Known for hit songs such as Zom 100: The Dead Man’s Bucket List and Makeine: There are so many failed heroines!our ANN pair Umeda ShuichiroA lot of work over the past few years. Now Umeda has achieved great success again Xia Guang is deadlet’s sit down Voice actor Talk about his experience dubbing animation.
How is the atmosphere? Xia Guang is dead? How did you get this role? What did you think when you started?
Go to audition Xia Guang is deadI read the manga, and after reading it, I felt that it did a very good job of depicting summer that is unique to Japan. It’s very specific in its details. But something always felt off and made me question things, like this was something I wasn’t supposed to see, so it was a really fun charm for the comic.
One more thing about anime. I was wondering how Hikari is not human, but he is in a human body. How would the acting be if that wasn’t the case? I also played the role of Hikaru before his death, so that’s what I thought of as well.
Is there any difference in the way you voice the original Light versus the Monster Light?
Apparently, since they have the same body, the voice is the same. However, we humans tend to change the way we speak depending on who we are talking to. The original light knew how to speak softly to some people, and also knew how to keep its distance from others. The difference between the light now and the light before is that the light at that time knew Yoshiki and knew what Yoshiki liked and didn’t like. He knows how to keep his distance. Hikaru is very different now. He doesn’t want to be disliked by Yoshiki, which creates a big rift between the two. In a sense, Hikaru is now more timid.
Xia Guang is dead is a horror anime that moves very slowly and relies more on atmosphere than action. Did the tone of the story present any interesting challenges or opportunities for you in playing this character?
As you know, Light is not human, so first of all, even though Light is not human, I am still human, and playing a non-human is a difficult task. Then there’s the director’s vision of how to present the story. I want to excel in both, so balancing the two is a challenging task for me.
©Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
The animation has the tone of a horror movie – I know Mr. Takeshita said he liked it alienI saw the terrifying other, in the form of light, just like you see in the movies matter. In preparation for the role of Hikari, did you watch any horror movies or anime?
I watched a lot of horror movies before taking this role, so I didn’t need to watch a lot to prepare. Instead, a lot of the movies I’ve seen before probably seeped into what I used in this character. I think the interesting essence of Japanese horror films isn’t the jump scares, but the slow, scary feel that permeates the story. I’m thinking specifically of “From the Dark Waters,” which has some scenes that will make you shiver. For example, turn on the faucet and you will see hair flowing out of the faucet. The feeling I get from scenes like this probably influenced me.
What was it like filming the “Chicken” scene? What was your mentality at that time? How did you achieve this?
I’m surprised this scene is popular in the US because I thought it was more of a Japanese thing. This is a very fragile scene. Because this is anime, we had to dub the scene, and if the dubbing was too emotional, it wouldn’t really fit the tone. But if it’s non-tonal and on the other end of the spectrum, then it doesn’t make sense either. This is a difficult thing to do.
What is your favorite working moment? Xia Guang is dead?
In the case of this animation, the “before” light and the present light are seamlessly interpreted. When I play Light, it’s fun to play different characters seamlessly. In the sense of working with other people on the same team, I think there were heavy themes and difficult themes that were introduced in certain scenes that made you feel a certain way. But everyone is happier when there is recess, just like recess in school. This is a very interesting team.
Xia Guang is dead The anime series is currently on the air Netflix. The English version of the comic series is available from Yen Press.
