that it would be great if I could create something with new value beyond this kind of experience.

——Jin-san, did you have the desire to sing the songs yourself one day?

As expected, it’d come and go. Whenever I suddenly had one-sided ideas like “I can’t have other people sing this” or “it’d kill this song if it were sung by a VOCALOID”, I’d conclude that I had no other option but sing them myself. Like, I’m still required to write... be it novels or screenplays, and they themselves are forms of expression as well. It’s about writing to my heart’s contentment about my own detailed nuances, to an extent where it’s comparable to singing, so there isn’t much of a boundary for it.

——So “singing” and “writing” entail similar outputs.

Right, right. If I were to say it, I have the impression that singings is what feels closer to writing, in comparison to composing songs. That was also a reason why I wanted to put more effort into writing. But this time, once I decided, “I’ll be the one to sing”, I produced the songs with a strong desire to make them into something that I can be proud of.

——How did you face your songs?

I do play-and-talk because I quite enjoy it. Also, livestreaming. I started to feel a special meaning in playing the acoustic guitar, particularly in the last five years or so. In the past, my stance was to make music with VOCALOID using the electric guitar. I’ve always liked rock bands. But when I started wondering, “Why is it that the acoustic guitar feels just right for me now?”, I realized something. That this collection of short stories called “Allegories” is folk rock to me. I think folk song is a cursed music genre that has a lot of soul in it. Real life ends up showing in it. Nakajima Miyuki-san and other such people are just like that. For example, “Kanashikute Yarikirenai” (by The Folk Crusaders). I was born in the countryside of Hokkaido, so...

——In Rishiri Island, right?

Yes. I used to listen to folk there, and I thought it was a terrible performance. The sound can’t compare to the likes of metal or hard rock but the curse levels are super high. Lately, when I listened to Tulip and other such songs again, there was a moment when I got a click on the style and melody of acoustic. Like, “Ah, I wanna do folk”. What matters isn’t just playing an acoustic guitar or playing with three fingers, but rather what you choose from the lyrics and what you’re screaming about. In that sense, I think “Allegories” has managed to get to the point of what I deem as folk.

——So that is why “Allegories” is centered around the idea of ​​folk, yet it does not have the antique-ness of the so-called “Showa folk” in terms of sound and also contains songs with various approaches.

I don’t think of folk as old-fashioned in itself, after all. It’s something that indicates people’s own melodies as human beings, so to say. Katou Tokiko-san’s songs about living life your own way are like that too.

——After “Gojitsudan”, you announced the song called “GURU”, which is not included in the main part of “Allegories”. I thought that this song in particular seems to have a strong folk rock mindset.

“Gojitsudan” was the trigger and it made my desire to produce stuff in a certain way – releasing things as soon as I finished them – start coming to life. Like, “Until now, I’d only been doing productions where I polished them into perfection, but from this point on, what I create today will be released tomorrow”. I made “GURU” into this kind of song. That one is folk too. The lyrics are crazy, though. Personally, I intended to make literary art with it. Like, I write, “make a FOOL out people and they make a FOOL out of you” in roman letters.

——The humor of writing a standard word in roman letters on purpose, is that it?

Yes, and I use kaomoji for the parts of the B-melody where I say nothing but “o-e-o” (it says “(o-e-o) (o-e-o) (o-e-o)” in the lyrics card). For me, this was a verse that I wanted to turn into literary art in video culture.

——It seems this song was produced using the new voice synthesis software “KAFU”, so how was that?

I used Hatsune Miku a lot in my previous album, but I don’t particularly have a “this is the only thing I’ll ever use” kind of obsession with it. I simply thought that KAFU was good. Being able to do all kinds of challenges was fun. It came closer to the image I have in my head when I sang on my own, rather than with the software that I used in the past. Like trying my hand at using coined words that are hard to catch from the very beginning of the song – it goes well up to the part where the singing gets intense but isn’t necessarily a rap. I think that was possible because I was using KAFU.

——The limited edition of Animate’s complete production volume also includes the song “GURU”, sung by you, Jin-san – meaning it was a song that could have been included in the main part of the album, so is there any reason why you purposefully removed it?

It’s just that I finished “GURU” after I was already mostly done with the album’s songs. In order, my most recent one is “Kiero” and before that is “GURU”. If you think of it that way, “Kiero” is a song that feels different, even in this album.

——Jin-san, your productions so far have granted a kind of persona-like existence to VOCALOID and created an intricate view of the world. But now, you are singing by yourself about something that is closer to your own way of life. Is that not a rupture in your musical life? Or do you regard it as a continuum?

To me, it’s the same, unchanged thing. For example, there is a certain philosophy that I aimed for with “Allegories”, but at the same time, as expected, there is a part of me who can think of this world as the world of Kagerou Project. How can I put it? The theme of the song “FREAKS” is something like “dinosaurs idolizing the sun”. I really like that one.

——You sing, “I wanna be like ‘that popular guy I admire, the one who’s like the Sun’”, after all.

Exactly. As for why I like this song, it’s because it’s a song that sings about “going beyond this ever-shining lie” while getting ready to tell lies. After writing this song, what I wanted to say in this album was, “So there were other things/that I forgot to write about?” through “Gojitsudan”.

——What do you mean?

This “FREAKS” thing is how I feel as a creator. I’ve been doing what I do because I keep thinking that I want to be the Sun, but I also wonder if I’m nothing but an ugly monster riding on a ball in a freak show. It’s also a song where I think, “Aah, I can’t become the Sun”. The “ever-shining lie” in the lyrics refers to the Sun. It says that there’s no way such an invincible Sun can exist in this world. And it’s also a song where there’s a realization that someone is seriously shining through telling lies. It’s exactly because I was able to write all about this feeling that I put it into this album. And for me, Kagerou Project is something like that. An “ever-shining lie”. Therefore, I’m aiming for the same thing with Kagerou Project, while leaving it in a position that completely opposes my own. One doesn’t contradict the other. I’ve said something a bit confusing, but if you ask me, “Is it a continuum?”, I say that both are things that come naturally out of me. Nothing has been lost, nor has anything changed. That’s why, by making “Allegories”, I’ve come to believe even more strongly that Kagerou Project is pretty good.

——Jin-san, it feels like your options for expressing yourself have increased.

Right. To sing about something like this, you just have to choose it. This time, I’m the one singing. I feel that I might be able to convey something by doing that.

——Did you have a desire to express something like, for example, your pain or conflicts as a creator through this whole album?

Indeed, now that you asked, I think that might be an aspect of it. This album has an outlandish structure. There is a “writer” that shows up in “Gojitsudan”, and I imagine this person as the one who writes the five subsequent short stories, “Kiero”, “ZIGI”, “MERMAID”, “VANGUARD” and “FREAKS”. However, he isn’t a persona, but rather an exact copy of me, in a sense. So the theme about creation is present, but rather than being about my conflicts as a creator, I feel that I made these songs to be more like, “This is how music is born, this is how you make it”.

——Aah, I see.

With “Kiero”, I portray feelings like wanting to die and deciding to commit suicide. But if you search “I want to die” on the internet, you get telephone numbers of counseling centers and whatnot, right? When that happens, you can’t bring yourself to die. So I asked myself why I couldn’t die. When I wondered about who was stopping me, I figured that it must be myself, for sure. “Kiero” is a song with that kind of theme. It’s the feeling of, “How many variations of myself have I killed in order to live through today? I’m alive because I’ve been killing my thoughts, be them kind or painful. Just what is this exactly? What is life?”, which is so sad that you can’t stand it. Like, “Sorry for not being able to be nice to myself” – that kind of conflict.

——I totally get it.

Also, the song “VANGUARD” is something I wrote when a friend of mine passed away. Back then, everyone on the internet was saying things like, “It was too soon for you to go”, “Why did you have to die? I’m so sad” and, “I loved the things you created”, which grossed me out a lot. Like, “Why didn’t you tell them that when they were alive?”

——So that person was also a creator, huh?

That’s right. I think those people should have told them “I like your stuff” when they were still alive. Those people should’ve attended their live concerts. They didn’t really go. So why do they try to make a drama out of it? That’s what I was feeling when I wrote this song. I think that’s what music is. That we should sing, “Isn’t this what everyone is actually thinking?”. Maybe it’s a work in order to confirm, “Am I the only one who thinks this way?”. In that sense, “Allegories” contains songs that bring me back to the feelings I had when I was at the starting point of my music career. So rather than it being about the life of a writer, it’s about my own life. A song that I wrote because no one talks about this. I also made it while thinking, “Everyone, you don’t have to write love songs anymore”. Like, “There are too many love songs” (laughs).

——While “VANGUARD” is a song that has these feelings in its roots, lyrics-wise, it is like a story that begins with the line, “I heard that you had passed, so I set off on a journey”.

Yep. This a song about going to a funeral. Long ago, I watched a documentary about the Ger people. The whole tribe goes to the funerals of those who married off to somewhere far away. Super far. They head off carrying things like household belongings together in such a frigid cold that it might kill them. Funerals are that important to them. That’s what became my motif.

——So that is why the sound also has an exotic finishing touch.

Exactly.

——Eijun-san (Suganami Eijun/THE BACK HORN/guitarist) is credited as the arranger. I think he is indispensable to talking about your roots, Jin-san, so under what circumstances did you ask him for it?

I’m a big fan of his. Without a doubt, Eijun-san is the world’s number one rock star. A while ago, we made the song “Into the blue’s” from the anime “LISTENERS” together, and didn’t it have such a “rock” sound? He’s truly a garage rock guitarist, but I could really feel his sharpness for making tracks. I wanted him to lend his strength to my melody, and that was how I asked him.

——How did the production with Eijun-san go?

I handed him the demo song and things progressed as we had exchanges that went like, “Can you do it like this?”. Whenever I conveyed my own image of it to him, Eijun-san would say, “I totally get you; it’s a good song”. He picked up on what I was thinking and turned it into sound, I believe. This was a discovery on the fact that I don’t have any weird particularities when making stuff on my own, which also applies to when I request for arrangements like this one, because what I have to do is crystal-clear to me. Like, in the end, what matters most is the melody and lyrics.

——Jin-san, it looks like you will invest yourself even more into your songs next time.

That’s right. I think there’s this moment when a good melody turns into a good song. It’s not guaranteed that a sad melody is the way to go when you’re sad. It’s sadder and more unbearable when the melody is cheerful in spite of your sadness. That’s what makes people tear up. I have the feeling that this is the way I’m going to be investing myself into my songs, like, “This is what songs are”.

——Just now, you said, “There are too many love songs (out there)”, but if we were to categorize “MERMAID”, I thought it would be a love song.

Ah, right. This is a song about an airplane heading off to a honeymoon and then crashing into the sea. It’s a song in which the body steadily rots, becomes worn-out, melts away and turns into water. As for why I wrote this song, it’s that when the feelings that lovers, married couples, friends, etc. have for each other are at their peak, they gradually begin to see the negative points of one another, so the feelings wane off. I really don’t like that. “Then wouldn’t you be at your happiest when you’re traveling to your honeymoon or when you’re at the height of it?” – that’s what I attempted to try with this song. If I were to say it, rather than thoughts, I wanted to leave behind a scenery with this song. I made it wanting to create a short movie for it, so I used a different technique in comparison to the other songs.

——What are your thoughts on giving this work the title “Allegories”?

“Allegories” means “a collection of parables”. When it came to me that this work consists of drastic songs, I felt like giving it a simple title. It was pieced together with passion, but it’s similar to a book in that it’s closed up in plastic wrap. So I wanted to pick a word that didn’t have much feeling in it. For example, there are explanatory titles such as “Fairy Tales from Around the World”, but if you open the book and look inside, it contains stories like an old man being devoured by an old lady, or a witch being cooked up in a cauldron, or having rocks stuffed into her stomach and getting pushed down a river as revenge. I wanted a title with that kind of image. Therefore, the next one will be “Allegories 2” (laughs).

——Looking forward to it. Finally, Jin-san, you celebrated the tenth anniversary of your career last year, so after “Allegories”, what kind of activities are you thinking of doing?

I want to hurry and make my next work. In particular, I want to release something while I still haven’t forgotten the sensations from when I was making “GURU” and “Kiero”. I’m planning on keeping up this thing of making and uploading one song per month for a year or so. Either using VOCALOID or singing them myself. “If I end up producing a full album with them, how it’ll turn out?” is what I think.

——Being excited about things you want to do even after celebrating your tenth anniversary is quite fortunate.

I don’t feel drained at all. Ah, that’s right; there was one important thing. When I was writing the novels while using VOCALOID with a rather rocky tone, many people told me things like, “A musician shouldn’t be writing novels”. Or, “He’s writing novels because he doesn’t have confidence in his music”. The frustration of never being acknowledged was present in my early twenties. But now, I like being influenced by rock, although I don’t want to be a rock musician. I don’t want it to be the kind of rock that has long lost its substance. Then what will it be? I want to make stuff in order to determine that. Therefore, I want to continue writing books as well. I want to properly write my novels and create a work that will last in this culture.

[dennou-translations]

Mekakucity Actors Audio Commentary #4

Act 4 – Kagerou Days

Translation of the second audio commentary that comes with the DVD/Blu-ray of Mekakucity Actors. Raw version here. Please consider purchasing the original copies and feel free to message me about possible corrections. If there happens to be any issues with the link, please contact me on my main blog!

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Jin: Hello to everyone listening to the audio commentary of Mekakucity Actors Act 04 – Kagerou Days.

Kokko-chan: Pfft...

Jin: Eh, I’m the creator and screenplay writer, Jin.

Suzu: Yes, hello. I’m Togashi Misuzu, the voice of Hibiya.

Kokko-chan: *holding back laughter* Hello. I’m Koiwai Kotori, the voice of Hiyori.

[muffled laughs in the back]

Ishikawa: Yes, and I’m Ishikawa from Aniplex, the one who’s going to supervise this commentary. I’m in charge today in Suzuki’s stead. Pleasure to meet you.

Everyone: It’s a pleasure.

Suzu/Kokko-chan: *burst into laughter*

Jin/Ishikawa: *confused noises*

Kokko-chan: It’s not what you think! We’re not laughing because it’s a bunch of weirdoes gathering here today or anything like that!

Suzu: Totally not!

Kokko-chan: It’s just that Jin-san said he was going to use a cool voice!

Ishikawa: So he was trying to go for a different kind of mood.

Everyone: *laughs*

Kokko-chan: He started out speaking like that and...

Suzu: We couldn’t hold back.

Jin: Just to put it out there, t-this time, we’re at the fourth volume.

Suzu: Yes.

Jin: Even now, in the fourth volume, I’m the main focus.

Suzu: That’s right!

Jin: I was in all the previous three volumes.

Kokko-chan: Right.

Jin: But my way of greeting, “hello, everyone” at the beginning is sort of slow.

Suzu/Kokko-chan: *laugh*

Ishikawa: No, that’s not true.

Jin: And one of the subjects at hand was that it’s kind of dull, so this time...

Suzu: Ah, so because of that...

Jin: I thought I should greet with a better voice.

Suzu: “A better voice”...

Jin: Yeah, a better voice!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: That’s why I restrained myself to using a nice voice tone.

Kokko-chan: “A nice voice tone”...

Jin: But then I was like, “What changed here?”

Ishikawa: The “hello” part was a bit more like...

Jin: Ah, like a dorama?

Ishikawa: It had more of a punch to it.

Kokko-chan: Made you sound like a gentleman.

Jin: So it had a gentlemanly feel to it.

Suzu: Aaah...

Ishikawa: Which was pretty good.

Suzu: It sounded pleasant.

Kokko-chan: “Sounded pleasant”! *laughs*

Suzu: Just managing to muster that out is tiring enough.

Jin: Thank you!

Suzu/Kokko-chan: *laugh*

Ishikawa: Nice.

Jin: I was proper.

Suzu: You were.

Jin: I was able to act proper.

Suzu: I’m looking forward to it. It’s begun. *laughs*

Jin: Thank you.

Kokko-chan: It has started.

Ishikawa: That’s right, this is the fourth episode, “Kagerou Days”.

Jin: Yes!

Suzu: Yes.

Ishikawa: The title “Kagerou Days” forms a connection with the novel’s title.

Jin: Yes!

Kokko-chan: Yes.

Ishikawa: This episode might be a key point or even a turning point because of that, so I’m hoping to ask you all sorts of things about it.

Suzu: Yes! It’ll be a pleasure.

Jin: We’ll be in your care!

Ishikawa: I’ll be in your care too.

Kokko-chan: Please take care of us...

Ishikawa: So, this episode is Togashi-san’s first appearance—

Jin: Second appearance!

Suzu: *laughs*

Jin: She was in the second episode.

Suzu: Ah, true.

Ishikawa: Is that so?

Jin: Episode 2: Kisaragi Attention.

Suzu: That’s true... I took part in it.

Kokko-chan: Does that make you a regular?

Suzu: One hell of a regular.

Jin: A regular at being chased!

Suzu: *laughs*

Jin: At being chased by a mob!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: So hit me up whenever you’re in trouble.

Jin: Please take care of us!

Jin/Kokko-chan: *laugh*

Ishikawa: Thank you very much. And we have the first appearance of Koiwai Kotori-san, who voices Hiyori.

Kokko-chan: Yes! Please take care of me.

Everyone: Please take care of us.

Jin: *giggles* Hum, Koiwai-san, you’re the only one that—

Kokko-chan: Yes?

Jin: This script that you’re holding – in each of the scripts that we’re all holding – you’re the only one who has your name written as “Koiwai-sama”. And your greeting line goes, “Hello, I’m the voice of Hiyori, Koiwai Kotori”. What’s the reason for that!?

Kokko-chan: *laughs* I guess I’m supposed to be Hiyori-like already from that point.

Suzu: Like, “Koiwai Kotori” without the “desu”.

Ishikawa: That’s so in-character.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: Like, “Don’t make me say it”.

Suzu/Kokko-chan: *laugh*

Kokko-chan: I won’t say “desu”. *laughs*

Jin: *laughs* So, it’s begun.

Suzu: She’s Hiyori-sama. Hiyori-sama.

Jin: Feels just like Hiyori-sama.

Ishikawa: Yep.

Kokko-chan: Right?

Jin: Anyway, the opening theme is over, so we’ve entered the main part of this commentary.

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzu: Here it is! *laughs* It’s like we’ve run right through it.

Jin: Right. Today, we have called over the two of you.

Kokko-chan: Yes!

Suzu: Yes.

Jin: Well, this is an episode where you two are quite the focus, “Kagerou Days”.

Kokko-chan: Yeah.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzu: Exactly. This scene, for example, is right after Hibiya bumped into Momo on episode 2.

Jin: Yeah, it’s starting from right after the scene where they bumped into each other.

Suzu: Yup.

Jin: From a point where the chronological order is a little bit different.

Suzu: Hum, when I saw this on air for the first time, I kinda thought that the atmosphere of summer in it is so amazing.

Jin: That’s right!

Kokko-chan: Hmmm!

Ishikawa: Ah, true.

Jin: The summer feel was intense, huh?

Suzu: It was incredible, wasn’t it? It has a pretty fancy mood.

Jin: Hm.

Suzu: But it does transmit that oozing heat.

Kokko-chan: Yup!

Ishikawa: That’s true. Like, it’s not about the level of humidity.

Suzu: Yeah.

Ishikawa: It’s more like something you see in a movie, like it has a punch to it.

Suzu: Exactly.

Ishikawa: It’s quite good.

Jin: About Hibiya-kun...

Suzu: Yes?

Jin: It’s just enough heat to humidify him.

Kokko-chan: “To humidify him”!

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: M’boy Hibiya is always wet somewhere when he shows up.

Suzu: Hey!

Kokko-chan: “Always wet somewhere”...!

Suzu: What’s with that? *laughs*

Jin: M’boy Hibiya is always wet somewhere.

Suzu: But true, though. To think he was that kind of kid...

Jin: Yeah. Downtown with a girl at night.

Suzu: Ah, here it is. The daydream scene.

Jin: The daydream scene.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: “Flash”~!

Ishikawa: In this part, although it’s right from the get-go, Hibiya-kun has a pretty good voice.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Ishikawa: It’s a nice voice.

Suzu: True. It’s noice.

Jin: Ah, this part!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: It sure shows in his voice.

Jin: Here it comes, here it comes!

Suzu: Eh?

Jin: That one scene!

Suzu: *laughs*

Jin: “Perfect,” he says. And then...!

Suzu: And then...!

Jin: And then what he gets is...!

Suzu: Is that iiit?

Ishikawa: This sequence is just...

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: Oh, so she doesn’t want it~?

Kokko-chan: She just told him so.

Jin: I have to say, thank you very much!

Ishikawa: “Thank you very much”?

Jin: Thank you very much, because that’s a treat.

Suzu: It’s a treat.

Jin: It’s a reward!

Suzu: A reward.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: In our business, that’s a reward!

Kokko-chan: At first, when I’d just started acting as Hiyori...

Jin: Yes?

Kokko-chan: Perhaps as a result of me using too many insults, the director commented, “Maybe you’re being a bit too harsh”. *laughs*

Jin: *laughs* That did happen! That did happen.

Kokko-chan: Yeah. I was supposed to act pouty. He was like, “Let’s take that anger more to the pouty side.”

Suzu: Like a grade schooler.

Kokko-chan: Right. Like a child.

Jin: Back then, I couldn’t say this at all, but I liked the way you did it.

Suzu/Kokko-chan: *laugh*

Jin: Hum, in the early stages, rather than being like this, Hiyori was...

Kokko-chan: Pricklier.

Jin: Yeah, as if she were judging you.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

Suzu: She was colder.

Jin: Right, Hiyori was colder and more aloof, so in my head, I was like, “Thank you very much, thank you very much”.

Kokko-chan/Ishikawa: *laugh*

Ishikawa: As expected, it couldn’t be showed on surface level, but...

Jin: But there were other ways for Hiyori to press him down

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzu: They say it’s best not to take it to heart and turn into a masochist.

Jin: “A masochist”!

Everyone: *laughs*

Kokko-chan: That’s right! He was so happy with it!

Suzu: Yeah! Now he’s like, “Ah, is that so? Sorry!”

Jin: Hibiya-kun is in a state where he needs to wipe the drool off his mouth.

Suzu: Agh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: And thank you very much!

Jin: Thank you very much!

Suzu: Hiyori, thank you very much!

Kokko-chan: *giggles*

Suzu: Sorry for reprimanding you.

Jin: That’s also the right way to do it, according to the original work.

Everyone: *laughs*

Ishikawa: True. That’s how Hibiya-kun is.

Suzu: There sure is a lot in this episode.

Jin: Yeah. It’s a Hibiya-kun and Hiyori episode.

Suzu: A Hiyori episode.

Ishikawa: I’d be grateful if you could tell us more about this.

Suzu: Whoa, it’s her bedroom. Whoa, whoa.

Jin: Whoa, whoa.

Suzu: Whoa, whoa.

Jin: It’s a pretty small room.

Ishikawa: Very small.

Jin: Hiyori-san is the type that leaves her room messy!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: The kind of girl who doesn’t do cleaning.

Jin: She doesn’t clean up.

Kokko-chan: She’s a queen, after all.

Jin: Like, “You’d better get moving so that I won’t have to bend down.”

Suzu: True, but Hiyori doesn’t have to move around much, does she?

Kokko-chan: Yeah.

Jin: Right. It’s not like she can’t, but she doesn’t do anything else on her own.

Suzu: *laughs* She doesn’t want to!

Jin: Hibiya-kun does everything.

Suzu: He does everything! So this one was Hibiya’s fault. He didn’t clean up properly.

Jin: Exactly.

Suzu: I’m sorry.

Kokko-chan: At the beginning, I just listened to the theme song first.

Jin: Yes, yes, yes.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Kokko-chan: When I was listening to it, hum, I kind of pictured Hiyori as a more well-mannered person.

Suzu: Ah, true.

Ishikawa: Ah, the impression she gives off is indeed like that. I totally get you.

Kokko-chan: That’s right. And when I heard about the audition and read the materials, I was like, “Oh! She’s quite the queen type!”

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: From one extreme to the other!

Kokko-chan: *laughs* Yeah, it was a surprise.

Suzu: She’s beautiful. Right? So beautiful.

Ishikawa: She’s cute.

Suzu: So cute...

Kokko-chan: Ah, there he is.

Jin: In the original—ah, h-he’s here.

Ishikawa: Konoha’s first appearance in the anime.

Suzu: His first appearance.

Kokko-chan/Suzu: *laugh*

Jin: He’s so white, isn’t he?!

Suzu: He is!

Ishikawa: His aura is amazing, isn’t it?

Jin: So white!

Suzu: Overwhelmingly white.

Jin: An overwhelming whiteness!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: “Who’re you?”

Suzu: And then he’s like, “Who’re you?”

Jin: It’s Konoha’s first appearance, and there’s this art style where they’re portrayed as tiny and far-away! This art style is the deal!

Ishikawa: Indeed.

Suzu: As if to add up to the contrast...

Jin: So far! So far!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: You can’t even see his whole body. So far...

Kokko-chan: In this episode, he’s always eating a lot and being meager.

Ishikawa: Ah, true.

Jin: Eating a lot and being in the background.

Kokko-chan: *giggles* Doing funny things.

Jin: Doing less significant stuff.

Suzu: He’s real fun. When we were recording, Miyano-san tapped the microphone and it echoed a “sheeeeen”, and then he was like, “Who’re you?”

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: And then he just straight up left.

Suzu: He straight up left!

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: Miyano-san was like, “Is it okay for my part to be over just like that?”

Everyone: *laughs*

Suzu: Made him uneasy, huh?!

Jin: It did!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: “It was perfect! Thank you very much!”

Suzu: *laughs*

Jin: That’s what I told him.

Suzu: I like Konoha.

Kokko-chan: Yup!

Jin: Me too. A lot.

Kokko-chan: He’s great, isn’t he?

Ishikawa: He’s amazing. Amazing.

Suzu: I think he hits off well with Hiyori.

Kokko-chan: Ah, I think so too! To a girl, he’s kinda...

Suzu: Exactly! Kinda occult. I get you.

Kokko-chan: Maybe it’s something only we understand.

Ishikawa: There’s something about him that only girls understand.

Kokko-chan: He’s sort of mysterious, so to say. How can I put it? We get charmed by him.

Suzu: He strikes a chord.

Ishikawa: There are many mysteries surrounding him.

Kokko-chan: Yup, yup, yup.

Ishikawa: He’s not too greedy – well, of course isn’t.

Kokko-chan: Yep, yep, yep.

Ishikawa: But I have the impression that his modest side, in contrast, brings out Hiyori’s real thoughts.

Jin: Ah, yes, yes, yes.

Kokko-chan: Indeed.

Suzu: Well, he’s my rival, after all.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: True.

Suzu: To Hibiya, it’s more like...

Kokko-chan: To Hibiya...?

Suzu: Like, “Aren’t I devoting myself to you?!”

Kokko-chan: He’s doing his best, and yet...!

Jin: He’s doing so much!

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: As you’d expect, his ulterior motives show through.

Suzu: Yeah, yeah! He has second intentions. That’s no good.

Ishikawa: They’re in plain sight.

Jin: He’s too obvious, that Hibiya-kun...

Suzu: He’s a grade schooler but he’s a boy, after all.

Jin: He’s a boy.

Suzu: Hmm...

Jin: And from this point on—so dirty! That’s real messy!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: It’s completely such a realistic mess of a house.

Ishikawa: This just now was totally the case of a rented DVD that he never returned.

Jin: It was right there.

Suzu: That’s bad. He has to return it.

Ishikawa: Really makes him look like a pervert.

Suzu: There it is. There’s Hibiya’s feminine charm.

Jin: Yeah, he’s told that it’s kind of gross how good he is at cooking.

Suzu: *laughs* “Gross”...

Ishikawa: Right? It’s such a shock.

Kokko-chan: A huge shock.

Suzu: I mean, he made so much food! *laughs*

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: That was pretty good wasn’t it?

Ishikawa: That mood switch!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: Hum...!

Jin: Just perfect.

Suzu: So easy to read.

Jin: Pretty easy.

Suzu: Ah, but I think Hibiya will turn into a rather fine man in the future.

Kokko-chan: Yep!

Jin: Ah, true.

Ishikawa: That’s right. I also think so. He’s very serious and kindhearted.

Kokko-chan: Yeah, makes me jealous.

Suzu: He’s short now, though.

Kokko-chan: *giggles*

Suzu: But I think he’ll grow up in the latter half of high school.

Jin: It’s gonna happen suddenly in the latter half.

Suzu: In his late teens, I think, yeah.

Jin: The latter half, huh. Probably halfway through high school, when he’s a second-year.

Suzu: That’s right.

Jin: The seats will be by order of height and he’ll be sitting in the first row until suddenly—!

Suzu: Yeah, he’ll suddenly grow up!

Ishikawa: He’ll gain 20cm during summer vacation and everyone will be like, “Huh?”

Jin: Like, “Huh???”

Suzu: What would Hiyori do?

Kokko-chan: Ah, but... I wonder what!

Suzu: “But”?

Kokko-chan: But, like...

Suzu: “But”, huh?!

Kokko-chan: No, I mean, I feel that Hiyori will also change when they grow up. So I wonder.

Suzu: I wonder how she’ll turn out. Which is iiiit??

Jin: I feel she’ll keep up just like that.

Kokko-chan: Ah, she’ll keep that up?! *laughs*

Ishikawa: Heeeh~?

Jin: She’ll get big just like that, I feel.

Kokko-chan: I see, I see. I want her to be like this forever.

Ishikawa: The so-called “devilish woman”.

Jin: The “devilish woman”.

Suzu: I see. So she’ll always be a queen.

Jin: Exactly.

Suzu: An eternally beautiful woman. I want her to always be like that.

Jin: Making her parents worry.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Ishikawa: That’s right...

Jin: Is that food? Maybe croquettes?

Ishikawa: Probably croquettes, yes.

Kokko-chan: Croquettes...

Suzu: He’s using the croquettes...

Jin: He’s making a trump card tower with them!

Suzu: It’s Konoha, after all.

Jin: Thank you very much. That’s just how he is.

Suzu: This is so much fun. Konoha keeps doing so many funny things in the background.

Kokko-chan: Yeah!

Ishikawa: Right.

Kokko-chan: He does a lot without saying anything...

Suzu: There he goes! Look!

Jin: Look, all at once!

Kokko-chan/Suzu: *laugh*

Jin: About that...

Suzu: Yes?

Jin: When that autograph session happened...

Kokko-chan: Hm, hm!

Jin: ...there were people who said that this scene was really good. Two people liked the way he goes down on that pot at once!

Ishikawa: Eeeh...

Suzu: Two people?!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: There are many fans of this scene.

Ishikawa: True.

Suzu: Really...?

Jin: There were two votes for this scene, where he goes down on that pot while Hiyori-san is nagging so much.

Suzu: It got two votes...

Ishikawa: That’s amazing. Now that the 12 episodes have aired, there were lots of famous scenes to choose from, but they chose this one.

Suzu: This oneee!

Kokko-chan: This one! I choose you!

Jin: This scene is the one they choose! Ah! There it is! The mayonnaise!

Kokko-chan: He’s putting mayonnaise on it!

Ishikawa: This one is a famous scene too.

Suzu: Mayonnaise rice, huh...

Jin: Ah, this is where it begins.

Suzu: That’s right...

Ishikawa: This is Hibiya-kun’s home, isn’t it? When he gets a call from Hiyori-chan...

Jin: Ah, there it is.

Suzu: She’s here, huh!

Jin: The hand-made doll.

Ishikawa: It’s such a cute little doll.

Kokko-chan: That’s the one. It appears on this scene.

Suzu: Is this just like in the original work? The Deco-Hiyo?

T/N: The nickname of the Hiyori doll is “Osha-Hiyo” in Japanese, which is an abbreviation of “Oshare Hiyori”. “Oshare” means “fashionable”/“trendy”/“decorative”, so I adapted it as Deco-Hiyo. I have no idea how the official English translation refers to it.

Jin: Ah, it’s a slightly different Deco-Hiyo.

Suzu: A different version of it?

Jin: That Deco-Hiyo in a little bigger.

Suzu: Ah, is that so? Aah, I see.

Kokko-chan: Really? Bigger? *giggles*

Jin: ‘Cause there’s a huge tape recorder inside it.

Suzu: That’s right, that’s right.

Kokko-chan: So that’s the difference...

Jin: *chuckles* She talks. It’s gross.

Suzu: Myyy... *laughs*

Jin: That’s, hum... just how much he loves her.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: Can’t take his side on this one. *laughs*

Jin: Right. Makes you feel how easy it is for him to love her, like, “I love you today too.”

Suzu: True. Hm...

Kokko-chan: As for the little one, he can take her out with him.

Ishikawa: Yeah, he can go outside with her.

Suzu: “Take her out with him”! *laughs*

Ishikawa: She was made for that.

Jin: He puts her in his chest pocket.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: He can ride the bus with her in his pocket.

Ishikawa: Nice.

Suzu: *laughs*

Jin: Like a Pocket-Hiyo or something.

Suzu: Then, about that magazine, hum...

Jin: Yes?

Suzu: The one that had “Shizu-chan” drawn on the cover.

Jin: Yes, yes.

Suzu: There was a mini-Hiyori strapped to a bag in it.

Jin: Aaah!

Ishikawa: True.

Kokko-chan: Aaah.

Jin: There was one. A mini-Hiyori.

Suzu: Yeah, it was there.

Jin: There are probably lots of Hiyoris, from tiny ones to big ones, I think.

Kokko-chan: Is that so?!

Ishikawa: A complete collection.

Suzu: They’re a collection?

Jin: A full, complete collection.

Suzu: That so?

Kokko-chan: So that’s what it is?

Suzu: The way he goes up the stairs is so gross.

Everyone: *laughs*

Kokko-chan: Yes, it’s incredible.

Suzu: Can humans do this?!

Jin: This is the worst!

Ishikawa: It’s so scary.

Jin: This part is the worst! Sheesh!

Ishikawa: But it’s a good scene.

Jin: Unknown cut-in’s.

Suzu: Yes, I’m sure he’s listening to Hiyori’s voice here.

Ishikawa: Yeah.

Jin: He only records Hiyori’s voice.

Suzu: Hmmm...

Jin: Ah, this one!

Suzu: Ah, this!

Jin: Dogs! That’s so dangerous!

Ishikawa: There are dogs...

Jin: It’s like, “Huh?! Is that allowed?! They’re dogs!”

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: They’re wild dogs.

Ishikawa: Yeah.

Suzu: Wild dogs.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: It’s gonna start all over again.

Suzu: This is probably a throwback to episode 1.

Jin: *laughs* Yeah!

Suzu: Like, “Uh, those dogs... Hold on, hold on!”

Ishikawa: Right...

Jin: Is this... Wait, is this really okay?!

Suzu: He definitely knows them!

Jin: He’s probably met them.

Suzu: Somewhere, right?

Jin: He’s met these wild dogs...

Suzu: ...at some point in his life, yeah. *laughs*

Jin: To tell the truth, this was a scene that happened in the novel way before the anime.

Ishikawa: Heeeh...

Jin: I didn’t delve much into it in the novel, though.

Ishikawa: I see.

Jin: But when it came to the anime, I was like, “Since we’re at it, I might as well just do it.”

Suzu: Ah, is that so?

Ishikawa: It sure leaves an impression, doesn’t it?

Suzu: Yep.

Ishikawa: The comedy is executed rather seamlessly.

Kokko-chan: Yup, yup.

Ishikawa: This is a really weird way of putting it, but Hibiya-kun was all the more...

Jin: ...determined to try anything?

Kokko-chan: He sure puts in effort. *laughs*

Suzu: Just now, when Hiyori-chan was like, “Do your best”, I thought, “She’s such a little devil.”

Jin: She is.

Kokko-chan: *laughs* She’s nice to him sometimes, huh?

Jin: For some reason, while she’s saying that, she moves her neck to the side just a tiny bit.

Kokko-chan: Yeah! It’s cute...!

Ishikawa: That’s right, and she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Kokko-chan: Cuteee...!

Jin: This Hiyori-san is superb.

Ishikawa: She sure is.

Suzu: Thank you very much.

Jin: Thank you very much!

Kokko-chan: That’s probably the only episode where she acts nice. *laughs*

Jin: True.

Kokko-chan: Once in thirty minutes.

Jin: The one and only time!

Suzu: Which is enough.

Kokko-chan: More than enough.

Jin: This is where Hiyori-san’s kindness was most apparent.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: No matter what anyone says, Hiyori-san is very much my type when it comes to personality.

Kokko-chan: Ah, is that so?

Suzu: Oh, oh, oh!

Jin: For women, that’s my type.

Kokko-chan: So you want to be led by the nose?

Jin: I also wanna be kicked.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: Hey!

Ishikawa: That’s totally...

Suzu: Hey!!

Ishikawa: It’s totally that.

Suzu: Like, “Onee-chan-san, you okay??”

Jin: Hibiya-san is... Wait, it’s not “Hibiya-san”!

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: “Hibiya-san”?? Sounds too strong!

Suzu: “Hibiya-san”, he said!

Jin: Hum, so, in the beginning, when I was writing about Hibiya-kun in the novel...

Kokko-chan: Yes?

Jin: ...he was so much like me!

Kokko-chan: Ah, like you?

Suzu: Ah! Like you?

Ishikawa: Like in how relatable he is?

Kokko-chan: Ooooh...!

Jin: He’s really relatable as a guy.

Suzu: Well, he’s also from the countryside.

Jin: He’s from the countryside, and I’m also originally from the countryside of Hokkaido.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Jin: So there’s realism to him. And countryside women are hella strong, so...

Suzu: Aah!

Jin: I used to live on a mountaintop town, so the women were super strong!

Kokko-chan: Aaaaah...

Jin: It was the “men must protect the ships and women must protect the harbor” kind of strong.

Kokko-chan: I see!

Jin: Many of my female classmates were like that too.

Kokko-chan: Eeeh?

Suzu: So you were naturally raised in that midst.

Jin: Yes, I grew up in that environment, so I guess I have an admiration for that.

Ishikawa: *laughs*

Suzu: It was a model for you, so to say.

Jin: I wonder if it was a model or something. Was there anyone like that in my life?

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Someone like Hiyori, right?

Jin: Was there anyone like her??

Suzu: Maybe there was.

Jin: Anyway, that one scene has finally come up.

Suzu: Here it is.

Jin: The scene inside Kagerou Daze! This is quite an impressive scene.

Kokko-chan: Yeah...

Ishikawa: Sure leaves a deep impression in your head.

Suzu: Yup!

Jin: Especially the way that this completely blue background is dotted by red...

Ishikawa: And in-between the red, we have these stop light and telephone poles...

Kokko-chan: It’s fantasy-like.

Suzu: Hum, it’s sickening.

Kokko-chan: Yeeep!

Suzu: Very much.

Kokko-chan: Gives off a strange feeling, doesn’t it?

Jin: It really makes you sick!

Kokko-chan: Yeah...

Suzu: It feels like... you might go crazy.

Jin: Indeed.

Suzu: If you were in a place like that.

Kokko-chan: Yeah.

Jin: This is so...

Suzu: This atmosphere...

Jin: For the sake of exposition and whatnot, the C part is always told from Hibiya-kun’s point of view, and that’s how things are clarified. This here is a separate world that we are seeing through Hibiya-kun’s eyes, which is slightly different from the real world. On top of creating this worldbuilding, I also explained it to SHAFT-san and told them that I wanted to leave the depiction of it to them. I didn’t tell them to do whatever they please, though. Rather, I wanted an indescribably unsettling worldview for it, but this... *laughs* this one is too unsettling!

Ishikawa: So this depiction was too—

Kokko-chan: Aaagh...!

Suzu: Aah, my heart hurts!

Jin: Aaah, that one hurt!

Suzu: Agh! Ouch, ouch!

Jin: I’m indebted to them!

Suzu: Ah, it hurts!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Ishikawa: If we were to put ourselves in Hibiya-kun’s shoes at this time...

Suzu: Man...!

Jin: That’d be outrageous.

Kokko-chan: The art portrays a sense of fun and calmness at first, and then...

Suzu: Yeah, that part is amazing...

Kokko-chan: But then, surely, they don’t get what starts happening to them all of a sudden.

Suzu: Yep...

Jin: When they wake up, it’s all just...

Suzu: For some reason, they don’t talk much, right?

Kokko-chan: Yup.

Jin: Yes, yes.

Suzu: That makes watching them even more disturbing and unsettling.

Jin: Even more, huh?

Kokko-chan: Yeah...

Suzu: Now the colors changed.

Kokko-chan: It’s red...

Suzu: The ground is red this time.

Kokko-chan: Yup, yup. When we were performing, we received advice from, Tsuruoka-san, the sound director. Since we had to do this part countless times repeatedly, the three of us thought about what it would be like in chronological order and imagined it ourselves. We tried our hands at performing it during our meetings with him.

Jin: Man, the color scheme is too eerie...

Kokko-chan: Yeeep.

Jin: It also gives off a sense of perspective.

Ishikawa: True...

Suzu: Yup, yup, yup.

Ishikawa: Speaking of which, this is the most common color combination for the designs of, for example, the novel’s covers and the CD jackets.

Jin: That’s right.

Ishikawa: It’s very prominent.

Jin: A combination of red, blue and white.

Suzu: It leaves an impression.

Kokko-chan: Yep, yep.

Jin: In the beginning, when I was uploading the videos to NicoNico Douga and commissioning them to Sidu-san, she put this red, blue and white combination into them without telling me first.

Suzu: Eeeh?

Kokko-chan: Oooh...

Suzu: Ah, is that so?

Kokko-chan: I see...

Ishikawa: When I watched this video, it gave me the impression that it brims with content.

Kokko-chan: Aaah...

Jin: To me, the impression it gives is that the scenes are portrayed with realism. And lastly, when Sidu-san was making the video, she did the coloring with these three hues as a signature. So, in fact, it turned into part of the worldbuilding from that stage onward, which pulled along the image I had.

Suzu: Aaah...

Ishikawa: I see.

Kokko-chan: Haaah...!

Suzu: So that’s it. Quite indescribable, huh?

Jin: Pretty indescribable, this—

Suzu: Aaaaaaah!

Jin: Aaagh...

Kokko-chan: Ahaha... Hiiiiiyoooooriiiiiiiiiii...!!

Suzu: The fact that we keep wondering what she’s telling him in every repetition is... a stab to the heart.

Kokko-chan: True.

Everyone: *laughs*

Suzu: One hell of a stab.

Kokko-chan: “One hell”...! *laughs*

Jin: “One hell of a stab”.

Suzu: One hell of a stab!

Jin: Is it stabbing you that deep?

Everyone: *laughs*

Suzu: Stab, stab, stab!

Jin: Stab till you can’t take it anymore.

Suzu: Till we’re as red as that.

Jin: Yeah...

Suzu: Hmm, yeah...

Kokko-chan: The blue is fading away...

Jin: By the way, I’m also the one who made this BGM.

Suzu: Ah, really?! Hmm...!

Kokko-chan: Aaah...!

Suzu: I’m in charge of that part.

Kokko-chan: Yes, yes.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Jin: I made it into a track that would make people go, “Haaah...!” when they listen to it. I also used VOCALOIDs for that.

Suzu: Aaah!

Kokko-chan: Oooh!

Jin: I thought it’d be interesting if I did so.

Kokko-chan: Yup, yup, yup.

Jin: A cool chorus.

Kokko-chan: Yup, yup. It’s kinda mysterious.

Suzu: Right?! And a bit uncanny.

Kokko-chan: Yeah!

Ishikawa: Right.

Kokko-chan: All of this really shows.

Jin: At first, I thought of making it entirely with just the electric guitar.

Suzu: Hmm.

Kokko-chan: Aaah...!

Jin: Of challenging myself to make this with nothing but a guitar.

Kokko-chan: Haaaah...!

Jin: To tell the truth, I made “Kagerou Days” by only using the electric guitar and VOCALOID, just like that.

Ishikawa: Hm, hm.

Kokko-chan: Aaah...

Suzu: The song’s begun.

Kokko-chan: Oh!

Ishikawa: Ah, this is where the insert song comes in.

Suzu: Yes! That’s right.

Jin: Right. “Kagerou Days”.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Suzu: Yes!

Kokko-chan: It’s begun...

Jin: It was sung by Kanshou Vector, as in Taguchi Shouichi-san.

Suzu: Yes!

Kokko-chan: Yes.

Ishikawa: Jin-san, on top of making this insert song, did you commission Taguchi Shouichi-san to do this? Did the offer come from you?

Jin: Ah! To be honest, my image of this song is of “rock”.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

Jin: That’s how I made it.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Jin: But if a man were to sing it, it’d turn into a very tedious song.

Suzu: Aaah...

Kokko-chan: Oooh...

Ishikawa: Ah, true.

Jin: So I asked someone who could sing a spicy-hot kind of rock.

Ishikawa: I see.

Jin: In order for it not to be too masculine, so to say.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Jin: Hum...

Ishikawa: True. So your reasoning was that it was best to pull away from it.

Jin: Yeah. I didn’t want it to be too rough – and he isn’t a woman!

Suzu: That’s right.

Jin: The lyrics are from a guy’s viewpoint, so I had to a guy for it. So I heard Taguchi Shouichi-san’s singing voice.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Jin: That was ages ago.

Ishikawa: Yes.

Jin: Way before I made the offer to him.

Suzu: Is that so?

Jin: And when I asked him, “Would you sing ‘Kagerou Days’?”...

Ishikawa: Yes?

Jin: ...it was just like I’d imagined it!

Kokko-chan: Aaah!

Suzu: Aaaaanh...

Jin: He doesn’t sound middle-aged!

Ishikawa: I see. Indeed.

Jin: Like, he’s a “man that doesn’t stink”.

Suzu: Hm, hm, hm.

Jin: That’s right.

Ishikawa: Rather, it’s kinda sexy. There’s some sort of sex appeal to it.

Jin: Right!

Suzu: Yep, yep, yep.

Ishikawa: He sure has a lot of that.

Suzu: And the fact that he’s popular also works in his favor.

Kokko-chan: I know, right?

Suzu: Yeah.

Kokko-chan: How should I put it? He really drives the story to heart.

Suzu: Yeah, yeah. That’s probably what does it.

Ishikawa: What an amazing shot.

Suzu: He was just waiting for it.

Kokko-chan: Hmm!

Jin: I picked a song that intrudes into it and amplifies it.

Suzu: Just wonderful.

Ishikawa: Right.

Jin: He sang it well.

Suzu: And while we were saying all of this...

Kokko-chan: It’s already gotten to the last moment, huh.

Jin: Yeah. The last one is this scene.

Ishikawa: An iconic scene at that.

Suzu: Hm. Quite iconic.

Jin: Ah, that was so cool.

Suzu: Aaaah!

Kokko-chan: Right?

Suzu: Thanks.

Jin: That’s pretty much the moment that Hibiya-kun, hum... became a man, I guess.

Ishikawa: Right.

Suzu: Yeah.

Kokko-chan: That’s right.

Suzu: Somehow, the way he gradually grows in that repeating cycle was really something. And so was performing it.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes.

Jin: Hm-hm. It’s kind of his growth as a boy.

Suzu: Yeah.

Ishikawa: Yes, yes, yes.

Jin: Like, “Someone has to save that girl!” – when boys think like this, that’s when they finally grow up.

Suzu: Right, that’s how they develop.

Ishikawa: It’s how they go up the steps to adulthood.

Jin: Amongst the characters, Hibiya was the only one who didn’t have much of a trauma.

Everyone: Hm.

Jin: All of the other characters had something.

Suzu: Yeah, all of them carried some sort of burden.

Jin: Hibiya was the only one that didn’t have anything in particular. And, well, this is where he comes across his “reason to be”.

Ishikawa: I see.

Suzu: Hmm...

Jin: That’s how important this episode is.

Ishikawa: Yeah, he went through a drastic change of pace.

Jin: It’s about several incidents that change a boy who was once doing fine and well.

Suzu: Yeah...

Jin: That’s what this episode is.

Suzu: Right, but this is also one more story that has ended.

Jin: Yeah.

Suzu: Amongst the ones we’ve had until episode four.

Kokko-chan: Right.

Jin: One more phase was completed.

Ishikawa: Yup. One more change.

Suzu: Yeah, I think we had yet another development in this episode. And from now on, the ending clip sure will hurt.

Kokko-chan: Ugh...!

Ishikawa: Right...

Jin: It’s gonna be rough, huh?

Kokko-chan: Yeah!

Suzu: Pretty rough.

Jin: Especially in this very episode.

Suzu: Hits home, doesn’t it? When I watched it air, it was almost numbing. As expected of Jin-san.

Jin: Thank you very much!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Ishikawa: Togashi-san. Togashi-san, you...

Jin: Aah, you say some smooth stuff.

Kokko-chan: Pretty smooth!

Suzu: You can’t hold back with this kind of stuff!

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Suzu: I couldn’t!

Jin: No, hum, please keep saying more of that! It was amazing!

Ishikawa: That was noice. Really noice.

Jin: Thank you very much. Keep it coming.

Suzu/Kokko-chan: *laugh*

Jin: Keep slowly delivering it.

Kokko-chan: *laughs*

Jin: Well, this episode is now...

Suzu: Yeah, it’s over.

Ishikawa: Time for the C part.

Jin: The C part.

Ishikawa: It’s coming soon.

Suzu: Yes.

Ishikawa: And “Kagerou Daze Episode 4” will be over.

Jin: It’ll come to an end, yes.

Suzu: A blink of eye, huh?

Jin: Sad, isn’t it?

Suzu: It is...

Ishikawa: But this C part is longer than usual.

Suzu: Yes.

Jin: Yes!

Ishikawa: So we can talk for a bit more.

Suzu: All right.

Kokko-chan: Oh!

Jin: All right!

Jin: Hum, Hiyori-chan’s part has ended together with this episode.

Kokko-chan: That’s right...!

Suzu: Yeeeaaah!

Everyone: *laughs*

Suzu: Whyyyyy?

Jin: I’m sorry!

Kokko-chan: I never again show up!

Ishikawa: Yeah...

Jin: I’m so sorry!

Suzu: But her silhouette does appear at some point.

Kokko-chan: Yeah, her silhouette.

Jin: Right! We have her silhouette.

Kokko-chan: But as for her voice... *laughs*

Jin: Yes... due to circumstances related to the contents, Hiyori-san couldn’t show up.

Kokko-chan: No biggie.

Suzu: But after this ends, I believe that Hiyori-chan finds happiness!

Ishikawa: That’s right.

Suzu: With Hibiya-kun, for sure!

Ishikawa: In contrast, amongst all the episodes, this one left a really remarkable impression.

Jin: Yes...!

Suzu: Being able to leave such a deep impression is so amazing!

Jin: The female characters are strong as hell!

Suzu: Strong as hell!

Kokko-chan: Yesss! It sure was a fun role to play.

Suzu: Yes.

Ishikawa: Lastly, this isn’t goodbye yet, but...

Everyone: Yes?

Ishikawa: Let’s say something, starting from Koiwai-san.

Kokko-chan: All right! Taking part in such a wonderful series made me really happy. From now on, I hope everyone will keep enjoying it through not the DVD – was it Blu-ray?

Suzu: *chuckles*

Kokko-chan: We will be in your care.

Ishikawa: Thank you very much~! Togashi-san.

Suzu: Yes! Once again, I’m the voice of Hibiya, Togashi Misuzu. For the second time, I was able to talk about all sorts of things here, but from now on, too, I believe there will be lots of interesting discussions about all twelve episodes. Mekakucity Actors and Kagerou Daze are not over yet, so by all means, please support us! Thank you very much!

Ishikawa: Thank you very much. Then, lastly, Jin-san. A word, if you would.

Jin: Yes! Thank you very much for watching episode 4 as well. I think I will be participating in the next times as well, so please take care of me.

Ishikawa: Likewise! Well, thank you very much for episode 4!

Everyone: Thank you very much!

[dennou-translations]

Vanitas no Carte Drama CD: Romance is a Love Mission (English Translation)

Feel free to message me about possible corrections! If you can, please support the creators by purchasing the official release. In case anyone is feeling generous: Ko-fi || PayPal. ( ╹◡╹)っ’･*

T/N: This story is an AU and the characters frequently change the way they speak in it – we have male characters talking like teenage girls, female characters talking like delinquent playboys and Noé talking like an idiot for the biggest part of each track. They oscillate between that and occasionally being in-character, but none of this translates into the text, so in order to signalize when they’re being OOC, I use their fake initials, and when they’re acting like themselves, I use their real names. Also, thoughts are in italics.

Part 1

Narration: Friends Forever Private Academy. A place founded on the principle of humans and vampires nurturing a friendship that surpasses social norms, by way of living alongside and learning from one another. An enormous school in which the headmaster, of unknown name and appearance and who does not possess a physical form, established, for their own amusement, a system where all the students live in dormitories. It provides noble, righteous, beautiful and very peaceful education. However, it is also a school shrouded in much mystery, to the point where it cannot suppress the rumor that, under the surface, it carries out a research about the vampire queen, which is considered a taboo, on a daily basis. Is there an evil plot crawling underneath it? Is it fate that smolders it? It was believed that no one could uncover the veil of darkness spreading over it, but... there were people attempting to set foot into the truth behind this academy! Vanitas and Dante, agents of the Blue Moon Secret Service. They were making efforts in order to infiltrate the Friends Forever Academy!

Vanitas: You get it, don’t you, Dante? We’re by no means allowed to fail in this mission.

Dante: Yeah. Make a mistake and it might cost us our lives. Now, according to the documents they gave us, it seems that the academy’s secret is said to be hidden in... Argh?!

Vanitas: What’s wrong? What’re you freezing up for, Dante? Where’s the academy’s secret hidden?

Dante: By the looks of it, in the girls’ dormitory... where men are forbidden to enter.

Vanitas: Hah?

Dante: The girls’... dormitory.

Vanitas: Dante, what’s inside the bag that was given to us along with the documents?

Dante: Uh? Ah! These are... sailor uniforms for female students.

Vanitas: HAH?!

Vanitas/Jeanne: Romance is a Love Mission!

S. Vanitas: *panting* No good! I’m late, I’m lateee!

Narration: My name is Suzuki Vanitas! It’s my first day of school as a transfer student, and yet, I overslept. Sheesh, I’m in trouble! Now I have to run while eating my breakfast, a honey-butter toast. Geez! I wonder if I can keep up with my new school when I’m like this~!

S. Vanitas: All right! If I just round that corner, I’ll get to the academy in ten minutes! Kyah!

Narration: I’m such a klutz! I bumped hard into someone while I was running! Eh? Uh? It didn’t hurt? My body’s so light! My fall was stopped by someone embracing me...!

S. Jeanne: *smirks* You okay?

S. Vanitas: Eh?

S. Jeanne: My bad. I wasn’t properly looking ahead.

S. Vanitas: N-No, me too...

Vanitas: Who the heck is this guy? Is that the male uniform of the Friends Forever Academy? He’s a student from this school?

S. Jeanne: Looks like you didn’t get hurt, huh?

S. Vanitas: Yes! S-So, hum...!

S. Jeanne: What is it?

S. Vanitas: Hum, could you take off the hand that you have wrapped around my hips already?

Vanitas: Physical contact from a close distance is a bad move. It’ll get me busted!

S. Jeanne: Hm? You... smell kinda good, huh.

S. Vanitas: Eh?

S. Jeanne: Especially around your neck.

S. Vanitas: W-Wai—your face is too clos—

S. Jeanne: *bites, but not without making the anime girl bite noise*

Vanitas: HAH?!

S. Jeanne: Hmmm...

Vanitas: WHA—?!!

S. Jeanne: *gasps* Delicious! This melty sweetness... is just the way I like it!

S. Vanitas: T-T... This guy...! He sucked my blood!! And now he’s pinning me against a wall?!?

S. Jeanne: I like you. Be my property-slash-prey-slash-mistress... from this day onward.

S. Vanitas: Eeh??

Vanitas: Ha... HAAAH?!! WHAT ARE YOU SAYINGGG??! *slaps*

S. Jeanne: Ugh!

S. Vanitas: I can’t believe this, I can’t believe this, I can’t believe this!! What’re you going on about after you suck someone’s blood without permission?! Are you stupid?! I’ll definitely never become property-slash-prey-slash-mistress, okay?! *puffs cheeks very dramatically and runs off*

S. Jeanne: I couldn’t see that slap coming... *chuckles* Interesting woman. I’m even more into her now.

Luca: E-Eeh?! You sucked a female student’s blood on the way to school??

Jeanne: My deepest apologies, Master Luca.

Luca: And for no reason, on top of it! Why did you do that?

Jeanne: It had a very delicious scent, so I could not help myself...

Luca: Ah... You regret it, huh?

Jeanne: Yes!

Luca: In that case, you have to go apologize directly to her. What kind of person was she?

Jeanne: She was on the tall side. Her long black hair was styled in a braid and the blue eyes behind her glasses were very pretty... She had an earring hole in one ear and was wearing a cardigan over her uniform. Her skirt was a bit lengthy and she had black stockings on.

Luca: I see... but no students are coming to mind... That’s weird... As the school council president, I was sure I had the looks of all students memorized... Jeanne, didn’t she drop anything? Like her student ID or something.

Jeanne: Ah! She dropped the bread slice that she was eating, so I picked it up. It is most likely honey-butter toast, I believe. I shall show it to you right now—eh?

Luca: Let’s hurry and throw that away, yeah?

Y. Noé: All right, all right! To your seats! *whistles* Morning class is starting! But before that, I’m going to introduce to all of you a transfer student! Now, come in!

Jeanne: Eh?? That’s...!

Y. Noé: Firstly, how about you try to stand in front of class and do a self-introduction?

S. Vanitas: Hum, I’m Suzuki Vanitas. Please take care of me from now on.

Jeanne: I knew it! *stands up*

Vanitas: Eh? Agh!

S. Jeanne: The honey-butter toast girl from this morning!

Vanitas: YOU’RE—

S. Vanitas: That’s not it... You’re the haughty vampire from this morning!

Y. Noé: Eh? What, what? You two know each other? Then that’s just perfect! Vanitas-kun can sit next to Sasaki Jeanne-kun!

S. Jeanne: Eh?

S. Vanitas: Wait a minute, Sensei!!

Y. Noé: You all get along with her! Okay, okay! Let’s prepare for class, then! First period is Olivier-sensei with world history!

All the girls: *squeal*

Luca: Jeanne, it’s great to be nice and all, but make sure to be careful, ‘kay? So that your identity won’t be disclosed.

Jeanne: Of course, I understand, Master Luca.

Part 2

Vanitas: Ugh... first period is finally over...?

Y. Noé: Suzuki-san.

Vanitas: The girls keep screaming so loudly every time that teacher called Kujou says anything. The way that the guys look at me is annoying. The vampire sitting next to me keeps staring at my direction making some sort of cool pose. Got me tired all at once.

Y. Noé: Hum, Suzuki-san!

Vanitas: Eh? *gasps*

Vanitas: That’s right! My surname at the moment is Suzuki!

Y. Noé: Nice to meet you. My name is Yamada Noé. I’m the class representative.

S. Vanitas: Haah...

Vanitas: What a huge dude. No openings in the way he carries himself. And how should I put this? Those glasses look superbly bad on him.

Y. Noé: If you’d like, let me show you around the school during lunch break. The campus is big, so it’s easy to get lost. And it’s also best that you memorize the places that are off-limits.

S. Vanitas: “Off-limits”?

Y. Noé: I don’t know the details, but I heard that this was some research facility before it became a school, so I think it’s a dangerous place for students to enter.

Vanitas: “Off-limits”, huh... My goal was to infiltrate the school, but I might get my hands on info about the hidden research.

S. Vanitas: Thank you, Yamada-kun. Please show me around the school.

Y. Noé: Yes! Leave it to me! And I don’t mind if you call me by my first name!

S. Vanitas: I think you’re fine as “Yamada-kun”.

Y. Noé: Is... that so...? *sulks*

S. Vanitas: Ah! That was a lie! Noé-kun! Noé-kun, okay? I’m counting on you, Class Rep~!

Y. Noé: *brightens up* Yes! It’s my pleasure, Vanitas!

S. Vanitas: No need to drop the honorifics with me.

Riche: Hey, did you hear about the class next door?

Amelia: I did, I did! A male student named Itou Dante tried to transfer here crossdressing as a girl, right? Not to mention it seems he snuck into the girls’ dorm and tried to steal girls’ underwear! Gross, isn’t he?

Riche: To top it off, he was caught red-handed and got expelled! Hilarious~!

Vanitas: That dumbass! What’s he doing?

Y. Noé: Did you say anything, Vanitas?

S. Vanitas: Hm-hm! Nothing!

Y. Noé: Ah! That place bustling with people is the kiosk. There’s always a fierce dispute over their popular yakisoba bread, so it’s best to hurry when you want to eat it.

Vanitas: Heeh...

Y. Noé: My recommendation is the tarte tatin bun! It’s sweet and delicious!

Vanitas: Hmmm...

Y. Noé: The infirmary is here. We have a funny nurse here, Kobayashi Johann-sensei. Apparently, when the students fake illness to sleep on the beds, he sometimes attacks them while they’re asleep!

Vanitas: Ahnn... HM?!!

Y. Noé: Ah, but it seems that only applies to the male students, so it’s got nothing on you.

S. Vanitas: I-Is that so~?

Vanitas: Gotta be careful with that!

Y. Noé: Did you get familiar with the class’s mood? If there’s anything troubling you, you can ask me for any sort of advice.

S. Vanitas: “Troubling”? Let’s see... I didn’t quite like when people gathered up around me during break time.

Y. Noé: You didn’t? I think they all just want to get along with you, though.

S. Vanitas: I don’t want friends or anything like that, so...

Noé: Eh? That’s a lie.

Vanitas: Hah?

Noé: “I don’t want friends”, “I don’t mind being alone forever”... That whole deal where “freedom” reads as “loneliness” is a lie.

Vanitas: No, I didn’t say that much.

Noé: I’ve been looking at you from the side during lunch break and thinking about it all the while. About why, on the day you transferred schools – a special day where you can make as many friends as you want –, you were making a face like that, as if you’ve given up something.

Vanitas: Tsk! YOU!!

Noé: Ugh!

Vanitas: Don’t just steal glances at me during class!!

Noé: Vani... tas...

Vanitas: Enough! What a turn-off! I can’t hang around a spoiled kid like you any longer! From this point on, I’ll go by myself! Hey, hold on. What’s this place?!

Y. Noé: Uh? There isn’t a single student around... It’s also kind of dark and the air is gloomy.

Vanitas: Don’t tell me you... got us lost?!

Y. Noé: We’re not lost! We just entered a path that I don’t know very well.

Vanitas: THAT’S WHAT WE CALL “BEING LOST”!!!

Roland: Okay, okay! PE is going to begin! Is everyone from class here?

Luca: Hum, Tanaka-sensei! It seems Yamada-kun and Suzuki-san are absent.

Roland: Noé-kun and Vanitas-kun? Is there anyone here who saw them?

Amelia: We saw the two of them walking together during lunch break.

Riche: That’s just our guess, but maybe Class Rep tried to show Suzuki-san around the school...

Roland: That means...! They’re most certainly lost, huh~?

Amelia: Usually, I think Saionji Dominique-san from the class next door would be tagging along, but...

Riche: I heard that Dominique-san is taking the day off due to family circumstances.

Roland: Aaah, I’m so worried~! It’ll be dangerous if they get distracted and go into an off-limits area. I could go looking for them, but if I go into some path that I don’t normally use, I’ll definitely get lost too...

Luca: Hum, Sensei. Can I go looking for them? As the school council president, I’m confident that I know the school buildings better than anyone here.

Roland: Indeed! Then, Hououji Luca-kun! I task you with looking for them! Just to be safe, I’ll also inform the situation to the headmaster. I pray for your success.

Luca: Yes!

Jeanne: Master Luca, I shall accompany you.

Luca: Thank you so much, Jeanne.

Jeanne: No, I am here so that I can protect you at any given time should something happen.

Vanitas: Shit! What’s up with this academy?! Doesn’t matter if we go forth or back, it all connects with the same path! And no matter how you look at it, this is an underground tunnel!!

Y. Noé: *laughs* Amazing, isn’t it? It’s all unknown routes. So very new!

Vanitas: DON’T ENJOYING THIS! HAVE SOME NOTION OF DANGER!

Y. Noé: More importantly, Vanitas.

Vanitas: WHAT?!

Y. Noé: I’ve noticed this since earlier... your way of talking changed all of a sudden.

Vanitas: Crap! I accidentally forgot to put up the girl act ‘cause of this unpredicted situation!

Y. Noé: You were referring to yourself in a masculine way...

S. Vanitas: You’re wro...! This is... hum...!

Y. Noé: Vanitas, could it be that you...

S. Vanitas: Stop! Don’t say any more...!

Y. Noé: In short, that’s your true nature, isn’t it?

Vanitas: Haaah?

Y. Noé: The air around you feels lighter now than when we were in the classroom. You look a lot more comfortable.

S. Vanitas: Ah, no...! I...!

Y. Noé: No! You don’t have to force yourself to act lady-like! There might be people out there who will nag at you for it, but at the very least, Vanitas, you can be yourself around me. Rather... I want you to be free around me.

Vanitas: I don’t really get it, but... good thing that he’s an idiot!

Part 3

Automaton 1: Intruders spotted. Intruders spotted.

Vanitas: Wha-What?!

Automaton 2: You should not go any further than this~!

Noé: There are voices coming from somewhere!

Vanitas: Something’s coming from the back...! Those are... automatons?!

Y. Noé: Aaah! There are so many of them in such a cute model!

Automaton 3: If you work, you lose.

Automaton 4: Hooray to shut-ins!

Automaton 5: We won’t forgive anyone who tries to take us out of here!

Automaton 6: Therefore...

Automatons: ELIMINATION!!!!!!! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE!

Vanitas: They’re here to annihilate us!!

Automatons: ELIMINATION ATTAAAAACK!!

Y. Noé: Ugh! Crap! My glasses were blown off and I can’t see anything!

Automatons: ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE!

Y. Noé: My glasses! My glasses! Where are they?!

Vanitas: Hey, the heck! What’re you doing?! Don’t grab my legs! Uoh?! Don’t mount on me! Ough! Heeey!! Noé! Help me!!

Y. Noé: Vanitas??? Where are you?? I’m sorry! I can’t see anything!

S. Jeanne: Finally found you, Kitty.

Automatons: W-We have been eliminateeed!

S. Jeanne: That was close. You hurt?

Vanitas: Wh-Wha...!?

S. Jeanne: Easy. I destroyed all those guys who were trying to take you away.

S. Vanitas: That’s not it! Why do you have to carry me princess style?! Put me down!

S. Jeanne: What, are you embarrassed? Don’t sweat it. You’re as light as a feather. So much that I worry you might fly off somewhere.

Vanitas: DON’T TALK NEXT TO MY EAR!!!

S. Jeanne: *blows*

Vanitas: DON’T BLOW AIR INTO IT!!!!!

Y. Noé: Wh-What’s going on?? Are you okay, Vanitas??? I’m sorry! I can’t find my glasses so I can’t see—

Luca: It’s okay now, Noé.

Y. Noé: This voice... Luca?

Luca: Yes, here you go. Your glasses.

Y. Noé: Ah! Aah! Ah... ah...! Thank you very much! *sighs* I’m impressed that you knew about this place.

Luca: I’m the student council president of this academy, after all! Erm, that’s what I’d like to say, but it was actually Jeanne who brought me here.

Y. Noé: Eh?

Luca: Jeanne, how did you know where they were?

S. Jeanne: I followed the scent of the mark that I left on Suzuki Vanitas.

Luca: Eh?

Y. Noé: Eh?

Vanitas: Eh? HAH!?!

S. Jeanne: What, you hadn’t noticed? I left my mark here, on the nape of your neck.

Vanitas: Uh?! M-M-My neck?!? Whoa, it’s true! There’s something on it!

Luca: W-W-W-W-W-W-W-What’s the meaning of this, Jeanne?? Not only did you suck blood for no reason, you even left a mark?! You’ve never done something like this even once before!! *gasps* Don’t tell me... Jeanne, this kind of girl is your type?!?

Y. Noé: How nice... Vanitas’s blood...! *stomach growls*

S. Jeanne: *smirks* You really do smell good, huh. Hey, I just saved you, so you’re not gonna complain if I get a reward, yeah?

Vanitas: “Reward”?! N-No, no! Wait, wait! Whoa?! So strong! Uoooh! Don’t bring your face closer! Don’t bare your fangs at me...! Sto...!!

S. Jeanne: *bites, again doing the generic anime girl bite sound*

Vanitas: GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!

Riche: Hey, hey, did you hear? About Vanitas, the transfer student!

Amelia: I did! She and Yamada-kun went missing in the school campus but the student council president and Sasaki-kun went to rescue them, right?

Riche: Apparently, some famous vampire called Marquis Machina created an off-limits space to seclude himself in this academy way before it was founded and Suzuki-san and Yamada-kun got lost there.

Amelia: What’s with that? So scary~!

Riche: Pretty scary, right~? But it seems Suzuki-san twisted her ankle while being rescued, so she was carried princess style by Sasaki-kun!

Amelia: Eeeh? That’s like a shoujo manga~!

Riche: Sasaki-kun is a bit of an oddball, but he’s cool, isn’t he?

Amelia: Yep, yep!

Riche: Y’know, this might be...

Amelia/Riche: ... the beginning of a love story!

Vanitas: Uuugh... I’m beat. To think I’d have such a hard time on my first day transferring here... The investigation of the girls’ dorm will have to wait till tomorrow... blurb, blurb, blurb... Puah! I’m getting a bit dizzy... According to Dante’s info, this rooftop isn’t being used, but... I have the feeling it’s too well-cleaned for that to be the case. *gasp* Who’s there?!

Jeanne: Is there anyone here?

Vanitas/Jeanne: Eh?!

Jeanne: V-Vanitas?!?

Vanitas: Sasaki! WHY’RE YOU... here?!

Vanitas: T-T-That’s weird... I can’t see well because of the steam, but there are spheres on Sasaki’s chest that a guy isn’t supposed to have!

Jeanne: S-S-S-Something’s off! I can’t see because of the steam, but there’s an unfamiliar silhouette on Vanitas’s lower half...!

Vanitas/Jeanne: Could this mean that you’re... A MAN/WOMAN~~~~~~~?!!

Narration: This is how my school life as Suzuki Vanitas began! On my first day, my blood was sucked out of the blue, I got lost, my identity was busted... can someone like me accomplish this mission properly~? By the way, only one year left before I graduate! Just what will happen to my school life~~~~~???

Jeanne/Vanitas: Next episode sneak-peek!

S. Vanitas: The true identity of Sasaki Jeanne was a woman?? It seems she was crossdressing as a guy in order to be Hououji Luca’s bodyguard, but where did that arrogant act come from?! Is she bad at acting?? Anyway, if she tells anyone that I’m a man, I’ll be in trouble! Which is why I decide to make Sasaki a certain proposal, but...

S. Jeanne: Kitty, you smell delicious today too.

Luca: If only you hadn’t transferred here, Jeanne would’ve been mine alone!

Dante: S’up, Whack? Looks like you’re having a pretty hard time.

Vanitas: Dante! You’re supposed to have been expelled yesterday...!

Noé: I also want... to have a taste of your blood.

Vanitas: The most popular yakisoba bread, the ice queen of the Saionji family, noisy cleaners... all sorts of obstacles obstruct mine, Noé and Jeanne’s paths!

Noé: I knew it. Vanitas-kun... I did think you were a bit strange from the very beginning.

S. Jeanne: Romance is a Love Mission, Episode 2.

Vanitas: “Exiled from the Academy?! Suzuki Vanitas Dies!”

Vanitas/S. Jeanne: “Aim to Complete the Mission!”

Vanitas: NO!! IT DOESN’T HAVE TO CONTINUE!!!!!!!

[dennou-translations]

Mekakucity Actors Audio Commentary #3

Act 3 – Mekakushi Chord

Translation of the second audio commentary that comes with the DVD/Blu-ray of Mekakucity Actors. Raw version here. Please consider purchasing the original copies and feel free to message me about possible corrections. If there happens to be any issues with the link, please contact me on my main blog!

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Jin: Hello to everyone listening to the audio commentary of Mekakucity Actors Act 03 – Mekakushi Chord! I’m the original author and screenplay writer, Jin.

Kaida-chin: Hello, I’m Kaida Yuuko, the voice of Kido.

Suzuki: I’m Suzuki from Aniplex, the supervisor.

Everyone: We will be in your care.

Jin: So...

Suzuki: It’s begun.

Kaida-chin: *giggles*

Suzuki: The third episode.

Jin: The third episode’s audio commentary.

Suzuki: Jin-san, it’s your third time here, huh.

Jin: Third time!

Kaida-chin: Amazing, you’re totally used to it now.

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: At first, I didn’t know the timing to introduce myself. *giggles* So I’d be oddly slow.

Suzuki/Kaida-chin: *laugh*

Jin: Even in the third one, I’m still like this. After the first and second episodes, this is my third time doing it, but there might be people who will purchase only this third volume.

Suzuki: That’s true.

Kaida-chin: Ah, I see.

Jin: This kind of thing happens. The ones who bought the first and second volumes in order have already listened to my incessant rambling, but...

Suzuki: That’s right, there might be people who will listen to it for the first time in this one.

Jin: Maybe.

Suzuki: The third episode.

Jin: “Mekakushi Chord”.

Suzuki: We have the voice of Danchou.

Kaida-chin: Yes.

Suzuki: Kaida-san is here with us.

Kaida-chin: Yes.

Suzuki: Thank you very much.

Kaida-chin: It’s a pleasure.

Jin: Thank you very much.

Suzuki: My, so this is how it begins, very full-bodied.

Jin: Yes. That’s “Mekakushi Chord”.

Kaida-chin: It’s the episode where I spoke the most.

Jin: That’s right!

Suzuki: Aaah.

Kaida-chin: The first one where I speak so much.

Jin: You sure talked a whole lot!

Kaida-chin: *laughs* Exactly. In the first and second episodes, I only said one or two lines. Before that, hum, I spoke in the commercial.

Suzuki: That’s right, they had you for the recording of the very first one.

Jin: Back then, we asked her to do that commercial, but I actually wanted to make the offer much earlier. When it was at that stage, we were like, “What kind of voice would be good for Kido?”

Kaida-chin: Hmm.

Jin: I came up with the character voices right away, but I’d been fretting really hard over Kido, like, “Who should I appoint to play her?” so I consulted with, Sidu-san, who is in charge of the illustrations and character designs, for advice. When I asked, “Who’d be good to play Kido?”, she gave me several suggestions, like, “There’s this person and that person” and had me listen to their voice. I was like, “I wonder about that”. It was then that I heard Kaida-san’s voice. She was like, “How about this one??”, to which I complied and asked for it to be you.

Kaida-chin: Thank you very much.

Suzuki: So Kaida-san’s voice was perfect.

Jin: Yes! I was like, “She’s the one!”

Suzuki: Oooh, I see. But Jin-san, we got quite a lot of predetermined images of each character from you and Sidu-san from the start, like, “They’re like this”. But you were stuck when it came to Kido.

Jin: That’s right, it was terrible... When I was shown the third episode, it made me think, “Kido sure talks a lot here.”

Kaida-chin: I’m glad you thought that way of me.

Jin: That was my mindset.

Suzuki: Indeed, Kido’s voice only comes to light for the first time in the commercial, like Kaida-san said.

Kaida-chin: Yes.

Jin: That’s right.

Suzuki: That was before we recorded the main story. So, from the very moment that you heard her...

Jin: Well, yeah. The moment I first listened to that CM when it was presented to me, I was like, “Oh, that’s sick!”, and actually, after that, when everyone had left and the staff stayed behind, some people whispered to me that “Kido-san was pretty sexy and cool wasn’t she?”

Kaida-chin: Ah, I’m so glad.

Suzuki: Oooh. So she was perfect.

Jin: To a T.

Kaida-chin: At first, I wondered if it was all right for me to voice someone so young.

Jin: No, that doesn’t matter at all!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Kaida-chin: When I first received the art, I did a bit of research and thought, “Am I really okay for this? Won’t she sound old?”

Jin: No, no, no! Hum, even in the novels, she’s a very cool girl. Age-wise, she’s set to be 17 years old, but she doesn’t give off the feeling of a 17-year-old girl.

Kaida-chin: Hmm.

Jin: She’s a character who has an older vibe. There are characters that make you feel this by having a husky voice or something like that. She’s got this kind of adult-like aura to her. In contrast, it’s difficult to balance this out. That was really what got me.

Suzuki: Hmmm...

Jin: If she ended up being too sexy, it wouldn’t go well with her age.

Kaida-chin: Yeah, she’s still in her teens.

Jin: And if she were too cute, it wouldn’t go well with her image.

Suzuki: It wouldn’t match. So it’s a tender line.

Jin: A tender line.

Suzuki: And Kaida-san’s voice fit perfectly between those two.

Jin: Yes...!

Kaida-chin: I’m so glad...

Jin: I didn’t think she would respond to our request.

Suzuki: Kaida-san, before recording the actual series, you also had to do something like a narration, right?

Kaida-chin: Hm.

Suzuki: And I think you probably watched the show with the art and characters included.

Kaida-chin: Yep.

Suzuki: When you saw something like Kagerou Project for the very first time, what was your impression of it? Did it pique your interest?

Kaida-chin: At first, I looked it up on the internet, how should I put it?

Suzuki: Eeh?

Kaida-chin: It was too... what was it again? A lot of things were happening and it was too big of a deal.

Suzuki: Aah...

Kaida-chin: Yep. I was like, “Eh, I can’t grasp any of this...”

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: My deepest apologies!

Kaida-chin: Ah, no. Today—

Jin: Hum—

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Jin: I’m also *laughs* still creating it through all sorts of media platforms, so it’s not finished. But we were going to broadcast an anime during that timing, so I was thinking really hard about how I should convey the story to everyone this time.

Kaida-chin: Aah.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Jin: This blew me up during late nights, but since the characters can move now, it was easier to understand what was going on!

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: It was pretty terrible...

Suzuki: Well, true. But there’s the musical side of it that you had made, Jin-san. The music had already finished its climax before the anime started airing and, well, the novels you’re writing are still being published the manga is still being serialized. So indeed, figuring out something that would make people understand it all perfectly just by watching it...

Jin: Was impossible.

Suzuki: Yep, I imagine it must have been very difficult. By the way, Kaida-san, what did you find when you were looking it up?

Kaida-chin: At first, I listened to the music.

Suzuki: Ah, I see.

Kaida-chin: But I thought just that wouldn’t be enough, so I bought the novels and read them.

Jin: Ah, is that so?

Kaida-chin: But the novels... the novels also... Hum, when I reflected on it after the anime was made, it was completely different from the image I had.

Jin: It was different...!

Everyone: *laughs*

Kaida-chin: I was like, “Huh???”

Suzuki: I see...

Jin: Well, I was the one who made the screenplay, but in the end, I’m probably the only person who understands this thing enough to write it. So, as expected, I do whatever I feel like with the course of events...

Kaida-chin: The bigger the possibilities are, the harder it is to grasp them.

Suzuki: Aaah...

Kaida-chin: Speaking of which, early on, Ji... Jin-san, I found out that the creator’s pseudonym was Shizen no Teki-P.

Jin: Yes, yes!

Kaida-chin: I was like, “Eh?” at that. What does it mean? Does the “P” stand for “producer”?

Jin: Well, some of the music, songs and whatnot that you most likely listen to or that are streamed on the internet are made by using a voice software called VOCALOID. And amongst the people who use it and upload these songs, the “elites” of the internet have this as... how should I put it? Something like an unspoken rule. It doesn’t have the meaning of “let’s make this and that”, but rather of “we’re producing this”. It’s the alias that the fans granted to us, like a professional name.

Kaida-chin: Aha!

Jin: And at first, when I, too, uploaded my own works, the a fan said to me, “It’s decided, you’re Shizen no Teki-P – how’s that?” to which I was like, “This is like a professional name, isn’t it? I get it, then. I’ll use it”. That’s how it happened.

Suzuki: So one of the users gave it to you.

Jin: That’s right. It’s like part of the culture of the people who make VOCALOID songs.

Kaida-chin: Hmmm.

Jin: So I named myself as such, but I have no idea who it was nowadays...

Suzuki: They might be lurking around now.

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Suzuki: Like, “I was the one who named him.”

Jin: They might as well say, “I was the one who raised him.”

Suzuki: *laughs*

Kaida-chin: That’s one mystery solved.

Jin: Still, even at this point in the game, I’m too often asked, “What’s ‘Shizen no Teki-P’?”

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Suzuki: Aaah...

Jin: I have to explain every single time! To top it off, I didn’t give myself this name due to it having a lot of meaning or anything like that.

Suzuki: Hm, hm, hm.

Jin: But lately, “Shizen no Teki-P” is gradually fading. I don’t talk about it when introducing myself, you see. I don’t say that I’m Shizen no Teki-P.

Suzuki: Hmmm... There’s lots of series where people are curious about this kind of thing and what the meaning behind it is. It’s a bit hard to completely understand something just looking at it, reading it or watching it straight off.

Jin: Exactly.

Suzuki: Right? On the other hand, as expected, I think there’s appeal in that too. And as for the development of the anime, Jin-san wrote the screenplay, Shaft produced it and everyone from the cast, starting from Kaida-san, gave their voices to it.

Jin: It’s an extreme honor for me...!

Kaida-chin: No, not at all. But, both for the second and third episodes, I received a big amount of materials.

Jin: Yes, yes.

Suzuki: Oooh...!

Kaida-chin: With them, I have the feeling that I was able to sort out a lot of things in my head.

Suzuki: Like materials about the setting?

Kaida-chin: Yes.

Suzuki: Of course. That’s probably it.

Kaida-chin: Were you the one who wrote them, Jin-san?

Jin: Exactly. I wrote it all down. Well, since we were creating an anime, I decided to tell you everything like this. Come to think of it, the setting might’ve been done entirely by me!

Kaida-chin: Aaah... *laughs*

Suzuki: That’s right, Jin-san. No one else can write this. *laughs*

Jin: I’m kind of... really sorry about that, but...

Suzuki: But in our case, even though we’re all looking at the same thing, we’re seeing it through a creator’s lens. As expected, there are things that we notice and realize when we look at them, so it might be quite interesting to read it normally as a book.

Jin: That’s right. The contents are quite complicated; enough to make me wish that there was some sort of clue somewhere to lead the viewers in a more proper way when they look at the animation. It’d be really great if they could pay close attention to it, is what I think. Plus, well, this is the worldview of the anime’s story.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Jin: Kido really talks a lot in this one!

Kaida-chin: She sure does!

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: Kido’s talking so much!

Kaida-chin: She talks non-stop. *laughs*

Suzuki: In this third episode, the guys from Mekakushi-dan finally...

Jin: They finally meet.

Suzuki: Yep, that’s right. And start getting into action.

Jin: Exactly.

Suzuki: They gain screen time.

Kaida-chin: Up to this point, many of the people who watched the first and second episodes might have questions in their heads.

Suzuki: True.

Kaida-chin: But in the third episode, a lot of them are answered.

Jin: That’s right! Like, “Who are the people lined up in the opening?”

Kaida-chin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Jin: Half of them show up all around!

Suzuki: Indeed. But up to the third episode, they’re like partitions of the early stage.

Kaida-chin: Right, right.

Suzuki: And they connect with the terrorist attack of the first episode.

Jin: That’s right, like the backstage of it.

Suzuki: Yuuup.

Kaida-chin: I thought that was interesting.

Jin: Ah, thank you very much. Like it was refreshing?

Kaida-chin: If you just watch the first episode, you’re like, “Huuh?”

Suzuki: Indeed.

Kaida-chin: But there’s a backside to it.

Suzuki: Hmm. Like, this one thing happened so that this other thing could happen.

Jin: Right...

Suzuki: “Master”. So they’re going to...

Jin: To meet Shintarou and Ene.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Jin: But really, Kido is such a big sister-like character. She’s like, “There, there” at everyone. She’s a pretty solid character, so naturally, she does talk a lot.

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Jin: She gives explanations and speaks out.

Kaida-chin: You’d think she’s cool and tight-lipped.

Jin: Right, but she surprisingly talks a lot. Like, she’s the one who gives the follow-ups.

Kaida-chin/Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: And probably, after this, hum... going forward a few episodes...

Kaida-chin: Hm.

Jin: ...the “Kido of the past” will make an appearance.

Kaida-chin: Hm.

Jin: I think the people who will watch beyond this point might get to see her.

Suzuki: Hm.

Jin: The Kido Tsubomi of a different age.

Kaida-chin: Right? A while ago, the director imposed on me all the time about this.

Jin: He imposed...!

Kaida-chin: Like, “You can do it, right??” *laughs*

Suzuki: *laughs*

Kaida-chin: I was like, “I’ll do my best??”

Jin: Like, “The child version is coming~!” *laughs* “The child version~!”

Suzuki: Kaida-san does the child version of her too, right?

Jin: She does.

Kaida-chin: Oh, the age vibe isn’t just for one little kid. There’s two younger versions of her.

Suzuki: Ah, that’s right!

Jin: Age is a source of problems! A source of problems!

Kaida-chin: *giggles*

Jin: S-So you were imposed on.

Kaida-chin: Yeah. *laughs*

Jin: We sure made you wait for that one, like, “Look forward to it! Look forward to it!”

Suzuki: If we are to separate the little Kido into two types, there’s a slight gap between them and the current Kido.

Jin: That’s right! And their personalities are a bit different.

Kaida-chin: She changes completely.

Jin: Changes completely.

Kaida-chin: Like, she’s doing her best.

Jin: She is.

Everyone: *laughs*

Suzuki: Oh.

Jin: Ah, this is just exactly the other side of the first episode.

Kaida-chin: *giggles*

Suzuki: Hmm.

Jin: Hum, this is kind of... I mean, the fact that there were people staring from afar all the while when he was doing something awkward is so...

Suzuki: No, seriously! *laughs*

Jin: It’s hard!

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Jin: Like, you think you’re alone, but your little sister is totally looking at you from a distance.

Suzuki: Pretty embarrassing, huh?

Jin: Pretty embarrassing!

Suzuki: My, to think this was happening behind the scenes...

Jin: That’s right. In the first episode, Kido surely seems like a very uncanny person.

Suzuki: Hmm, indeed.

Kaida-chin: Right... In the second one, too, she only speaks one sentence.

Jin: She’s totally “someone from some evil organization”.

Everyone: *laughs*

Jin: Surrounded by crows!

Kaida-chin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jin: She was surrounded by crows in that last scene. And on top of that, she also disappears! That’s pretty much it. She gives off the feeling of an evil organization but she’s a really nice big sister.

Suzuki: Hmmm. Kaida-san, during the recordings, of course, the animation isn’t yet finished.

Kaida-chin: Yep.

Suzuki: You give voice to the characters while it’s not yet done. So how was the completed animation when you watched it? Was it different from how you’d pictured it? Or was it like, “I didn’t think it’d turn out this awesome”?

Kaida-chin: Oh, yeah, when I first watched it, I was surprised in the beginning.

Suzuki: Oh?

Kaida-chin: Hum, the way I’d imagined Shintarou’s room when I read the novels, I was like, “So it’s like this?!”

Jin: It’s different from how I’d imagined it too.

Kaida-chin: Aha, is that so? Is that so?

Jin: Of course, there’s also the fact that I said, “Please do whatever you want!” to the staff, so they wrecked it up.

Suzuki: Normally, since Shintarou’s bedroom is the bedroom of a shut-in, no one would imagine it to be like that! *laughs*

Jin: No one, no one!

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Jin: Most likely, if Shaft-san were to make it an ordinary room, it might’ve turned out kind of...

Suzuki: “Kind of”...?

Jin: Kind of not enough, y’know?

Suzuki: That���s true.

Jin: So when I saw the first episode, I thought this was part of its charm.

Suzuki: Indeed. That’s Shaft-san’s art style.

Jin: This department store has a bicycle corner, right?

Suzuki: That’s right, a bicycle corner.

Jin: If anything, they have so many bicycles that they could call themselves Japan’s biggest bike store!

Kaida-chin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Jin: And yet, it’s just a department store.

Suzuki: So this is the backside from when Shintarou got caught.

Jin: Yeah, behind the scenes.

Suzuki: It was actually Kido, Mary and Momo doing this.

Kaida-chin: When there’s color and music added to it like this, the atmosphere indeed feels somewhat different from the recordings.

Suzuki: Hmm, true.

Kaida-chin: So halfway through the episodes, we can record while picturing that they’ll turn out like this, which is good.

Suzuki: Ah, I see, I see!

Kaida-chin: But at the beginning...

Suzuki: Right, if you’d watched them, you’d see that jaw-dropping bedroom.

Jin/Kaida-chin: *laugh*

Suzuki: And that freaking huge department store.

Jin: *chuckles* It... It must be hard to make plans in that spot.

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Suzuki: They totally chose the wrong place, didn’t they? *laughs*

Jin: *laughs* Must be hard to make plans here!

Suzuki: Quite a bit.

Jin: Quite difficult.

Suzuki: It probably could’ve been somewhere else. A place more like...

Jin: There’s lots of places where they could probably fit into!

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Suzuki: Quite a lot...

Jin: Quite a lot of them. Ah, by the way, Kido-san talks so skillfully.

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Jin: Like, “This is the issue at hand”.

Kaida-chin: True.

Jin: She goes on explaining and taking up the best parts.

Suzuki/Kaida-chin: *laugh*

Jin: It’s the kind of character she is.

Suzuki: Feels like a leader.

Jin: That’s Danchou for you. She’s watching everyone from a step behind. And every time, the way she stands up is kinda like...

Kaida-chin: Yeah, it looks like a signature pose or something every time.

Jin: A signature pose.

Suzuki: It is what it is. So sharp.

Jin: When it comes to the characters...

Kaida-chin: Yes?

Jin: At the very beginning, I created Ene first.

Kaida-chin: Hmm.

Jin: Back then, I was publishing my self-produced work on the internet. That was the only means I had.

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Jin: That was Kagerou Project. So I was actually the one who made her design at the get-go.

Kaida-chin: Ah, is that so?

Jin: I wrote down things like “she’s this kind of character”, “wears a jersey” and whatnot, then asked a friend to draw her. And hum... the song “Mekakushi Chord”, which is the song of this episode, was my second piece for the project. So really, if the first was number one, this is the number two. The second song from back when the climax hadn’t yet reached its peak. That’s the song called “Mekakushi Chord”. Ah, and there’s Sidu-san, who made the character designs.

Kaida-chin: Hm.

Jin: The first character she made was Kido.

Kaida-chin: Ah, really?

Jin: And that’s when the word “Mekakushi-dan” first came to light.

Kaida-chin: Oooh...

Jin: It’s pretty packed with memories, huh?

Suzuki/Kaida-chin: Hmmm.

Jin: Kido was the first character of whom we created all of the features so quickly. My mother was very pleased about this scene, like, “Oh, that character is gonna make a move, isn’t she?”

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Suzuki: Ooh, right.

Jin: My mother watches it every week too.

Kaida-chin: Oh, my. Now...

Suzuki: And here comes the insert song.

Jin: Ah, the insert song.

Suzuki: “Mekakushi Chord” is playing.

Jin: It’s like a secret plan scene.

Suzuki: Hmm. Sick, ain’t it?

Jin: It is.

Kaida-chin: Yep.

Jin: This is where we go back in time for a bit, as if to say, “That’s what was being discussed earlier”. Like turning over a sand clock abruptly. It’s like reminiscing to what was being said just a moment ago in the chronological order. But before we get to do that, it rewinds all of a sudden. Each of these little things about the direction were done so awe-inspiringly that even I have to watch it many times, or else it goes by in a second.

Suzuki: *laughs* True. As expected, the amount of information is pretty big, and actually, every single cut has a meaning.

Jin: Yeah. So the song that I made to be the theme song of Kido, the leader, as well as of the Mekakushi-dan, is now playing.

Kaida-chin: Hmm.

Jin: The number two song, “Mekakushi Chord”.

Kaida-chin: This isn’t VO... VOCALOID, is it?

Jin: It was created with VOCALOID, but in the anime, it’s sung by a singer.

Kaida-chin: I see.

Suzuki: It’s Yasagure Koneko-san.

Jin: Yasagure Koneko-san.

Kaida-chin: Hmm.

Jin: Wow, so cool.

Kaida-chin: The atmosphere changed again, huh.

Suzuki: Indeed.

Jin: That’s right. It’s the Yasagure Koneko who makes so many people ask, “What in the world is Yasagure Koneko-san??”

Kaida-chin/Suzuki: *laugh*

Suzuki: Like, “Who is she?”

Jin: Yes. Just who is Yasagure Koneko-san?! Well, her identity is concealed.

Kaida-chin/Suzuki: I see.

Jin: There’s an air of secret identity to her.

Suzuki: Yup, yup, yup.

Jin: That person’s identity is a complete mystery. It’s like there is no Yasagure Koneko-san at all.

Kaida-chin: H-How did you decide for it to be her?

Jin: Well, firstly, I contacted her.

Kaida-chin: Eeeh...

Jin: Since her identity is unknown, it’d be a great match for “Mekakushi Chord”, right?

Kaida-chin: Hmmm...

Suzuki: Ah, I see.

Jin: Yes. The person singing...

Suzuki: ...Is vital for the song’s mood. And as expected, the arrangement is completely different. This insert song is s-so cool...

Kaida-chin: Yeah.

Jin: Thank you very much. My... Ah, this is so awesome.

Suzuki: Totally putting the Mekakushi-dan’s Abilities for display.

Jin: Showing It All Off...

Suzuki: “...and then passing out, the anime”.

Jin: ...And Then Passing Out, the anime.

Kaida-chin: *giggles*

Jin: Oh, it’s the ending.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Jin: Then, this is probably where the parts unite into one.

Suzuki: That’s right. Like, this is what happened in episode one.

Kaida-chin: Yup.

Jin: This was it. Speaking of which, Kido is a character who shows up a lot in several places, which is also thanks to her Ability.

Kaida-chin: Yeah. *laughs*

Suzuki: Hmm.

Jin: She can make everyone disappear too.

Kaida-chin: That’s right. *giggles*

Jin: Like she’s their guardian.

Suzuki: True.

Jin: She’s in that kind of position as a character. I’m so grateful to you for performing her so wonderfully.

Kaida-chin: No, no, I also had fun with it. I usually don’t get to do animations where I speak a lot.

Jin: Ueeeh...??

Suzuki: Hmmm.

Kaida-chin: In general, I always get either a mother or older sister who appears for one or two scenes.

Suzuki: Aaah...

Kaida-chin: This is my only main character. I get nervous speaking so much, though.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Kaida-chin: But I enjoyed it.

Jin: Ah, I’m happy if that’s what you think.

Kaida-chin: I get small roles. I even play the silly ones.

Suzuki: *laughs*

Jin: “The silly ones”...!

Kaida-chin: *laughs*

Suzuki: Feels like your usual age aura.

Jin: The aura of an older woman.

Suzuki: It oozes right out of you. So having Kaida-san meet up with a character like Kido is...

Jin: It was so fortunate.

Suzuki: Like fate, right? It’s really pretty fortunate.

Jin: I really think she’s a character that you can live together with.

Kaida-chin: Thank you very much. I’m also happy about it.

Jin: I’m glad it became a reality in this mutual way.

Kaida-chin: Hmm.

Jin: So, anyway, the third episode is over.

Suzuki: Right. And after the ending, there’s the after-credits.

Jin: There’s the after-credits. I’m quite fond of this ending song.

Suzuki: Well, it really is a good song.

Jin: Now the insert part.

Suzuki: So we have delivered episode three.

Jin: Yes.

Suzuki: Third episode, act 03.

Jin: The audio commentary of it.

Suzuki: Yep! It will soon be time to bid our farewells.

Jin: Yes.

Kaida-chin: So quick! It was a blink of eye!

Suzuki: Ah, yeah, yeah.

Jin: It was!

Suzuki: That’s how it goes by when we actually start talking.

Kaida-chin: *giggles*

Suzuki: So, we kind of talk about...

Jin: Our impressions, right?

Suzuki: Right, like a wrap-up. So Kaida-san, could you say something as a goodbye?

Kaida-chin: Yes. The recordings themselves are over, but I got the chance to talk to Jin-san personally and although this was my first time doing a commentary, I was a bit excited. Twenty minutes is a short time, but I got to spend it having fun. Thank you very much.

Suzuki: Thank you very much. Now, Jin-san.

Jin: Yes. I am once again hoping that I won’t be fired after this audio commentary.

Suzuki: *cackles*

Kaida-chin: You won’t!

Suzuki: Who’d do that??

Jin: I think I will be in the next one too, so I will be in your care there too. I enjoyed myself a lot talking to Kaida-san today.

Suzuki: Hmm.

Jin: I just... didn’t manage to talk about anything that interesting, though. *laughs*

Suzuki: No, no! N-Not at all! *laughs*

Kaida-chin: You shouldn’t be so depressed about something like that!

Jin: But it was fun~!

Suzuki: What are you saying? Getting to have such a fascinating discussion was great.

Jin: It was pretty fun. Thank you very much.

Suzuki: Thank you very much. Anyway, this was the audio commentary of Act 03.

Jin: Yes, yes!

Suzuki: Thank you very much.

Jin: Thank you very much!

Kaida-chin: Thank you very much.