Category Archives: anime

Interview: Super Robot Wars’ Terada Takanobu (Otakon 2023)

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Terada Takanobu is a veteran game producer, and has been involved with the Super Robot Wars franchise since the 1990s. This interview as conducted at Otakon 2023 in Washington, DC.

Hello, it’s great to meet you. I’ve been a long-time fan of the Super Robot Wars series, and I’m very glad that is finally easy for people to play around the world.

My first question: You recently announced that you were becoming a freelancer. How has that change been for you? Have there been any particular advantages or challenges that come with it?

There were lots of interests I wanted to pursue, so I decided to step down from the producer role to become a supervisor, and use that time to do the things I’d like to do.

I want to make toys and plastic models, and original robot animations—ones that are not Super Robot Wars OG.

Do you have any all-time favorite anime or even tokusatsu works?

My favorite super robot is Mazinger Z. As for tokusatsu, Ultraman and also Masked Rider. And more and more. 

Original Kamen Rider, or…?

It would have to be the first Masked Rider, fundamentally.

One signature element of SRW is the continued use of very creative 2D attack animations. What are the reasons you have stuck with this style even though so much has changed about video games over time?

In Super Robot Wars DD, we’re doing 2D animations and something between 2D and 3D too, so we’re diversifying. 

In SRW DD, the idea behind going for 3D animation is to better capture the original. But more than when I was a producer, I can now better create the content I make compared to before 

What has it been like developing mobile games, as well as having multiple games out there? Is it part of a broader strategy?

With regard to the overall strategy of creating mobile games, that lies with the publisher, Bandai Namco, so I can’t really speak to it. However, as for challenges in mobile games specifically, I’d say one that having a deadline every month is a bit challenging. For example, before, if it was for a console, you had three years to get the battle animations and the scenarios and put everything into one package. But now, with the mobile games, you have everything packaged every month.

You started at Banpresto in the 90s. Are there any staff from that era still at [its successor] BBSoft?

There are some.

Do you have any specific series or character units that you thought turned out especially well in terms of their presence in SRW? Or do you think there were any storylines that were executed very well?

It’s a bit difficult, because all of them are a lot of work, and I’m mainly putting effort into making what’s there. It’s a cyclic process of making and releasing and making. More than myself, it’s ultimately the users who decide what’s good.

Are there any titles you are especially proud of being able to obtain for SRW or thought you’d never get for the series?

Space Battle Yamato, aka Star Blazers. As for recently, too many. Hmm…recently, Gridman, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, and Gun x Sword. In SRW DD, Devilman and Koutetsu Jeeg. What’s it called in English?

Translator: [Steel] Jeeg. 

Oh, just that directly.

Ogiue Maniax: There isn’t much of a Jeeg presence in America.

Ah, I see. Oh, and there are two Jeegs now: [Steel] Jeeg and [Steel God] Jeeg. 

The impression I have about SRW is that there are the “main” games—Alpha, F, F Final, V, X, T, 30, etc.—and then there are smaller ones that tend to be a little more daring with game mechanics and what series they include. One title I think of is SRW Neo, with Jushin Liger. Is there any truth to the idea that you see the smaller games as more experimental?

Before, yes, there was a difference with the more experimental ones. But now, SRW DD is the only one out, and in there, we try all sorts of things like Jushin Liger and Granzort. SRW DD does embrace the style of SRW, such as the game stages and the scenarios and everything.

I know that you cannot reveal any unannounced information, but has there ever been any consideration to include giant robots from non-Japanese media?

I’m not allowed to say what it was, but there were past attempts. There’s lots I would like to license, but it didn’t work out.

Do you receive feedback from the directors and other staff involved with the titles included in SRW? For example, have you ever had to interact with directors Tomino or Anno?

Yes, there has been some feedback—and actually, there have been some ideas that came from Tomino-san and Anno-san. And actually, I came across some suggestions that Kawamori-san of Macross had earlier. But I had to tell him that’s not something I have control over.

One last question: Over the years, you’ve worked with many voice actors, and unfortunately, some have passed away. Sometimes, they are replaced by new actors, and other times, you re-use existing voice clips. Do you have any say in who gets recast in SRW, or is it outside your control?

If it’s stated by the original source material, I will do as the source material requests. Otherwise, I have the freedom to choose.

Thank you very much!

Nostalgia Is Overrated: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Otakon 2023)

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This film premiered in the US at Otakon 2023.

It’s not uncommon for people to dwell on what might have been. “If only I could get back what I lost, then everything would be better.” The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is an anime film that explores this feeling, told through the lens of a summer romance with a spark of the fantastical.

The Tunnel to Summer explores the lives and relationships of two teenagers, a boy named Touno Kaoru and a girl named Hanashiro Anzu, who end up finding an actual urban legend: the Ryuuguu Tunnel that is said to give you your greatest desire but at the price of losing everything. Touno has to deal with an abusive father who blames him for all their troubles and trauma. Hanashiro has something to prove and an attitude to match—one that says, “I have neither the time or patience to deal with stupid crap.” The pair discover that time passes much more quickly in the tunnel, and even a few seconds in there translates to hours in the real world. But the two have wishes they want to fulfill, and so they work together to figure out its secrets, all the while growing closer.

Time dilation isn’t a new premise in Japanese fiction. Both Aim for the Top! Gunbuster and Voices of a Distant Star explore how human relationships can be affected by the uneven passage of time within science fictional settings. Even beyond anime, the Ryuuguu Tunnel itself is a reference to the fairy tale Urashima Tarou, which is about a guy who visits the underwater Ryuuguu-jou (Dragon Palace) for what he perceives as three days but is actually 300 years. As a trope, I actually enjoy time dilation quite a bit because of how it messes with our minds so simply and easily—and The Tunnel to Summer adds another emotional dimension because it’s not just about how they are passively affected by it but also how their active decisions have consequences. The characters must consider how the past (or future) they long for might very well be distracting them from finding happiness in the present. 

Something else that stands out to me is the central relationship between Touno and Hanashiro because of how much the two feel like equals. It sort of brings to mind BL shipping in shounen series, and how often it happens simply because all the boys are involved in the same competition—which often engenders visibly greater passion than whatever interaction the hero has with a female love interest. Here, Touno and Hanashiro feel very much like they’re in it together as they learn and experiment about the Ryuuguu Tunnel. In terms of how this plays out in the overall story, I like how each character is very invested in their mutual endeavor in their own way. The similarities and differences between the two ultimately enriches their relationship and gives the film a nice emotional anchoring.

Because of the subject matter and the seasonal setting, The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes ends up having a very nostalgic feel while at the same time questioning the value of nostalgia itself. It’s more than just another summer-themed anime movie, carrying a memorable identity all its own.

Interview: Aramaki Shinji (Otakon 2023)

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Aramaki Shinji is a creator known for his mecha design work on Bubblegum Crisis, Genesis Climber Mospeada, Megazone 23, and more. He also designed many of the toys that became Transformers, including Soundwave. Aramaki is also an anime director who has focused on pushing 3DCG animation since the early 2000s.

You have a lot of experience as a mechanical designer, and I understand that different mechanical designers have different processes for designing. For example, Kawamori Shoji has talked about how he uses Legos. What are the key aspects of your approach?

Well, it depends a lot because I get different requests for each project I work on. For example, you mentioned that Kawamori Shoji-san uses Legos, but I think that’s mainly for designing transforming mecha. Should I answer just based on transforming ones? It’ll make it easier if we narrow it down to a certain genre.

Sure, let’s go with transforming.

So we initially choose two or three shapes/forms, and we ask, what are we going to transform and how. But we start out with the two coolest forms.

Would you say you sort of work backwards from the final designs/silhouettes perhaps?

Initially, we don’t really get into the details. We just think, oh this is what a cool bike looks like, and this is what a cool robot looks like. So we just start off with what looks cool and don’t get into the particulars of how it transforms yet.

It gets difficult from there. In the past, I used to study how things might transform using papercraft. Nowadays, though, we can use 3D programs. We start off with simple blocks, but using them, we can join them and see how these volumes move around.

If we use 3DCG, we can study how these forms look from varying perspectives, so it makes the process much easier.

The next work is one that you might not be as known for. I looked up your credits, and it said that you’re responsible for conceptual design on the anime Star Driver. The style of the mecha there are quite different from what I typically think of when it comes to your work. How far removed are the final designs compared to your originals?

Actually, for Star Driver, I didn’t do much mechanical design, and I didn’t really touch any robots. But I actually designed the landscapes and backgrounds—the stage design—for Star Driver. The series is set on an island, and I designed what the island is like, and what the school is like. I did it based on discussions I had with the director, Igarashi, to set the mood for the anime.

You directed works such as Appleseed, which was, at this point, decades ago. I remember seeing them first start to show up, and that was a time when directing in full 3DCG wasn’t nearly as convenient as it is today. What are some of the challenges you faced in the early 2000s?

Back then, we actually had a lot of problems. There was no standardized software for design, so the character design software was different from the landscape design software. That made it really difficult to organize everything and keep it together as one team. 

For one scene, when we decided on the camera angle and looked at the scene, the table and the character were sort of shifted because they were designed using different softwares.

These seem to be simple problems, but back then, Japan wasn’t as advanced in the field of CG. So we faced challenges every single day.

My final question: I actually have fond memories of the cartoon M.A.S.K. and its toys, and I was excited to learn that you worked on it. What designs were you responsible for, and what did it feel like to work on a foreign production?

This series involved a lot of transforming vehicles such as trucks and boats, but the original designs came from the toy company, Kenner. Back then, I was working in LA, but I went to Chicago where their company was based, and took a lot of pictures of the prototypes. We did drawings to help with animations.

Most of the mechas were designs provided from the toys, but some were not from the toys, so I got to design them.

I don’t remember all that well where they appeared in the show, but they let me design two transforming vehicles back then, where I got to pick the car types and how they transform. They were called the Manta and the Shark.

Thank you for this interview. It was great to have you at Otakon!

Thank you.

Otakon 2023: The Iwao Junko Panel

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At Otakon 2023, Iwao Junko (Tomoyo in Cardcaptor Sakura) had a panel focused exclusively on her history and career. This is a summary of the panel, as well as notes from the Q&A that occurred. To read the interview I conducted with her and collaborator Kawamura Ryu, go here.

The Beginning

Iwao started off the panel by talking about her childhood, and how she loved listening to records found in storybooks, watching anime, listening to music. At that time, voice acting wasn’t seen as it is today, so when she asked others about a career in that realm, they told her she would have to be an actor or a singer/musician. Even so, she thought about getting into voice acting since she was 6 or 7 years old.

Around 13, she secretly auditioned to become an idol, and while she was ready to get rejected 100 or 200 times, she ended up getting accepted after just on try. Her parents (especially her dad) were very against it, but she promised them that she would quit in ten years if she didn’t make it.

So she went to Tokyo and did lessons, and she eventually debuted as an idol in a four-person group at the age of 16. She was actually replacing another idol in the group who had “graduated” (i.e. quit and moved on), but the group was already planning to split up after one year. Once that was done, she had to do part-time jobs and attend night school.

Iwao’s First Anime Role

From then on, until the age of 23, Iwao just worked and auditioned, ending up with various jobs. She was in musicals, and also played an assistant in a science show for kids. She even worked at a train station. One day, one of the members of the science show saw Iwao and asked if she had given up on show business. At that time, the ten-year deadline she had promised her parents was almost up. This person mentioned that a certain show was looking for someone who could act and sing, and so Iwao went for it because it could be her last chance. After auditioning, she was nervous waiting for results every day. 

It was her first anime role, and it was Melissa Thorn, one of the main characters in an Japanese-French co-produced anime called Montana Jones, about explorers on a voyage. Got the part of one of the main characters of Montana Jones. When she told her parents about it, worried that time was technically already up, her parents instead congratulated her, and said they want Iwao to keep trying for another 10 or even 20 years.

From there, Iwao joined a voice acting school and practiced for her debut in Montana Jones. One thing that surprised her about working on the show was that there was no rehearsal time in anime. The first day of recording is when you meet the rest of the cast.

Another surprise was that they recorded based on roughly drawn non-color animatics. She expected to be acting in reference to finished animation, and while there was sometimes color, that was often not the case. Sometimes, ttwo characters would even be represented by just a red line and a blue line.

The other main characters were played by Otsuka Akio (Solid Snake, Black Jack) and Nakao Ryusei (Freeza). Their performances were so good that she worried there were actually prior practice sessions that she didn’t know about and missed. Iwao couldn’t keep up with them at all. 

The way the recording studio was set up, 10-plus people had to work with four microphones. And in fact, one of those mics was the “main character mic,” exclusively used by Ohtsuka as Montana Jones. The result: you ad to quietly get up to the mics each time and constantly choosing which of the three you’d use every time. Not only that, but recording was analog back then, and the tape didn’t stop for you. Every take was 15-minute long (about half an episode), and whenever there was a mistake, everyone had to start all over again. Iwao remembers the other voice actors getting frustrated with her and asking, “What is this amateur doing here?” It was Otsuka and Nakao who helped her through the process, until they eventually finished the first episode. 

After the debut episode, haired, the show actually got complaints from viewers who wanted her to be replaced with someone more experienced, and she even received a stack of physical hate mail complaining about her. The other actors supported her and let her know that everyone has to deal with this. Gradually, the staff also supported her, and she gained fans little by little. She still got negative feedback, but would also receive letters from fans. Because of that, she wanted to become someone who could someday help a newbie overcome these same troubles. Something curious she noticed was that once she started having a more positive outlook, she started landing a lot more roles.

Going Full-Time

At first, she didn’t have enough voice acting gigs to quit her day job, but eventually had enough roles that she could go full-time. Her first time as protagonist was in Key the Metal Idol, and from there, it was Cardcaptor Sakura and Evangelion and so on. She remembers her manager saying, “You’re gonna get it,” in regards to Eva. It was with Eva that she could make voice acting her sole career. One thing she learned, though, was that despite the job being “voice acting,” a  lot of her work seemed to be event-related. Couldn’t get much sleep, which was rough.

Iwao recalled that the Eva audition was 15 minutes long for everyone. There was a long bench where everyone sat as they waited to try out, and she could see so many voice actors there who were interested. Iwao actually auditioned for two roles, and hinted that the second role has become known recently, but did not specify which one.

Q&A

  • At the 20th anniversary CCS exhibition, she got to go to dinner with all the other actors outside of work. 
  • Shows she wishes people would know more: Harimogu Harley, Betterman, Key the Metal Idol.
  • Perfect Blue was a case where she actually received a real script and storyboards prior to recording. Iwao’s time as an idol only lasted one year, but she knew from others while working at that time that some of the things Mima goes through in the film actually dho happen. What she didn’t find out until later that director Kon Satoshi didn’t know anything about her idol history or age, and decided it based on one line that everyone was supposed to recite for their audition: “Who…are you?” Kon had decided on voice alone, so when he looked at her résumé, he reacted to Iwao’s extremely strong-sounding family name, which translates roughly to “Boulder Man.” Kon was excited to see what kind of Rock-like Man would show up, and was surprised Iwao was rather small. Because of this, he was watching her with a stern and scary face, but she didn’t know this was the reason, and Iwao was so scared that she couldn’t greet him. When playing Mima and the “other” Mima, she had to have separate recording days for the different personalities, and thought Matsumoto Rica (who played Rumi) gave a powerful performance.
  • When asked if she ever had the chance to be the mentor she wanted to become during Montana Jones, she mentioned that she thought upon entering her 50s that this would be her mentorship phase (Iwao is 53 this year). The series where she was able to to do this was an anime called Shining Post, where she thought, “Now is my time to shine.” Iwao ended up telling the new voice actors about what she herself had experienced.
  • I got to ask a question as well, one that I couldn’t fit into the interview! “Are there any roles you played later in your career that would have been difficult for you  earlier in your career?” Iwao replied that it would have to be Hisae in Onihei, as it was a role where she felt she could bring the experience she had built up over time. When playing her, Iwao thought, “Finally, I can play adult roles.”
  • Everyone who worked on the Madoka Magica found out about the twists and turns week by week, so it was a surprised to everyone.
  • Iwao is from Kyushu, and a major Tomoyo/Iwao fan asked the final question, which was regarding recommendations for anyone traveling to her home prefecture. Iwao’s Her recommendations are Beppu in Oita Prefecture, which is famous for hot springs. She also suggested checking out Nagasaki.

Interview: Iwao Junko and Kawamura Ryu (Otakon 2023)

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Iwao Junko is a singer and voice actor most famously known for playing Daidouji Tomoyo in the anime Cardcaptor Sakura. Kawamura Ryu is a musician and composer who has frequently collaborated with Iwao on musical projects. This interview was conducted at Otakon 2023 in Washington, DC.

My first question is for Iwao-san: I first came to know you through your role as Tomoyo in Cardcaptor Sakura, and you helped make her one of my favorite characters ever. I’ve noticed that in the first series, our approach to Tomoyo was a little different from how it turned out later on. Was there any catalyst for this change?

Iwao: Daidouji Tomoyo in the Clow Card series is an elementary school girl, and she’s grown up a bit in Clear Card. So as some years have passed, I played her a little more mature.

Iwao-san, your singing as Tomoyo is beautiful but also notably different from how you approach your personal music. How do you manage to stay in character so well while singing as Tomoyo?

Iwao: When I sing as Tomoyo, I sing as an elementary school girl. But when I sing as myself, I use my natural voice. 

Is it a challenge to play Tomoyo while singing?

Iwao: It’s not all that difficult, actually.

My next question is for Kawamura-san: What made you decide on the bass as your instrument of choice? 

Kawamura: I’d have fewer rivals.

And how did you go from playing music yourself to also arranging for others?

Kawamura: It’s actually something I learned from Tanaka Kohei-san. What he mentioned was that, as a musician/player, you don’t get the same royalty payments as you would if you’re a composer. So what I learned is that you should be well-rounded, and have both “composer” and “player” under your belt.

Are there any other lessons you’ve learned from working with Tanaka-san that have stuck with you?

Kawamura: His policy was “make something other people won’t make.” He’s ingrained that in me.

Speaking of Tanaka Kohei, I also know Iwao-san from a series called Betterman, and your performance really stands out to me when you play Sakura—it’s very haunting. What was it like working on Betterman?

Tomoyo: So on Betterman, which Tanaka Kohei-san did the music for, I auditioned and landed that role. I wanted to play the character of Sakura as a girl who is cute, yet enigmatic and even a little frightening. Expressing that scariness was not so much about changing my tone, but rather taking care to change the tempo within the lines.

Kohei-san was the one who basically welcomed me into the world of anime, so I’m very grateful to him. I had done various jobs as a singer and such, but I always longed to be involved in the world of anime—to be a voice actor. I was missing that step towards that industry, though, and It was Kohei-san who allowed me to get into singing covers of other songs, providing me opportunities for people to see and hear me. So he is a very important figure to me. 

Another series Iwao-san worked on that is very influential is Evangelion. Do you have any memories of working on Eva that stand out strongly in your mind?

Iwao: I got the role of class rep Horaki Hikari from auditioning. When playing her, Director Anno-san asked me to express her energeticness and her “class-rep feel” through my voice. However, in Shin Evangelion, Hikari is a mother, and as a mother, she would have a different voice tone as well as a different emotion to her compared to the television version where she was a school girl and a class rep.

On that note, over the past decade or so, you returned to many roles—in Evangelion, in Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, and you even reprised the role of Sakura in Super Robot Wars 30. What is it like to revisit these older characters of yours?

Iwao: Going back to previous roles is very interesting because what I thought I remembered I may not actually remember, and some things might have changed—like the tone of my voice. I would want to focus on meeting the expectations of my fans. For example, for Super Robot Wars 30, the Betterman director, Yonetani-san, was actually there to see over my breaths and my tones so that I was better able to reproduce what I sounded like and what the fans expected me.

Thank you very much!

Breathing Room: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for August 2023

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After the whirlwind that was July, I’m genuinely glad that things are slowing down for me. That said, I’ll be writing and posting my review of Otakon 2023 (as well as three guest interviews), so while I physically won’t be doing a lot, I’m still gonna have to hunker down and do some serious blogging.

Hopefully, you’ll all enjoy what I have to offer.

Thanks to all my Patreon subscribers. I hope you’re doing okay in this weather.

General:

Ko Ransom

Diogo Prado

Alex

Dsy

Sue Hopkins fans:

Serxeid

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

Blog highlights from July:

Gattai Girls 13: “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury” and Suletta Mercury

A full review of The Witch from Mercury and the first Gattai Girls in many months.

I Was There: Hololive EN Connect the World

My firsthand experience at Hololive English’s debut live concert. Spoilers: It was rad.

New Yuusha Robot Announced: Brave Universe Sworgrader

A new Brave series! Who knew?!

Kio Shimoku

Kio talks about movies and stuff.

Apartment 507

My review of the Rokudo’s Bad Girls anime.

Closing

I stopped putting my little messages at the end of my posts asking people to check out my Patreon, thinking that it was probably annoying people more than anything. Would readers mind if I included it again?

Anime Central 2023 Interview: Tanaka Rie

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Tanaka Rie is a veteran voice actor with over two decades’ experience in anime.

How would you describe the voice acting industry back when you first started versus what it’s like today?

I feel like I’ve only been in the industry for 25 years, so there are other people who are much more senpai than I am. But back when I first started out, voice actors wouldn’t show their faces in the media a lot. Now, though, you see voice actors doing media, movies, TV shows, photo books, and such. So you start to see that it’s much more out there in the media. There are a lot of young kids nowadays who are really excited about the prospect of being voice actors, so in that sense it’s changed quite a bit.

You graduated from the famous Yoyogi Animation School. Are there any particular things you learned there that you feel have helped you greatly in your career?

I feel very fortunate and very blessed that I was able to attend Yoyogi Animation School. I only went for one year’s curriculum there, but I was able to gather a lot of experience. That’s because it’s very different when you’re a voice actor because in order to be a pro, you have to gather experience. And so even if you go to school, even if you go through a curriculum, and even if you graduate, you still have to get that experience at doing that job. But I do find that one thing that was really great was being able to be around other people who were also looking to be voice actors—that friendly competition, that rivalry. We also had auditions at school. 

When I originally went to the school, though, I debuted as a singer and not as a voice actor. I was with Sony for three years as a singer, and then went from there to being a voice actor. I feel that it was a very good experience. I’m glad I went to a vocational school.

When I think “Tanaka Rie,” the first character that comes to mind is Lacus Clyne from Gundam SEED. How did you approach playing the character, as well as Meer Campbell in SEED Destiny?

Lacus Clyne is the most difficult character I’ve ever played. She’s not a regular human, but rather one of a variation called Coordinators. They’re like a third era of humanity who are born having been adjusted and “coordinated,” and so Lacus’s emotional expressions were extremely challenging. Even through the full range of emotions, not much changes. She’s a human being, but she doesn’t emote in a very human way. In times of sadness or in times of joy, I had to portray her intense emotions in a calm and reserved manner. Whether she’s happy or crying, she doesn’t falter. 

Her name means “lake” [in Latin], and the director told me that the image of her is that of a tranquil lake that calms. Having to keep that image in mind was incredibly hard.

Lacus was a character in both SEED and SEED Destiny, whereas Meer Campbell debuted in SEED Destiny. People who’ve never seen these shows might be wondering who the heck Meer is, but she’s a copy of Lacus Clyne—a fan of Lacus who was surgically altered to look and sound like Lacus because Meer wanted to become her. She was a fake Lacus who was deceived by the villain of the series, Durandal, into believing she could become the real deal. 

Meer is actually a powerless and utterly normal human being, and so she has this very human quality to her. I found that it made her an incredibly easy character to play—Meer’s so human that it hurt. As a girl, she has a certain way of being and a strong personality. This comes out when she says, “I am Lacus!,” due to her brainwashing, and even when she’s confronted by the real Lacus Clyne, she still thinks, “I was Lacus, wasn’t I?” I loved Meer.

As I played her, I thought, the character of Meer really is a complicated girl. While Lacus was difficult to play, Meer was the opposite: a woman who was all too human. I could really empathize with her as a normal person. I approached her as a character one could easily empathize with. That’s what made Lacus so much more difficult, whereas when playing Meer, I could use the emotions I had going into the studio that day and put them into the character because she’s such a human character.

You were involved with the Precure franchise very early on in the role of Shiny Luminous. Do you have any memorable stories from working on Max Heart, and how does it feel to see Precure going for this long?

Luminous is not technically a Precure, and she’s actually a queen in that world. When I got the part, I thought she was a Precure, but in actuality she wasn’t. It was tricky in the sense that she’s a character who can transform like a Precure but isn’t actually one and doesn’t refer to herself as one. 

She transforms with a shout of “Luminous Shining Stream!” using her mascot Porun as a compact, but that doesn’t mean that she’s powerful. Precures fight using martial arts, throwing punches and kicks—that’s how they show their strength. Luminous can’t fight physically, though. She’s a character who runs away and guards using barriers, and thinks, “I’m going to protect everyone!” after she’s transformed. Luminous really tries her hardest, and because she can’t fight directly, she strives to safeguard Nagisa and Honoka, Cure Black and Cure White. However, when the time comes, all three are within her barrier to perform the attack Extreme Luminario. When that happens, all three are truly united.

When she’s Kujou Hikari, however, she’s just a normal schoolgirl who works part-time as an apprentice at a takoyaki cafe, and is rather shy. Playing her ended up requiring a lot of effort.

You play many “big sister–like” characters, such as Suigintou in Rozen Maiden, Maria in Hayate, Akira in Yamato 2199, and Maho in Girls und Panzer, yet you’re able to make them sound so different from one another. Do you have any advice for newer voice actors who would like to be able to diversify their style?

I’ve done so many roles, and when it comes to being a voice actor, we do a lot of solo recording these days. But before COVID-19, it was common to do voice recording as a group, and for like 23 people to share three mics.

When it comes to differentiating roles, well, there’s only 24 hours in a day. For example, you might have one project that goes from 10am to 3pm, and then another 4pm to 9pm, and you have to try your best to do well in both roles during those 24 hours. In that hour between, I make that “switch” inside me, like when I’m eating. While it’s tough to do so, being able to just go “I’m triggering that switch” is what being a professional voice actor is about. 

When I think about it, though, I don’t know for sure how I accomplish that. It’s true that my normal speaking voice isn’t the one I use for my characters, so perhaps it’s like putting on one mask and then switching to another. So it’ll be like: “Today I’m Nishizumi Maho.” “Today I’m Luminous.” “Today I’m Lacus Clyne.” I might be doing it unconsciously. But being able to “switch” like that is very important.

Those aiming to be voice actors shouldn’t just focus on voice acting but should learn from many things and observe more broadly. You often hear it said that you need to start your voice acting career in your teens, and if you wait until you graduate, it’ll be too late. They’ll even say that in the voice acting schools. But you’ll have some who start voice acting in high school, while others might go to college first or switch to becoming voice actors from a different career. It’s really about your own life, and the timing with which you decide, “I want to do this thing!” becomes important in terms of how you study and learn about the world and society. Between a voice actor who knows nothing of the world and one who has all kinds of experience, I find the latter more impressive. That’s what my senpai have always said as well, and it makes one want to try to have many different experiences.

Mobile games have become a major part of the entertainment industry, and you have worked on a great many. Do you do anything differently when voicing characters for mobile games versus anime or more traditional video games?

When it comes to mobile games, anime, and more traditional video games, the approach doesn’t really change. However, what is different is dubbing foreign media—dramas, movies, and such. That’s because they don’t want me to use “anime character voices” but rather something closer to my real voice. So the approach to voice acting for a TV show from abroad is different compared to doing something for a work that’s originally Japanese. 

In recent years, you started your own YouTube channel, playing games, releasing music, and showing your cosplay. What made you want to start streaming yourself?

During the coronavius pandemic, I thought, “Why not try?” but actually, the suggestion to make a YouTube channel began before COVID-19. I’d never done YouTube before, and between my main job as a voice actor and having to provide deliverables and content, I wasn’t sure if I had the capacity to handle doing it all. But I’ve always loved video games, and so when COVID-19 happened and things couldn’t continue as they had, I thought, “Well, guess I’m doing this.” But also, I thought about how I couldn’t interact with the fans—the tens of thousands of subscribers—and how hard it was for them, as well as how sad it made me as well as Vega-chan, who’s been working with me all this time. In terms of the scope of what we could do, we started with streaming from my home, and as things have opened back up, I can do more and even find sponsors. That said, things didn’t totally open back up, meaning it’s still a bit hard. So this is a kind of fanservice so I can connect to the fans through my voice, and I can give them joy through my broadcasts, where I deliver content twice a week. I love video games, and the fans like seeing me play them, so that makes me happy.

You are known for having a love of Indian curry. Do you have a favorite type of Indian curry?

Cashew curry! It has cashew and chicken. I always make sure to have cashews in my curry, and I love the spices. Indian food in Japan is amazing! I love it.

Would you like to give a message to your fans reading this interview?

I really cherish all my fans. Even if there are times you can’t hear my voice in anime or video games, I’ve been working hard with Vega-chan on my YouTube channel for a long while now, and fans can interact with me there. Also, there will be a lot of big projects coming up where you’ll be able to hear me again, and so to my fans not just in Japan but all over the world as well, please continue to support me. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Ogiue Maniax Panels at Otakon 2023

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A screenshot from Super Robot Wars featuring the robot Might Gaine. Its pilot, Maito, says "Justice, proceed! Evil, stop!"

Otakon 2023 kicks off this Friday, and I have two panels over the weekend!

Giant Train Robots of Anime and More

Friday July 28, 2023 10:15 am to 11:15 am

Trains and mecha are two tastes that go great together. Discover “rail robots” from all across Japanese media and learn for yourself how awesome they are!

Densha Otoko: Train Man, Otaku Myth, Internet Legend

Saturday July 29, 2023 8:45 pm to 9:45 pm

Once upon a time, the story of a nerd helping a girl on a train changed the otaku world forever. Come and (re)discover the true (?) story of Densha Otoko, its many adaptations, and its legacy 20 years later.

Otakon always has a million things to do, but if you just so happen to stop by, I hope you enjoy yourself.

Gattai Girls 13: “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury” and Suletta Mercury

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Introduction: “Gattai Girls” is a series of posts dedicated to looking at giant robot anime featuring prominent female characters due to their relative rarity within that genre.

Here, “prominent” is primarily defined by two traits. First, the female character has to be either a main character (as opposed to a sidekick or support character), or she has to be in a role which distinguishes her. Second, the female character has to actually pilot a giant robot, preferrably the main giant robot of the series she’s in.

For example, Aim for the Top! would qualify because of Noriko (main character, pilots the most important mecha of her show), while Vision of Escaflowne would not, because Hitomi does not engage in any combat despite being a main character, nor would Full Metal Panic! because the most prominent robot pilot, Melissa Mao, is not prominent enough.

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I truly believe that Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury will go down as a pivotal work in anime history. There are the surface reasons, of course: It has the honor of being the first mainline Gundam anime to feature a female protagonist with a same-sex primary romantic interest. It’s also the first main Gundam to be only 24 episodes when even the next shortest series still got 39. But the core of why I think Witch from Mercury is a game changer is that it ncludes many elements unfamiliar or in defiance of Gundam that manage to tell a compelling and thought-provoking story that carries both idealism and realism in its narrative.

Witch from Mercury takes place in a world where Gundams are forbidden, even though they were originally based on research to help people with disabilities. Years after the banning of Gundams and the seeming purge of all involved, a shy and awkward girl named Suletta Mercury arrives at Asticassia Academy, a mobile suit school for the elite where student matters are officially resolved through giant-robot duels. Suletta wins a match in her Definitely-Not-a-Gundam, Aerial, ends up engaged to the daughter of the school’s owner, Miorine Rembran, and in doing so inadvertently steps into the complex corporate, social, and political forces at play.

The anime starts off reminiscent of both Revolutionary Girl Utena and G Gundam, but ends its first half throwing the relatively isolated nature of Asticassia into stark relief with the world at large, whether it’s the crushing disparity between Earthians and Spacians, the specter of war and how the parents of all the kids have a hand in perpetuating military conflict, or the realization that Suletta’s naivete isn’t merely an innocent quirk but points to an unusual and possibly even disturbing past.

The second half seems to calm down, only to ramp up even harder and throw the established order into further disarray. Things that other series might have left linger for 10 episodes are brought to bear in a fraction of the time. The anime can actually feel pretty rushed as a result, but in certain ways, I think this actually works out in its favor. Gundam series often meander and plod as they get into the latter 25-ish episodes as they try to incorporate extraneous characters and merch-friendly elements, whereas this one cuts out a lot of the fat, albeit with some of the flesh as well. The outcome of all this is a Gundam where I would get genuinely surprised and shocked, especially in terms of character deaths)—feelings that were often missing from my viewings of Gundam anime that have come out in the past 15 years.

The characters, especially the women, are memorable and one the best parts of Witch from Mercury. Suletta is a unique protagonist, both in comparison to her Gundam predecessors and in general due to the way she has to grapple with her own upbringing and the way she ends up establishing her own identity. She takes the viewers on a rollercoaster of a personal journey that makes her position as first heroine much more than a cynical decision for the sake of diversity. Similarly, Miorine’s aggressiveness makes for a great companion and foil, and the way she navigates her privilege and her desire to do more for humanity is wonderful. And Suletta’s mom Prospera is not only the best Char Aznable in ages, but shows the quiet fury of a woman who will do anything for her child.

As for minor characters, there are plenty of examples regardless of genders. Chuatury “Chuchu” Panlunch is refreshingly no-nonsense in a way rarely seen in anime. Guel Jeturk, a rival/potential love interest of Suletta, goes from annoying dude to endearing guy—something that actually happens more often than not with the cast. A number of characters are on the larger side but are not treated as jokes. And while Secelia Dote only has seven minutes of screen time across the entire series, her snarkiness manages to steal the show every time. I could keep going.

One of the more amazing things about Witch from Mercury is how well it strikes a balance between having ubiquitous mobile suits and incorporating them into the story and setting. They’re also very aesthetically pleasing, particularly the Aerial. It’s identifiably a Gundam, but its proportions and flourishes give a slight feminine feel without going straight into Nobel Gundam territory. I also enjoy the way it contrasts with other mecha, as it makes the Aerial come across more something that will disrupt the status quo. Moreover, Aerial is also a rare instance of a mobile suit basically being a character unto itself—something that has serious consequences as the series progresses.

A common criticism of Gundam as a whole is that while it generally contains anti-war messaging, the cool factor of the mobile suits can end up drowning it out. Although the designs in this particular series are indeed among the best ever, Witch from Mercury is also the first to establish that the technology did not begin as a military endeavor, and this helps throw the use of mobile suits as weapons into stark relief. It’s also part of a greater look at the inequalities and inequities suffered by those who lack the financial and familial might to make the world care—a world where even the children of those in power feel the burden of having to deal with their parents’ bullshit.

On that note, corporations play a major role in the series, and I’ve seen people get extremely confused with all the different alliances and factions. While I won’t say it’s simple to keep track of everything, one way to navigate that web is to understand that many adult decisions are the result of corporate greed, and trying to find positions to have the best profits with the least accountability. This is what makes Miorine’s ultimate decision all the more satisfying, as she throws that structure off kilter using the means available to her. Gundam series often feature politics because of how they take place on grander scales.

These two elements together help Witch from Mercury’s politics feel very contemporary and relevant to our times, instead of coming across as dated or tepid.

Witch from Mercury brings a new sense of what Gundam can be. It possesses many of the franchise’s well-worn tropes without being beholden to them. It breaks boundaries of all kinds, whether through its unique cast of characters, its central same-sex romance, or its perspectives on conflict and humanity. I truly feel that what we have is a turning point in Gundam and anime as a whole, and I’m hopeful it’ll be for the better. Suletta is the first main Gundam heroine, but she won’t be the last.

Good Anime vs. Bad Direction?

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A thought popped into my head one day: Can I tell if a good anime adaptation was marred by bad direction without knowing actual details about the production? It’s one thing to point at spectacular failures, but what about something that was decent but could have been transcendent? What about if the source material was so strong on its own that not even a mediocre director could remove its shine? Or is it impossible for something to be good, yet suffer from poor direction? 

While I love anime and possess some formal education in related areas, I’m not refined to the point that I can easily make judgment calls about direction quality. Moreover, with anime, there are a lot of people involved—e.g. the actual animators—in a collaborative effort, so it can be difficult to tell where one person’s contributions end and another’s negative impact begins. I’m also generally someone who prefers to point out a work’s strengths over its weaknesses, and this may have left me unable to nitpick to such an exacting degree.

I’m not sure how strongly I desire the ability to be so discerning in the end, but maybe I could develop it. While I’d rather not be an anime snob (feel free to call me out if you think I already am), I’m somewhat wary of giving more credit than is properly due. There have been past cases of me praising something that I thought was a legitimately good work (and still do), only to learn that the person at the helm hindered more than helped. I don’t know if I’m asking too much of myself, but I feel like I have to be aware of my limitations.