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cielrouge · 1 year ago

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Blue Lock AnimeNYC 23' Panel Highlights (Friday)

I only went to the Friday panel and not the Sunday one so my highlights will reflect accordingly lol. In attendance for the panel was Isagi's Japanese VA (Ura Kazuki) and anime series producer (Arisawa Ryoya). We technically weren't allowed to take any photos or video recordings when the panel started, but I managed to get one shot towards the beginning with Ura and Arisawa, and then at the end with the Blue Lock: Episode Nagi screenshot lol.

Based on a previous fan survey on which S1 episode was the favorite, they aired a screening of episode 17, "Hetakuso/Donkey" first, and then went into the Q&A portion.

Since it was Ura's first time in New York City, when asked about what he wanted to eat the most, he claimed it was steak since that's what his other VA senpais told him to eat. He also remarked on the huge size of New York City bagels compared to Japan, and joked that he was "still full from his bagel breakfast."

When Ura was asked about episode 17, he said he practiced the "hetakuso" line delivery many times so he was glad to see it finally pay off. He also did the delivery line live for the audience lol.

When asked about what he likes about Blue Lock S1, Ura noted he enjoys the unpredictability of the series (like in episode 17) where for the characters, you "never know who's going to win. Just when you think winning is impossible, you can win at the last second." Arisawa also noted that he liked how Blue Lock is a show where it focuses on "not being positive, just for the sake of being positive, but the characters learning from their failures, so they can grow."

When asked about any fun VA recording stories, Ura said that closer to the last episode, there was a scene with Rin (Uchiyama Koki) where he felt so "focused on beating Rin that he accidentally read Rin's line by mistake." No one apparently noticed at the time and only after Ura finished recording, so the VA staff told him "that was very egoist of you" lolol.

When Ura was asked about getting the role of Isagi and how it's differed from his other VA roles, he remarked because this was a character that "required the skills I didn't have personally at the time," every week before recording, Ura felt like "I had to go beyond my voice acting skills and learn to catch up, otherwise Isagi would leave me behind." Ura also credited his senior VAs in the series, and felt like he learned a lot from them when recording, and described the process as "very hard, but fun."

When Ura was asked about if there were any difficult scenes to voice act, Ura said it was the 'hetakuso/donkey' line delivery since "it involved a new side of Isagi that you hadn't seen before." So, he and the VA directors debated how much coldness he wanted to inflect in his voice in showing off this new side of Isagi. The VA director also told Ura in terms of general direction for this scene, he said to go for the 'soccer anime demon lord' approach where he told Ura to pretend that Isagi was a demon lord and deliver the 'hetakuso/donkey' line accordingly in that fashion lol.

Arisawa also noted that this was the first time he's personally worked on a manga-to-anime series adaptation since he'd only worked on original anime series like Princess Principal before this, so he personally called up Kodansha for the adaptation rights since he wanted to work on a 'world hit series' and after reading the manga, felt like Blue Lock had the potential for this.

There were video messages from Ash Da Hero (who sung the second OP, 'Judgement') along with Nakamura Shugo (Gagamaru Gin's VA) who sung the first ED, 'Winner' where Nakamura lamented not being there with Ura. So, after the video message, Ura joked that "he'd bring Shugo along in his suitcase next year."

The panel ended with a never-before-seen photo still of Isagi from the upcoming Blue Lock: Episode Nagi film (set to release on April 19th, 2024) where Arisawa remarked that "Isagi looks like the last boss for Nagi."

#blue lock #animenyc #animenyc 23'#anime nyc #ura kazuki #arisawa ryoya #can't believe i've fallen back into the soccer anime hole again after going to this panel rofl #love when a dormant hyperfixation reactivates #also ura is A CUTIEEE!!!#you could tell how excited he was there to be there since it was his first time in NYC :')))

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phantombanquet · 8 months ago

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【Anime da Vinci】 Ura Kazuki Voice Actor Encyclopedia “I am a newcomer who often receives affectionate comments like: You have a loud voice (LOL).”

Original Article

Date Published: February 24, 2021

translation by: phantombanquet

The annual project of “Voice Actor Encyclopedia” presents their real selves that lie beneath their characters.

The 258th episode features Ura Kazuki, who plays the role of Kyosuke Aiba in “Futsal Boys!!!!!” and the role of Tsuchiya, a member of the gardening club in “Dimension High School.”

Ura-san has a lot to say no matter the topic. He is usually half-jokingly told many times, “You have a loud voice!” or “You’re noisy (laugh),” but these words are filled with sincere feelings towards his works and people!

“How did you become interested in voice acting?“

Ura: When I was in my third year of high school, I felt depressed because everything in my personal and academic life wasn’t going well, then I watched “Strike Watchers” and became influenced. The main character is Yoshika Miyafuji, a girl with a passionate heart who refuses to yield no matter what predicament she finds herself in, and I was moved to tears by the straightforward performance of Misato Fukuen, who plays her. It’s amazing that voice actors have the power to move people’s hearts just like that, and I wanted to do the same. By the time I made up my mind, I was already attending university, but I still went down on my knees in front of my parents to let them allow me to attend a (voice acting) training school as well.

“What did you study at university?”

Ura: I had originally always wanted to become a game creator and had studied various things beforehand, so I comprehensively studied programming and other lessons related to games. A lot of people are involved in both anime and games, and lots of time and painstaking efforts are put into them, so I think it was a good experience for me in the sense that I came to feel the responsibility of voice actors being the final piece.

“You are doing the most out of it now. So what kind of person were you as a child?”

Ura: This may sound contradictory, but I wanted to show off even if I was introverted. I have two older brothers and one younger brother so I don’t mind talking to people of the same sex, but I am really bad at talking to girls… When I joined the brass band in junior high school, most of the members were girls so stomach medicine was essential (Laughs). My core desire was to not be disliked, and I was troubled for a time by trying to construct my ideal self, wondering, “what kind of boy would be the best?”

“How about now?”

Ura: I can feel more relaxed and can speak as my true self! Although sometimes, I still have stomach medicine with me (Laughs). But I think the experience of carefully creating a character within yourself is essential for acting, so I don’t think my experience back then wasn’t wasted.

“What instruments did you play in your brass band in junior high school?”

Ura: It was the trombone. It’s an instrument that tends to gain a lot of attention, and I didn’t want to play it because I disliked appearing in front of people. However, my advisor saw the way I was talking and said: “You seem suited for it.” My teacher liked doing interesting stuff; he let us wear Mario cosplays as we performed in concerts and we even made our own Goomba¹ and added the “byon” sound effects. It was embarrassing because I was shy, but I had fun working together with everyone to create something.

“It’s funny that someone recommends playing the trombone just based on how you speak.”

Ura: Other times, I was often called out by name to be on the cheerleading squad or become a class representative. I guess I was always too loud because I liked talking to people. And when the boys would get together and talk about nonsense stuff, they would often say, “well, do it.” I couldn’t say it myself, but I was serious despite my loudness, so I think I did what I was told (Laughs).

“Although you were introverted, you had a very fulfilling student life.”

Ura: It was definitely fulfilling. When I was in college, I was making games and attending training school while also helping out the public relations department of the university. I would take photos of flyers, roll the cameras, and so on. For some video assignments, I even planned the project, performed it, and created the script and filming all by myself.

“Do you like making things?”

Ura: That’s right. Now that I think of it, even as a child, my brothers and I used to play by making things out of cardboard instead of asking to buy anime toys.

I’m regaining my youth through “Futsal Boys!!!!!”

“So, when you first started working as a voice actor, please tell us your impression when you started dubbing for the first time!”

Ura: It’s a bit presumptuous, but I was really happy to see the seriousness of my seniors. For example, even a single word like, “Ah,” is thought of as why it’s “Ah,” and what kind of “Ah,” should be said, like, they analyze it on an even deeper level that a newcomer like me wouldn't be able to consider. That’s why when there’s some extra time, they would even check on it even during their spare time, or even while eating. I remember feeling overjoyed to see that because it made me feel good knowing that I had to work harder as well.

“You play the role of Kyosuke Aiba, in the media mix project “Futsal Boys!!!!!”. How do you feel about being involved in this work, with its realistic training sessions and other activities being shown to the public?”

Ura: I’ve never participated in any sports club activities, so I feel like I’m regaining my lost youth (Laughs). We would all practice towards our goals, and on the way home, we would have dinner and talked about our reflections, or just enjoy having a nice chat about other things. Of course, it’s my work, but it’s the kind of content that I truly enjoy. There are 29 cast members, so sometimes we practice by team or as a whole.

“The other teams are your rivals, but do you also talk to them while practicing?”

Ura: Although we’re rivals, we all get along with each other pretty well as we boost one another’s presence. We all go out to eat together, so there aren’t really any restrictions per team.

“Although Kazuki Furuta is on a different team, the two of you are still co-stars. The both of you are members of the same voice acting unit ‘SHALL WE BLACK OUT?’. What kind of conversations do you usually talk about?”

Ura: We usually talk about comedy (Laughs). I’m from the Kansai region and I like comedy, so when I tried to tell a joke from the Gerrardon-san trio from a certain program, he seemed to know what I was talking about and followed along. He seriously does lots of research, so he sends me messages in LINE to tell me interesting programs from Tokyo that I don’t know of. He also passionately researches futsal, so it inspired me to also do my best, and there are moments when we’re heading the same direction, which makes me really happy whenever we play together.

“Furuta-san said that he is closest to Koyo High School, to which he belongs, but how about Momomi High School, which Ura-san belongs to?”

Ura: No, no, I think Koyo has a strong bond, but when it comes to friendship, we, Momomi, are the best! Momomi High School is a team where we find winning important, but we also enjoy having fun together. Our goal is to make people watching think that, “futsal is so much fun,” so I think we are a very cozy team that can work hard but not too hard (to the point of exhaustion).

“Your 2019 performance in “Dimension High School” (playing as the role of Tsuchiya, member of the gardening club) was an unusual type of work that dealt back and forth between the anime part and the live-action part.”

Ura: I didn’t pass the audition for the anime part, but I was invited to be part of the live-action part, and it became my first regular work. It was difficult trying to memorize the script at first, so I asked Takuma Zaiki-san for tips on memorization and consulted with Takahide Ishii-san and Takeo Otsuka-san on how to express myself using my body. The entire cast stayed together for a week to shoot on the location. I learned a lot by watching how everyone approaches their performance up close, and I was very happy to meet Ishii-san again in “Futsal Boys!!!!!”.

When I go home, I still say “I’m home!” even though no one is home (Laughs).

“How do you spend your days off?”

Ura: I often just watch stuff on YouTube. For comedy, I would watch the official channels of Gerrardon-san or Robert-san. I also like games, so I would play online with my friends from my hometown or with other fellow voice actors.

“What are some of the things that you started doing during the stay-at-home² period?”

Ura: I’ve always been an indoor person, so not much has changed. Since the house was already kept in perfect condition, I was extremely comfortable during the stay-at-home period while eating meals and playing games without moving a single step (Laughs).

“Isn’t it lonely living alone after you moved to Tokyo?”

Ura: It’s lonely. I have a lot of siblings, so I haven’t really had the experience where I’d come home to an empty house. I still end up saying, “I’m home,” even though no one is home (Laughs). But even if I also like being indoors, I still want to meet people as much as possible and value human connections. I am often approached by random people on the street. They would ask stuff like, “could you please take a photo?” or, “do you know a good place to drink?” and so on. A while back, when I was chatting with someone about a bar, he took a liking to me and said, “That’s neat, let’s have a drink together, brother³!” then he treated me to a drink (Laughs).

“That kind of thing does happen (Laughs). Have you made any connections at work?”

Ura: Yes, I have. Everyone is so kind and eager to get to know each other, so I am often willing to go out with them for dinner or other places. One of my closest friends for nearly three years is Ayato Morinaga-kun from Mausu Promotion. When I first moved to Tokyo, I was invited to a drinking party and we ended up becoming close with each other; since we also live close-by, we often spend a lot of time together. We both moved to Tokyo around the same time.

“Now, please tell us what kind of voice actor you would like to become in the future!”

Ura: Well, after all, I still want to be known as a good actor. Lately, I’ve been doing work that requires physical appearance as well as singing, but I became a voice actor because I was attracted to acting. First of all, I would like to focus on the core of my acting. As a newcomer, I often receive affectionate comments like, “you have a loud voice,” or, “you’re noisy,” but I would like to continue to sincerely work on both the work and the characters. Thank you very much for your support!

Thank you very much, Ura-san!

Look forward to the next “Voice Actor Encyclopedia”!

Ura Kazuki

Ura Kazuki VIMS Page

Ura Kazuki Twitter

footnotes:

¹ “Goomba” - one of the characters in the Mario franchise.

² “Stay-at-home period” - Quarantine period

³ It’s a common practice in Japan to address someone you’re not familiar with as お兄さん (Onii-san/Older brother) or お姉さん (Onee-san/Older sister), and it is seen as a sign of respect. Other neighboring Asian countries also have this ingrained in their culture.

translator's note:

ura kazuki is my all-time favorite seiyuu and reading this interview of his from three years ago is like a pastime to me but now that i finally have the time to fully translate it — here it is!!!! i hope you reader may come to support him or continue to support him as much as i do!

#ura kazuki #seiyuu translation #phantombanquet #phantombanquet seiyuu

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