#Yoshizawa's parents

[kroosluvr]

maybe, if we had met on a fateful summer's evening...

[queerava]

seeing double

[studies-of-the-soul]

Persona 5 Royal OC: Natsumi Yoshizawa

Mother of Kasumi and Sumire Yoshizawa

Former actress, met future husband Shinichi Yoshizawa during an interview for Good Day Japan

Retired and became a housewife when the twins were born

Took gymnastics in her youth, encouraged Kasumi and Sumire to do the same

Status: Deceased

[artekai]

Having insane crossover AU brainrot tonight girlies!!! :D

I'm vibrating so hard I could write entire essays of pretentious meta pretending that crossing these two entirely unrelated series and adding my OCs improves the canon storylines lmao :')

[etherbonded]

A sweet loving woman, someone who'd always aspired to be more than just her face. But had never felt as if she could because of her parent's constant cruel words and the tight leash they kept her on, for who would want anyone but the pretty face she's known to be and the false confidence she's built?

Yoshizawa Yuri has never been enough to the standards of her parents despite the judges constant praise for her beauty even when modeling at such a young age. It especially started to become an issue when in the middle of the year her parents practically forced her into specific diets in order to remain as prim and perfect as she could possibly be. She never truly realized how BAD it was until she meet her friends in high school who told her that it's not okay to be eating in such a way that makes her feel faint one some day, that it's not okay for her parents to be treating her the way they do.

Akechi Himari was the first person she met, and found true admiration for. Himari had a true boldness and courage to stand up and protect people. It... was something that Yuri had always wanted to have, and with Himari she felt as if she could finally do it. High school builds a courage within her, and even after the most of them drift apart... from each other ( Wakaba... Yunkina.. ) she manages to stay by Himari. She's happy at first, because their bond feels inseperable. ...Until the man known as Masayoshi Shido walks into Himari's life and rips her away from everything that made Himari herself.

...She watched it in slow motion, she watched as one of the strongest people she knew fell victim to a scummy man. Watching as their friendship tears from the seems as Shido pulls Himari away with wool over her eyes. Something that makes her slip back into her old habits before she had met her friends, to slip back into the fake shell she had once made.

...and upon doing it, her parents welcomed her back with open arms. But instantly threw her into a marriage promise she hadn't even been aware of, but she wore the mask once more, she hid her true insecure self once more. Any healing that had been there was now gone. It's funny how such a simple thing can BREAK someone.

Two to Three years later, she gives birth to the twins Kasumi and Sumire, but due to unfortunate complications, she passes due to the childbirth.

...Her last thoughts were a prayer that they lead a happier life that she did.

[mioxeno]

My personal reading of Sumire Yoshizawa who I read as a lesbian who suffers with comphet and identity issues:

A big aspect of Sumire's character is the desire to live up to her parents's and society's expectations for her. Sumire struggles to reach those expectations and her identity starts to spiral and deteriorate overtime. Both before and after Kasumi's death, Sumire's self-deprecation hurts her in a way that she feels obligated into comparing herself to her 'normal' sister Kasumi, who is beloved by everyone. Based on Sumire's comments throughout the game before Kasumi's death, her parents focused all their attention on Kasumi because she was everything they desired out of a daughter. Popular, outgoing, gifted in everything they did together, everything Sumire wasn't. So Sumire tried to live up to their expectations by trying to be like Kasumi in everything, their hobbies, personalities, and even looks.

It's clear that beyond her issues with her family (which she downplays likely due to Sumire thinking she doesn't deserve better), Sumire was noted to be 'different' by others around her, and her parents just ignored it because it was likely more convenient for them not to bother and focus their attention onto Kasumi. Due to this, it made Sumire start to feel she doesn't deserve to live unless she was exactly like Kasumi. Kasumi's death just kick-starts her mental breakdown, and Maruki's rash decision to change her cognition to believe she was Kasumi likely prevented Sumire from taking her own life.

Sumire's 'crush' on Joker started during the period where she believed herself to be Kasumi. Kasumi was likely straight, as she was just a 'normal girl.' Sumire idealized herself to be in a desire to conform to society. The Sumire Joker interacted with for most of the game wasn't really Sumire but instead Kasumi, Sumire's attempt to conform to the society that The Phantom Thieves are trying to reform.

When Sumire's cognition of Kasumi is broken by Maruki during the 3rd semester, after Joker and Akechi went to confront him, she latches onto the love she formed while she was 'Kasumi' as a way to cope and latch onto the sense of normalcy she felt. It's due to this that she begins to believe she loves Joker. However, whether Joker accepts her confession or denies it, they part at the end of the game. It personally reads to me as a way of showing that the crush was namely 'Kasumi's' and not Sumire's.

Sumire has a long way to go with accepting herself at the end of the game. With her sexuality, herself, and starting to overcome the survivor's guilt she has over losing Kasumi. I personally believe she'll likely start to bond with Futaba slowly due to them being in the same year at Shujin Academy and likely learn to accept herself with Futaba's help given her own experience with identity issues and blaming herself for the death of a loved one.

In conclusion, I believe Sumire is a lesbian who represses her sexuality due to fear of it making her an outcast moreso than she's already treated by those around her. The game ends with her trying to accept herself and find her own identity independent of Joker or Kasumi in her own time.

[svnaaaaaa]

ハイエナ (Hyena) - Sano Manjiro 'Mikey' (AU)

pairing : mikey x fem reader

summary : based on my first story's 'ハイエナ' (hyena). it seems that fate has its own ways, doesn't it?

warning(s) : based on manga, spoilers from chapter 43, 241, 263, 272, 273 (i hope you guys finished reading the manga already), no related to the first part so can read on its own, angst, slight rejection, curse words, almost similar to netflix's '20th century girl',

previous : part one

masterlist

author's note : i have been watching yoshizawa ryo's 'picu' on bilibili and once again, i'm in love with this mikey cosplayer hehe. also for the letter i couldn't write it so it is depends on your imagination.

-

1999

the whispers in a classroom felt so loud despite it was just whispering. yoshida hoshiko stood behind the homeroom teacher as she peeking the class from behind. "hoshiko-chan, come greet your friends." the teacher said, showing her child-friendly bright smile in order to not scare the child away. slowly moving to the front, hoshiko stunned at the view of her now classmates. "h-hello, i'm y-yoshida hoshiko. i'm from america." hosiko said shyly as she looked at her feet. the whispering continues and then the teacher clapped her hands. "alright, how about hoshiko-chan take a seat next to emma-chan?" the teacher said as an arm raise up indicating that she's emma-chan. hoshiko walked her way towards the mention table and the girl, emma, looked at her way. "nice to meet you, i'm emma." the girl introduced herself, smiling. hoshiko smiled shyly and took her seat.

"i'm hoshiko."

-

after school, while hoshiko clearing up her desk and put her items back into her backpack, she felt someone approaching her. hoshiko turned around and it was emma. "would you like to come to my house?" emma asked. "i had to ask my mom first." hoshiko told emma and emma just nodded her head, understanding. "it's okay, we can go ask her together." emma replied, causing hoshiko smiled shyly. hoshiko never had friends back in america, it was because she's different. her family moved to japan before she was born and right after she was born, her parents immediately registered her as american-born japanese. due to that, kids at her kindergarten back then wasn't into accepting diversity. therefore that's why hoshiko was a bit taken aback towards emma's friendliness.

as soon as they arrived at the front gate of the school, hoshiko saw her mom standing while carrying her baby brother. "mama!" hoshiko shouted, running towards her mom's way. "hoshiko-chan!" yoshida airi greeted as she wrapped her arms around her daughter. then saw a girl behind her daughter. "who's this?" yoshida airi asked. hoshiko turned around and gesturing emma to stood next to her, emma did so, smiling at yoshida airi. "this is my new friend, emma-chan!" hoshiko introduced as yoshida airi held out her hand. "nice to meet you emma-chan, thank you for being hoshiko's first friend here." yoshida airi said and emma reached for yoshida airi's hand and shook it. "i am happy to be hoshiko-chan's friend+" emma said, making hoshiko blushed and yoshida airi chuckled. "that's a relief." yoshida airi said.

"that's a relief that your mom allowed you to come to my house right?" emma asked and hoshiko felt guilty for it. her mom has come all the way to school to picked her up with a baby brother in a carrier ended up hoshiko wanted to play at a friend's house. 'it's not that they have time to play with me.'

'later okay hoshiko, mama needs to attend to aoi for now.'

'hoshiko, please understand us, aoi is still a baby and needs our attention more than you do. later papa take you play outside okay?'

-

"i'm home and i bring a friend too!" emma greeted as she took off her shoes, followed by hoshiko. "good afternoon." hoshiko greeted. sano mansaku came into the front hallway to see the girls. "oh welcome home emma and welcome." sano mansaku greeted, smiling. "this is hoshiko-chan, she's new in my school." emma introduced as hoshiko bowed her head. "nice to meet you." hoshiko said. "it's the middle of the year, how come she's new?" a voice spoken up and it was mikey. "shut up." sano mansaku said and just knocked on mikey's head, causing him to whimper. hoshiko watching the whole scene and she just giggling. mikey looked at hoshiko while rubbing the spot on his head, smiling shyly.

few months later, as hoshiko adjusted to her new life in japan, her friendship with emma blossomed. same goes to mikey. whenever hoshiko is in his house, he would like to stay at home instead of playing with keisuke or with sanzu, or both of them. he would always stood behind walls to listen to her voice, especially her giggling, because it makes his heart warms up. he don't know what love is but if he could describe one, it would be the one that warms his heart.

ever since then, he could feel something weird in his heart. he don't know what it is but he knew he didn't like it.

"yo mikey, what are you doing?" mikey was shocked by the sudden voice as he looked up and saw shinichiro. hearing the girls giggling, shinichiro smirked at mikey, causing the nine year-old blushed. "mikey you weird." shinichiro said and left him at the hallway. "what do you mean by that shin-nii!" mikey shouted, causing the two girls in the kitchen to stop their doings and went to the hallway to see the ruckus. "mikey!" emma shouted, placing her hands on her waist. hoshiko watched the scene as mikey left and went outside of the house. smiling at mikey's action, hoshiko followed emma back into the kitchen as they were preparing for dinner.

at the playground, mikey just swinging at the swings as keisuke and sanzu were swinging at the monkey bars upside down. "yo mikey, what are you daydreaming about?" keisuke asked. "maybe..." sanzu started as mikey alerted the tone used by sanzu and stood up, walking towards sanzu's way. "what, maybe what?" mikey challenged him, making sanzu shut his mouth quiet. keisuke sighed. "it's okay you know." he said, making mikey looked at his way. "we all knew you like emma's friend." keisuke added. this time, mikey ran away from the playground to his home.

once arrived back at home, mikey opened the front door and see hoshiko's back. hearing the front door opened, hoshiko turned around to see mikey and smiled at him warmly. "welcome back mikey-kun! you're just in time." hoshiko greeted and mikey confused. "for what?" asked mikey as hoshiko looked at the hallway and then turned back to him. "we're going to visit your mom, i can't wait to meet her. i wonder if your mom and my mom-" "SHUT UP!" mikey shouted, making hoshiko shut up and just looked at mikey.

'why is he acting like this?'

"go home hoshiko, i don't want to see you ever again." mikey fumed, making hoshiko confused. "what do you mean mikey-kun?" hoshiko asked back, truly confused by this sudden persona. "i hate you!" this time mikey yelled aggresively, making hoshiko flinched by the word. "because of you, all of my friends belittled me. just go home." mikey confessed. tears building up and with that, hoshiko ran out of the sano residence. "manjiro, what was that?" shinichiro asked, as he has been standing right after hearing mikey shouted earlier to see what was the fuss about. mikey ignored him and told him that he will be waiting outside.

that was the last time yoshida hoshiko went to the sano residence because right after hoshiko went back to her family residence, she found that her parents has been packing their things because they had to move back to america since her grandfather was fallen ill and no one was there to take care of him.

remembering mikey's words, hoshiko obeyed her parents and without last farewell to her best friend, sano emma, hoshiko left japan the last time with a heavy heart.

-

days later, sano sakurako, mikey and shinichiro's mom was announced dead. emma learnt that her best friend has left japan and not talking to mikey for a week. and with that, mikey has been feeling weird about himself, like the jekyll and hyde situation.

"laugh, haruchiyo." mikey said as haruchiyo was on his knees, laughing his heart out with slits on the sides of his mouth. keisuke was on the ground, seeing his friends with blood, haruchiyo's blood on mikey's hand and haruchiyo's blood on his mouth. shinichiro shocked with the situation and immediately brought haruchiyo to the hospital for treatment. as for keisuke, it was best for him to go home for the time being.

later that night, shinichiro confronted mikey regarding the afternoon event and mikey could say was, "what ... got into me? when i came to, i saw what i had done to haruchiyo's face." confused by his own action, as if it wasn't him who did that earlier. "i'm sorry shin-nii, i don't know why i did that earlier." looking on the ground, shinichiro just sighed at his younger brother. "manjiro, it is not me that you should say those words to." shinichiro said to mikey and the next day, mikey and shinichiro visited haruchiyo at the hospital for haruchiyo's forgiveness.

-

in his fifth grade, mikey met his friend for life, his anchor, a kid with dragon tattoo on his temple. draken, ken-chin. "you're mikey-kun, right?" draken asked, making mikey nodded his head at him. "yeah, that's me." mikey admitted as he popped in his lollipop into his mouth. "what is it?" mikey asked. "my middle school seniors are asking for you." draken informed. "if you don't want to, i mean-" "i'll go with you." mikey cutted draken off.

"since you asked, i'll come along." mikey reasoned and after that, mikey followed draken right after he placed his stuffs at school.

"let's be friends, kenchin."

-

2003

four years after hoshiko left japan, her family decided to move back to japan right after her grandfather died. it has been a year since they moved and hoshiko's brother, aoi, went to the same elementary school that hoshiko used to go to.

"mikey!" the five boys grunted, looking back to see mikey on his glory hawk maru scooter. mikey who keep a straight face, just ignoring their whines. as mikey arrived, all five of them got off from their bike, except for mikey.

while baji was dragging mikey's scooter to find a gas station, the five of them went to the beach. at the beach, both draken and mitsuya were racing their way to the sea while pahcin and kazutora were relaxing under a shade, enjoying the beach view. kazutora looked around, weirded. "where's mikey?"

"hey!"

mikey approached keisuke and his scooter. "i forgot my swim trunks." mikey told him and as soon as he arrived to where keisuke stood at, mikey raise up his leg and kicked his scooter to the curb making both keisuke and the other gang members shocked. "hey ass-holes, why did you hurt the most important thing to me?" mikey asked as rage filling his body. "but you did that!" one of the other gang members mentioned and with that, mikey swung his leg and the guy with a second. mikey turned his head to the side and looked at keisuke, "baji, you're not hurt right? i'm sorry for you to sacrificed yourself for something like this." mikey said. keisuke watched mikey's back. "you still can stand right? cause we're going to slaughter them all!"

-

shinichiro, who was smoking outside of his bike shop, saw mikey riding the scooter to his way. "hey shin-nii! i totally ruined hawk maru!" mikey said and rubbing the back of his head. "could you fix this for me?" mikey asked, making shinichiro snickered.

right after shinichiro fixed the scooter, mikey left the workshop. then a boy came to the workshop, approaching shinichiro. "are you sano?" the boy asked, making shinichiro turned around. "that would be me." shinichiro said as the boy held out a letter, giving it to shinichiro. "it's from my sister." the boy said and after that, he left. shinichiro was dumbfounded, assuming that a girl tried to confess to him by using her little brother.

happy with his delusion, shinichiro skipped his way back into his workshop.

"how can i get stronger?" a boy whimpered as he was on his knees. tears welling up his eyes as he looked up at shinichiro. "i want to be like you, i want to be a hero!" the boy shouted, making shinichiro smiled. "a hero, huh?"

"i should've gotten it properly like this too."

later that night, shinichiro opened the letter to read it on what his secret admirer wrote for him. "oh? what is this?" shinichiro asked to himself. coming out of his room, he searched for emma or mikey or whoever he saw first to give the letter to as he read that it wasn't for him in the first place. "emma, are you in here?" shinichiro asked as he entered the kitchen to see emma working on dinner. emma turned around. "hm, what is it?" emma asked and shinichiro handed the letter to her. emma looked at the letter then looked back at shinichiro. shinichiro nodded at her and emma took the letter. "you might want to take a seat for this emma." shinichiro warned. emma looked at him, pulling the dining chair next to her and sat down. shinichiro do the same thing with a seat opposite to emma as emma opened the letter and starts reading it.

"yo mikey." draken greeted as mikey entered their usual café. smiling, mikey walked his way to where draken sat at. but then, he saw someone familiar. "hoshiko?" mikey muttered. the familiar eyes that he knew looked at him back, turned to be a boy.

"i'm home." mikey shouted, entering the house. the house seemed gloomier than ever. mikey entered the kitchen and saw his grandfather, brother and sister, sat at the dining table as emma was sobbing. she looked up to see mikey. "m-mikey..." emma muttered his name. sano mansaku pat her head. mikey felt unease with the situation. "here, mikey. read it." shinichiro said as he handed out the letter towards mikey. taking the letter from shinichiro, mikey went off to his room.

plopped on his bed, mikey opened the letter.

after everyone in the sano family learned the truth about hoshiko, all of them couldn't sleep well that night.

-

august 14th, 2003, shinichiro went to meet hoshiko in heaven. smiling, shinichiro chuckled as he saw hoshiko in front of his motorbike shop right after he was killed by kazutora after learning that keisuke was in his shop, attempting to steal a motorbike that he was about to present it to mikey for his birthday.

"i miss you, shin-nii." hoshiko said as she approaching him with a hug. shinichiro hugged back, crying. "i miss you too brat, now let's go. we can the meet the others when they are ready." shinichiro said as he placed his hand on hoshiko's shoulder and walked their way towards the light.

-

"Until now, I lived life thinking I was all alone But now I can move on 'cause it could be the two of us If you feel the same way too."

[manias-wordcount]

Could you do a HC of the phantom thieves girls (ann, Makoto, Futaba) + Sumire/Kasumi (seperate of course) where the girls react to their S/o saying "I love you" but they said it like really passionately..towards the girls.

If that makes sense 😖

Saying "I Love You" HCs (Ann Takamaki, Makoto Nijima, Futaba Sakura, Sumire Yoshizawa)

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗶 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗞𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗶 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿 𝗶 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿. 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗸𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗶 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗶 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀/𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗠𝗔𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀

h

Ann Takamaki

Ann’s first reaction is probably excitement

Like a little embarrassed and caught off guard

But definitely deep excitement

Especially since she was thinking about when she should say it to you for the first time

So of course, she’s instantly throwing her arms around you…

Kissing you all over the face….

And saying I love you too!

From now on, the two of you guys say “I love you” back forth a lot

For her, it’s really second nature and super meaningful since she didn’t spend a lot of time with parents growing up

So she loves the fact that she can now say it so openly with you!!

Makoto Nijima

You definitely took her by surprise

Like she definitely didn’t process what you said at first

But after a couple of seconds, it hits her and suddenly she’s like

BRIGHT red in the face

She probably had some night where she was debating with herself if she loved you or not (or when to even say it to you)

But she never expected you to say it to her so soon!!

She’ll probably ask you something like “Are you sure?” or even “Do you really mean that?”

And it really hesitant overall to accept that it’s true 

(probably due to her relationship with her family and how tense things got after her dad died,,,, also all the student council stuff LOL)

But once you help her get over her fears, except to hear it every once and a while from her too!

Futaba Sakura

Error 404 Futaba not found moment

Really, she’ll probably like freeze up for a good while when processing what you said

And once the cogs finally get to spinning in her brain she’ll probably freak the fuck out lol

You might even get pre-socialization Futaba back tbh

She’ll be blushing really hard, waving her hands a lot, and probably shouting

And it’ll definitely take a lot to calm her down enough to get her to talk to a normal volume

And by she’ll probably ask you if you really meant it

And naturally you’d say yes because you do

But even though she accepted that “I love you” it’ll take her a little bit to say it back

But just have some patience! It’ll all be worth it in the end :]

Sumire/Kasumi Yoshizawa (but really Sumire)

She would be pleasantly surprised!

Would definitely would get a little flustered

Especially since it came out of almost nowhere one day

And was said so passionately

But probably the most ready to say “I love you too” back

Like almost instantly- and accompanied by a big hug too

And from then onwards, might be the one who says it first all the time

Probably uses it a bit more casually compared to other people

But will also have a lot of moments when she says it and she really really means it

Just overall, a bit more prepared to receive this type of affection despite everything she’s been through

[mirai-e-jump]

Uchusen Vol. 182 (Autumn 2023) Kamen Rider Gotchard Main Cast Member & Staff Interviews (translations below)

Publication: October 2, 2023

Junsei Motojima (Houtarou Ichinose) Interview

"Motojima-san, please tell us what made you want to become an actor"

Motojima: My parents love movies, and that was the main reason for my interest in them. I especially like action movies. When I was young, I watched alot of action movies with my parents, and when I started middle school, I started watching movies I myself liked. Then, when I was in high school and thinking about my future career, I thought, "I can't think of anything else but acting."

"What’s your favorite movie?"

Motojima: I love the "007" series, which I first watched when I was in my third year of elementary school. Among them, I like "Casino Royale" the most. I also watch a wide range of other genres, both Japanese and foreign, as well as horror films. I also like anime.

"That being said, what's your favorite anime?"

Motojima: I like "Tokyo Revengers" and "Jujutsu Kaisen," and I love "ONE PIECE," which I've been watching since I was a child.

"Do you have any actors you're aiming to be like?"

Motojima: It would be Yoshizawa Ryo-san and Suzuki Ryohei-san. Yoshizawa Ryo-san is a senior at my agency, and is also my senior in Kamen Rider (Kamen Rider Meteor). I was moved by the preview screening of "Tokyo Revengers 2: Bloody Halloween." I've admired Suzuki Ryohei-san ever since I saw his powerful performance in "The Blood of Wolves 2." My goal is to act in a way that conveys power, even through the screen.

"Did you watch any of the Kamen Rider series when you were a child?"

Motojima: I remember watching "Kamen Rider OOO." I also had some Rider related toy swords at home, and I remember my parents scolding me with, "That's dangerous!" when I would sword fight with my friends (laughs).

"Please tell us about your audition for Kamen Rider Gotchard."

Motojima: During the audition, I had to play the role of Houtarou, as well as another role. Since I didn't know in advance which role I'd be playing, I prepared for both roles.

"What was it like when you received the news that you had been chosen?"

Motojima: My manager called me into his office for something else, and when I got there, with a serious look on his face, he said, "Junsei, I need to talk to you, so take a seat." Then, the conversation started off as if I had failed, with him saying, "You tried your best in the Kamen Rider audition, but…" I thought, "Guess things didn't work this time, huh?," and then he said, "You've been chosen to play the lead role" (laughs). Even though I was in the office, I was jumping up and down with joy.

"How did your family react?"

Motojima: After hearing that I had been chosen, I rushed home to tell my mother as soon as possible. My mother had been the biggest supporter of my Kamen Rider audition, so she cried tears of joy.

"Did you feel any pressure when you were chosen to play the main character?"

Motojima: Of course I did. I was happy, but at the same time I was worried about whether I could play the main character, as I had little experience as an actor. However, I thought it'd be a waste of time to be anxious, so I decided to read the script anyway.

"What were your impressions on the production of Gotchard?"

Motojima: I thought it was a very upbeat show. The story of the search for 101 Chemies is interesting, and when I learned that there are more than 50 transformation forms, I was shocked thinking, "That many?!" With some simple math, that means that there'll be at least one new form each time, right? I felt like my head was going to explode (laughs).

"How did you prepare for the role of Houtarou Ichinose?"

Motojima: In the materials we received in advance, it said, "He's not very good at studying, but he's athletic and has a very bright personality" So, in my daily life I thought about things like, "What would Houtarou do?" and, "How should Houtarou speak?," with that in mind, I always try to be Houtarou Ichinose. As I worked on the role, I began to get a clearer picture of Houtarou's character, and from episode 5 onward, I added some new performances that differed from the previous ones, further solidifying the role.

"Are there any elements of Houtarou that you noticed while performing?"

Motojima: He's "full of energy". Also, he has the personality of saying what he thinks immediately. Even in the first episode, there's a line where he said, "I have to say something!" I think another characteristic of Houtarou, is that he takes action immediately, not just with his words. I'm also trying to learn how to act like Houtarou. When I see an elderly person on the train, I want to be the kind of person who takes appropriate action and give up my seat.

"Has anything else in your life changed since being cast in Gotchard?"

Motojima: Filming starts very early in the morning, but I try to go to the gym before heading to the set. My routine is to get up alittle earlier, go to the gym, make a salad at home, take a bath for about an hour, and then go to the set.

"We think that routine is abit demanding….."

Motojima: Houtarou is always in good spirits, so I'm committed about going onto set in good spirits myself. So on days when my body is tired, I get up early and go to the gym to get my adrenaline pumping. I want to make sure that my energy and cheerfulness never changes, even as we continue filming for Gotchard.

"Are there any similarities between yourself and Houtarou?"

Motojima: Houtarou was suddenly entrusted with the role of "Kamen Rider," and I feel the same way in that I was also entrusted with the important role of "Houtarou Ichinose." This is the first time for me to try out a full time performance, so I have alot to work on, but, I think we both have one thing in common, and it's that we both will never give up.

"You mentioned that you make salad every day, so cooking is also something you have in common with Houtarou."

Motojima: That's true! I make my own salad in addition to the boxed lunch I receive on set. It's not a creative dish like Houtarou's, rather, it's just an ordinary salad (laughs).

"It'd be interesting to see a project like, "Houtarou Ichinose's Creative Cooking Course."

Motojima: No? What would I do? (laughs). "Junsei Motojima's Cooking Course" would be fine, but Houtarou's creative cooking might not be very helpful (laughs). But, I actually did do some creative cooking during the auditions. In the script I was given in advance during the audition, there's a scene where he makes a, "Cucumber hamburger with mustard and pollock mayonnaise," and in order to become Houtarou, I actually made and ate that creative dish before heading to the audition. Then, after each audition, I thought of creative dishes that Houtarou might make and made them. On the day of the final audition, I came up with the dish, "Spaghetti with pollock roe, cucumbers, and a suika bar (watermelon popsicle)."

"A suika bar?!"

Motojima: I think Houtarou's creative dishes are filled with things that children will love. I wanted to copy that too, so I also added a suika bar. The taste was……I'm not so sure about the taste (laughs).

"Are there any other things you pay attention to when playing Houtarou?"

Motojima: I think it's important to be aware of the camera. When I watched back episodes 1 and 2, I realized, perhaps due to my lack of experience, that I wasn't fully aware of the cameras.

"You have the most scenes with Rinne, so what are your impressions of Matsumoto Reiyo-san?"

Motojima: Reiyo-chan's personality is the complete opposite of Rinne's. Rinne is abit arrogant, but Reiyo-chan is very honest and cheerful. She's very easy to talk to, so we read the script together the day before and discuss the performance.

"What was your impression when you first saw Gotchard's suit?"

Motojima: The sparkling reflections were so cool, that I could see them from far away. I was excited to think that I would be able to do the dubbing for this sparkling Rider for the next year.

"What kinds of discussions did you have with Suit Actor Eitoku-san?"

Motojima: I've talked with Eitoku-san about many things, including movements. There are parts of the sword where I use Eitoku-san's movements as reference and try to match them, and there are also parts where Eitoku-san watches my movements. In a way, Eitoku-san and I are one and the same, so watching Eitoku-san play Gotchard is a good opportunity for me to look at Houtarou Ichinose objectively. It's not often in other dramas that two people play the same role, so it's an experience unique to Kamen Rider.

"How was the transformation pose decided?"

Motojima: After much thought with Action Director (Hirofumi) Fukuzawa-san, we settled on the pose of "Gather 2 Chemies, mixing them together, creating a triangle with an alchemy symbol, and then clapping." However, Eitoku-san's pose in episode 1 was so cool that I changed it to incorporate the same movement starting with episode 3. Please think of the transformation poses in episodes 1 and 2 as special editions, with the definitive version starting with episode 3!

"Isn't recording for the dub difficult?"

Motojima: No, it's alot of fun! When I'm doing voice acting, I’m in Gotchard's point of view, so I feel as if I’m actually fighting. It's also alot of fun to be able to put my voice into movements that can't actually happen. When Steamhopper Wild jumps up high in the first episode, I adlibed yelling, "Whoo~!" (laughs). Of course there are tough parts, but more than that, I'm very excited by each new experience I come across.

"What kind of stories can we expect from now on?"

Motojima: So far, Houtarou has managed to overcome obstacles on his own. However, I believe that there'll come a time when he'll face an obstacle that he can't overcome alone, so I'd like to see a development where he can work together with Rinne and his friends to defeat a strong enemy.

"If you've been going to the gym, you may have the opportunity to show off your well developed muscles."

Motojima: I'll tear off my clothes and say, "Now it's my turn!" (laughs). It'd be interesting to see such a development, but since Houtarou isn't a muscular character, I think it'd be great if there was a setting where his body changed due to the influence of the Chemies (laughs).

"Finally, for our readers who are excited about Gotchard, what can they expect in the future?"

Motojima: Suddenly, Houtarou has been entrusted with the role of Kamen Rider, but from now on, he'll become friends with many Chemies and continue to grow stronger and stronger. I'm working hard to grow as an actor with Houtarou, so I hope you'll pay attention as you watch the show. As for future developments, Houtarou and his friends will be going to unusual places for school events. Rinne and his best friend Kajiki will also play a big role, so please look forward to it! _

Reiyo Matsumoto (Rinne Kudo) Interview

"Please tell us how you became involved in this production"

Reiyo: I knew (Hoshino) Yuna-chan, who played Kurama Neon in "Kamen Rider Geats," so I would watch Geats's broadcast. I was thinking, "I want to do this too," and was then offered to audition for the role of Beroba, which I accepted. At that time, I was told that my image was alittle different, and I thought, "As I thought, it's difficult to get into Kamen Rider," but then, I was given the opportunity to audition for this role.

"How did you perform in the audition?"

Reiyo: The materials I received described her as an "honor student." But, I myself am not an honor student and I'm not very smart (laugh), so I tried my best to play the role of a tough character. I tried to develop my own image of Rinne, answering questions in an honor student like style, and wore my school uniform with my hair in a ponytail so that I would look like an honor student. The script we were given at the audition was set up like a school drama, and I think there was a line from Rinne where she says, "Rules are meant to be obeyed!" At that point, the setting didn't involve alchemy or spells, so I was surprised when I read the actual script after getting the role.

"Please tell us about the situation when you were informed that you had been chosen."

Reiyo: When I received the notification from my manager that I had passed the audition, I was studying for an exam in the study room of a library. That's why I didn't scream even though I was so happy. I rushed outside and was once again happy, shouting, "I did it!" (laughs).

"How did your family react?"

Reiyo: Everyone's reactions were as happy as mine. My father said, "When Reiyo came back from the audition, her face was different. That's why I definitely knew that she was chosen." (laughs)

"You've been active as a model, but have you always been interested in acting?"

Reiyo: I wanted to challenge myself to trying a wide range of other things, not just modeling. I've especially loved Kamen Rider since I was a child, so I was really happy when I got the role.

"What's your favorite entry in the Kamen Rider series?"

Reiyo: In particular, I remember "Kamen Rider OOO" well. I also remember "Wizard" and "Gaim." I have 2 older brothers, so I watched them with them. We had "Den-O" and "Kiva" transformation belts at home, and we used to play Rider, but it took a long time for us to actually start because my brothers and I were always fighting over who got to be the hero (laughs). My older brothers played the role of heroes, and I had many roles where I offered support. Come to think of it, my oldest brother is the same age as (Yasunari) Fujibayashi-san, who plays Spanner, and the younger brother is the same age as (Junsei) Motojima-kun, who plays Houtarou, so they're linked with Gotchard (laughs).

"What did your brothers, who influenced you, say to their sister when she was chosen to play the heroine?"

Reiyo: They said "You've surpassed us~" and, "Play the same way you played the hero when you were a kid" (laughs).

"Other than tokusatsu, what kind of shows do you watch?"

Reiyo: When it comes to anime, I like "The Promised Neverland," "My Hero Academia," "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas," and "Beyond the Boundary." There are so many other shows that I like, but when we start talking about anime, it seems like I'll never stop (laughs).

"Going back to Gotchard, do you consciously play the role of Rinne in the same way that you did before?"

Reiyo: I did it with "harshness." When she was little, her father went missing, and I think that's why she distrusts people and didn't make any friends. But as I read through the actual script, I noticed the kindness in Rinne. However, if I'm too gentle, it's difficult to see Rinne's strength, so it’s hard to find a balance. Rinne has a gap between harshness and gentleness, and I think her tsundere personality is charming. In episodes 1 and 2, there was alot of "tsun," but I hope you'll pay attention as her heart gradually relaxes.

"What did you think of the alchemist setting?"

Reiyo: I wasn't familiar with "alchemy," so I immediately went online to find out more. The cloak, rings, and other parts of the costume are also unrealistic but very cool. I love spells and magic, so when I read the script I excitedly thought, "I can do this!" I was so happy because it felt like the playground games I used to play with my friends in kindergarten were coming true (laughs).

"What are some of the most memorable alchemy scenes that have been broadcast so far?"

Reiyo: It's the scene in the first episode where the fallen leaves come to the surface. When I saw the broadcast, I thought, "So cool~" and fell in love with Rinne myself (laughs).

"There's a scene where you climb a staircase connected to a wall and recite a spell to open a door, but how did that play out on set?"

Reiyo: At first, it was difficult to visualize. When I read the script, I imagined that a hole would open in the wall when I cast a spell, but I was surprised to see a scene where a door was opened during filming. When I saw the finished video, I was very impressed with how it turned out and thought, "So that's what happened!"

"Did you receive any requests or advice from the Directors regarding your performance?"

Reiyo: Director (Ryuta) Tasaki advised us that, "Acting is a drive." While showing the actors a miniature toy car, he told us, "An actor cannot move without the gasoline of emotion. When you drive at top speed, you can give a great performance." So in other words, you have to perform from the heart, not just from your hands, in order for the viewers to understand what you're doing, and for you to be able to perform effectively as an actor. In order to give an emotional performance, I read the script in detail and try to understand Rinne's feelings from each line.

"What's the atmosphere on set like?"

Reiyo: We get along incredibly well and everyone is kind to each other. When we have free time during filming, we play games together, and it's alot of fun. We play puzzle games like, "Word Wolf" or, "Sea Turtle Soup." I also love gummy candy, so I always have some with me and give them to everyone (laughs).

"Please tell us your impressions of Junsei Motojima-san, who plays Houtarou."

Reiyo: Junsei-kun is really just like Houtarou. For example, when filming stops for a scene that's difficult to act in, the scene sometimes becomes an issue. At such times, Junsei-kun can just say a few words, and the scene instantly becomes more relaxed. In the beginning, I couldn't tell jokes and spoke with honorifics, but now I can laugh at Junsei's jokes and he can respond to mine.

"What are your impressions of another female cast member, Oto Abe-san, who plays the role of Renge Icho?"

Reiyo: We often work together in the waiting room, and Abe-san speaks in a straightforward manner, just like a Kansai person, which is extremely interesting. Abe-san's own laughter is so loud that it makes me happy to hear it. Abe's laughter lights up the atmosphere on set.

"How much do you know about future developments?"

Reiyo: I don't know anything at all! (laughs), that's why I always look forward to receiving the next script, and every time I go on set, I check to see if a new script has arrived.

"What do you want to do in the future as Rinne?"

Reiyo: First, I want to become stronger than Houtarou! Most heroines are saved by the hero, but I want to, "Become a heroine who's stronger than the hero" (laughs). That's why I want to challenge myself with action. And also, I want to transform into a Kamen Rider. Since I was a child, I've always wanted to transform into a Kamen Rider, and my older brothers and I even competed with each other for the belts (laughs). Recently, the number of female Kamen Riders have been increasing, so I hope that I'll get a chance to become one of them.

"Finally, please tell us about some future highlights"

Reiyo: Through her involvement with Houtarou, Rinne's mindset, which used to put rules first, has gradually changed. Some people may have watched episodes 1 and 2 and thought, "Isn't Rinne a scary kid?," But I think you'll gradually see a different side to her than the strict honor student character, so it's exciting. Please look forward to seeing Rinne's image crumble! (laughs). Still, I'll keep Rinne's strength and respect for the rules until the end. Thank you for your support throughout the year! _

Hiroki Uchida, Yosuke Minato, Keiichi Hasegawa Interviews

"First, we'd like to ask about the development of Kamen Rider Gotchard. When did Minato-san receive the offer to become Chief Producer?"

Minato: Last year, I was preparing for "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger" with Chief Producer (Takahito) Omori. Ryohei Takahashi, a talented junior staff member, joined us as an assistant Producer, and we were ready to go at last. Whenever I join a production, I always keep one goal in mind. In King-Ohger I had set my goal as, "Moffun will take the world by storm!" But during this I was told, "Please take charge of the next Kamen Rider," and Moffun was left up to Omori and the others. The result was that Moffun became very popular…..(laugh). I immediately started meeting with Producer Ishimori-san, TV Asahi, and Bandai, where we decided to use the cards as the transformation items. On my way home, the first thing I did was call Uchida-san.

Uchida: Originally, I was invited to write the script for King-Ohger, so I thought it was going to be about that, but was surprised to hear that it was about a new Kamen Rider. I'd already cleared my schedule for King-Ohger, and I've been in contact with Minato-san since our school days, and we also worked together on "Kamen Rider Saber," so I was happy that he asked me to work on it, but I was honestly concerned, as the two of us are still young, would we be able to handle it?

Minato: When a new Producer launches a project, veteran Producers Shinichiro Shirakura and Hideaki Tsukada are supposed to watch over them. However, if you don't have a solid idea of what you want to do and what you want to achieve when launching the project, it'll end up becoming Shirakura and Tsukada's work. That's why, the first thing I asked Uchida-san, an old friend who I could easily express my true feelings and weaknesses to, was to participate in this project. However, Uchida-san was a main writer for the first time (at Toei), so I thought it'd be difficult for him to write for an entire year by himself. So, I asked Hasegawa-san, who helped with Saber, if he could join us as a sub writer in advance.

Hasegawa: You called me on the phone, right? To put it simply, at the time, I was so happy to be invited to work on Minato-kun's first project as a Chief.

"When he approached you two, you already had a card motif in mind, but where did the theme of "alchemy" come from?"

Minato: Over the course of our meeting, the word alchemy came up. This is a theme that so far, has never been used in the Kamen Rider series (in the main series), and the combination of cards and alchemy is rare. I thought, "Wouldn't it be interesting to depict this?"

Uchida: Also, at that time, the existence of Chemies hadn't been decided. I wasn't at the meeting, so, when I was briefed on it, I smiled bitterly at what a difficult path I'd chosen to go down…..

Minato: When Shirakura worked on the card battles in "Kamen Rider Ryuki," he concluded that the cards were like a proxy war, so he needed a gimmick that would allow the user to intervene. In "Kamen Rider Decade," the value of the cards was further enhanced by allowing users to become any Kamen Rider when using them, but this time, we needed to draw out the appeal of the cards even more. During all of this, the design of the cards that Bandai sent to us looked like living creatures, and the idea flashed in my mind that these were homunculi, monsters created through alchemy. That led us to Chemy. We agreed that it'd be exciting if the Kamen Riders fought using the cards that contained the various abilities of the Chemies, and that it'd actually be fun to collect the cards.

"At that point, was it also decided that there would be only one Kamen Rider appearing in the early stage?"

Minato: It was. If we were going to depict a hero who fights while switching cards, rather than increasing the number of Kamen Riders, it's better to increase the number of forms for each Rider, and this direction coincided with my desire to create a small number of Riders. In the early stages of the project, the idea was to keep the structure similar to "Kamen Rider Agito," with only 3 Riders. In the end, it became a single Rider, and he has to fight using all of his cards and switching between them.

"Did the current story come out of that initial plan?"

Minato: While working with Uchida-san on the scripts for the episodes 1 and 2, the flow of, "There are Chemies," "Alchemy is used," and "Houtarou enrolls at the Alchemist Academy" was determined. However, since there's so many people involved in the Kamen Rider series, when we were putting together the script, both Uchida-san and I were constantly receiving so many different opinions, that we felt like we couldn't accept them all…..With the way things were going, episodes 1 and 2 would get lost in story, and would never make it into the final script. After consulting with Shirakura, Tsukada, and senior Producer Kazuhiro Takahashi, it was decided that we ask Hasegawa-san, who had been asked to participate as a sub writer, to help us sort things out.

Hasegawa: Just when I was thinking, "Isn't it about time?" I received a call saying, "They're finally here!" But, when I thought it would be about episodes 5 and 6, I was told, "Please do episodes 1 and 2. These are the main ones." I was surprised and said, "Eh?!" and "They're not done yet?!" (laughs). At that point, it had been decided that Houtarou would be the son of a family restaurant, that he would meet Hopper1, and become a Kamen Rider. However, Houtarou was supposed to release the 101 Chemies. Houtarou, an unconventional guy, feels sorry for the Chemies he's stored in the cards and releases them, but then collects them again because of the trouble they've caused. It was a, "Cause problems and get credit for the solution" type of story. There was no clear enemy, and the Three Dark Sisters didn't exist.

Minato: I thought that if the Chemies were scattered all over the world and merged with bad people in town to become monsters, there'd be no need for a villain for the main character to face. Even if it became necessary halfway through, I ultimately didn't think it was necessary to have them appear in the first episode.

Uchida: There were so many elements revealed in the first episode, that I thought if we included even the villain, the audience wouldn't be able to keep up with the story

Hasegawa: By abandoning the "problem to solution" development, we needed an enemy.

Minato: At first, TV Asahi's producer (Chihiro) Inoue insisted that "It'd be better to aim for an easy to understand enemy." Then, Assistant Producer (Daigo) Matsura remembered this and proposed it again to Hasegawa-san, where the Three Dark Sisters were created.

Hasegawa: We had alot of discussions about what kind of enemy to make. "Kamen Rider Saber" had 3 males, and "Kamen Rider Revice" had 1 female and 2 males, so I came up with the idea of having 3 females to differentiate our characters.

Minato: I thought it was an interesting story, and that having three female villains would leave an impact. As a result, the first episode had a high proportion of female cast members for a Kamen Rider.

"It's true, the only male characters were Houtarou, Minato, Fuga Kudo, and Kajiki."

Hasegawa: At first, Kajiki wasn't there either. It started out as a couple students talking about urban legends, but then Inoue-san asked us to, "Make Houtarou have a friend," and so Kajiki was created.

"Chemies are living things, and we asked about this earlier, but was Hopper1 originally going to be the current mascot?"

Minato: It was Hasegawa-san's tastes.

Hasegawa: Ever since I read the first draft, I knew that Hopper1 had to be cute. Grasshoppers don't make noises, but I thought, "Let's make it cute!," so I improvised and wrote in that it says, "Hopper."

Minato: Hasegawa-san joined us without any prior knowledge, so he suggested out alot of ideas that we didn't think of, which was very helpful.

Uchida: I was happy to see that he kept the refreshing male and female buddy element, which we'd been advocating for since the beginning of the project.

"Did Uchida-san originally plan on making the male and female combination of Houtarou and Rinne the center of the story?"

Uchida: We were aiming for a fun and cheerful story about two teenagers, Houtarou and Rinne, who are both students.

Minato: In terms of casting, we planned from the beginning of the project to cast a young teenager as Houtarou.

Uchida: We also talked about how difficult it would be to find an actor who could play the role of Rinne.

Minato: Unlike Houtarou, who suddenly became a Kamen Rider, I thought that since she was his senior and came from a line of alchemists, even though they're classmates, she would require a slightly more mature attitude than Houtarou. I thought that the actor would be in her early twenties, older than Houtarou's actor.

Uchida: And then we met Matsumoto Reiyo-chan at an audition.

Minato: We found Rinne. And she's a mature 15 year old!

Hasegawa: Motojima Junsei-kun, who plays Houtarou, is exactly the image of Houtarou that I had envisioned. I thought they both fit their roles wonderfully.

Minato: I'm truly grateful for the opportunity of meeting Junsei-kun and Reiyo-chan.

"From episode 2 onwards, Renge Icho and Sabimaru Tsuruhara will appear as students of the Alchemist Academy."

Minato: They also existed at the time of Uchida-san's initial ideas. However, as I mentioned earlier, there was no villain at the beginning, so Renge and Sabimaru were set up as a rival team led by Kurogane Spanner.

Hasegawa: It was a 3 person team with Spanner as the leader, and Renge and Sabimaru as its members. They were going to fight for the Ride Chemy Cards with them. During the rough plotting stage of episodes 3 and 4, it was suggested that Spanner should be left alone.

Minato: I decided that Spanner would be like an elder brother, who guides Houtarou until he grows. That being the case, Spanner must be a strong character who can fight alone. That's when the characters were reconstructed, and Renge and Sabimaru became classmates of Houtarou and his friends at the Alchemist Academy. Come to think of it, it was Hasegawa-san's idea that Renge start speaking with a Kansai dialect.

Hasegawa: In the script for the episode 2, we had Renge speak with the Kansai dialect to differentiate her character.

Minato: I thought, "It's not going to be easy finding an actor who can speak in the Kansai dialect!," but it was fate that Abe Oto-san, who's from Osaka, was there for the audition. I asked her to improvise some lines in the Kansai dialect, and she really got into it. The only character in the Kamen Rider series with a Kansai dialect is Akiko Narumi from "Kamen Rider W," but it's rare for a character to have a Kansai dialect all the time.

Hasegawa: But, episode 3 reminded me of Akiko. There's also a takoyaki scene (laughs).

Minato: Originally, Sabimaru was set to have a VTuber avatar, rather than use AI. However, creating a VTuber was difficult, so we settled on AI.

Uchida: I had been in contact with (Rikiya) Tomizono-kun, who plays Sabimaru, for a long time, but I presented him with an audition without saying I was happy. I was happy to hear that he made it to the final audition. I knew he had experience as a voice actor and that he'd be able to play the voice of AI, so when he was chosen, I thought it was the perfect casting.

Minato: For the AI…..there was a proposal to use a voice actor, but despite his looks, Tomizono-kun can produce a low, handsome sounding voice, so we decided he could play the role of the AI as well. We were happy that we found someone who exceeded our expectations.

"We'd also like to ask about staffing. Director Ryuta Tasaki is the Pilot Director, and Hirofumi Fukuzawa, who was previously in charge of Super Sentai, will be the Action Director."

Minato: When Uchida-san and I, two newcomers, started Gotchard, we decided to ask a veteran Director who we could rely on to direct the pilot, so we asked Director Tazaki, who worked with us on "Avataro Sentai Donbrothers." I also asked Director Fukuzawa, who I had worked with on Donbrothers, and consider to be one of the top ten Action Directors in Asia, to be our director. As a result, the main staff, except for the writers, are the same as Donbrothers (laughs).

Uchida: Since the planning meeting, I've been wondering, "How would the alchemy be visualized in the first place?" On top of that, Director Tasaki carefully creates a format for the worldview and creates a work that's even more exciting than the script. Both episodes 1 and 2 had great visuals.

Hasegawa: The acting of the cast was also excellent. Kajiki was my favorite, but when I saw Kabe Amon-kun's performance in the show, I loved him even more. It's hard to resist the urge to only have him in more scenes when I'm working on the script (laughs).

"Please tell us about the opening theme song "CHEMY×STORY" and the insert song "Rising Fighter."

Minato: Since the very beginning of the project, I've been committed to the "Rider Kick Supremacy" principle. I mentioned Agito earlier, but Agito has been a special work in my life ever since I saw it for the first time when I was in my first year of middle school. The coolness of the combination of the Rider Kicks and the song "BELIEVE YOURSELF" has left a strong impression on me. Because of this impression, I'd always said that I wanted to leave the Rider Kick scene in the memories of the children watching Gotchard. We decided to play the "Kick Song" during the Rider Kick scene from the very beginning of the project, and it led to the song "Rising Fighter" sung by Beverly in episode 2. When music producer (Mayu) Ida-san asked me what kind of theme song I wanted to use for the opening, I said, "I want it to be an upbeat song." Then, BACK-ON was chosen as the artist, and we came up with a song with a bright, youthful feel that's typical of a high school Kamen Rider. I told Fujibayashi Seiko-san (who wrote the lyrics) that Gotchard was a bright, youthful school drama, and she wrote wonderful lyrics. Director Tasaki also responded to my wishes with a fast paced video, for which I can only express my gratitude.

Uchida: When I saw the opening video, I felt that we had to keep this positive feeling. It felt as if we received a message from Director Tasaki that the story of Gotchard should be like this.

"Broadcasting will continue for the next year. What are your goals for the future?"

Hasegawa: Our goal is to take good care of the characters. I'd like to continue to make the characters more appealing and continue to depict them throughout the year, including the villains.

Minato: If we look at some previous works, there are some characters who leave the show halfway (laughs).

Hasegawa: That's true…..(laughs) Right now, we're still at the stage of thinking about how to make the characters appealing in the drama. A year is a long period of time, and it's impossible to predict what kind of "chemical reactions" may occur. After overcoming these challenges, we may discover some aspects that we never thought of. First, I'm aiming for the final episode, and I'm going to write carefully without giving up on these characters.

Uchida: Of course, we value the characters, but when we actually met with the actors, we felt that, unlike in anime, one of the characteristics of live action productions is that, "Actors who aren't colored with any colors create their characters from scratch." As for Gotchard, Junsei Motojima-kun, who plays Houtarou, and Reiyo Matsumoto-chan, who plays Rinne, are making their first attempts at acting, so I think we must create a script that'll bring out their charm and brilliance even more. I'd also like to make Gotchard a show that can inspire the hearts of not only children, but also adults.

Minato: I'm going to get through the year thinking, "I must never lose the feeling of youth." Youth is a time of unconditional brilliance, and I think it makes not only the individual but also those around them smile. In Gotchard, I'll carefully depict the story of Houtarou and Rinne so that we can share the "sparkle" of youth together.

[mycurrentfandomobsessions]

What's really kinda fucked about Maruki is that surely Yoshizawa's parents wanted their other daughter back? The fuck?

So he's rewriting their freaking minds to... not miss their other daughter ... that they raised for 15 years... or not know that they even had another daughter!

[yusuke-of-valla]

Characters that died in a car accident, because apparently 'terminal illness' and 'car' are the only ways that Atlus knows how to kill someone:

Arisato parents

Kitamura's son

Mamoru Hayase's dad

Shirogane parents

Chisato Dojima

Wakaba Isshiki, sort of

Kasumi Yoshizawa

Aoi Hasegawa

That is. So funny. I mean I get it logically if you need a sudden death with as little blame for the person as possible (like if someone died in a hunting or rock climbing accident someone could think it's their fault) but also can potentially not be an accident, a car crash works but at some point you'd think they'd switch it up

House Fire. Plane crash. Random mugging

If you need "random tragedy but ALSO maybe it could be something else" you have more options

[dragondemoness]

Phantom thief girls with a s/o who's on the shy side but he's also touch starved because his parents neglect him.

Warnings: Mild spoilers for Yoshizawa's part, mentions of past child neglect

Phantom Thief Girls with a Shy Male S/O

Ann Takamaki

She never minded your shyness

Although, she would like it if you joined her for modeling gigs, but she won't pressure you

As we know, she's very affectionate

So the first time she gave you a hug, you kind of blanked out

She got worried until you assured her that it was fine and that you just weren't used to it

She didn't mind giving you more hugs, but she was worried about what kind of upbringing you had

So she kept giving you more affection and internally fangirled when you leaned into it like a cat

When she learned about how your parents treated you, she was so sad

How could someone ignore someone as sweet as you, especially your own parents?

She'll ask the Phantom Thieves to change your parents' hearts while assuring you that she'll never treat you like that

Overall, she thinks you're the sweetest thing ever

And she thinks you deserved way better, and she'll make sure to give you better than what those jerks gave you

Makoto Niijima

She doesn't mind your shyness

It's actually quite endearing

She's not the most touchy-feely, but there was this time you got a really good test score and she gave you a hug to congratulate you and you froze

She got concerned and you told her that it was just because you weren't used to it

She made a mental note to hug you more often, but it still worried her

Upon learning about how your parents treated you, she was sad and a little angry

She can understand what it's like to grow up lonely, but nobody deserves that

If you want, she'll ask Joker to change their hearts, and she'll assure you that she'll never ever make you feel neglected

She knows she can be busy and get caught up with school and Phantom Thief biz, but she'll always make time for you

She thinks you're really sweet, and deserved so much better

Plus, her experience with you helped with her own touch-starvation as well

Futaba Sakura

She can relate to your shyness

After all, she was a shut-in for a long while

So she got along with you quicker than the others

And when she started getting more and more comfy with you, she gave you a hug

And you stood in silent shock for a moment

She asked what was wrong in the most "Futaba" way possible

"Woah, (Name) has officially malfunctioned! Is there a problem with your programming?"

You explained that you were simply touch-starved, which she could relate to

"I see... Well then, the great and lovable Futaba shall heal your touch-starvation with more hugs!"

She started hugging you more often, especially after she learned about your upbringing

She honestly won't bother with having Joker change your parents' hearts

Forget them, they suck

But if you still care about them, which she doesn't understand, then she'll begrudgingly have Joker change their hearts so you can still have parents

Anything to make you happy

Haru Okumura

Omg you're literally the cutest thing ever

She doesn't mind your shyness whatsoever

She already spoiled the crap out of you, but your cuteness makes her want to do it even more

And she certainly doesn't mind doing the talking for you

She's rather affectionate, so it was kind of a big adjustment for you

Hearing about your upbringing made her super sad

But don't worry, she'll give you all the affection in the world to make up for it

She honestly doesn't think your parents deserve your time at all, but if you still want them in your life, she'll help change their hearts

Anyway, she absolutely adores you, and she will spend the rest of her life making up for the way your parents treated you

KaSumire Yoshizawa

She finds you very endearing

Just having you around makes her smile

She tends to be a bit more expressive, particularly if you first met while she was posing as her sister, Kasumi

But she doesn't mind that you're shyer compared to her

She's a big fan of physical affection, so she likes to hug you rather frequently

Like when you meet up at the train station, or you just got done cheering her on during one of her gymnastics performances

The first time it happened, though, you were caught off guard and she got worried

You explained why you reacted that way, and she got really sad

But she swore to give you extra affection to make up for it

She quickly comes up with the idea to change your parents' hearts so you can get the love from them that you deserved

But she won't do it unless she has the okay from you

Anyway, she absolutely adores you and your shyness

And she'll be more than happy to help you break out of your shell if you want her to

[queerava]

sumire and kasumi... or was it kasumi and sumire?

[kroosluvr]

hi. i was thinking more abt akechi agonizing over meeting sumire’s parents even tho he already knows mr. yoshizawa he’s like wtf am i supposed to do how do i act do i use my detective prince persona again ?? and sumire’s like reassuring him don’t worry!!!! it’ll be ok!!!!! they’ll love u no matter what! (which is true but goro can’t accept That) and he’s just so self conscious.., he doesn’t want to mess up this good thing …,,,, ue ue goro happy family 2024 please

[emanation-aura]

What if Joker got a Palace in the Third Semester AU: the unhinged explanation.

Goro had looked up Kurusu last night, using old police files he wasn’t technically sure he had access to any more, but he was past giving a shit. The arrest record and documents listing charges against him he’d taken from the chief interrogator— they were still there, but curiously blank, in a way only cognitive distortion could manage. His hometown existed, but an illegal search of Shido’s census database didn’t reveal anybody living in the Kurusu household; not Akira Kurusu, not his parents or literally anyone else. The whole thing was a baffling mystery that had exhausted him to the point of passing out. The violence of clearing Shadows gives his aching mind a bit of clarity, though, and with it, a chilling thought. Akira Kurusu has been erased from reality.

Set from Goro's perspective. Instead of waking up on January 1st to a changed reality, on that day, Akira suddenly disappears. He is not gone from the Phantom Thieves' cognitions, but he is physically missing, and stranger still are his blank arrest records and the existence of the Kurusu household in a government census that Goro has completely transparently and legally obtained, despite the fact that "Akira Kurusu" does not exist.

“If he’s been erased from reality, does that mean Maruki overwrote his… his existence itself?" The low, simmering anger in her voice and the way she drops the honorific for Maruki speaks volumes about how Kurusu’s absence has radicalised Yoshizawa against Maruki’s tempting demands. It doesn’t quite satisfy him, because Kurusu is still missing and Yoshizawa is far too innocent for her own good; but it is enough to give him confidence in her teamwork, at least. “I have my doubts about that,” Goro says. He weighs his words carefully, trying to construct the evidence in a way that makes sense. “If he were truly overwritten from this reality, the Phantom Thieves wouldn’t remember their friend; they do, albeit in a very limited way.”

Yoshizawa hums thoughtfully. “Maruki managed to overwrite the cognitions of all the Phantom Thieves into believing their dead or estranged relationships had returned. He has no trouble writing people into reality; it should follow that he can write someone out of reality, but it seems while an effort was made, it wasn’t complete enough.” “Indeed.” Goro hides the modicum of surprise he feels at Yoshizawa’s brains; she’s no detective, but she’s decided smarter than Goro had given her credit for. “To support your conclusion: the papers on which his arrest record was printed still exist, even if the pages are blank. The census database indicates that the Kurusu household is empty, but also that it exists.” It would be a fascinating conundrum if he wasn’t under imminent threat of this cognitive reality. Either Kurusu has been imprecisely written out of this reality, or… “What if he’s currently residing in another plane of existence?”

In this AU, I basically postpone Kasumi/Sumire's internal crisis until after they have figured out what the fuck happened to Akira. "Kasumi" and Akechi enter the Odaiba Palace as usual despite the lack of Joker, find out it's Maruki, but he doesn't show "Kasumi" the traumatising videos of her past life for reasons untold.

“As you said, it is unlike Maruki to imprecisely remove him from reality. If he were so intent on giving his friends their paradise, he would either allow Kurusu to exist to be their friend, or overwrite his existence completely so the Phantom Thieves fully immerse themselves in the fantasy of their desired lives, which all supposedly took place before they met Kurusu.” Madarame’s pupil, the Nijima sisters and their father, Wakaba Isshiki, Kunikazu Okumura… the only exception is a human Morgana, but Morgana has always been an exception. “Instead Kurusu exists as a memory and artifacts of his existence weren’t properly erased. Perhaps, due to his… unique powers, he was able to separate himself from this version of reality before Maruki got to him.” It’s a stretch, but at the same time, the incongruity of the entire fucking Metaverse continues to burn a hole through his brain, so really, nothing is going to stop him at this point. “Crow-senpai…” Yoshizawa is hesitant, as if she is also grasping how tenuous the connection is. But then her face hardens in an expression he’d thought her incapable of: sheer, raw determination. “The Metaverse is an alternate plane of existence.”

Goro and "Kasumi" figure out that Palaces apart from Maruki's simply cannot exist, because technically, reality itself is Maruki's Palace; he is spreading his cognitive belief (distortion) to the entire world via god powers. With such overwhelming cognitive control, no "real" place exists for cognitive distortion to occur, because "reality" is already just "cognition" by Maruki.

They try Mementos, sure. Mementos is the collective unconscious, and while Persona-users can't have Shadows, if one is being perceived by the collective unconscious, one is also technically part of it: AKA, if the Shadows in Mementos registered Joker as like, a person, proof of his existence still exists in the cognitive world. (Of course said cognitive world is currently fusing with reality but I digress.) They try inputting Joker's name into the Mementos Nav to see if it will register him in the public unconscious, but unfortunately, no dice.

But Joker is special. He is the Wild Card, and unbeknownst to Goro or "Kasumi", he has access to the Velvet Room, a place 'between mind and matter, dream and reality'. Not saying that it's simple enough for him to just escape to the Velvet Room, but he's always been special, and has powers that none of them understand. So strange things always happen to him, and well:

“He can’t be totally gone,” Goro tries to reason, more for himself than Yoshizawa. If he has to try and convince the Phantom Thieves to face reality and defeat Maruki by himself, he is going to scream. “Evidence of his existence is improperly erased, meaning his cognition has not fully disappeared, even if Mementos doesn’t perceive him. If so—” Yoshizawa suddenly goes very, very still. “There is one other possibility,” she murmurs almost disbelievingly. It strikes Goro the way lightning skewers a tree. It would make sense, though. Maruki physically resides in his Palace because his distortion extends to the entire world; ergo, the entire world is technically his Palace. If Kurusu were physically residing anywhere else, it would be a cognitive reality under his control, not one where he'd been erased… “No,” Goro says out of sheer disbelief, the same time Yoshizawa flicks her finger to the ‘Palace’ tab and says in a somehow-perfect voice that doesn’t shake: “Akira Kurusu.” “Candidate found.”

Akira doesn't have a physical location for his distortion to center on; Metaverse Palace access depends on target/location/distortion to find routing, and location has thus far always been physical (Shujin, shack, Shibuya/Tokyo, Futaba's room, Okumura Foods company HQ, courthouse, Diet building). But somehow he's managed to escape Maruki's reality through a Palace of his own.

And, look. I've read a lot of Joker gets a Palace fics. The keywords vary from fic to fic; distortion is commonly masquerade / prison / theatre, or anything reasonable construed to separate facets of the social self. Location also varies, but less; I've seen Leblanc / his room / all of Tokyo / the entire world.

I'm not going to do anything particularly new either. But the keyword for location in this AU is going to be Akira's heart.

It's not a physical location, obviously. But it is also a very fitting metaphor for a Phantom Thief turned Palace owner who knows exactly what distortion is. It also provides a convenient respite from Maruki's reality, because "Akira Kurusu's heart" is not part of Maruki's cognition the same way "courthouse" or "Diet Building" might be. So when transported there by the Metaverse, "Kasumi" probably gets a flood of terrible memories, since she is in a plane of existence where she truly and only exists as Sumire.

As for distortion... I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards prison. (rubs hands) it will slot nicely with the emotional repression angle: a prison with high walls and iron spikes, perched on a stormy island and impenetrable to all. Akira truly deludes himself in believing his heart is an impenetrable fortress where all his feelings must stay locked up... forever. Goro and Sumire are basically fighting to open the doors in his heart and stopping him from repressing his feelings, which is some dramatic irony with Mr. Black Mask doing the infiltration.

No real details yet, but I do want there to be a perfect replica of the interrogation room, including all the abuse and drugs, because poor akiren is probably repressing his trauma over that too :( I wonder how Black Mask Goro would react to seeing the interrogation room in full, bloody detail? Plus having Sumire along for the ride, who didn't know that this happened, making them the two absolute worst people to be witnessing this side of him.

Anyway, Third Semester Palace is more interesting to me than a post-game one because of all the wonky shenanigans around Maruki's control of reality. If reality is Maruki's "Palace", then the Wild Card (who resists by his very nature; see how he and Goro are the only ones sane) defends himself by escaping to another plane of existence. Unfortunately, one option is forming a Palace, which Akira was already on his way to doing because [insert fanon and this guy's trauma over losing Akechi and the interrogation room and the social burden of being an unwanted criminal branded to him for what seems like the rest of his life]. This all could have been avoided if Lavenza, but there would have been no AU for me to brainrot about, so.

(Why doesn't Maruki show "Kasumi" her trauma when Goro and her show up in the Palace? Butterfly effect: not from Joker being gone, but from Akira having a whole-ass Palace. Akira Kurusu, the kid Maruki therapised for nearly a year and formed a deep bond with. The saviour complex in Maruki compels him to focus on dismantling Akira's Palace, which he tries to do by cognitive "brute force" rather than Goro and Sumire's infiltration. So he's too distracted to harass "Kasumi".)

Technically, Maruki and Akira "doing battle" with cognition (Akira retreating from the overwritten reality hastily; Maruki trying to delete the Palace) implies a metaphysical plane where all Palaces/cognitive worlds exist in a same... "place" where they can cohabit, but that just seems like a dangerously close brush with persona 3's Sea of Souls where Door-kun is sealed and I am running out of steam to think more.

I wrote 1,500 words in a frenzy for this AU and had to share some here before I lost all my inspiration.

[rey-129-fan]

Persona Plot Bunny that's bugging me.

So, while reading through some P5 fics, I came across a few interesting fics with similar premises: pretty much one or more of the Phantom Thieves (either Akechi or Akiren and Morgana) get sent back to 2009 and attend Gekokan Elementary, eventually joining SEES. Now my favorite of them is the Hope Restored series by mewrose though blue bossa by sonicytails is interesting by having the full Royal Trio along with Morgana and Kasumi attending.

These, of course, got me thinking about my own version. Spoilers ahead for P5 and P5R.

Now, it would start during one of the final battles, either Vanilla P5's or Royal's. Pretty much when Yaldi was erasing the thieves or Maruki decided to force them to comply with his reality, and all the thieves' souls got separated from their bodies and got pulled into the Sea of Souls. Akiren and Morgana were able to avoid this fate because of their connection to the Velvet Room while Akechi was spared because he is a Wild Card, even if his potential was hindered by Yaldi (perhaps Sumire also got spared, but trying to figure out why) while the rest of the thieves only left behind their Wills of Rebellion in the forms of their masks.

While trying to figure out what to do, Igor takes the time to unseal Akechi's potential as a Wild Card, though he'd be different from others with the ability due to going so long without the assistance of the Velvet Room. Pretty much he can't use the more generic Personas that Akiren, Yu, and Minato can, but he has a unique Persona for each of his bonds (a la Marigolds). Meanwhile, Lavenza gives Akiren the masks of his friends to hold on to, though she does warn him that when they (re)awaken, the masks will return to them.

Anyways, the thieves are sent back as kids, meet up with and join SEES, who notice how odd these kids are (never mind their talking cat). Also, whenever they are particularly angry/tapping into their Wills of Rebellion (particular incidents being 10/4 and 11/3), they'll don their Thieves outfits and potentially even age up. Eventually they reveal that they're from the future (at latest when Ryoji tells SEES about Nyx).

Now here's the things that bother me. One: The Yoshizawas. Should Sumire be there or not. If she is, I will eventually also drag Kasumi in because from what little we know about her, she would not want to be left out of whatever is going on with her little sister, which means she'll need a persona of her own. And then trying to convince their parents to let them live in the dorms. It would admittedly be easier to just leave her.

Two: Akechi. Since he can't have the generics, that means I gotta come up with one for each bond he can now develop, beyond Robin Hood and Loki. Never mind what bonds should be with whom. I'm not as familiar with P3 as I am with P5, plus I don't want him to have similar story lines to what Minato is doing with their shared friends. I'm open to suggestions for his bonds, as well as personas that could represent those bonds.

Third: Akiren. Most if not all of his bonds should be maxed out by the time the story starts. However, since he's going back in time, it's kinda like a NG+, which means most of his bonds will be reset (obvious exceptions being Justice and Magician, maybe Faith). Should I give him new bonds as well, and with who? There's also the question of what about the Arcana that represent his team mates. Should they be given to other people, or should I use variations from other Tarot Decks (which I'm admittedly not familiar with).

I just don't know what to do.