TOUGEN ANKI is one of the more exciting additions to the Summer season’s anime lineup. Inspired by the story of Momotaro, the series combines classic adversarial dynamics, a unique power system, cool characters, and lots of action. At this year’s Otakon, we had the opportunity to speak with Hiroshi Kamiya, who voices Naito Mudano in the series, and Koutaro Nishiyama, who voices Jin Kougasaki in the series. In a conversation alongside other members of the press, we learned about their first contact with and impressions of the series, how they relate to their characters, and their overall approach to acting in TOUGEN ANKI.
Portions of this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: Prior to the audition or being officially cast, were you familiar with the original TOUGEN
ANKI manga? What was your impression when you first encountered it?
Kamiya-san: Hi everyone, I’m Kamiya, and actually it was my first time seeing the manga before the audition. So I didn’t know it before then, but it was a very interesting manga. Every Japanese person will probably know Momotaro, it’s that much of a famous legend. So I was interested in seeing the continuation story after the original legend.
Nishiyama-san: Hi everyone, I am Nishiyama. Similarly to Kamiya-san, I first read the manga right before the audition. What I got from the manga was that the battle scenes were very interesting. I think they were very coolly drawn. I think that by having TOUGEN ANKI like this, I would be able to show lots of readers and new viewers how appealing lots of the characters are, because I found lots of the characters appealing. I wish all of you would share that too.
Q: Would you mind sharing how you became involved with this project?
Kamiya-san: With regard to the audition there were two auditions all together, a first audition and a second audition. In the first audition, I strategized with our production manager, and they were giving me directions on what kind of character to act out and how my acting should sound, and we taped that and sent it in. In the second audition, we actually met with the staff and the other people that were auditioning. There was a test run — a rehearsal run — and then the real deal. After that, I kind of felt like I didn’t really get too much feedback, so I was worrying, “Oh, I guess I failed this one.” I walked back, kind of depressed and everything, but then I heard at a later day, “Oh, I passed.” I got the role, so that was a memory for me.
Nishiyama-san: Like Kamiya-san, I also did the two auditions. The first audition the tape, the second audition at the studio. And similarly to Kamiya-san, I didn’t really have too much feedback from the auditions. That kind of made sense to me because I often do characters that are a bit more cheerful and kind, but then Kougasaki, as you might know, is kind of like a low-energy, kind of calm character, so it was a kind of new experience for me. So when I heard that I passed, I was very happy about it.
Q: How did you feel after watching the completed version of the anime? Do you often
revisit it once it’s aired or released on streaming platforms?
Kamiya-san: After the after recording, it took quite some time after it actually went on air. If you start counting from the auditioning and then after recording, and all the way to on-air, it’s probably roughly around one year until I actually saw the on-air version of it. So I’ve been saying, “Wow, I’ve been waiting for a long time about this. I wonder how it’s become,” and I’m especially interested in that because in the after recording, I do have a sense of what might be happening, but I don’t have a sense of what the music might sound like. As you know already, the first episode very high quality, but I was especially interested in the music that plays. So yeah, I watch it afterwards, especially to figure out the music that’s playing.
Nishiyama-san: This is something that can be said of TOUGEN ANKI almost exclusively, but I thought that the animation for blood, since, as you know, blood is a heavy theme in there, they were very aggressive in the animation of blood. And I thought, watching the animation, that it was very exciting and that the quality of the product was very high. On one side, I thought it was a bit scary, but then on the other side, I thought the emotional parts, like the tears, truthful feelings, and everything, really contrasted the feel that I got from the animation of blood. There were some things that I watched the on-air version of, and thought that there are some things specific to the anime that were added on, that were exclusive to what you could express in anime.
Q: Could you share what you find appealing about this series, as well as the character you portray? Are there any traits of the character that you personally identify with, and perhaps any that you don’t?
Kamiya-san: I personally don’t really think about the appealing points of the characters, because if I think about a character’s appeal or charm, I will probably be a bit heavy handed in trying to present that to my audience. I think what I believe is that you as the viewer should be the people that should decide what a character is, where the character is charming, and how they are interesting. So having said that, Mudano is someone that I totally cannot relate with. He is very cool-headed, and he cares about efficiency over everything else, and I know that’s being thoughtful to his students, but still, you know, couldn’t you have done it a bit differently?
Nishiyama-san: In terms of points of charm of the appeal of my character, Jin is a very stoic person who is a bit hard on himself, but then he has lots of responsibilities. He’s not really good at expressing himself over that responsibility, but I think if I were in his position, I wouldn’t be able to deal with all the responsibility that he’s feeling. Having said that, similarities or how I would identify with him would be a bit more difficult, but I would say masks, maybe? Because as a voice actor, I do like to wear a mask.
Q: How did you prepare for your role in this series? Were there any particular aspects you
paid special attention to in your performance? Additionally, what kind of communication
or direction did you receive from the director or sound director during the recording
process?
Kamiya-san: In preparing for the character, what I often do is try to know how they think, because irrespective of what they’re doing on screen at the moment, there is always a why they do something. I try to think about how I explain this character’s motivation or why they are doing something. This question of “But why?” is something that I ask the directors about a character’s motive. So in terms of Mudano, all the things that I said about not being able to relate to him, but then I still try to understand that everything that he does is love for his students.
Nishiyama-san: As you know, Jin is a masked character and his expressions are kind of hard to read. So in the animation, his eye is a point of focus of how he expresses himself. And I tried to see how I could relate his eye expressions to my voice. I asked the sound director Iida-san [Satoki Iida] how I could do this. And something that he says to me often is that I should be cognizant of the fact that despite how much Jin’s responsible and everything, he’s still a student. He is not that mature yet. So I still try to act as a student.
And that is something that I talked to the director about, how I could achieve that.
Q: Kamiya-san and Nishiyama-san, you’ve collaborated on many titles before, but what was it like working together as main cast members on this series? During the recording sessions, did anything stand out to you about each other’s performances? If there are any memorable moments, including from promotional activities, we’d love to hear them.
Kamiya-san: Nishiyama-san is the perfect person to be around, because he is so kind, he’s so thoughtful and everything. And I feel very relieved, because this is the first time I’m coming to the US, but there’s really nobody better than him to be around, because he’s so kind and thoughtful. And of course, he’s also good at acting.
Nishiyama-san: I’ve been indebted to Kamiya-san ever since my voice acting debut. He’s been at various turning points in my career and I respect him a lot. I like him a lot. It’s very nice to be working with Kamiya-san at very interesting timings of my life, and even with TOUGEN ANKI, I would say the character dynamic between Mudano and Jin — being a student and teacher — is a very apt approximation of how we are in the studio, because he often acts as a teacher figure to lots of us, with us being the students. But at the same time, he sometimes takes on the role of a student and asks questions. So in terms of acting and in terms of setting the environment to a very good mood and everything, he is a very important person to me.
Q (Dr. Anime): The moral lines in TOUGEN ANKI are intentionally blurred. Momotaro and Oni are both victims and perpetrators. Did this moral ambiguity challenge your perception of your character? Were there scenes where you personally questioned whether your character was truly right in their actions?
Kamiya-san: So the short answer is yes, because TOUGEN ANKI is something that is not straight right and wrong, or a just or unjust answer. And for the Oni, the Oni are not entirely evil, and Momotaro is maybe not completely just. And for each of them, going from each of their other perspectives, that becomes even more of the case. The kind of ironic thing is that the end point should be a talk, a conversation, but they cannot get there without conflict. That is how I feel about it.
Nishiyama-san: Jin Kougasaki is a character that has a very tough past, and he’s kind of closed off himself because of that. He should seek help, but then he tries to fix all his own problems. I think there might have been some different ways that he could have acted in seeking help and everything, but at the same time, knowing how Kougasaki feels, I know that would be difficult for him. His hatred is also the other side of his love for what he holds valuable, and I would like to be alongside this character in keeping him comfortable because he’s probably a very lonely person.
Q (Strict Algorithm): Kamiya-san, you voice a lot of characters that are quiet but have long internal monologues. How do you approach playing those characters? Do they require more preparation?
Kamiya-san: With regard to the question about a long monologue — a character having a long monologue and internal thought being difficult — well, I do already have over 30 years of experience, so I can’t really show my weakness to my kouhai. So I won’t complain about lots of lines and monologues, but then at the same time, in terms of TOUGEN ANKI, there are lots of things that I would need to explain and character thoughts. I would need to put that in terms of character thoughts so that they aren’t monologuing exposition. I would want to have the characters feeling influenced in that explanation. In terms of preparation, though, I don’t really prepare too much. Again, my career length. So my career length and the feeling that I can’t show my any weakness that drive me are my driving force behind me.
Q (Strict Algorithm): Nishiyama-san, are there any series you watched or actors that inspired you to pursue voice acting?
Nishiyama-san: I originally found out about voice actors back in grade school. There was a variety show that I watched when called something along the lines of Seeing the Face of the Voice Actors, Best 100 Series, and that’s where I found out about the profession of voice acting. So back then in grade school, the teacher said, I read books very well because in Japanese grade schools, you have a part of the lesson where you need to read in front of the class, and that’s when I thought I want to be in a profession that uses my voice. There are many voice actor schools around Japan, and that is where my journey began.
Q (Anime Corner): Since the story is derived from Momotaro, a lot of Japanese fans will be familiar with some elements of it. For international fans who are not, what would you say are the key elements of the story to focus on?
Kamiya-san: That is a very good question. I think every Japanese person would know that the baseline facts are that the Oni are evil and Momotaro rights the wrongs. But why? Why? What are the Oni doing now and what justice does Momotaro have? Because they no longer have that kind of thing going on anymore. So I think what the story of TOUGEN ANKI is about is that they are both looking for a way to coexist. If I were to speak about the ethics of how we should all get together and everything, I think everyone’s going to tell me, well, we already know about that. I think the core principle of TOUGEN ANKI is since we know where we want to end up, I think how we get there through appealing characters and exciting battles is something that we best want to represent.
Nishiyama-san: I think I’ll actually talk about the Oni. The Oni have this ability called the Kesshoku Kaiho [Blood Eclipse Release] and that is dictated by their past or their traumas. And these are abilities that they fight with. I think how that is depicted is very fun and I hope that everyone could focus on their personalities and how they fight and what kind of techniques they use.
Q (Anime Atelier): Was there a voice actor or a previous role you took into consideration when coming up with the voices for your characters?
Kamiya-san: I can’t really put a finger on it, but I am sure that subconsciously there are things that really guide my acting. Everything that I have seen, everything I have experienced, they are a part of what builds up my expressiveness until now. So all the characters, all the experiences. But what exactly — that’s a bit hard to say.
Nishiyama-san: Kougasaki is a character that — it’s a very new type of character for me. What I do to think about voices is I would ask myself, as a voice actor, who would I put in the role of Kougasaki? And I would think about, say, choice A, choice B, choice C in terms of voice actors. But then again, at the same time, I am not that person A, B, or C, so I cannot do the voices of A, B, C. So my ultimate thought is that how I would act it out as myself is how I handle it.
Q (JVS): Why do you think anime is a genre that is more emotionally impacting than live action films?
Kamiya-san: I wonder why. But my idea is that anime is actually something that is made by subtraction rather than addition. Because if you go to addition, you get more details, you add in more stuff, more stuff, more stuff, sometimes that could subtract from the overall experience of how the message is conveyed. So in essence, maybe anime gets those feelings conveyed straighter because they know what they want to tell to their audience.
Nishiyama-san: I think for anime — the characters in anime don’t really exist, but at the same time, anime add in voices and music and they get to a point where the anime is getting to a point of believability. And once you cross a certain threshold, you kind of feel, “Oh, the character came to this side. They’re on this side now.” So I think that our imaginations kind of complete that equation of how anime is more emotionally impactful.
Q: In closing, would you like to say a few words to your international fans?
Kamiya-san: First of all, thank you very much to everyone interested in reading this interview article. TOUGEN ANKI is based on the Momotaro legend that every Japanese person would know. But I’m not sure if that knowledge exists over here in North America. Aside from that, I do believe that as entertainment, it’s very fun and it has very appealing characters, so I wish for all of you to find characters that you like, and I hope that you could find something about TOUGEN ANKI that you love.
Nishiyama-san: I would appreciate it for people who are watching TOUGEN ANKI. I think of TOUGEN ANKI, since it’s all over Netflix and various streaming platforms all over the world, I think that it’s very interesting to me that we get to see the Momotaro legend go all over the world. I’m happy along with all the cast and staff of this show, because this is quite literally a show that we poured our soul and blood into. This is precious work for all of us, so I’m telling you now, it won’t betray your expectations.
We’d like to thank Hiroshi Kamiya and Koutaro Nishiyama for taking the time to speak with members of the press. We would also like to thank the staff of Otakon for putting on such a wonderful conference and assisting with the logistics of interviews. If you’re interested in other interviews we’ve conducted with the voice cast of TOUGEN ANKI, you can find two others here and here.
This interview was conducted by Jay Gibbs, with Anime Corner’s questions contributed by Jay and Eric Himmelheber.
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