They’re Back! Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee Vol. 1 Scene 7 (Cast Talk)
Click here to listen to the track on youtube.
This is the best photo I could find, containing only about half of the cast. I don't recognize two of the VAs, but the rest are: Kisaichi Atsushi (the one with the cap), Toriumi Kousuke (beanie guy), Ishikawa Hideo (left, seated) and Morikawa Toshiyuki.
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Summary: The voice actors talk about things (hobbies, sports, pets, etc) they will never tire of.
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Morikawa: Everyone, thank you for your hard work during the recording. It’s now time for the bonus track of the Drama CD “They’re Back! Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee.”
Ishikawa: Yeah! Really – what is it?
(Morikawa and Kawami laugh.)
Ishikawa: Er – thank you for the hard work, everyone!
Morikawa: Indeed. It’s been quite a while.
Ishikawa: Yes, it’s been a long time since the last recording.
Morikawa: Someone reminded me that the very first [Araiso] Drama CD was recorded in 2000.
Ishikawa: That was eight years ago.
Morikawa: Yes.
Ishikawa: Time flies, doesn’t it? This studio’s now filled with thirty-somethings.
(The others laugh.)
Morikawa: I’m already a forty-something. [Along with Shimura, Narita, Tobita, Kobayashi and Shibuya.]
Tobita: Same here.
Ishikawa: During the previous recording, all of us were in our twenties or thirties. [Tobita, the oldest among the cast, turned forty in 1999.]
Ishikawa: And we’re all playing high school students.
Morikawa: Yes.
Ishikawa: This is a wonderful piece of work.
(Toriumi laughs.)
Ishikawa: So I hope that we’ll be able to continue voicing these characters.
Morikawa: That’s what I’m aiming for.
Ishikawa: Really, let’s continue playing these high schoolers even when we’re senior citizens.
Morikawa: Sure.
Ishikawa: For this track, based on the last line of the story–
Morikawa: Yes, the line spoken by Katsuragi, right?
(Kawakami laughs.)
Ishikawa: Sorry, yes, it’s Katsuragi’s line. It went like this: “Good grief. It’s just impossible to find the time to get tired of life while hanging out with you guys.” So, here’s the topic of our talk –
Morikawa: Yes, the topic: As long as you can have or do this thing, you’ll never tire of it! Please provide the reason why as well.
Kawakami: Okay.
Ishikawa: We’ll give our comments one by one.
Morikawa: Alright.
Ishikawa: Well then, let’s begin!
Kisaichi: I’ll go first. This is Kisaichi Atsushi, who plays Fujiwara Yuusuke. Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I don’t really have anything I’m particularly obsessed with. There’s work, baseball, ping pong, billiard, bowling, darts, golf, basketball – I never tire of stuff like these. Ah, but strength training is out of the question. Swimming too. I don’t like bland and repetitive activities like those. I love games involving balls, since I won’t get bored playing them. Though I’m not much of a sportsman, I enjoy getting better at these games. That’s about it.
Ishikawa: Aren’t you in a baseball club?
Kisaichi: Yes. I’m a coach there, after a fashion.
Ishikawa: A coach?
Kisaichi: Yes. It was a request I couldn’t refuse. In this particular case, it’s not one of those things I never tire of, but simply a duty I have to fulfill. Still, I definitely love baseball and other ball games. Yes, that’s about it.
Ishikawa: Go Atsushi!
Kisaichi: Thank you for listening! Then, on to the next person.
Toriumi: Hello, I’m Ainoura Kousuke.
(A few of the voice actors laugh. Kawakami exclaims in surprise.) [Instead of properly stating his actual name, Toriumi provided a combination of his character’s surname and his own personal name.]
Toriumi: Speaking of what I’ll never tire of, it’s curry. Curry is a magnificent dish. I can eat it anytime. Also, I never get bored grilling meat. It’s my lot in life to continuously grill meat for others.
(A few of the others start to chat among themselves in the background.)
Toriumi: Won't you please listen to me?
Morikawa: What’s the method you use to grill meat?
Toriumi: Method? I specialize in offal **. [The phrase I manage to catch is horume/horune but the only term for grilled offal I can find online is horumonyaki.]
Ishikawa: Morikawa-san’s the only one who’s seen you do it, isn’t he?
Toriumi: The first praise I received from Morikawa-san was for my meat-grilling method, you know. (laughs) I hope to get more praises from him in the future too.
Shimura: Offal!
Ishikawa: You’re noisy!
Toriumi: I’d like to continue grilling meat in the future. In addition, I recently started to play golf as well. Golf is fun too. I think it’s also something I won’t tire of. I hope I can improve on my technique there.... Goodbye.
Sasanuma: This is Sasanuma Akira, who plays Matsubara Jun.
Ishikawa: MatsuJun! [also the nickname of J-pop idol Matsumoto Jun.]
Sasanuma: MatsuJun? Yeah, I guess. (laughs) Playing with my beloved pet dog is something I’ll never tire of!
Kawakami: Eh?
Sasanuma: Yes, it’s my dog. Patting it on the thighs–
Kawakami: Thighs?
Sasanuma: –while feeding it beef jerky – I can do this for an hour or two. Even after the beef jerky’s all gone, I find myself still patting my dog.
Toriumi: Your pet dog’s a beef jerky junkie.
(Everyone laughs.)
Sasanuma: I feed it various other stuff too, such as milk. Yeah, I guess it’s going to get fat thanks to that. Alright, that’s it from me.
Shimura: Good evening. I’m Shimura Tomoyuki, who plays Murota.
Someone: It’s your head.
Shimura: Yes, it’s my head **. As long as I have it, I’ll never tire of it. Right on. Fishing is something I could do forever – if dragons existed. I want to catch one, that’s why. Also, drinking is something I can do all the time. But, I’ll always regret it the day after. And will drink again later in the evening. Only to regret it all over again the next morning! Goodbye.
Kobayashi: Good evening. This is Kobayashi Youko, who plays the transgender musclewoman and school doctor, Igarashi. Well, someone might have already mentioned the same thing before, but for me too, it’s cats [that I’ll never tire of].
Ishikawa: Ah, cats! I love cats!
Kobayashi: A group of volunteers were looking for homes for strays in front of the train station in my neighborhood. I got a pet cat from them three months ago. It’s a black cat. I find myself liking the cat so much that I got another one yesterday. (laughs) I will bring it home next week – a tricolor one this time. Yes, soon I’ll be the owner of two cats. They seem to be increasing rapidly. My home might soon turn into a cat mansion. As long as I have my cats, I’ll never tire of life. That’s it from me. Thank you very much.
Narita: Er... good evening. I’m Narita Ken, who plays Matsumoto Takahisa, the Student Council Chairman. As for me, I basically like baths. The other day, I went to a hot spring resort. The sort with a private open-air bath just outside the room.
The others: That’s nice.
Narita: Isn’t it? I really love that sort of hot spring resorts.
One of the voice actors: Did you go alone?
Narita: No no, I went with other people, of course. Going on my own would be too lonesome. Well, going alone might not be a bad thing. I like baths, so I probably won’t mind going alone. After getting out of the bath, I typically have fish dishes to accompany the sake. To me, these are life’s pleasures. Thank you for listening.
Tobita: Good morning. This is Tobita Nobuo, who plays Tachibana Haruka, the Student Council Vice-Chairman. Like some of my fellow voice actors, I love cats.
Ishikawa: Cats!
Tobita: Yes. I have an American Shorthair and a Somali.
Ishikawa: You have a Somali as well?
Tobita: The two didn’t get along well at first, never mind playing together. It took three years before they finally slept together. But now they live together happily. I hope that they’ll live long and well. Also, I like my job and working together with the Chairman. As long as Narita-san’s there, things will never get boring!
(The others laugh.) [T/N: After all, it’s that, to quote Morikawa, ‘that Narita Ken.’]
Tobita: Alright, hope to see you all again. Thank you very much.
Kondou: Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I’m Kondou Takashi, who plays Kiba Osamu. Originally, I wanted to be the first to say that I find joy in my work but Kisaichi-san already beat me to it right in the beginning. So I had to discard the lines I prepared and was thinking of something else to say while waiting for my turn. (laughs) I didn’t really intend for things to end up like this.
Kondou: The more I thought about it, the more negative it gets. When I start playing a video game, rather than not growing tired of it, I just can’t seem to stop. I tell myself, “I mustn’t go on like this, I need to get out of the house, I have to work.” So, persevering with utmost effort, I make sure to go out every morning. (laughs) If I don’t do that, I’ll turn into a shut-in. Everyone, please take care when playing video games. That’s about it.
Itou: This is Itou Kentarou, who plays Ryuunosuke. Well, at this point, we’ve run out of unique responses. Really, I’m blessed to be working with senior voice actors who never tire of their jobs. There’s drinking too, as Shimura said. And golf, as Kousuke mentioned. I’m absorbed in those recently. I actually get bored of things pretty easily. When I think about the reason why, it could be because once I decide that I like something, I’ll just do it while ignoring everything else. So from now on, I’ll do things in moderation. Hopefully, I’ll find something I never tire of, something I can continue doing for the rest of my life. I just realized this today. So, I’ll be taking my leave of you all, because I’m going off now to join some clubs. (laughs)
Katsu: I’m Katsu Anri, who plays Shuuji. Thank you for your hard work, everyone. As for something I’ll never get bored of, it’s the same as one of things Shimura-san mentioned: fishing. Also, I’ve been playing a few musical instruments for quite a while. That’s right – I never get tired of playing musical instruments [guitar, bass guitar and drums according to his Japanese Wikipedia page: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8B%9D%E6%9D%8F%E9%87%8C]. I perform mostly indoors these days. I don’t do it to that extent anymore, but in the past, I once played the bass for up to twelve hours without taking any break or eating. There was this song I just wanted to play over and over again. Once I was done, I collapsed onto the ground. My hands and legs had gone numb. I nearly got sent to the hospital. That was the level of my enthusiasm when it came to music. Everyone who plays musical instruments, please take care not to overdo it the way I did. Well, that was fun. That’s it from me.
Kawakami: This is Kawakami Tomoko, who plays Katsuragi-chan. While trying to think of things one never tires of, various stuff came to mind, such as pets and hobbies. But, for me it’s tidying up my room.
Morikawa: Ah, I know, I know!
Ishikawa: You’ve said enough. [not sure whether this was directed to Morikawa or Kawakami.]
Kawakami: Eh?
Kawakami: To be honest, my room’s far from neat. There are plenty of clutters in it. Whenever I try to put stuff away, I end up looking at them against my better judgment. Things like years-old magazine articles featuring interviews I granted. Reading some of those, I think: wow, did I really wear this attire? I never get bored of looking at old stuff like those. Though I expressly tell myself, “I must definitely tidy up my room today,” I end up not completing the task. Stuff will pile up again until I decide to have the next tidying up session, in which the same thing will happen. It’s a vicious circle. In short, I guess I’ll never have my fill of tidying up my room. Thank you for listening.
Ishikawa: I’m Ishikawa Hideo, who plays Tokito Minoru. I love cats too, so I’m a cat owner as well. Recently, I bought some black cotton swabs at the convenience store. Those are really good for picking up dirt. With just a little daub on the skin, a lot of dirt will come off. I used them on a recording location once and gave everyone there a piece. That’s how enthusiastic I’m about them. Everyone, if you like–
Morikawa: You gave everyone a cotton swab?
Ishikawa: Yes. Please give them a try.
(Morikawa laughs.)
Ishikawa: Aren’t you being silly? [He used the term from Kansai dialect for ‘idiot’, aho. FWIW, Ishikawa hails from the Kansai region. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect#Vocabulary]
Ishikawa: I– I– (tries unsuccessfully to speak over the clamor)
Someone: They’re convenient for cleaning up right?
Ishikawa: Right, for stuff such as getting rid of earwax. So, everyone, if you like, please give them a try. They’re called Wholly Absorbent Cotton Swabs and are black. They’re luxuriantly thick and great to use. As long as I have them, I’m good.... Er, did I say something weird?
(The others laugh.)
[More info on the cotton swabs: https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%98%BF%E8%98%87%E8%A3%BD%E8%96%AC-%E3%83%87%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%82%84%E3%81%BF%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8D%E7%B6%B%E6%A3%92-70%E6%9C%AC/dp/B000FQS0IS]
Ishikawa: Well, that’s about it. This gentleman will bring up the rear.
Morikawa: Yes. Dirty ears are gross... Sorry.
(Toriumi laughs along with some of the others.)
Morikawa: This is Morikawa Toshiyuki, who plays Kubota Makoto. As long I have or do this thing, I’ll never get bored. What is it? It’s meat! As long as I can eat meat, I’ll never... be thin.
(Toriumi laughs again.)
Morikawa: Being a dog person, I keep a Labrador Retriever as pet. Thanks to it.... I’ve had my fill of dogs.
(The others laugh.)
Morikawa: Really, my dog plays a trick on me at every turn. He’d carry off my house slippers and run around my residence trying to escape me. The minute I arrive home [and am about to wear the slippers], he’d grab the slippers without fail. I’m sick of that trick already, but he does not seem to be. Even now, I’m at loss as to how to deal with this behavior.
Someone: You’re fed up with it.
Morikawa: Sorry for bothering you all with my dog trouble. After this, I probably can’t count on your support anymore. (laughs) I’m done, yes.
Ishikawa: All right. Everyone, thank you very much. Then, let’s say it together. One, two–
Everyone: Good-bye!
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(Round brackets): actions and sound effects. [Square brackets]: translator’s notes or clarifications. Double asterisks **: Stuff I am not sure of. Suggestions for improvements and corrections are more than welcome.
Extra notes
Saiyuki fans: If you find some of the voices familiar, that might be because you’ve heard them in the Saiyuki anime.
Narita Ken, Matsumoto’s voice actor, played Koumyou Sanzo in Gensoumaden series and the Saiyuki Drama CD.
Toriumi Kousuke, Ainoura’s voice actor, played young Ukoku (Ken'yuu) in Burial OVA.
The late Kawakami Tomoko (Katsuragi’s voice actor) played Lirin.
Morikawa Toshiyuki (Kubota’s voice actor) played Homura.
Fans of old BLCD (late 1990s to early 2010s) probably would know most of the Araiso cast. I just couldn’t help smiling whenever I recalled who paired with whom in which Boys’ Love Drama CD as I translated this track.
There’s a good ending for Fujiwara, or his voice, at least. He got to be with his Kubota-senpai for once, in Toraware no Koibito.
Kondou Takashi (Osamu’s voice actor) played the seme to Morikawa in Adult Education and the uke to Ishikawa in Castle Mango.
If you’re interested in BL Drama CDs, there is wonderful list pointing to the downloads, indexed by voice actors on aarinfantasy.
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Animation Night 163 - Yokohama Kaidishi Kikou
Good evening everyone! It's time at last for Animation Night. And what do we have this week... did you guess an OVA from the 1990s? That's always a safe bet with me and sure enough that's what we have tonight: ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 Yokohama Kaidishi Kikou, or in English, Yokohama Shopping Log.
I'm going to keep my writeup tonight brief, because I am fully kvin's homework on this one and I think rather than paraphrase what he wrote, lemme link the article. Here is an introduction to the series...
Nearly 3 decades after it was first published, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou remains the poster child of mono no aware works in otaku media. Vaguely set after a catastrophe that collapsed both the planet’s ecology and human civilization as we knew it, an event that the series has no intention to explain, YKK stars android Alpha as she runs the desolate café that her long-gone master entrusted her with. Her episodic adventures are all about the appreciation of the moment, often with an emphasis on the evocative environments she casually comes across; after all, author Hitoshi Ashinano was inspired to pen this work by his fondness of taking a stroll or riding a motorcycle without a specific goal. Despite being an ode to spontaneity, YKK is also a thoroughly focused work—and the recipient of that focus is the passage of time, as well as how different beings process the ephemerality of things.
The manga is beautiful, and highly influential in establishing a certain genre of gentle post-apocalyptic works like Girl's Last Tour. But tonight we're here to see the OVAs, each of them just an hour, pulling out a selection of favourite episodes from the manga.
These two adaptations, despite coming just a few years apart, come at a point of major historical change: the first part is in the cel era, the second in digital.
For the first, we have director Takashi Anno, veteran of The Hakkenden (AN122) and magical girl anime such as Magical Emi. His characteristic direction style puts a huge emphasis on setting and atmosphere, lingering on quiet moments - something he truly ironed out in Semishigure, which returns to the protagonist of Magical Emi years after the events of the story. Which made him a perfect fit for Yokohama. kVin is full of praise for the colour design, the strength of the layouts, and especially the soundtrack.
The second OVA Quiet Country Café dir. Tomomi Mochizuki takes a radically different approach, skipping forward in the manga and introducing a boldly experimental style:
Though its color design can’t match the exquisite work of the preceding series, it makes up for it with the radically distinct art direction by the late legend Shichiro Kobayashi—best known for the likes of Utena, Gamba, Ashita no Joe 2, Castle of Cagliostro, Beautiful Dreamers, Windy Tales, and unarguably being one of the most important figures in the history of stylized Japanese animation. In contrast to the grounded scenery of the first OVA, Kobayashi’s evokes reality with stark forms, implications of movement, and downright expressionistic paintings. Compared to the gentle embrace of the first series, his work feels like it’s demanding your attention in a more proactive way.
kVin describes the second episode's direction as characterised by more active and layered camerawork and a more 'involved' score - he's particularly taken with the sequence where Alpha returns to her café after the devastating storm that sets the OVA going. He compares it to Mochizuki's direction of the Ghibli film Ocean Waves.
So two approaches to the same material, two different vibes, but it sounds like both should be very strong. Tonight the plan is simple enough: we'll watch both OVAs back to back! (Apologies for the late start, as mentioned I've been having tech problems.)
AN 163 will be going live shortly at twitch.tv/canmom. Both OVAs are pretty short so we'll be watching from about 11pm to 1am UK time. love to see you there nya~
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Perfect Origin submissions and beta designs
Or at least what's known about them.
Starting at zero, The Man's concept art has been uploaded to Pixiv by his creator, Seiji Tanaka, here and here. He was originally submitted as "Zeusman", based on the Greek deity of the same name. Even back then, he was supposed to be the true identity of Strong The Budo, except that in this rendition, he is a choujin cloned from the cells of Neptune King.
While Goldman was likely created by Yudetamago themselves, his Akuma Shogun identity is a refined version of "Vikingman", who was submitted by Kobayashi of Tokyo. Early color illustrations of Shogun tend to depict him with pure red armor, which may have been a leftover from his submission.
Silverman's redesign process for his appearance in the 2011 run was extensively documented and released in the "JC55巻 56巻 発売記念品 2016 夏" booklet. His first rough design is completely different from the finished product, mirroring Shogun even moreso than his final design.
Mirageman is one of the two Kenichi Ishii-submitted Origins, the other being Justiceman. Both him and Thingman, designed by Ken Hiroshima (who also worked on Painman together with Kentaro Sakamoto), were first shown as choujin submissions in Vol. 25 of Nisei Tag, named "Mirage" and "Doppelman" respectively. Thingman is nigh identical to his submission, but Mirageman used to somewhat resemble a circuit board, with PCB traces and pads covering his body.
Abyssman is credited to Masashi Omori and Takamasa Minato, presumably being a combination of multiple submissions, as the Fan Book commentary implies.
Ganman is famous for not only being a combination of two submissions, but also having his appearance modified after his initial reveal. His moose features were taken from a currently unknown submission that were applied to WANI's "The Cyclone".
Yudetamago later clarified in the Vol. 47 Q&A that his design was upgraded to make him look more dignified, as he's supposed to be on the same level as Akuma Shogun.
I've uploaded a catbox album with all the panels I could find of Ganman's original appearance here, but the original WEB version of the chapter can't be found in its entirety anymore.
Crowman/Karasuman was submitted by Takayuki Wakisaka. His name and design have stayed exactly the same, except he's way thinner here than in the manga.
The same Takayuki Wakisaka also appears to have submitted Psychoman's Grim Reaper identity. His new white priest-like design was probably refined by Yudetamago, since an Instagram post by Takashi Shimada shows what looks like concept art, as well as an alternate design.
As of right now, this is all that is known about the design processes of the Perfect Origin. Feel free to add or correct anything if you happen to have more information.
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CHAPTER 3 is up!
I also made some little character bios for the main cast and supporting OCs. The ages listed are accurate to the beginning of the story which is also the start of the school year.
Chinen Miya is 15, Class 1A: an excellent student, competes as a member of the National Skateboarding team, went to a private middle school and has no close friends.
Kyan Koyomi is 15, Class 1B: a good student, member of the Drama club, loves fashion and hanging out with her friends.
Kyan Reki is 16, Class 2C: an OK student but he's failing English. He's more popular with his classmates than he thinks but doesn't have any close friends. No clubs and he doesn't skateboard anymore.
Higa Hiromi is 17, Class 2B: An OK student but he is repeating year two due to fighting and truancy. Soccer club and unofficial member of the gardening club.
Sakurayashiki Kaoru is 17, Class 3A: former top student, former captain of the Kendo club. Current treasurer of the student council. Not currently in any school clubs but attending a programming and robotics course.
Hasegawa Langa is 17, Class 3A: pretty good student and star player on the soccer team. Visits Canada at least once a year, his dad travels a lot.
Shindo Ainosuke is 17, Class 3A: top student, President of the Student Council and the Drama Club. His family is notoriously wealthy and influential.
Nanjo Kojiro is 17, Class 3B: good student, popular and flirty ace of the Baseball team. He and Kaoru are childhood friends, but they aren't in the same class this year.
Kikuchi Tadashi is 18: first year college student, former secretary of the Student Council. Lives and works at the Shindo estate.
Oka Shokichi is 20: newly promoted manager at Dope Sketch.
Kamata Kiriko is 25: Homeroom teacher for class 2C. She coaches baseball and is very sick of high schoolers flirting with her.
Sonozaki Yosuke is 16, Reki’s childhood best friend (yes I gave him the same name in ‘there is no if’). He introduced Reki to skateboarding and they were inseparable as children. He was injured skating in their final year of middle school and Reki has not been in touch since he moved to the mainland before high school.
Kobayashi Rie is 15, Class 1A: an excellent student, junior member of the student council. She has been best friends with Koyomi since they were babies because their moms are good friends.
Fujiwara Kiyu is 15, Class 2C: a good student and junior member of the baseball team. He likes video games, singing and is learning to play guitar. One of the youngest in his class and a relative of Chinen Miya.
Uehara Takashi is 16, Class 2C: top student, member of the literary club and plays piano. He is serious and sincere. He and his twin have been chosen as class representatives, ignoring the one boy, one girl rule, since they were ten years old.
Uehara Ritsu is 16, Class 2C: an ok student and junior member of the baseball team. He dreams of forming a band with Tadashi and Kiyu but he hasn't found an instrument he's any good at.
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