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Uchusen Vol.188 (Spring 2025) No.1 Sentai Gozyuger | Detail of Super Sentai ft. Main Cast & Staff Interviews (other pages and translations below)

Publication: April 1, 2025

Fuyuno Mio x Suzuki Hideharu x Kanda Masakazu Matsumoto Jin x Imamori Maya

"How did those around you react when you were cast for the role?"

Fuyuno: I told my family first, and as expected, they were overjoyed. Members that were part of the soccer club from my time in high school contacted me and said, "You can do it!" with the same energy that they had back then. Also, a cram school teacher from my middle school years took my photo, enlarged it, made it into a poster with their own money, and proudly said, "I taught that student" (laughs).

Matsumoto: Amazing!

Kanda: You were their prized student, huh? (laughs).

Suzuki: I've loved Super Sentai productions since I was a child, so my family was overjoyed when I told them. It made me happy to hear them say, "You'll become the hero you've always wanted to be." After the production announcement, I received tons of messages from my school teachers and friends saying "congratulations," "good luck," and "we're looking forward to the broadcast." However, I was a night person when I attended college, so some people worried that I'd "definitely oversleep" (laughs).

"By the way, who's your favorite hero?"

Suzuki: My favorite hero is BoukenBlack from "GoGo Sentai Boukenger." I still have a photo of me with the Boukengers at a hero show from when I was a child, and when my parents sent it to me at the time of my audition, it deeply moved me as I thought, "I've loved them since I was this young."

"That was a great story, what about Matsumoto-san?"

Matsumoto: First and foremost, I reported it to my mother, who was extremely overjoyed. After the announcement, the response from those around me was really great, and I received alot of well wishes from people I don't normally keep in touch with, so it felt as if the number of relatives I had quickly increased (laughs).

Suzuki: It couldn't have increased that quickly (laughs).

Matsumoto: My friends were also overjoyed, but it kinda felt like they were teasing me. They know me from how I normally am, so they couldn't imagine me as a hero at all and would be like, "You're gonna be a hero?" (laughs).

"I guess they're able to say it since you're such good friends (laughs)."

Imamori: I contacted my father first, but……I wouldn't say that I'm normally rebellious with my father, but there's sort of an unfriendly distance between us. This is why I always talk to my older sister and mother about my work, but this time, I thought my father would be the most pleased, so I called him and said, "I was chosen."

"We feel alittle sorry for your father……(laughs)."

Imamori: No, my father is usually pretty hard on me too (laughs). So at the time, he was just like, "That's great," and I thought that'd be the end of it, but since then, he seems to have done alot of research, as he started sending me messages such as, "It seems like you're the first female Black," "I watched today's broadcast," and "It's cold, but do your best."

Fuyuno: That's kinda nice, don't you think?

Matsumoto: Your father is kind!

"What about Kanda-san?"

Kanda: I also contacted my relatives and those closest to me after the production announcement, but they were also overjoyed. Also, I'll sometimes meet with my homeroom teachers from elementary school as if it were a mini reunion, and I received a direct LINE from them as well. They were so pleased that they said, "We'll tell our students about it."

"We're sure your homeroom teachers will be very happy. What are some similarities and differences between you and your respective roles?"

Fuyuno: I'd say that me and Hoeru are about 80% similar in terms of our personalities.

Suzuki: They pretty much take after each other (laughs).

Fuyuno: When I first read the description of the role in the proposal, we were so similar that I thought, "This could be me" (laughs). I'm shy and tend to become embarrassed easily, so I think we have a similar tendency to come off as unfriendly. So basically, it's easy for me to perform my role, but then there's the unconventional parts where I have to fight off monsters, so that's difficult.

Kanda: My role as Ryugi is that he's a "Tega Sword follower," but when it comes to being a "follower," I also have an obsessive personality, and when I get into something, it's all I want to do. I love to draw, but before I know it, I'll have drawn for countless hours. On the other hand, the only thing that's different is that he very clearly has way too much power (laughs). I myself am by no means a powerful type of person, so I really enjoy performing the role, as it feels like I've become stronger.

Suzuki: Rikuo's a former super idol, but I also like singing and dancing, so I think we're similar in that respect. The difference is that he has alot of confidence in himself, and is the type who often delivers pretentious lines, but I don't have that kind of show off attitude (laughs). Because we're completely different in that respect, I'm able to open up and perform that part to my heart's content.

"You're wearing your stage costume today too, and your makeup is also very bold (laughs)."

Suzuki: Rikuo has two main costumes and two levels of makeup to match. It's lighter when I wear his normal casual clothes, and thicker when I'm in this idol costume. I myself am a rather messy type of person, and I usually don't do much when it comes to makeup or even styling my hair, so I feel that this is a part that's quite different.

Imamori: For my role as Sumino, she's a girl with a very cunning side, but I wouldn't usually consider myself as cunning (laughs), so it's difficult for me to show her cunningness.

Suzuki: Is that so? It's surprising since you express yourself so naturally. She's also very skilled at switching up her attitude.

Kanda: There's a sudden switch from soft facial expressions to a sharp one.

Imamori: I still find it difficult to do. In order to properly express her cunningness, every day I'll watch alot of anime, idols, and actresses that I think are cute and study them.

"Simply being cunning isn't enough, as it should also give off the impression that you're doing it on purpose."

Imamori: That's right. I want to go all out and express it in an exaggerated way, but it's difficult.

Matsumoto: For my role as Kinjiro, he's a 17 year old high schooler, but on the inside, he's actually a stern, 87 year old grandfather. He had never done anything adventurous in his life up to that point, and in fact, he wanted to live that way, so now he's in the process of getting a second chance at life. Parts that are similar with myself……he's a grandfather after all, so it's hard for me to be honest here (laughs), but I guess I might have the same "desire to have fun since I'm a serious person at heart." I haven't done that many "youthful" things, so we may be similar in that respect. Also, I sometimes have to show off my "ojii-san" side, so whenever I see an old man, I unintentionally follow him with my eyes in order to check things like his gestures (laughs).

"What's the atmosphere on set like?"

Kanda: It's really good.

Imamori: We have fun everyday!

Kanda: We've become friends with the staff and are in close communication, so I'd like for us to keep this atmosphere until the final episode.

"What are your impressions of your other costars?"

Kanda: Nakagoshi-san is a senior from my agency, and this was our first time working together, but……actually, it was practically our first meeting too, as I had never properly met her prior, so I was really nervous (laughs). Still, Nakagoshi-san is always friendly and talks to us in an open way, which has been very helpful.

Fuyuno: I was also really nervous in the beginning about my scenes with Nakagoshi-san. Still, every time we meet, she always kindly asks, "How are you doing?," so I'm grateful that she helps ease our tension. I myself am not very good at starting conversations, so it makes me really happy when people talk to me. Also, on the Buraidan side, I'm fated rivals with Sanbongi-san's Fire Candle, so we have many scenes together. While we engage in intense competition every time we perform, Hoeru's usually a low energy kind of man, but when he has to go for it, he does, so I'm doing my best not to lose in terms of passion.

Matsumoto: Sanbongi-san and Bouquet's Marupi-san are always energetic and fun when we meet up. They're incredibly cheerful, and don't feel like enemies at all (laughs).

Suzuki: Rikuo and Bouquet often get involved with each other in the show, but they don't have direct conversations with each other, and if I were to put it another way, it's mostly just one sided misunderstandings. I think there'll be scenes of them having direct conversations in the future, so I hope you'll look forward to that too.

"Have you gotten accustomed to post recording?"

Kanda: It's abit complicated to say if things are going well each time, but compared to the first time, I think everyone's becoming more skilled. After all, the days where we wouldn't finish until midnight are over (laughs).

Matsumoto: When it comes to our main episodes, there are more lines, and there are more instances of saying lines while on the move, so I get the impression that everyone struggles with these parts.

"Have you met the regular Voice Actors?"

Fuyuno: We've yet to meet Kaji-san, but we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to Mr. Shining Knife's Sugita-san and Mrs. Sweet Cake's Ueda-san.

Matsumoto: We talked about anime and were like, "I watched this one!"

Imamori: I watched "SAKAMOTO DAYS," in which Sugita-san appeared, so I was pretty stoked to hear his voice in person (laughs).

Suzuki: Sugita-san includes various adlibs during recording, and I think it's amazing how he keeps exploring things every time.

Kanda: I want to meet Kaji-san as soon as possible too!

Suzuki: We're all fans of "Shingeki no Kyojin," so we definitely want to talk to him.

"How is it regarding action scenes?"

Suzuki: We haven't gotten caught up in much action so far, but there have been some parts currently where we're moving around abit.

Imamori: Like the action scenes while we're transforming.

Kanda: It's still abit difficult to clap and do action while transforming. In one way or another, the editing and camera work has saved us (laughs).

"Is there anything in particular you'd each like us to pay attention to?"

Kanda: They're all in a rival relationship, so I'd like for the viewers to focus on their favorite characters first. I'm sure the time will come where they'll become a team, but for now, they're still basically split up, so I think you'll enjoy the show more if you empathize with each character.

Suzuki: All of them are outcasts, who are each trying to collect the 50 rings in order to make their dreams come true, but the kind of beliefs they hold and why they came up with their dreams will gradually be revealed, so that's another point I want you to focus on.

Matsumoto: I think one of the biggest highlights is deciding on a different Number One each time, but each person has a different approach to it, so I think every episode will be fun. There are also alot of strange Number Ones that happen that'll make you think, "The hell was that?"

Fuyuno: Hoeru's the only one out of the five who doesn't have a wish, but how will Hoeru find his wish in relation to the people around him? I myself am curious about it, and think it'll be a major highlight to look out for.

Imamori: Every time I watch, I think about how I really love the characters that everyone plays. Each of them gets so into character that I think, "Only this person could play this character," and I think they must read the scripts very carefully. I love how everyone's personality is on display!

"Finally, please give a message to our readers."

Fuyuno: Not only do past Sentai make an appearance in Gozyuger, but there's also plenty of new material, making this a festival like production. You'll never get bored watching it, and the excellent stories will leave an impact every episode, so I'd be happy if you could watch it with anticipation! Hoeru's past was revealed in episode 6, but I'd like for you to pay attention to the way in which he'll face various people and how he'll grow as a person.

Suzuki: I think the issue regarding Rikuo's "gray eyes" will become clear in the coming future, but I hope you'll also pay attention to what kind of team the five outcasts will become…��Tons of previous Reds will appear as Universe Warriors, so I hope you won't miss out on seeing what kind of inspiration these people will give to the Gozyugers.

Matsumoto: It's interesting to see how each of them aims for different Number One titles every week, and how each of them greedily attempts to become Number One, which I think makes it a show that'll give you power on Sunday mornings. If it becomes something everyone looks forward to every week, I'd be happy.

Imamori: We're all working hard and having alot of fun filming every day, and I think there are many scenes that convey that fun. I hope you'll pay attention not only to the individual personalities of each member, but also to the parts where you can get a sense of their vibes.

Kanda: Everything has pretty much already been said……(laughs). I think Ryugi's past, as well as his relationship with Rikuo, will also become clear, so that's one of the points I hope you'll also look forward to watching. What's more, the toys of MY god, Tega Sword-sama, are incredibly attractive, and there's a variety of gorgeous goods available for adult fans as well, so it'd make me happy if you could also check out our related products! _

Main Writer Inoue Akiko x Producer Matsuura Daigo

"First, please tell us how you became involved in this work."

Matsuura: Last year, when "Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger" had just begun, my superior Tsukada reached out to me and said, "Matsuura-san, I want you to be in charge of next year's Sentai." As you can imagine, with someone as young as me working alone, there were alot of concerns in the beginning, and initially, Tsukada and Shirakura Shinichiro were organized so that they could back me up like Executive Producers, but then I noticed that they were both gone (laughs). I've been left in charge since then.

"We think it was around the time when Inoue Sensei joined "Kamen Rider Gotchard," which Matsuura-san was also in charge of, that you were asked to be the Chief, but did you intend on asking Inoue Sensei to become the Main Writer from the beginning?"

Matsuura: No, I had a fairly hard time requesting who I wanted as the Main Writer.

Inoue: During my participation in Gotchard, I had heard a rumor that, "Matsuura-san's going to be in charge of the next Sentai," and I thought, "If that's so, it'd make me happy if I were brought on as the Writer for each episode." Then, they invited me as the Main Writer, so I was surprised.

Matsuura: If I'm remembering right, you were baffled and said, "Ma…Main Writer?" (laughs). Originally, I was the one who suggested we bring on Akiko-san for Gotchard too. At that time, I hadn't decided on the story of the new Sentai, but in all honesty, I wanted to make it so it'd be connected to future productions. I had a plan where I'd increase the number of Writers, so that way, I could ask for their help when I eventually create my own main works (laughs).

Inoue: Ah, but first, let me get used to a few more tokusatsu productions (laughs).

Matsuura: Yeah (laughs). What originally caught my attention was…….the novel "Kamen Rider Decade: The World of Tsukasa Kadoya ~Garden Inside the Lens~" written by Akiko-san under the name Kanehiro Aki, as it was really good, and it made me think, "This person can do it." Kadoya Tsukasa's character development is interesting due to the slightly dark setting.

Inoue: It felt like he was a child being bullied. I have absolutely no clue why I did that to him though (laughs).

Matsuura: Minato had also read the novel version of Decade, so I was happy that we were able to invite her to join Gotchard, but the first episode she was assigned to work on was Kudo Rinne's first transformation in episode 19, and Minato had a grueling list of things he wanted done. However, Akiko-san not only managed to clear all of those requests, she also made sure to "bring out her own colors," so I felt that requesting her wasn't the wrong choice.

"When you approached Inoue Sensei, how much of the setting for Gozyuger had been finalized?"

Matsuura: I think only the items had been decided on. I had already decided on the "ring" and "hand" motifs, and additionally, the concept of "making the Robo and toy weapons a shared item" was also in place. Also, since the main premise was that it was a commemorative work marking "Super Sentai's 50th anniversary," I knew that it would also reference previous productions. However, in the case of referencing previous productions, I wanted to avoid going in a similar direction as "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger," which depicted what happened afterwards to the warriors of their time. It would end up being a rehashed version of Gokaiger. That's why when it came time to ask, "Who should I request for the Main Writer?," I figured that knowledge of previous works wasn't necessary. I think that was something Akiko-san was worried about at first too.

Inoue: I was like, "Do I have to watch every Super Sentai production?" If so, I thought it would be abit of a problem (laughs).

Matsuura: There are 48 series! I convinced her with, "Don't worry, all Akiko-san has to do is make new "fabrications" of all the Reds."

"What kind of impression does Inoue Sensei have of the Super Sentai series?"

Inoue: I know it's a stereotype, but……I think that the relationships and interesting interactions within the team are essential. Also, I had a vague idea that compared to the Kamen Rider series, many of the episodes have "complete" stories, so it's easy to go back even if you overlook numerous episodes.

Matsuura: More than anything, I think "cheerfulness" is the most important factor in Super Sentai. However, as an individual theme, I wanted this work to put more emphasis on the Robos than ever before, and in particular, I wanted to focus on the question, "What kind of Robo shows do you want to see?" I've known for some time that Akiko-san has rarely seen tokustasu works whose main target is boys, and that's part of the reason why I requested her. The question was, "How can we get people like Akiko-san to watch something with Robos?" So I first asked, "Have you seen anything with Robos?," she said, "I rarely watch anything with Robos, but I did watch Code Geass," I remember asking, "Well then, what did you like about Code Geass?"

Inoue: I watch a fairly large amount of anime.

Matsuura: Even in the current age of anime, robot works tend to be for enthusiasts, so how can we make it accessible to ordinary people? When I thought about it, I thought it would be better to ask Akiko-san for her opinion. I myself like both tokusatsu and Robo anime, so even if I gathered people who have the same hobbies and tastes as me, it wouldn't really broaden my outlook. I was exactly right to have Akiko-san join us, as she has a different point of view (laughs).

Inoue: I hope I live up to your expectations (laughs).

Matsuura: I meant that in a good way, I just didn't want it to be restricted to only enthusiasts (laughs). As an example, when the title "Number One Sentai" was decided on, people who are addicted to "Sentai" were fairly surprised, but Akiko-san, you weren't that surprised, right?

Inoue: I was rather neutral and was just like, "I get it."

Matsuura: I think we shouldn't forget this perspective. There are no rules that say you can't use katakana and must only use kanji for "XX Sentai."

Inoue: Even "Avataro Sentai" is normal to say.

Matsuura: And that's the strangest one! (laughs).

"The fact that the hand transforms into a Robo is already interesting in itself."

Matsuura: It leaves a huge impact, doesn't it? When you hear that a "Robo can transform into a weapon," you'd usually think of something obvious like a sword or gun, right? Instead, it's a "hand" with a sword attached. I think it's very defiant in that sense, and it's a bold decision that prioritizes young children's desire to play.

"Not just gold, but silver Tega Swords appear within the show as well."

Matsuura: Originally, in the first draft of episode 1, all of them were gold, including the Tega Sword used by Tsutsumi Natsume and the other Universe Warriors, but during a business meeting, Bandai suggested, "Can't you make it so that the main five are the special chosen warriors?" I had a thorough discussion with Bandai, and they were correct that the five Gozyuger members should have a special status to them, and it was also in line with my idea to "increase the significance of Tega Sword's existence."

"We were surprised that Tsutsumi Natsume, who appeared to be a regular person, transformed before Hoeru did in the first episode."

Matsuura: Regarding Natsume, we didn't initially plan for him to transform.

Inoue: In the beginning, I was trying to depict a more careful story for Hoeru, but Shirakura-san said, "It's ordinary, don't you think?" The characters stood out and there was a story, but to hear it be "ordinary"……personally, while it came out of nowhere, those words really resonated with me. As you can imagine, creating a story from nothing is incredibly challenging, and I was stuck in the mentality of, "How about this?!" However, when I took a step back and looked at it again, there were some parts that I agreed with him on and thought, "I guess it's true." When I write scripts, there are only two things I always keep in mind, that being, "I want to surprise the viewers," and "I'll do my best not to write mediocre lines," but this had caused me think, "Maybe this wouldn't surprise them enough?" And so, I hastily decided to make Natsume transform.

Matsuura: When it came time to "have someone transform first," Natsume was first in line. Still, I also think that Shirakura's term for "ordinary" comes from a Toei standpoint, different from what you'd call the "general drama theory." Normally, being ordinary is fine, but in the case of Toei's tokusatsu productions, there are parts of it that feel broken, and that's what gives it its unique appeal. For example, when the grand overseas production known as "Star Wars" became a topic of discussion, they were like, "Alright then, let's create a similar film and put it out first," and then they made "Message from Space." That's the kind of company they are (laughs). In that case, I think it was our great leader Shirakura who said, "That film was pretty weak for a production put out by the evil organization known as Toei, don't you think?" (laughs). The characters are well thought out, and the plot of the drama doesn't fall apart, but maybe that's why it's "not very Toei like." Thanks to his help, we were able to make episode 1 full of originality. Still, "Tsutsumi Natsume" becoming such a hot topic during the first episode was unexpected. There was more fan art of him than of Hoeru (laughs).

"Fuyuno Mio-san fits the character of the loner Hoeru very well."

Inoue: When I met Fuyuno-san for the first time at the reading session, he was so much like what I had envisioned, that I was shocked and thought, "Did Hoeru jump out of the script?!" (laughs).

Matsuura: Assistant Producer Harashima highly recommended him during the audition. However, when I thought about the hard reality of this being a year long shoot, I was abit apprehensive. Looking at it from another perspective, being a lone wolf means he's not good at interacting with people……Fuyuno-kun himself is very shy (laughs). Still, as I got to know him, I could tell that he was a very serious young man, and he also showed me his gentle side, so he was able to skillfully bring out those natural parts of himself and perfectly overlap them with his role as Hoeru. Now I'm truly happy that I requested him for the role.

"Out of the five main members, did any of them change significantly from what you originally envisioned?"

Inoue: It's got to be Sumino, right?

Matsuura: Initially, her set up was that she was a high school girl.

Inoue: Kinjiro wasn't a grandfather in his initial character set up either. He was going to be a fierce pacifist, and with the other members being outcasts who brush each other off, he'd be like a character who'd forcefully make them get along. But Matsuura-san told me, "That's alittle weak. As an extreme measure, it'd be okay if you crossed him with a monkey."

Matsuura: I brought up Perman No. 2 from "Perman" as an example.

Inoue: I thought, "If this keeps up, he'll be turned into a monkey," so at the very least, I made him better than a monkey (laughs).

Matsuura: It might be because the other characters have strong personalities that I wanted to give Kinjiro an easily recognizable "person from XX" attribute. Rikuo's idol character was interesting from the beginning, so I didn't want to make any changes. In that regard, I think Rikuo's Suzuki-kun is really doing his best. Delivering an endless amount of cringey lines like that can't be easy (laughs). I figured that Ryugi being a "Tega Sword follower" would definitely be interesting, so the only ones we made changes to were Kinjiro and Sumino.

Inoue: In the beginning, while the image of Sumino I had in my mind was one where she's "normally cool but occasionally charming," in the end, I had her be "normally cute" by default.

Matsuura: She was going to be an honest girl by nature, but I got the feeling that she'd be trying her best to play up a cool character. There was originally an idea of her having a big family, and I feel like that kind of "commoner" aspect has become abit stronger.

"Ryugi being a "Tega Sword follower" is also unique."

Matsuura: I gave his actor Kanda-san the request that, "You don't have to focus on the whole handsome actor thing, so just be a character that'll be well liked by children," but as a result, I'm glad to hear that he's becoming popular, including for his visuals.

"Meanwhile, on the Buraidan enemy side, Fire Candle's Sanbongi Daisuke-san has left a strong impression."

Matsuura: His powerful "first (ichi) Mount Fuji, second (ni) Hawk, third (san) Bongi" greeting caught on at the time of the auditions (laughs) (*based off hatsuyume). I think it was a threat to those who were also at the audition with him. Still, Fire Candle was also initially set up to be more of an idiot, right?

Inoue: He's considerably smarter now compared to what I had originally envisioned.

Matsuura: It's something like that (laughs). Still, he's a good guy, that Fire Candle.

"He has feelings for his subordinates and doesn't really seem like a villain, so it gives off the impression that the heroes and enemies aren't divided by good and evil."

Inoue: I'm not particularly mindful of that. Maybe that lack of awareness is the "color" of this production.

Matsuura: We don't think, "It's because they're villains," as we just treat them as equals with Hoeru and the others. In the very beginning, I'm certain that there may have been times when the Buraidan members seemed more like heroes. However, they seriously wrecked the town in episode 1, so they're still bad guys in the eyes of humans. Bouquet's Marupi-san is also doing her best. Especially since she started working on Gozyuger, I often get the impression that she's starting to enjoy acting more. She properly presents her own image of Bouquet, and those of us on the Planning team are able to further expand on her ideas by saying, "Then let's do it like this," which is what makes live action so fun.

"It must be difficult to do that kind of back and forth in anime, huh?"

Matsuura: I'm always thinking, "What can tokusatsu do that anime can't?"

Inoue: In the case of anime, my scenarios rarely go through any major style changes when they're turned into footage, but in tokusatsu, since the actors are performing the roles with their own bodies, I'm able to learn about unexpected aspects of the actors through their own traits like, "I didn't know this person had this side to them." I of course think about this when I write a script, but since I'm just one person who's dealing with dozens of characters, it's hard to be on the same level as an actor who faces their role one on one. I enjoy being able to learn more from the actors performances.

Matsuura: As films have been referred to as "the seventh art," I think that live action films held more prestige and authority over animation back in the day. However, when taking recent trends into account, most films that become hits are anime. As a creator in such a situation, I'm always frantically thinking, "What can (live action) tokusatsu do to win against anime?" Within that, I feel that the ability to improvise and come up with something different from what's expected is a strength, and I strongly believe that we need to think more about the strengths and interesting aspects that are unique to tokusatsu.

Inoue: With Marupi-san's performance, I often feel like, "Ah, so that's the direction she's going in." I'm sure we'll see abit more of her mad scientist side in the near future, which will bring out a different kind of fun, and I feel like I'm learning more about Bouquet's character as I watch her.

Matsuura: The reason why Fire Candle and Bouquet also fight in Robos is because "we want people to pay attention to the Robo battles." Recent series have been facing a dilemma where "the giant battles seem like they've been shoved in," but by having enemy leaders pilot their own personal Robos, we could get people who "aren't interested in the Robos but are interested in the enemy leaders" to watch. In short, our initial starting point in creating them was to say, "Let's create characters specifically for Robo battles."

"Also, the impact of the cheering squad is still amazing."

Inoue: That was Matsuura-san's idea. At first I thought, "Why are we going to spend so much (broadcast) time on this?," but when I actually saw the footage, in a good way, I found it to be very funny and silly. I'm glad we did it.

"It was surprising at first, but we've gotten used to it since episode 2."

Matsuura: It's strange how you get used to it (laughs). The cheering scene was originally conceived so "the characters wouldn't mindlessly do their roll calls," and the "cheering with applause to give them strength" was inspired by Tega Sword, as it's appropriate for the Gozyugers who transform by clapping. Director Tasaki was very particular about this and contacted numerous universities, and we were able to get members of Chuo University's oendan to cooperate, so the sharpness of their movements were amazing. The background music for that scene is also really good. Since there's no precedent for the cheering squad to appear and announce the members, I couldn't come up with a specific example of what I "wanted that song to sound like," so I requested Composer Sawada Kan Sensei to "create the Sentai's roll call as background music." The result was amazing music, which was wonderful.

"By the way, has your father (Scriptwriter Inoue Toshiki Sensei) been watching Gozyuger?"

Inoue: I don't know. He didn't say anything during Gotchard either, so I guess he isn't watching it?

Matsuura: I definitely think he's watching it.

Inoue: I had told him, "Even if you're thinking something, don't say it" (laughs).

Matsuura: Amazing! You're keeping Inoue Toshiki in line (laughs). By the way, does Akiko-san prefer to talk with younger people more than older people?

Inoue: I prefer dealing with younger people.

Matsuura: She's unexpectedly commanding (laughs). I'd like to see Akiko-san drag her junior Scriptwriters out for drinks (laughs).

Inoue: I also recently thought, "I want to gather some minions" (laughs). It'd also be for the sake of my future work. Still, it's difficult since I'm naturally shy.

Matsuura: Saying "I want some minions" despite being shy (laughs). Every time I hear something like this, I think, "I'm so glad that I requested Akiko-san for this" (laughs). I think you can't write an interesting script unless you're an interesting person.

"And now finally, please give a message to our readers."

Inoue: I think developments will continue to be hectic every episode going forward (laughs). I'm truly sorry for wearing you out on Sunday mornings, but I appreciate your continued support.

Matsuura: Even when I was at the stage of only getting the proposal, Tamaya 2060%-san of Wienners, who sang the theme song "WINNER! Gozyuger!," wrote the lyrics "stand out," and I felt as if it had given me a supportive push. The direction of this production is to be unconventional and "stand out." We'll continue to create with only fun and enjoyable things in mind, and I'd be happy if we could inspire everyone watching to smile and say, "If these guys are working so hard, then maybe I'll work alittle harder too."

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