#mika kanai

[anpansidequest]

tezuka X anpanman same voice actor cases

here's a post of tezuka and anpanman charters who share a VA (that am awere)

north no1 (pluto) chesee kamameshidon and uncle jam (since 2018): koichi yamadera

denkou and melonpanna: mika kanai

blue kingth (2003) Brau-1589 and zamazu bondo (curently): hideki tanaka

blackjack magma (1994) nagainegiman/uncle negi and nigauriman: aiko otsuka

Honsuke sharaku (the three eyed one anime) and shiratama: Kazue Ikura

inspector tawashi (2003) and kazekonkon (curently): banjo ginga

tokugawa don dracula mushibakinman (til 2013) and kurayamiman (til 2013): kenji utsumi

if i found more exemples i wil put them bai baikin

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Some proof that I havevn't let this little one go!! I'm still working on her and I'm making sure she makes sense. So I'm tkaing my time and doing this right. Who knows, she may become a new sona lmao.

Tidbits of her character info are under the cut!

Rest assured, though, these small bits are NOT the full sections of her character bio! Anything that is still in the works or undecided is NOT included.

Basics:

Name: Izumi Ishikawa (石川泉) Name meaning: 泉 - Izumi - “fountain/spring” // 石川 - Ishikawa - “stone” and “river/stream” Age: 26 (contracted at 13) Birthday: July 11, 1998 Blood Type: A Zodiac: Cancer Sexuality: Asexual (Ace) Social Status: Lower Middle Class Occupation (as an adult): Self Employed; runs an online store for her amigurumi commissions

Personal Info:

Personality: She is a Bakadere with a fear of fire and her wish is to become a magical girl like in her favorite tv series. Later on into her adult years, she displays more of an Utsudere type of personality due to the realization that witches are previous magi. Favorite Hobby: Crochet Amigurumi Likes: Ghosts, Coffee, Matcha, Hot Baths, Plushies Dislikes: Loudness, Creepy Bugs, Idiots, Getting Sick Health Issues: Suffers from chronic iron deficiency anemia

Magical Girl:

Sphere of Existence: Rain and Wind Wish: To become a Mahou Shoujo like in her favorite series Soul Gem: She has a blue soul gem that appears as a sea shell with white wings when she is transformed.  Weapon: Battle Axe (I just don't know what name i'm giving it) Magical Girl Path: Neutral Element: Water/Aqua Magical Girl Experience: Veteran Grief Seeds Collected: 87 Witches Defeated: 92 Darkness in Soul Gem: ♥️♥️♡♡♡ 

Combat Stats:

Magia Record: ★★★☆ HP: 2648 Type: Heal Attack: 2486 Speed: Above Average Defense: 5405 Resistance: 1748

Mental Stats:

Intelligence: 6/10 Grief Resistance: 4/10 Emotional Stability: 5/10 Situational Awareness: 4/10

Miscellaneous:

Theme Song (childhood): “Sunshine City” by Desired Theme Song (adulthood): “Walpurgisnacht” by FAUN VA (child): Mika Kanai for her performance as Mimite in the 90s Sailor Moon Adaptation VA (adult): Misato Fukuen for her performance as Black Lady in Sailor Moon Crystal

[mashimaarts]

2013.03.18: @/MIkAKANAI3018 みか姉さん、誕生日おめでとうございます。いつまでも若々しくいてくださいヽ(≧▽≦)ﾉ

[CV: Mika Kanai] Happy birthday Mika-neesan. Please stay young forever and I wish you all the bestヽ(≧▽≦)ﾉ (DeepL Translate)

[koholint]

haruichiban sung by mika kanai :o

[btamamura]

Kenji/Tracey Sketchit. Shinomiya Natsuki. Kashuu Kiyomitsu. Kogarasumaru. Ikaruga Misumi.

These five are my comfort characters and I decided I wanted to make a short clip of excerpts of them singing. These are from their actual character songs, I did not cheat and choose any random songs their seiyuu sing. (Which is why Kogapapa's excerpt seems incomplete, because he sings the other half of the chorus with two others and I needed to focus on their solos.)

Songs chosen...

Minna de Arukou (originally performed by Satoshi, Kasumi, Takeshi and Kenji with Pikachu, Togepi, Rokon, Mariru and Fushigidane - Matsumoto Rica, Iizuka Mayumi, Ueda Yuji and Seki Tomokazu with Otani Ikue, Koroogi Satomi, Aikawa Rikako, Kanai Mika and Hayashibara Megumi) - Pokémon

Piyo-chan no Uta ( originally performed by Shinomiya Natsuki - Taniyama Kisho) - Uta no Prince-sama

Anata to Watashi to -Kashuu Kiyomitsu solo- (originally performed by Kashuu Kiyomitsu - Masuda Toshiki) - Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-

Medetashi Tsukurigoto (originally performed by Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, Shishiou and Kogarasumaru - Maeno Tomoaki, Ohsaka Ryota and Hoshi Soichiro) - Zoku Touken Ranbu -Hanamaru-

Ichi, Ni, Sankaku (originally performed by Ikaruga Misumi - Hirose Daisuke) - A3! - Act! Addict! Actors!

[elen-000]

After the Rain, Love Blooms

After the Rain (Japanese: 恋は雨上がりのように, Hepburn: Koi wa Ameagari no Yō ni, which translates to "Love Is Like After the Rain") is a touching Japanese manga series created by Jun Mayuzuki. Initially serialized in Shogakukan's Monthly Big Comic Spirits from June 2014 to November 2015, and later in Weekly Big Comic Spirits until March 2018, the series concluded with a total of 10 tankōbon volumes.

The story centers on Akira Tachibana, a high school student who works part-time at a family restaurant. Her life changes when she develops feelings for Masami Kondo, the restaurant’s 45-year-old manager. Masami, a kind and timid man who has been through a divorce and has a young son, becomes the unexpected focus of Akira's affection. As Akira grapples with her feelings and the complexities of her situation, she must decide whether to express her emotions to Masami.

After the Rain was adapted into a 12-episode anime series by Wit Studio, which aired from January to March 2018 on Fuji TV’s Noitamina block. Additionally, a live-action film adaptation was released in May 2018. In North America, Vertical licensed the manga, publishing it in five omnibus volumes from September 2018 to September 2019. Sentai Filmworks holds the license for the anime series' home video and digital releases.

The manga has been well-received, with over two million copies in circulation by April 2018 and won the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category that same year.

Key Characters:

Akira Tachibana (Voiced by Sayumi Watabe, English by Luci Christian; Played by Nana Komatsu): A high school student and former track team member, Akira falls for Masami after a kind gesture from him during a rainy day. Despite her seemingly aloof exterior, she’s quite shy and reserved, especially around Masami.

Masami Kondo (Voiced by Hiroaki Hirata, English by Jason Douglas; Played by Yo Oizumi): The 45-year-old manager of the family restaurant who is kind but often seen as weak by his staff. Divorced and father to a young son, Masami is initially unaware of Akira’s true feelings for him.

Haruka Kyan (Voiced by Emi Miyajima, English by Elizabeth Maxwell; Played by Nana Seino): Akira’s loyal friend from her track team days who remains supportive after her injury.

Yui Nishida (Voiced by Haruka Fukuhara, English by Maggie Flecknoe; Played by Honoka Matsumoto): A cheerful coworker at the restaurant who has her own romantic interests.

Ryosuke Kase (Voiced by Tomoaki Maeno, English by Jason Liebrecht; Played by Hayato Isomura): A restaurant chef with inappropriate intentions towards Akira, leading to a tense subplot involving blackmail.

Takashi Yoshizawa (Voiced by Junya Ikeda, English by Gareth West; Played by Shono Hayama): Akira’s classmate and coworker who has a crush on her.

Kayoko Kubo (Voiced by Mika Kanai, English by Patricia Duran; Played by Mari Hamada): A supporting character in the series.

Yuto Kondo (Voiced by Junko Takeuchi, English by Kira Vincent-Davis; Played by Shunya Shiraishi): Masami’s young son, adding a layer of family dynamic to the story.

Chihiro Kujo (Voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto; Played by Shigeyuki Totsugi): Masami’s former college buddy who is now a renowned writer.

After the Rain is a poignant exploration of unexpected love and the complexities of human relationships, beautifully illustrated and narrated by Jun Mayuzuki.

[toonabby]

Q1 (January to March) anniversary recap thread:

Here's a listed of works that celebrated their milestone anniversaries this year and people who celebrated their milestone birthdays that I missed last quarter, as well as works that released this year:

[Note that this draft was made in March 31, but I didn't have enough time to post it, hence why it's here]

1964 and earlier:

Colonel Heeza Liar's African Hunt - January 10, 1914

Gertie the Dinosaur - February 18, 1914

Colonel Heeza Liar Shipwrecked - March 14, 1914

Janet Waldo✝️(Late American voice actress known for portraying Judy Jetson from The Jetsons) - February 4, 1919

Felix Out of Luck - January 1, 1924

Ron Moody✝️(Late British actor, singer, and composer) - Born January 8, 1924

Felix Loses Out - January 15, 1924

Felix 'Hyps' the Hippo, Colonel Heeza Liar's Mysterious Case - February 1, 1924

Felix Crosses the Crooks - February 15, 1924

Felix Tries to Rest - February 29, 1924

Alice's Day at Sea - March 1, 1924

Yanky Clippers - January 21, 1929

Sick Cylinders - February 18, 1929

James Hong (Chinese-American actor known for Mr. Ping in the KFP franchise) - Born February 22, 1929

Bob Uecker (Former MLB player) - Born January 26, 1934

Barry Humphries✝️(Late Australian actor known for portraying Bruce in Finding Nemo) - Born February 17, 1934

Hamateur Night - January 28, 1939

Mickey's Surprise Party - February 18, 1939

Ferdinand the Bull - February 23, 1939

Goofy and Wilbur - March 17, 1939

Jerry Springer✝️(Late American comedian) - Born February 13, 1944

R. Lee Ermey✝️(Late American actor and Marine drill instructor) - Born March 24, 1944

Adventures of Pow Wow - January 30, 1949

Pat Farley (American voice actor for Krang, Casey Jones and Baxter Stockman in the 80's TMNT series) - Born February 18, 1949

Oprah Winfrey - Born January 29, 1954

Shigeru China (Veteran Japanese voice actor) - Born February 4, 1954

James Carter Cathcart AKA Jimmy Zoppi (Retired NY-based voice actor known for portraying James, Meowth, and Pros. Oak) - Born March 8, 1954

Clancy Brown (voice actor for Mr. Krabs) - Born January 6, 1959

Sleeping Beauty (1959) - January 29

Clutch Cargo (1959) - March 9

The Magilla Gorilla Show - January 14

Michelle Obama - Born January 17

Mika Kanai (Japanese voice actress for Vanilla H, Satoko Houjou, and Histoire) - Born March 18

1969:

Mr. Lawrence (American animator and recurring voice actor in SpongeBob SquarePants) - Born January 1

Himitsu no Ako-chan - January 6

Patton Oswalt (American comedian) - Born January 27

Lee Toker (Canadian voice actor for Bling-Bling Boy, The Roach, and Snips) - Born February 11

Paget Brewster (voice actor for Elise Pearson, Della Duck, and Judy Ken Sebben) - Born March 10

Kevin Shinick (producer of MAD) - Born March 19

1974:

Heidi, Girl of the Alps - January 6

Christian Bale (English actor beat known for portraying Batman) - January 30

Vicky the Viking - January 31

Seth Green (American voice actor for Chris Griffin and creator of/recurring voice actor for Robot Chicken) - February 8

Bagpuss - February 12

Kamen Rider X - February 16

1979:

Amigo and Friends - January 1

Julie the Wild Rose - January 4

Battle Fever J - February 3

Josh Keaton (American voice actor for Spider-Man) - February 8

Maryke Hendrikse (Canadian voice actor for Susan Test, Revy, and Gilda) - February 23

1984:

Katri, Girl of the Meadows - January 8

Kaiji Tang (LA-based voice actor for Archer, Fang, and Jinshi) - Born January 25

Cristina Miliza (voice actress for Poison Ivy, Jessica Cruz, and Charlene) - Born February 1

Choudenshi Bioman - February 4

Ian Sinclair - Born March 2

Lupin III Part III - March 3

James the Cat - March 10

Future Boy Conan and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - March 11

Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld - March 17

1989:

Marianne Bray (Crunchyroll English dub voice actress for Charlotte Flampe, Mia Christoph, and Ichigo Saotome) - Born February 6

Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers, Kousoku Sentai Turboranger - March 4

Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan - March 11

Babar - March 28

1994:

Reina Ueda (Japanese voice actress) - Born January 17

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - February 2

Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? - February 5

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger - February 18

Dakota Fanning (American actress and daughter of Steve Fanning) - Born February 23

Duckman - March 5

The Busy World of Richard Scarry - March 9

Alan Ituriel (Mexican creator and voice actor for Villainous) - March 10

Doraemon: Nobita's Three Visionary Swordsmen and Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming - March 12

Super Metroid - March 19

Thumbelina - March 30

1999:

The PJs - January 10

The Brothers Flub - January 17

Super Smash Bros - January 21

Zoboomafoo and Dilbert - January 25

TNK (Japanese animation studio known for School Days and High School DxD) - January 29, 1999

A Little Curious - February 1

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy - February 6

Ojamajo Doremi - February 7

Mario Party (US) - February 8

Final Fantasy VIII - February 11

Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive - February 21

Babar: King of the Elephants - February 26

Joshua David King (Africa-American voice actor and singer) - Born February 28

WonderSwan - March 4

Doraemon: Nobita Drifts in the Universe - March 6

Tarzan of the Apes - March 9

Neo Geo Pocket Color - March 16

Doug's 1st Movie - March 26

2004:

Drake & Josh - January 11

Seven Little Monsters - January 14

Vocaloid - January 15

Teacher's Pet - January 16

Whoopi's Littleburg - January 18

The Koala Brothers, Boohbah - January 19

Kamen Rider Blade - January 25

Winx Club (IT) - January 28

The Lion King 1½ - February 10

Power Rangers Dino Thunder - February 14

Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger - February 15

Clifford's Really Big Movie - February 20

Duel Masters - February 27

Tripping the Rift - March 4

Doraemon: Nobita in the Wan-Nyan Spacetime Odyssey - March 7

Game Over - March 10

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - March 26

2009:

Huntik: Secrets & Seekers, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight - January 3

The Electric Company - January 19

Wolverine and the X-Men - January 23

Kamen Rider Decade - January 25

Olivia - January 26

Hulk Vs - January 27

RuPaul's Drag Race - February 2

Coraline - February 6

Friday the 13th remake - February 13

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger - February 15

Madea Goes to Jail - February 20

League of Super Evil - March 5

Watchmen - March 6

Doraemon: The New Record of Nobita: Spaceblazer, Power Rangers RPM - March 7

The Amazing Spiez! - March 15

Barbie Thumbelina - March 17

Pretty Cure All Stars DX - March 20

Monsters Vs. Aliens - March 27

2014:

Every Witch Way - January 1

BeyWarriors: BeyRaiderz, Space Dandy, Seitokai Yakuindomo - January 4

Noragami - January 5

D-Frag, Robot Girls Z, Super Sonic: The Animation - January 6

Numb Chucks - January 7

Engage to the Unidentified - January 8

Go! Go! 575 - January 9

No-Rin, Wake Up Girls - January 10

Nisekoi - January 11

Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono Encore - January 12

The Nut Job - January 17

Sheriff Callie's Wild West, The Idolmaster Movie: Beyond the Brilliant Future! - January 25

The Lego Movie - February 7

Barbie: The Pearl Princess, Power Rangers Super Megaforce - February 15

Ressha Sentai ToQger - February 16

Peabody and Mr. Sherman - March 7

Pretty Rhythm: All Star Selection - March 8

Cardfight!! Vanguard: Legion Mate - March 9

Nerds and Monsters - March 12

Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage 3 - March 15

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: SISTERS GENERATION - March 20

Muppets Most Wanted - March 21

2019:

Abby Hatcher - January 1

Dororo remake - January 7

The Rising of the Shield Hero - January 9

The Quintessential Quintuplets - January 10

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - January 12

The Magnificent Kotobuki - January 13

Gigantosaurus - January 18

Gen:Lock - January 26

Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty - January 27

Arc of Alchemist - February 7

The Lego Movie 2 - February 8

Doom Patrol, The Umbrella Academy - February 15

Super Sentai Strongest Battle - February 17

Corn & Peg, How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World - February 22

Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral - March 1

Power Rangers Beast Morphers - March 2

DC Super Hero Girls, Captain Marvel, Costume Quest - March 8

Fully Funtasia - March 11

Wonder Park - March 15

Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger - March 17

Pokemon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Legends - March 23

Dumbo remake - March 29

Victor and Valentino - March 30

It was also the year where me and my family moved to a new house; the previous house was a rental, while this will be where we're staying for the rest of our lives

2024:

Bloody Escape: Jigoku no Tousou Genki - January 5

Pon no Michi, Sasaki and Peeps anime adaptation - January 6

Grimsburg - January 7

Metallic Rouge - January 11

Hazbin Hotel (TV series) - January 19

Ohmuro-ke: Dear Sister, Persona 3 Reload - February 2

Wonderful Pretty Cure! - February 4

Lyla in the Loop - February 5

Rock, Paper, Scissors - February 11

Bea's Block, Caillou reboot - February 15

Doraemon: Nobita's Earth Symphony - March 1

Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger - March 3

Hot Wheel: Let's Race - March 4

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley - March 7

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction - March 22

Radirgy 2, Touch Detective 3 + The Complete Case Files - March 28

[plrod]

So I met Mika Kanai during OkiCon 2022, and before that I bought a giant Jigglypuff from Pokémon center for about 4,000 yen, and she signed it for free like “Purin” which is the Japanese name for Jiggs. So now part of my collection is one giant Jiggplypuff, one Bulbasaur Card, one Sexy Justu Naruto Pop, and my arm was signed by the band @nonpointworld in a concert because it was awesome. One of these items will never be washed. If I get one like, I’ll show off my sexy jutsu pop on this app only.

[tarhalindur]

> Not to mention the cast is all a bunch of people creeping up on 40 now. 

It’s worth noting that they are actually taking advantage of one of the advantages of animation as a medium in this - a good VA at least can generally keep the voice for a character fairly consistent well after the point where a traditional actor would no longer be able to believably act as that character without aging the character up.  For example, Higurashi Gou came out almost fifteen years after the original Higurashi anime and with the exception of one secondary cast member whose VA was unavailable on account of being dead of old age (they reused his original lines where they could and otherwise contorted events so that he never had a speaking line) and the partial exception of Keiichi’s VA (Hoshi Souichirou, who knowing Japanese culture is probably a smoker) everybody was able to generally get back to the same voices they were using fifteen years ago.  (Now if only the same could be said for Ryukishi07′s writing, sigh... to be fair, losing your editor who was also your best friend will do that to you.)  For that matter, it’s worth noting that even in the first anime (and the voiced ports of the original VN that came with it) one of the two resident elementary schoolers was voiced by the oldest VA in the cast (Mika Kanai was already 40 and is nearly 60 now).

Now, you’re right that the *rest* of the decision looks like marketing since you didn’t *have* to bring back the movie cast.  But once you’ve decided that you want to bring back the original movie cast for marketing reasons, going animation to take advantage of one of the advantages of voice acting over live-action acting makes sense, especially on a work that was fairly anime-inspired to start with.

As much as it is cool that the original cast for the Scott Pilgrim movie are doing the voices for the upcoming anime, that does seem like a marketing-first decision. The movie is quite different from the comic, film is different from animation, and even tv shows are different from movies. If the anime is going to be a more comic-true, slower paced version, i dont think you need all the changes the film made. So is Michael Cera's version of Scott the one you want? Envy can get a ton more screen time, do you need Brie Larson's level of girlboss dom exactly? Its just not how I would order my priorities production-wise

Not to mention the cast is all a bunch of people creeping up on 40 now.

[majokkoradio]

“Susume! Sweets Way” - Kirakira Precure a la Mode - Pekorin Image Song

[07th-info]

“Higurashi: Mei” autograph campaign!

Follow @higurashi_mei, and retweet this post for a chance to win three autographs from Mika Kanai (Satoko Houjou), Yukari Tamura (Rika Furude), and Yui Horie (Hanyuu)!

The contest ends October 22nd.

[otakutale]

AT-X Listed Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Gou for at Least 30 Episodes

https://wp.me/p4jiOt-cAR

Japanese television network AT-X has updated their listings for the month of April, where they have listed that current ongoing…

[nickaroniart]

Rock band girlfriends Ayane and Mika~

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

13th Annual Seiyuu Awards Results

I MESSED UP AND FORGOT TO GET THIS ASAP. HERE ARE THE FULL LIST OF RESULTS.

If anyone translates any of the speeches, I’m open to attempting to time it!

Wikipedia Source

Best  Actor in a Leading Role: Yuuma Uchida 

Agency: I’m Enterprise Highlighted Work: Banana Fish as Ash Lynx

Best  Actress in a Leading Role: Yuuko Sanpei

Agency: Axl-One Highlighted Work: Boruto as Boruto Uzumaki

Best Actors in Supporting Roles: Tooru Furuya and Kenta Miyake

Furuya Agency: Aoni Production Highlighted Role: Case Closed as Rei Furuya

Miyake Agency: 81 Produce Highlighted Role: My Hero Academia as All Might

Best Actresses in Supporting Roles: Yuu Serizawa and Nao Touyama

Serizawa Agency: 81 Produce Highlighted Role: How Not to Summon a Demon Lord as Shera L. Greenwood

Touyama Agency: INTENTION Highlighted Role: Yuru Camp as Rin Shima 

Best Rookie Actors: Kouhei Amasaki, Mark Ishii, Fukushi Ochiai, Shuugo Nakamura

Amasaki Agency: I’m Enterprise Highlighted Role: Hi Score Girl as Haruo Yaguchi

Ishii Agency: Just Production Highlighted Role: Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Z as Chrono Shindou

Ochiai Agency: Aoni Production Highlighted Role: Gurazeni as Natsunosuke Bonda

Nakamura Agency: Across Entertainment Highlighted Role: The Idolmaster SideM as Teru Tendou

Best Rookie Actresses: Manaka Iwami, Tomori Kusunoki, Coco Hayashi, Rina Honnizumi, Kaede Hondo

Iwami Agency: Pro-Fit Highlighted Role: Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms as Maquia

Kusunoki Agency: Sony Music Artists Highlighted Role: Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online as Llenn

Hayashi Agency: 81 Produce Highlighted Role: Kiratto Pri Chan as Mirai Momoyama

Hondo Agency: 81 Produce Highlighted Role: Hinamatsuri as Hitomi Mishima

Singing Award: Hypnosis Mic

Members: Subaru Kimura, Haruki Ishiya, Kouhei Amasaki, Shintaro Asanuma, Wataru Komada, Shinichirou Kamio, Yusuke Shira, Souma Saitou, Yukihiro Nozuyama, Show Hayami, Ryuuichi Kijima, and Kento Itou

Personality Award: Junichi Suwabe

Agency: Haikyou

Merit Award: Kenichi Ogata and Hisako Kyouda

Kei Tomiyama Memorial Award: Kappei Yamaguchi

Kazue Takahashi Memorial Award: Mika Kanai

Synergy Award: Pop Team Epic

Foreign Movie/Series Award: Toshiyuki Morikawa and Yuuko Kaida

Game Award: Nao Touyama

Influencer Award: Yoshino Nanjou

Most Valuable Seiyuu Award: Hiroshi Kamiya

The ceremony was held on March 9, 2019, at the JOQR Media Plus Hall in Minato, Tokyo. The Merit Award and the Synergy Award were announced in February. The four new categories included: Foreign Movie/Series Award, the Game Award, the Influencer Award, and the Most Valuable Seiyu Award.

[tsuminiochiiru]

Pics come from Utsumi Kentaro, Saiga Mitsuki, Yonaga Tsubasa, Kanai Mika, Anri Katsu, the official event witter and more.

Pics from KENPROCK Fes

[gramarye]

A summary of a Higurashi Gou interview

Hello! I made a long-ish summary of the recent interview Ryukishi07 gave about Higurashi Gou.

You may read the original Japanese interview here!

Spoilers for Higurashi Gou.  He touches upon the anime's themes, the creation of it, voice actors, the future of the series, connection to Umineko, etc.

↓ ↓ ↓ A summary in the read more below  ↓ ↓  ↓

- He came up with the idea while having tea with an anime industry person, saying "I wish I could make it an anime again" and they responded with "If it's a remake, why not transform it into a new work in the middle?"

“So I started coming up with new ideas for Higurashi.

- It wasn't what he originally envisioned. He wanted to respond to fans that said that they want to "erase their memory and read Higurashi for the first time again". Making it a different story would serve that purpose.

- When asked if he found it hard to write Higurashi again, he said they were "back in his heart immediately".

- When asked about why Satoko is the protagonist, he says it's because Satoko was much like a "damsel in distress" in Tatarigoroshi with Keiichi being the "prince", so he wanted Satoko to be a real protagonist now. He wanted to really dig deeper into Satoko's mind this time.

Interviewer: Satoko has grown into quite an unexpectedly impulsive child... R07: Ahaha, right. I've already shown the duality of Rena and Shion, so I wasn't sure if Satoko's shift would surprise anyone, but I'm happy it did.

- He said the director and animators understand him well, coming up with suggestions that he already had in mind and only had to correct a bit. He felt as if he'd bought 200 kg of tuna (expensive lol) and handed it over to the animators, and they did a great job with it (as a chef would).

Interviewer: Akio Watanabe's character designs sure are nice, they feel fresh yet nostalgic. R07: Yes, I wanted someone who could make Satoko look as good as possible. (especially fangs)

- The voice cast is the same to create a sense of familiarity. He did not inform them about the plot beforehand, and Hanyuu's seiyuu Horie Yui was shocked that she appeared in episode 2, saying "isn't it too early for me to appear?"

- He did not tell Yukari Tamura (Rika's seiyuu) about her role, but he did consult Mika Kanai (Satoko) and told her "it'll be quite tough to act Satoko this time".

Interviewer: All episodes are broadcast on TV, and people are making a lot of theories. How do you feel about it? R07: I think it's the ideal way to experience Higurashi. Back in 2006, it wasn't quite so easy to access social networking services.  I think it's great we live in a time where exchanging opinions casually is easy.

Interviewer: There are certainly many people watching it, from core fans to first-timers. R07: That makes me very happy. Higurashi was always meant to be less of a traditional mystery all about the murderers and the tricks they used, and more about the investigation and process itself. However, when it first aired, it really was seen as a game of guessing. I appreciate discussing our opinions and communicating over seeking what is the right or wrong answer.

R07: "I think social media has changed the way we enjoy content, and while it makes me happy there are people who are seriously thinking about (the logistics), I'm happy there are many ways to enjoy it.

- He says there are people who already have it all figured out, but whether or not your theory is right or wrong, the most important thing is to have fun while thinking about it. Wrong or not, it is a wonderful thing.

- He loves the old Higurashi anime and appreciates what Studio DEEN did, and does not want people to compare them and say "I liked this better" nor to make them uncomfortable.

- On the connection of Higurashi and Umineko: "I think people easily misunderstand it. Higurashi is a work that is complete within itself, you don't need Umineko to enjoy it. It's just that when you add Umineko to it, it may give you a new interesting perspective to think about.

- They compare it to Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix". They are independent stories, but the same characters appear in the stories. In his head, they are a connected integrated world, but that's just how he views it. So, Umineko is not necessary, but of course, he would like you to read all of his works.

- He discusses how things go differently between the characters in the arcs, a tragedy occurs nonetheless, ie. Keiichi handing the doll over to Mion but things going awry regardlses. It's all original from Nekodamashi-hen on. He likens the end of the anime to how Matsuribayashi explains how Takano came to be the way she is, but this time, it explains Satoko's perspective. He says Satoko is certainly a hindrance to the future Rika wants, but he wants you to try and understand her emotions.

- The themes of the previous games were communication and relying on your friends, but this time, he does not want to reveal the themes out loud.

- He says the series is not over, and that he would love to expand on it if he ever came up with more Higurashi related ideas.

- One idea for a new story is Keiichi's children.

That’s it. Thank you for reading!