#but quite a few of these seiyuu are sports fans so it comes up so frequently LOL

[akkivee]

we got this 15 min video of half these seiyuu telling either a truth or a lie to the theme of the ‘number 6’ (anniversary!!!!) and what came up was kinda interesting lol

the ones in charge of telling either a truth or lie were 0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣🎋🍮🥂 and the rest had to vote on who was lying!!!! so the stories they told were

0️⃣: he was once scouted to be a professional baseball player. due his skills he would have been part of the clean up (baseball heavy hitters) and was offered the jersey number 6

1️⃣: he raised 6 cats in his youth and one of them was named gianko

2️⃣: in six months he gained 6kg

3️⃣: because he’s from osaka, he’s very attached to rokko related things (rokko range is near osaka, and uses the kanji for six in the name so he’s still on theme lol)

🎋: he finds it’s much easier to consume bread if it’s cut into six pieces

🍮: there is a movie he’s watched six times because the details seemed a little different on each watch

🥂: before bed, he’s eaten six pinot gris grapes

the seiyuu in the back all voted that ishiya-san and kuroda-san were lying but it turns out that only ishiya-san was lying!!!!! (6 truths 1 lie lmao) apparently he only gained 5kg in 6 months lol

[vulpiximisa]

here is a post of Why I Like Nanamaru Sanbatsu which may or may not also be a Reasons Why You Should Watch Nanamaru Sanbatsu but it’s not made with the intent of persuasion and more of me just gushing over things because this isn’t spoiler friendly

1) Niche Sport

I’m not a stranger to “Sport but it doesn’t involve Ball or Sweat”. That’s a lie, the players sweat a lot in Chihayafuru. The fact that Sasaijma (and then another character in the later chapters in the manga) refer to Karuta is a reason enough to pick up the series. Hikaru no Go was one of my earlier sports anime as well. It’s not like I was a fan of Go or Karuta either but the way the characters wholeheartedly loved what they were doing (and competitively), it made me love it as well. The same definitely goes for Quiz Bowl. While the two I listed were something I completely had no clue how the rules go, Quiz Bowl is a bit more obvious so it’s easier to get into.

(kinda hate these promo pics because there looks like so many fcking charas but really you just need to remember like 5 of them)

2) Nerdy Protag in a Sports anime

Actually coming from YowaPeda, Crunchyroll recommended this amongst other things. YowaPeda did the trope a lot better, given that you’d never associate an Otaku with Biking while a Bookworm being associated with Quiz Bowl does not seem unheard of. But the idea of a nerdy protagonist in a competitive sport was still an allure. 

And oops, I think Koshiyama is a cutie so there’s a huge bias towards that. The fact that Horie Shun who voices Enta Jinnai from Sarazanmai voices Koshiyama Shiki gave me a laugh and he actually fits his role very well. Further emphasizes his cuteness without Enta’s weird gay crush lol

3) Ishikawa Kaito

I’m not above watching anime for seiyuu reasons alone but I actually went in blind with this series and to my surprise one of my favs was in it. I’d known Kaito mostly for Kageyama Tobio first, but he’s gone through so many other roles that I enjoy (Kaki from Pokemon SM, Iida from BokuHero, Mimura Subaru from 2.43) and I’ve watched a lot of seiyuu events/radios with him so I’m just a big fan of him in general. Dunno if I should have just merged this point with the next but-

4) Mikuriya Chisato

Kaito has The Range and can do whatever role he wants (I’m most impressed by his role as Alan from BNA) but I think I have a weakness for when he’s slightly an asshole. Mikuriya gave off the generic rival trope, which he kind of is. I got some Subaru vibes from him as well. I don’t know if he’s canonically handsome, but yes I think he’s very good looking for an anime character. Plus the fact that he’s The Cool Guy but is participating in such a sport as Quiz Bowl. AND the moe gap that is his feminine sounding first name and the possibility that he might also actually be an otaku is 👌👌👌👌

My friend had tagged something with him as “Chazz Princeton with a haircut” and while Not Entirely, he is the “We are not friends, we are rivals but I interact and help you enough that we are practically friends but i will continue to deny it” and I love that trope. The way he’s so not interested in Gorls or Nonsense reminds me of Manga Manjoume, though nowhere as serious because he is not above nonsense himself.

5) Fukami Mari

The moment she was introduced, I had very low expectations for her. Of course she is the one that drags Koshiyama into the Quiz Bowl world BUT she doesn’t fall into the trope of “Female is very good at The Thing, BUT Newbie Male MC does it better than her almost immediately”. I’m so glad for that because as you go on with the series, she is very much an entire character and not just a female support cast. 

She loves Quiz Bowl but she’s not the best or even very good at it. Her childhood friend from another school (which I was 75% betting that it was going to be a male and a potential love interest) turned out to be a female friend. Instead of “cat fight”, they are still very amicable towards each other and support each other but also acknowledge each other as rivals. The fact that Yuki had only started Quiz Bowl because of Mari but liked it enough to continue on by herself, I think that’s really great. 

The anime doesn’t get to it, but she confronts her brother about why he quit Quiz Bowl and challenges him. She has her own goals and ambitions and you see her working on it. She also has her strengths and weaknesses and is a vital addition to the Buzou Quiz Team. Fukami Mari is A Good Girl and I won’t tolerate any slander towards her. The way the beginning of the series sexuallizes her via putting her and Koshiyama into generic anime situations is so uncomfortable but I’m glad they move past that later.

Also since their group isn’t technically a Club (?) Mari isn’t just Female Manager. A plus to Quiz Bowl being Co-Ed sport.

6) Quiz Questions

I like trivia. It’s a little harder to guess the questions along with the anime because you’d have to pause all the time and half the time the contestants are going to buzz in early before you hear the entire question. Unfortunately, unless you actually are a fan of random knowledge or a huge nerd, the questions might actually be hard as well. I literally only knew about 3 questions asked in the entire series and its the anime/manga related ones lol. Still, I enjoyed seeing the characters draw their conclusions and to know what each character’s strong and weak points were. (Mikuriya using Math to calculate the Day of the Week from the past was 😚👌)

7) Side Characters

The first one I’m thinking is obviously Sonohara Akira. The moment of his first appearance, I had a hunch that it wasn’t exactly as it looked. He’s a little schemer but he has his own code of ethics, so he’s not all that bad. (Also hes A Gamer, so Relatable.) The fact that he’s related to Sonohara of Asagaoka makes it all the more interesting because they're’ so different. The way everyone reacts to him is so interesting because he doesn’t take it seriously while everyone else does. My favorite interactions with him aside from the Akiba Squad are the ones with Ookura. (I actually prefer to ship them over Niina/Akira lol)

Sasajima, mysterious Quiz Master with a past related to Fukami’s brother, who used to go to the Prestigious Quiz King School. Character wise, he doesn’t seem interesting but I love his idea of what a Quiz Bowl should be. My favorite parts of a series is when they love the thing they do, and that having fun is what is the most important. Of course you have to be fairly good at the thing first to be able to enjoy yourself freely but he never brags and is a supportive senpai.

Jinko. She’s cute. That’s good enough for me lol. I guess her Electronics Thing is also pretty cool. I like seeing the Sasajimas interact.

8) Ship

Okay, well, its obvious where I fall here. I don’t remember the last time I’ve watched such a generic sport series with a one on one protag vs rival. I’m not above shipping the “obvious/main” ship, as SasuNaru and Edgewright are some of my ships. However I didn’t ship Akira/Hikaru and I don’t ship KageHina but I do ship something like Manjoume/Judai and if asked MakoHaru vs RinHaru, I’d pick the latter, so it might just be a matter of tastes and I won’t fall immediately into every “rival” ship.

So why would I ship Mikuriya/Koshiyama? Because I love it when the Cool Guy falls for the Nerd and EXTRA POINTS if the Cool Guy is also secretly a nerd too. When I mean secretly a nerd, I don’t mean Mikuriya being on quiz bowl but that he might be a closet Otaku. (ImaSaka is everything about this trope.) 

Anyway, they are the main two rivals in the series, so of course they acknowledge each other. Koshiyama took it so dramatically but in the past, nobody cared about his presence, let alone think that he’s a Threat. Mikuriya is a Hot Shot and thinks he’s better than everyone but this newb with potential beat him one time (unofficially) so he’s automatically curious. 

Even though it is Hot Blooded Competition, Mikuriya always seems to encourage and cheer Koshiyama on (in his own rival-y way of course) whenever he feels down about not being strong enough to compete with him. (When they were lining up for the Third round at Asagaoka) Even when Koshiyama lost, after Mikuriya had a huge handicap, Mikuriya tells him he’ll take him on anytime. The fact that he wants to do Quiz Bowl with (against) him, is practically Sports Anime confession. “I won’t wait for you, Git Gud” “Okay I will Git Gud so we can fight again” *Fist Bump* What are you guys doing.

It might just be the art style but there is a copious amount of blushing happening every time the two interact. Also that height difference!! Mikuriya is 172 while Koshiyama is 153, I fucking love it. 

Uhhhh that’s about it. I would like to gush more but there’s only a few chapters of the manga that’s been fan translated and it’s not even half of what’s actually out there. (I think the manga is complete by now?) There’s only one anime season of the series, and I doubt there’s going to be more so RIP me.

[megaboy335]

Mega’s 2019 Top Anime List

Another year of anime has come and gone. This year I ended up watching a lot less due to the over saturation of Isekai and light novel anime, but there was still plenty to enjoy. As usual I consider any show that ended this year as a contender to be on my list. This is simply my opinion and there will be spoilers below.

1) Pokemon Sun & Moon

Starting this list with a show I watched for 3 years, Pokemon Sun and Moon was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with the Pokemon anime. It took the best aspects of XY and added loose animation to the mix. Ash and friends have never had so much personality as each episode brought the characters to life in new ways with funny facial expressions. As an adaptation of the game, Pokemon SM did better in some areas compared to others. The trials were simplified or restructured to account for Ash’s classmates being trial captains in the game. While the Kahuna battles were spaced out very far apart in the anime. I always thought it was strange that in-between major story battles, Ash barely ever thought about the challenges.

The two major story highlights of the anime are Lusamine’s arc and the Pokemon League. Lusamine’s story was the main plot of SM and it played out almost exactly like the game. Her downfall to her Ultra Beasts obsession and then Lillie knocking some sense back into her mom is still an emotional highlight of the series. In any Pokemon anime, the Pokemon League is what brings meaning to Ash’s entire journey through the region. SM’s league is similar to the game where it’s the first league of the region. The rival pairings and matches were completely predictable, but it ended with two big surprises. First, Ash was actually allowed to win for once (matching your character becoming the first champion in the game), and secondly he had a full 6 v 6 match with Kukui. It spanned 3.5 episodes with Ash’s Litten completing its character arc by reaching its final form during the battle. It was a rare match where both parties are battling it out for fun and it ended with a flashy finale of two hype Z-moves. Pokemon SM will be remembered for its simplicity, yet ambitious approach in always showing something new week after week.

2) Mob Psycho 100 Season 2

Mob-Psycho continues where it left off in season 1. The main protagonists have come away from a battle with Claw and now daily life resumes. This season featured a love story, Reigen’s arc, deeper exploration into psychic powers, and the return of Claw. Just like in season 1, Mob continues to excel in two major areas. First is of course the animation. An average episode of Mob is literally that one stand-out episode of a one cour anime. Psychic power usage is often a reflection of emotions and they are animated in different ways depending on the characters thoughts in a particular scene. There were so many highlights this season that it would be impossible to list them all.

Mob’s second strength is the character writing. In season 1 Mob was a boy struggling to create his own identity. This season Mob actively tries to break out of his shell and become his own unique person. We see this through his efforts with the fitness club, again when he separates from Regien, and again as he shows everyone that having psychic powers is no substitute for personal growth or status. Mob is no longer a timid boy like he was at the start of the series. He can now stand on his own two feet and help others who are struggling to get up. Considering there is still a little more manga left to cover, I can only hope it gets one last season to finish out the story.

3) Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

In order to understand the appeal of Kaguya-Sama, just for a second imagine if Death Note was a romantic comedy. Both of the protagonists are locked into a battle of wits to outsmart the other in the events of daily life. The mere act of choosing a vacation spot, going somewhere, or giving an item to each other suddenly becomes a high stakes duel. Kaguya-sama follows Kaguya herself and Shirogane as they try to avoid being the first to admit their love for each other. The side characters only help to add wildcards to each battle such as Chika being able to change the tide of battle with a single phrase.

I enjoyed seeing how absurd each battle would become week after week. The presentation is simple, yet very effective in this anime. Resources were definitely allocated for use in certain places for maximum impact. The voice acting also helped a ton in selling just how important each battle was in the minds of the characters. Overall, the series knows how to play with your expectations. Some battles turn out as expected, some with a twist, and others end on some kind of middle ground. However, each battle brings them a little closer together. I can’t wait for the next season in April.

4) Run with the Wind

Almost all sports anime revolve around high school students trying to become as good as possible and win nationals before the 3rd years graduate. However, Run with the Wind takes a different approach to this formula. It focuses on a group of college students who, at the start at least, would rather do anything else than run. It takes about half of the show before our group of characters even get on the same page about running. I enjoyed how this anime put us into the heads of each character. Some have personal reasons for not wanting to run, while for others it was something trivial. However, by committing themselves to the team they each gained a new outlook on themselves and those around them. It was quite literally an uphill for the team to reach the level of success they got at the end. The final run brilliantly showed how each character learned from the experience and how the time they spent on the team was a positive life changing moment. Run with the Wind shows that it's never too late to try something new.

5) JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind

Jojo is back on the list after an extended break between parts 4 and 5. Compared to previous stories, Part 5 is most similar to part 3. There is a quest to clear and it involves the main group traveling across the land and defeating enemy stand users each step of the way. The differences between part 5 and its previous stories becoming apparent right away. First off, the protagonist is not a traditional Joestar. He is the son of Dio born from when he had Jonathan’s body. Secondly, the group of main characters are not exactly good guys. As mafia members they display a sense of unity, but lack the high integrity of previous Jojo characters. A connection they all share is being looked down upon in society, but placing a place in the world through Bucciarati’s squad.

The aspect that makes or breaks a JoJo story for me is usually the villain. I consider Diavolo to be the weakest of any villain across the various JoJo stories. During the early arcs of the story, Diavolo comes off as an interesting character. He has a mysterious personality and will clearly stop at nothing to keep his identity hidden, including killing his own daughter. The series then adds layer of complexity when we meet his alter ego Doppio. The two personalities are clearly distinctive, but the line between which one is charge can be murky. However, his character intrigue quickly comes crashing down as the final arc fully brings Diavolo into the limelight. The story comes down to who can control the stand arrow, which is a sharp contrast to previous villains who drove the final arc on the back of their eccentric personalities. While JoJo part 5 is still a good anime, it will always come near the bottom of my favorite JoJo parts.

The Year of High Profile Weekly Shonen Jump Anime Adaptations

As the 2016-17 hits from Weekly Shonen Jump have aged up, all of their anime dropped in succession this year. I am a huge fan of the magazine, so here’s a section with some quick thoughts of their anime.

The Promise Neverland - The anime changed the escape arc from a mental battle to a horror series. While animation is definitely better suited to playing with the idea of show don’t tell, the result ended up being telling the story through a different lens. While I appreciated the idea, I feel it came up short. The loss of Posuka Demizu’s art was another major blow to the mood they were trying to create.

Kimetsu no Yaiba - When the manga first began, I never imagined it would become a 1+ Million seller. Ufotable brought their top class digital effects to a manga that at a quick glance would make anyone think it would be the last series to get such treatment. The anime brought a lot to the table and greatly helped to bring the manga to life. It was a great experience from start to finish (episode 19 is a major highlight of the year). I’m looking forward to the upcoming film.

Dr. Stone - Compared to the other Jump anime this year, Dr. Stone’s animation and presentation stuck very close to the manga (if not even inferior to Boichi’s creative spreads at times). The aspect that sold this anime best was the voice cast. They brought so much life into the characters and conveyed the passion each one has for science and learning. I enjoyed seeing Senku create his inventions in animated form.

Bokuben - This might not exactly be considered “high-profile”, but I can’t help but find myself impressed by the anime week after week. It adds a few touches here and there to better tell a cohesive story and occasionally adds a scene or two. I appreciated the heart the anime brought to the series through the seiyuu. Introducing a new seiyuu unit from the cast was also a nice bonus as well.

Best OP/EDs of the year:

1) One Piece Opening 22 - The One Piece anime has changed dramatically under Tatsuya Nagamine. This opening is fast paced and filled with future story teases. It changes the format by cutting the op run time down to 2 minutes and includes clips of the episode. The final sequence of Luffy vs. Kaido always gets me hyped each to watch the episode each week. 

2) Mob Psycho II Opening - This opening feels like a natural continuation of the first season opening. It once again showcases how the show is full of creative animation and unusual characters.

3) Mix Opening 1- Mitsuru Adachi is known for his nuanced writing of giving characters the space to convey their thoughts. This opening fully shows these traits through its sequence of character shots that feel like a natural usage of his writing style. 

4) Kaguya-Sama Chika Ending - Cute song and amazing choreography. There’s a clear reason why this swept across the internet last winter

5) JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5 Opening 2 - Not only is Traitor’s Requiem a very cool name for a song for this part of the story, but the plot teases are perfectly timed in the song. The opening animation also kept on giving with the villain version and Giorno later recapturing the opening.

This brings 2019 to a close and another decade comes to an end. As my way of recapping the decade, here is a list of my top shows in each post I have made since I started posting them in 2014:

Space Brothers

Hunter x Hunter

Kill la Kill

Nisekoi

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3

Sore ga Seiyuu

Death Parade

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3 (Second Half)

Hibike Euphonium 

One Punch Man Season 1

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4

Mob Psycho 100 Season 1

Yuri on Ice

Konosuba Season 1

Sakamoto Desu Ga?

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Tsuki Ga Kirei

Re:Creators

Ero-manga Sensei

Owarimonogatari (the Monogatari series in general)

Hugtto Precure

A Place Further than the Universe

Yuru Camp

Dragonball Super

S.S.S.S. Gridman

[entergamingxp]

Like a Dragon Includes Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima as Final Fantasy Summons, a Pokemon Parody Sidequest, And More

December 30, 2019 9:58 AM EST

New details on Yakuza: Like a Dragon, including a new trailer and gameplay, new cast video interviews, returning characters, the dungeons, the battle arena, DLC-only Jobs.

Sega published a new gameplay trailer, details, and screenshots for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, most notably revealing both Kazuma Kiryu and Majima Goro can be unlocked as Delivery Help, the game’s Final Fantasy-like summon system titled after Delivery Health. The details include information on the game’s new and returning characters, the battle arena, the DLC only Jobs, some sidequests and dungeons. Lastly, we also learned Yakuza: Like a Dragon includes a Pokemon parody sidequest with how you need to beat up 252 different types of bad guys called Sujimon to complete your Sujidex.

The trailer starts by introducing each of the seven party members in the game, Ichiban Kasuga, Kouchi Adachi, Namba, Saeko Mukouda, Joon-gi Han, Tianyou Zhao, and Eri Kamataki, along with the classic RPG roles they can fulfill depending on their various Jobs. Protagonist Ichiban Kasuga is the center of the party, and if he dies, you’ll immediately lose the battle and half of your money, as if mixing Persona and Dragon Quest together. New Jobs can be unlocked by studying and passing exams. The exams each have various themes, from sports trivia to questions related to other Sega franchises. You can also unlock certain jobs via sidequests.

It’s important to note two jobs have been confirmed to be paid DLC only. We have the male-character only Akuma job, which uses a guitar to fight and is dressed like a visual metal band member. And we have the female-only job Anego, which uses a naginata and machine guns, focusing on long-range and AOE attacks.

As we already know, the story starts in Isezaki Ijinchou in Yokohama, and Kamurocho in Tokyo will be accessible at some point. The trailer also reveals Sotenbori in Osaka will also be one of the maps in the game, for a total of three huge cities to explore.

Another element the trailer touches upon we haven’t seen much until now is how you can upgrade weapons and equipment with materials you’ll find around the cities, through sidequests or mini-games.

The last part of the trailer shows the various mini-games like darts, karaoke, girls bars, the Dragon Kart, the can-gathering minigame, and the Management Mode. The latter requires Ichiban to recruit employees, complete various deals and lead the company to become the biggest corporation in Yokohama. This mode is available pretty early in the game, and you’ll need to progress through it to unlock Eri as a party member.

Toshihiro Nagoshi mentioned a few days how besides Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima and Daigo Dojima are also among the returning characters. The trailer and screenshots show part of their summon animation, confirming all four will be among the Delivery Help characters.

New screenshots published by Famitsu also detail the boss fight against Kiryu, Majima and Saejima. Kiryu actually uses his different fighting styles from past games. Majima and Saejima will be fought at the same time. While it wasn’t confirmed yet, it’s highly implied that managing to defeat them in battle is how you’ll unlock them as summons.

Next, Sega published official profiles and screenshots for certain important characters of the game. We first have Ryo Aoki, who was heavily implied in the previous trailer to be the true villain of the game. Ryo Aoki is the current governor of Tokyo, in the past, he was called Masato Arakawa and was like a brother to Ichiban, but he was supposed to be dead. After being elected as governor, becoming the youngest governor of Tokyo in history, he enacted the “Kamurocho 3K plan” which led to the destruction of the Tojo Clan. He’s also the founder of political party Bleach Japan and is the big favorite to be the next Prime Minister. He’s acted by Kōsuke Toriumi.

Next, we have Ogasawara Hajime, the current boss of Bleach Japan and the second founder of the party with Ryo Aoki. He’s acted by Tarusuke Shingaki.

Up next is Kume Sota, the director of the Yokohama branch of Bleach Japan. He’s a dangerous individual who’d do anything for the party and strongly supports its ideal of “bleaching the gray zone of entertainment shops”. He’s acted by Daisuke Hirakawa.

As a reminder, Bleach Japan claims many entertainment businesses in Japan are in a gray area and violate the Fueiho, the “Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Act” law. This law exists in real life and regulates businesses like cabarets, host and hostess clubs, and sex industry-related businesses like soaplands.

We also have new info on the dungeons of the game, which are areas filled with dangerous people like certain homeless or sick people. These have treasure chests and a boss in their innermost part. Certain dungeons will also be unlocked with sidequests. Three more sidequests in the game were revealed, one involving an animal circus, one about searching for a black market weapons dealer, and one about a professor developing a giant automated city-cleaning robot.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon also includes a battle Arena made of 30 floors, with each floor having different rules and restrictions. No screenshots showing the Battle Arena were published yet, however.

We also learned Yakuza: Like a Dragon has a Pokemon-parodying sidequest, called Sujimon. Early in the game, Ichiban and friends will meet Doctor Sujimon, who is developing a mobile app encyclopedia to gather info on various dangerous people, the Sujimon. There are 252 different Sujimon in the game, and Kasuga gotta fight them all to complete his Sujidex. The first time we meet with Doctor Sujimon, we’ll also be asked to fight a green Sujimon, a red Sujimon, and a blue Sujimon, to test out the Sujimon app.

Sega also published a video interview with Nobuhiko Okamoto, the seiyuu of party member Tianyou Zhao. When Nobuhiko Okamoto was contacted for the role, he was pretty shocked to see he’s voicing a Chinese mafia boss, as it’s pretty different than all roles he did in the past. Tianyou is the kind of character who’s pretty calm but can suddenly start going really crazy. He’s also using various Chinese martial arts so Okamoto was pretty happy to voice a character who’s pretty much a Kungfu movie protagonist.

A video interview with Eri Kamataki was also published. Eri Kamataki won the actress audition for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, she acts herself in the game and also handled the motion capture for Saeko. In the interview, she mentions she was quite nervous during the audition and was really surprised when she ended up winning. She mentioned her version in the game has a slightly cuter personality than how she is in real life. In-game, she’s the boss of a company, but she’s too nice for the role and ends up getting deceived by bad guys. That’s when Kasuga helps her and they try to save the company together, triggering the game’s Management Mode. Yakuza: Like a Dragon was also Eri Kamataki’s first time voicing battle scenes, and she ended up redoing certain lines many times, but she had a lot of fun recording and acting for the game.

It’s important to note the finalists of the actress audition, Iroha Yanagi, Sumire Sawa, Manae Miyakoshi, and Ririka, will also appear in-game as NPC characters in sidequests.

Lastly, Sega published two gameplay videos. The videos feature Game Director Horii and Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama playing the game, with comments from some of the game’s cast:  Kazuhiro Nakaya/Ichiban, Yuichi Nakamura/Joon-gi, Eri Kamataki, and Iroha Yanagi. At the end of the second video, Kazuhiro Nakaya/Ichiban and Yuichi Nakamura/Joon-gi also try out the in-game quiz. Nakamura does the Sega related quiz and it includes questions such as “In Sakura Taisen, what is the name of the squad Sakura Shinguji is part of?”. It’s pretty fun to watch if you’re a seiyuu fan. You can find both videos below.

You can catch the latest live gameplay here. You can also check out our playthrough of the demo and how I explained rather than the RPG change, the overall wacky feel of the battles is what might alienate old fans of the franchise.

PS4 exclusive Yakuza: Like a Dragon is titled Ryu Ga Gotoku 7 Hikari to Yami no Yukue in Japan and will launch there on January 16. The game will come west later in 2020.

December 30, 2019 9:58 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/like-a-dragon-includes-kazuma-kiryu-and-goro-majima-as-final-fantasy-summons-a-pokemon-parody-sidequest-and-more/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=like-a-dragon-includes-kazuma-kiryu-and-goro-majima-as-final-fantasy-summons-a-pokemon-parody-sidequest-and-more

[toraonice]

Yuri on Ice 2017/02/11 all night event report

I’m back from the event and I’ll write a report before going to sleep, mostly because I’m sure I will not be able to decipher my scribbles when I wake up... It’s not the full talk show since you can’t record it and also I couldn’t possibly write down everything, but I tried to take note of most things, especially stuff that has never been mentioned elsewhere. In the end it became quite long so I guess I was able to get most of the stuff down...

Needless to say it’s my notes, so other people might write about parts I omitted, etc. To be honest quite a few of the things they said especially in the beginning, like what the seiyuu think about their characters, is something I’ve read so many times in interviews that I could almost answer in their place, lol... I was a bit disappointed that one of the questions that was answered is the one about Chris’ mysterious acquaintance, because actually Kubo answered that in Pash already (it’s in the Q&A part I’ll be translating later), and I hoped they would feature questions about stuff that hasn’t been explained yet. Well I guess not everybody reads interviews, but still...

Due to the format of the report you can find my comments here and there, mostly in brackets. Under the cut because it’s long.

I forgot to mention something important: the ones participating in the talk show were Mitsurou Kubo, Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Yuuri), Junichi Suwabe (Victor), Kouki Uchiyama (Yurio).

The talk show was divided into 3 parts: short program, free skating, interviews. The “short program” was mostly them saying basic things like impressions on the show etc, the “free skating” was about curiosities and other things that can be said now that the anime is over, and the “interviews” part was a Q&A (but they didn’t really keep the format for the SP and FS parts..)

I went to the live viewing, not the actual place where the event was held, but in this case there were no differences (no extras in either place). They published a new official picture that you probably have already seen.

After some introductions they started the “short program”, whose first topic was “how do you feel about the character you played?”.

Toyonaga said that he didn’t play Yuuri with his mind but with his heart, so his acting wasn’t really intentional but more spontaneous, in fact he doesn’t really remember how he acted him, what he remembers is mostly because he watched the anime afterwards. He also said that it was an honor to work so close to Suwabe and that they get along well (to which Suwabe initially joked “do we?” but then confirmed, lol).

Suwabe said that especially in the beginning it was hard to grasp Victor’s character because he’s different than ordinary people and also he can’t really relate to him, but after some time he decided that thinking too much was wrong and decided to play him in a “don’t think, feel” way (he really said “don’t think, feel” in English, and I wonder how many in the audience could understand that, lol). So actually, much like Toyonaga, he doesn’t really remember how he acted. It was a very unusual character to play for him.

Toyonaga said that, since when he plays Yuuri it’s really like he’s “becoming” Yuuri, he gets very nervous when he’s asked, for example in events, “say this line from the show!” or “say something as Yuuri!”, because it’s hard to suddenly get into that state of mind. At this point they also mentioned that they recently had to play the characters’ roles again for the collaboration with the browser game “Shingeki no Bahamut” and they sounded amused. (I actually started the game last week for the sole purpose of playing the collaboration event... I’m sure someone will post pics when it starts)

Uchiyama said that Yurio’s hairstyle changed and with that the impression he gave him changed too, but actually he didn’t really change the way he played him.

Kubo also said that she was so busy with the storyboard because of the tight schedule that she also doesn’t remember some things, like how she decided some parts, so actually when she watched the anime she could watch it with renewed feelings, as if she was just a viewer. She also said that some scenes turned out a bit different in the anime than they were in her original storyboard.

After this they were asked which scenes left a strong impression on them when they watched the broadcast.

Uchiyama mentioned Yurio’s lines when he says “pig”, and the part where he’s sent “training” at the shrine and waterfall by Victor. The others laughed because it was like “in the WHOLE series are THESE the scenes that impressed you??”.

Toyonaga said that for Yuuri’s very first lines in episode 1 (before the OP, when he says “He always surprises me” etc) he was actually told at what point of the story Yuuri says it. I mean, Yuuri narrates this part as if he’s looking back on the past, and Toyonaga was told at what point of the story this happens, but he said that he's not going to reveal it and asked that people try to imagine when it is that Yuuri "narrates" this part. (I personally have no idea, though Yuuri doesn’t sound very cheerful so I’d argue that it’s in one of the “tense” moments of the show, like ep 9 or the end of ep 11? But too little elements to judge) They mentioned that because of this narration fans made theories about Victor eventually dying, and Suwabe was like “Victor is alive!! And Makkachin too!!”.

After this Suwabe said that neither now nor in the future he is going to reveal what he thought when acting the scenes in the anime. He said that of course he has his own interpretation and he played Victor based on that, but that since this anime has many elements that can be read in lots of different ways he is not going to disclose his personal views and wants fans to interpret it each in their own way. The only thing he confirmed is that he likes Makkachin, lol. (To be honest, it’s basically the same as what Kubo says, but Suwabe articulated it better. As a side note, Suwabe is a very good talker, always expresses his point clearly and is really careful about what he says and how it could affect who listens, while I think Kubo has a messy way of speaking which is sometimes hard to follow, even in written interviews, and I believe this is what is causing some controversies)

Suwabe also said that, as a viewer, the parking scene in episode 7 touched his heart. Here they mentioned that YOI was featured on the TV Asahi music program “Music Station” on Friday night because this scene was aired too, and they laughed making some comments about how the scenes they showed were “barely ok for prime time”. (It’s because they basically showed scenes like when Yuuri and Victor are with their foreheads touching and Yuuri tells him “please only watch me”, etc, which are scenes that would make anyone misunderstand the point of the show if they don’t watch them within the context... But I swear this time it was better, because the last time YOI was featured on Music Station they showed the scene at the end of ep 7 too... I really wish they’d show more figure skating scenes so that it doesn’t just look like a BL anime about skaters, sigh. By the way this time it was featured because “History Maker” was ranked #11 in a ranking of popular anime/drama theme songs)

Uchiyama said that he was impressed by all of Yurio’s rude expressions like “pig”, and especially when in ep 10 he told Victor “a ring received from a stupid animal is just rubbish”. He said “I’m surprised he could even come up with such a wording at all” (Yurio actually says “kachiku” in that line, which means “livestock/cattle” and in Japanese it’s very much like calling someone an “animal without a brain”). The seiyuu thought he said “kachiku” because he used to call Yuuri “pig”, but Kubo said that actually it was meant to be a pun with “Katsuki” because it sounds similar to “kachiku”. (Though to be honest Yurio is definitely speaking Russian here so he couldn’t possibly make a pun with “Katsuki” and ���kachiku”, lol.) Suwabe said that he likes the scene where Yurio tells Lilia “I’ll gladly give you my body and soul if that can make me win”.

Kubo said that in the beginning she inserted everyday life scenes so that the viewers could get familiar with the characters, and though they did their best to make the skating scenes interesting too she was scared that people would complain that they preferred the everyday life scenes, but luckily she didn’t receive this kind of comments. She also said that she likes how Hasetsu is mentioned again various times throughout the show (like in ep 10 indeed).

Here the guy doing the MC, which is also the guy that voiced one of the commentators in the anime and is actually an announcer for TV Asahi, said that when YOI was airing the real GP series was being held too, and that commenting for YOI had just the same feeling as commenting for real TV matches. Kubo said that when she wrote the storyboard she actually listened to sport live commentary on TV and wrote it down to use it as reference for writing the live reporting in YOI.

Toyonaga said that when there were no monologues during the skating scenes he just watched them as a spectator. Actually when they did the recording, apart from the first episodes, the anime footage was not ready yet so they did most of the recording watching Kenji Miyamoto’s footage. Uchiyama said that Yurio’s skating was performed by a woman, and Kubo praised her saying that she was really good.

Toyonaga said that sometimes he had mixed thoughts in his mind when playing Yuuri during the skating scenes, because part of his mind was thinking (looking at Miyamoto’s footage) “I wonder how this turns out in the anime”, but since he had to act he actually had to picture in his head how the scene would turn out.

They mentioned Seung-gil’s costume (the rainbow-colored one) and they all agreed that the gap between the costume and Seung-gil was hilarious. Kubo said that actually when she ordered the costume she thought that Chacott’s designer would create something that would make Seung-gil look like a cool guy, and she didn’t expect it to be something flamboyant like the current one. They said that it looks like it has origami cranes attached to it, and Kubo commented that he looks like “a new species of bird discovered in the tropics”.

Still regarding costumes, they said that the mismatch between Georgi’s physique and his costume was also amusing. The seiyuu commented how Georgi was the most popular character among male members of the staff, but Kubo said that actually later on he was substituted by Otabek, because all guys found Otabek cool.

Regarding the last episodes Kubo said that Nobunari Oda wanted to participate in YOI himself and so they gave him a part, but it happened after the series was already airing, it wasn’t planned from the start. For Stéphane Lambiel it was even more a last-minute decision, because it was really sudden and they had to redraw a part of episode 12 (Hiramatsu did this) to feature him and had to re-record the scene. The episode was going to air on Wednesday, and they called Suwabe a few days before asking him to come back to recording on Monday (yes, 2 days before the airing..) for the scene with Lambiel. Kubo also said that when she mentioned that Victor’s blades are gold because they took inspiration from Lambiel’s he showed them his skating shoes and she was very happy about that.

Suwabe commented how YOI was very popular in the anime event in Taiwan he went to recently, and they all agreed on the fact that it’s really popular overseas. They also briefly mentioned Evgenia Medvedeva but didn’t comment in detail though they were all kind of giggling.

The “short program” part ended here, yes it wasn’t very short.. And they started the “free skating” part.

They asked Kubo how she got into figure skating, and she said that in the beginning she was just a very light fan, like she would sometimes watch it on TV when it was on, but she had a friend who was really into it. She got more passionate after traveling to Europe with Yamamoto to do research for the series. Yamamoto explained her a lot of stuff about figure skating, and it’s also Yamamoto the one who was a hardcore fan from the start. (Kubo praised Yamamoto lots of times during this event and emphasized the fact that many things were her idea. I have the feeling that she feels a bit bad because since she’s the most “visible” one she gets all the appreciation by fans, even though Yamamoto had as big a part in creating YOI if not bigger, since she was the one who originally came up with it and was involved in the making until the end, even after the manga storyboard was completed)

She mentioned that recently she spent 18 days in Europe with Yamamoto, but she pointed out that it’s not for YOI’s 2nd season or something like that, they just had decided that after YOI’s end she and Yamamoto would go on a trip to Europe together. They went to see the European Championships in Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Art on Ice in Zurich. She mentioned how it’s really hard to get tickets for figure skating in Japan while in Europe it’s easier.

She told an anecdote about when she was in Ostrava. She said that she spotted two girls cosplaying Yuuri and Victor (not really full cosplays, just partial) at the ice rink, and after the tournament was over they were taking pictures in front of the rink. When they saw Kubo they spoke to her in Japanese and asked her if she was Japanese (they didn’t understand who she was and she didn’t mention it), then they told her she could take pictures if she wanted, and she was amused because of this curious happening (but she did take pictures). She also said that when she posted on Instagram that she was in Ostrava a person replied to her “if you want I can show you around!”, and when she checked her profile she realized it was the girl that was cosplaying Victor at the ice rink. And she said that she even saw her again on a train when they were leaving Ostrava, but she didn’t have the courage to reveal who she was. (I must say this is quite a coincidence...! I wonder if the girls will find out about this now that Kubo has said it). By the way of course she was really happy to find YOI fans, but she said she preferred not to post the picture online because Japan has different cosplay manners than many other countries in the world and she didn’t want to look like she approved of cosplaying at an ice rink when there’s a competition going on (in Japan it would be super taboo to cosplay at any ice rink, or any public space actually, unless you received a permit to do so).

Toyonaga said that he sometimes receives fanletters from overseas fans written in Japanese and he really appreciates the effort. He was amused by a fan whose letter started out very politely but then somehow turned into plain Japanese (with no honorifics etc). Suwabe said that he too receives letters from overseas and also he receives a lot of replies in other languages on Twitter. Kubo said that currently most of the replies she gets on Twitter are actually from foreigners and she is always worried when she wants to write a pun because it would be hard to translate into another language. She also mentioned how sometimes she gets replies from people saying in Spanish “I can’t understand what you say (because it’s in Japanese)” and she was like “I can’t understand what you say either...!”. (To be honest, I really don’t understand why people send her replies in languages that are not English, especially the ones writing “I can’t understand!”. What’s the point in tweeting that to her?? She isn’t even very good at English, I think Yamamoto is better..)

Suwabe said that he likes how YOI is realistic but it’s not just hyperrealistic and has some fantastic elements in it too, because he said they are balanced very well.

Kubo said that she is very happy about YOI’s popularity but she feels that she didn’t absolutely create it alone and it was the result of many people working together, so now she actually wants to do something to repay YOI for all the good things it brought to her.

After this it was the end of the FS part and the start of the interview part, aka Q&A.

Q: What do you pay attention to when drawing the characters?

Kubo said that first of all she decided to create designs that would allow to distinguish the characters even when drawn in very simple deformed ways (like how she usually draws them in the autographed shikishi). Since Yuuri is the protagonist she created his design so that he would be easy for Hiramatsu to draw. She drew Victor in a very detailed way, but actually in the beginning she didn’t make his eyelashes so visible, because she usually doesn’t make eyelashes on male characters very evident. Victor’s beautiful eyelashes are something that was added in the anime, but she liked it and now she also has fun drawing them like that. Yurio is actually the character that she designed first, and she took inspiration from other male characters with blond hair and light eyes that she used to like, like Rabi from Madou King Granzort and Hyouga from Saint Seiya.

Toyonaga said that indeed in Kubo’s storyboard he could understand the character’s expressions even when they are drawn deformed. Uchiyama commented that he misses reading the storyboard and that he wants more of it (in the audio commentary of the BD vol.2 he also says he really liked reading it). Kubo said that while in Europe with Yamamoto they decided the contents of the short manga that will be given as a present to the purchasers of all the BD or DVD volumes of the anime. She didn’t say what it would be about, but she said that it will not contain all the characters and that Uchiyama will probably like it (so I guess Yurio has a nice role in it). She also vaguely mentioned Barcelona so it might be set around eps 10-12, but yeah it was really vague so we can’t know for sure.

Q: If you were a skater, who would you want as your coach?

Toyonaga said of course he would like Victor, but he also commented that probably sometimes Victor would really get on his nerves because there are moments when it’s impossible to understand what he’s thinking. He also said that he wouldn’t mind JJ’s parents either, but Kubo said that they have a set of family customs, like sometimes you must hug them etc, so if you’re like Yuuri who prefers to be left alone you’d probably feel super uncomfortable.

Suwabe said that Yakov must be an excellent coach because in the end all the best skaters were trained by him.

Regarding Celestino, Uchiyama commented that he was surprised at how he’d say something as blunt as “Phichit has a radiance that Yuuri hasn’t”, considering that Yuuri used to be his pupil. They commented that he has a strong personality and that in the past we also see that he didn’t really get along well with JJ.

Uchiyama also said that he likes Lilia and Yakov, and that when they are together with Yurio they look visually striking, and almost like a family.

Kubo said that in Switzerland she spotted Alexei Mishin (the coach who was very likely the visual inspiration for Yakov) carrying a heart-shaped cushion that they threw to one of his students, and when they were outside he put it on his head, she guesses maybe because it was very cold. The picture of Yakov she uploaded on her Twitter after the talk show is a reference to that, lol.

Q: Who is the man together with Chris?

Kubo said he’s a member of the Swiss Skating Federation and maybe he used to be an ice skater, and for some reason is caring for Chris’ cat (mentioning that he cares for Chris’ cat probably caused people to read between the lines, because many around me were giggling, lol). The character design for him was not really made by her but by the animators. She said that she doesn’t know his name but that since she thinks he resembles Masumi from Glass no Kamen she calls him “Masumi”.

Q: What figure skating technique would you like to perform?

Toyonaga said he would like to do hydroblading (he didn’t know the name, he visually described it and Kubo said the name), and that he wonders how skaters see the surroundings while performing this technique. He also said he would like to know how the world around you looks while you’re doing figure skating jumps.

Suwabe said he wants to do a 100-rotations jump, or a quad axel. He would like to be the first in the world to perform a technique.

Uchiyama said “there isn’t really anything I would like to try myself (and here everyone laughed because really, the way he’s just emotionless about things, without meaning to sound offensive or anything, is just amusing), but I wonder, don’t skaters get headaches when they do spins?” Kubo said that, compared to Western athletes, the faces of Japanese athletes don’t really get red when they spin, like she said that Shizuka Arakawa’s face never turned red. They concluded that it probably depends on the single person’s constitution, on the way they spin and that maybe there are racial differences too.

This was the last question and then they just said the final greetings. In the end Kubo commented about the fact that YOI can be interpreted in various ways and that, even though in interviews they ask her details about the story and so she answers, she actually encourages people to interpret the series how they prefer, without necessarily being influenced too much by what she says in interviews. (And here I remind you something she said in the booklet for the BD vol.1, which is that it’s fine to interpret the series how you prefer, but do not go around saying that your theory is canon. In other words, she is fine with people creating their own headcanons and believing that they are right, but she would prefer that they do not try to force single interpretations onto other people unless they are officially confirmed. The recent Pash! interview actually gave me the impression that sometimes she is forced to point out some things because she sees people trying to convince others that their own interpretations are correct even though they are not supported by official material)

Beside that they all said the usual things about “please support the series because if many people support it maybe there will be a chance to see a sequel, since we all want to make one too”.

Bonus random facts about the screening of the anime (in random order): -For the first episodes they used footage from the BDs, not from the TV airing. -In the cinema I went to people were mostly silent and almost no one used penlights, but lots of people cheered (and laughed) on Georgi and JJ. -During the scene at the end of episode 7 I thought people’s reactions were very realistic, because you could hear muffled screeching, people holding their breaths and going like “ahhhh...”. I thought the audience watching the scene in the real arena within the anime must have sounded like that too, lol. -Thunderous applause when Phichit congratulated Victor and Yuuri for their “marriage” in ep 10. -Not as many people singing along JJ’s song as I would have expected, probably because the lyrics are in English. -People giggling during the scene where we see Chris’ mysterious acquaintance. -The close up shot of Victor’s naked ass from ep 1 on the huge cinema screen: priceless (Chris’ ass too). -All the close up shots of Yuuri and Victor all over each other on the huge cinema screen: priceless and more embarrassing to watch than the ass shots (I mean it in a positive way, lol). -The sound was very nice and you could hear the audience’s cheers much louder than from a TV or PC (for the first time I could hear people screaming “davai!” at Yurio in Onsen on ICE). -Applauses at the end of every character’s performance, and most of the times after jumps as well. -People crying during Yuuri and Yurio’s last FS performance (and some during JJ’s as well). -The OP footage was only shown before ep 1 and the ED footage only after ep 7 (both times they were shown creditless). The “special ED” of ep 10 was shown too of course. No next episode previews.

Unrelated: I received a few questions via private message, I will get to them when I wake up...

[fencer-x]

All-night Yuri!!! on Ice marathon + talk event report

Okay! It's now a full 12 hours after the event ended, and I've finally woken up lol So here I come bearing a report!

I'm sure several people will be posting their own reports, and I doubt any of us will have captured EVERYTHING that happened, so it's best to read multiple accounts for the greatest coverage XD

As expected, the event started with the talk portion, which involved Toyonaga, Suwabe, and Uchiyama (the podium family's seiyuu) along with creator Kubo-sensei. We were treated to the new visual, which has been making the rounds now and features the whole cast in their FS costumes taking a selfie with Phichit's selfie-stick, and were told that the marathon/event was being streamed to FIFTY theaters across the country--the largest anime streaming event EVER.

Something else that was also really great to me: there were quite a few people who were there seeing the show FOR THE FIRST TIME. Can you imagine how great that would be? Getting to see this entire series, for the very first time, on a huge movie screen surrounded by fans?? I'D KILL FOR THAT EXPERIENCE.

The talk event was divided into three corners.

1) SP - A "look back" talk, reflecting on what they'd done, how their performances had changed over the course of the series. Both Toyonaga and Suwabe reflected that they had no real memory of their performance from around halfway through the series, everything just coming through them and going directly into the character, and it was only on watching the final versions that they were like, "Oh wow, this character is actually that kind of person huh?"

Toyonaga also brought up the very first line of the opening scene, where Yuuri is doing a voice-over, talking about Victor. He'd wondered to himself WHEN that Yuuri was from--as it sounded like it was reflecting on the past. He asked the director, who told him when it took place, and he used that to guide the performance. "...So when DID it take place?" you ask? Toyonaga said he would never tell.

Suwabe went on to describe when he felt Victor "changed", when his feelings toward Yuuri shifted, and that he had a good idea of it himself and put it into the performance, but that he didn't want to share that with others, because he felt that seeing that evolution was a very personal thing for each person watching and didn't want to push his ideas onto other people (this is a very Japanese thing to do--and is also why Kubo-sensei does not want to outright say that Victor and Yuuri kissed in episode 7, because a) it should be obvious lol and b) it's a personal experience when watching the show how you understand different scenes to have unfolded and the emotions and thoughts felt therein)

2) FS - Topics they can discuss now that the show is over

Here, Kubo-sensei talked about her recent trip to Europe, something she and the director had planned to do while the series was being created once it finished. She talked about going to see a Czech competition, and there...she saw Victor and Yurio cosplayers! She was absolutely tickled to see cosplayers at such an event (something that would NEVER be allowed in Japan; though the cosplayers were just wearing wigs, apparently), and they noticed her as a Japanese person near them. They didn't recognize her as Kubo-sensei, but she slyly mentioned that she did know YOI and was a fan. The cosplayers got excited and told her that she was allowed to take a picture of them XDDD Not knowing she was the person responsible for their cosplay.

To top it off, only moments later, she posted to instagram that she was in Czech Republic doing some sight-seeing, and a Czech commenter excitedly offered, in the replies, to show her around. She clicked on that person's profile.......and it was the Victor cosplayer she'd just been offered a picture of XD

On other topics, the final episode had LOTS of cuts and retakes, apparently, and was only finished at the VERY last-minute. Stephan Lambiel's performance, even, wasn't taped until Monday--and the show aired Wednesday.

3) Post-skate interview - this section included responses to questions gathered from Twitter.

[(for Kubo-sensei) "What points do you pay particular attention to when drawing the characters?"] She only drew characters for the storyboards, really, so she did very simple versions but made sure that it was easy to tell in an instant which character was which, to make it easier for the character designers and animators to work from.

She also mentioned that she was drawing a short manga that would be included with purchases of the box-set (this isn't new info; it was announced ages ago), but got inspired for the content by the recent trip she just took to Europe. When asked about that content, all she said was that, "Fans of Yurio will be happy" and that not every character would appear.

["Who would you like to be your coach if you were a figure skater?"] Toyonaga wanted Victor, for sure, but after thinking a little longer on it, he thought JJ's parents would be really nice as well, since they're family. Suwabe wanted Yakov, and Uchiyama wanted the Yakov-Liliya combination like Yurio.

["Who is that man with Chris?"] Ah, the question on everyone's mind. Kubo-sensei didn't really offer any new information aside from what we'd already recently learned--that he's affiliated with the Swiss Skating Federation and was probably a former ice dancer; he also looks after Chris' cat while he's gone. He doesn't have a name, but she'd taken to thinking of him as "Masumi" based on his design's resemblance to the character of the same name in The Glass Mask:

Geez, she wasn’t kidding XD

She then asked everyone to be kind to "Masumetti" (a namesmush of Masumi and Giacometti).

["What figure skating move do you most want to try?"] Toyonaga wanted to do hydroblading (like JJ does), Suwabe liked the jumps and wanted to do a centuple (100 rotations) or maybe at least the quadruple axel that hadn't been achieved yet in competition. Uchiyama loved the spins.

The event closed out with some announcements--there's a YOI-themed lecture on figure skating to help fans get into the sport to be held March 3 (I'm gonna try to go, but I'm betting it'll be difficult to get tickets!), the April 29th talk event with the full cast and then some (which is where I'm thinking a Season 2 announcement will come). They were also selling the two DVDs out so far plus the soundtrack at the theaters, and it was here that the unaired tracks came up. Kubo-sensei was EXTREMELY suggestive about "Welcome to the Madness", the song meant to be used for Yurio's Exhibition piece. She repeatedly needled the audience in a teasing manner with, "Everyone wants to see Yurio's exhibition piece, right? Everyone wants to see it yeah?" This tells me that we will definitely get to see it, as it wasn't delivered in a sympathetic way like "oh wouldn't it be nice..." but in a teasing, taunting way that would only be said if there was inherent promise in it, so get excited to see that somewhere soon!

For the marathon event itself, well that was just amazing, what can I say? It's an indescribable experience, being in a huge room of VERY excited and enthusiastic fans like that. Everyone was cheering and applauding and offering endearing color commentary as well. In episode 2, for instance, when Yuuri scrambles away from Victor and Victor asks innocently, "Why are you running away?" one girl piped up with, "REMEMBER THE BANQUET!!" and everyone burst out laughing XD

It looked like perhaps up to episodes 5 or 6 had used the DVD/BR remastered versions, as many points had been fixed as on the DVDs. Yuuri's "JARAN" on his jacket seen in episode 5, for example, had been fixed to read JAPAN and been replaced with a new serif font. The later episodes, though, did not seem to have been changed, as the font was not consistent in later episodes, and other changes (like changing Yuuri's ugly necktie from sky blue to stripes with shades of light blue) were not reflected in later episodes. We also got to see the endings of episodes 5, 9, and 10 without the credits marring the beautiful scenes, so that was really great!

And speaking of the credits, we only saw the OP and ED once; the OP was played for the very first episode, and the ED was played after episode 7; other than that, the episodes blended seamlessly together.

On that episode 7 note, I thought my heart was gonna burst with happiness when the entire theater shrieked with cheers and applause and cries of "congratulations!" when Victor jumped into Yuuri to kiss him. The same happened when Phichit announced that his friends had gotten married--everyone was just totally into the moment, and it really left you with this weird feeling of comaraderie even though you were surrounded by strangers. Each and every person was so invested in this relationship, so happy, so moved. I felt really emotionally drained by the end, coming down from that high.

These bursts of applause were also repeated throughout the series whenever skaters landed their jumps cleanly, as if we were actually watching them in real time, in real life. It was just so nice??

tl;dr - 1000% would absolutely do that again. I've never done a marathon with a huge theater of fans before, for various reasons, and I'm so glad I had such a great experience my first time. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you have the chance yourself to take part in such a thing!

[saitou-shuka]

[English Translation] Seiyuu Animedia Nov. 2016 Shukashuu Interview

[Typeset Hi-Res] [Original Scan]

I love the You-chan who supports Chika-chan from the shadows ♡

PROFILE Blood type A. Her most notable role is Watanabe You from the “Love Live! School Idol Festival” game. Affiliated with Holy Peak.

MEMBER PROFILE: You Watanabe Second-year student at Uranohoshi Girls’ High school. Has been best friends with Chika ever since they were young. She's the type of girl who loves sports, a high-diver who splits her time between the swim club and the school idol club. Wants to be a ship captain just like her father in the future. She’s skilled at sewing because she loves uniforms. As a result, she is also in charge of all of Aqours’ outfits.

—Please introduce yourself!  I’m Saito Shuka, nicknamed “Shukashuu”! (Watanabe) You-chan is a lively kid, so she has some super cute points. Since I love her so much, in my wish to become You-chan in both mind and body, I cut my hair to mimic her hairstyle (laugh). I wouldn’t say that there are any bullies in the cast, but it seems like the others always want me imitate things for them. Like… I even had to imitate a cave cricket one time (laugh). And even though it does make me happy that my imitations are so well-received, I also wonder, “Is it really okay to continue being like this?” and get anxious… it’s a strange kind of feeling, I guess (laugh).

—What was your first impression of Watanabe You? At first, I was surprised because I had no idea what her catchphrase “Yousoro!” meant (laugh). Moreover, You-chan turned out to be a high-diver who enjoys sailing because she wants to follow in her father’s footsteps… I was like “Huh? Doesn’t she want to be a school idol?” as many new questions began to run through my head. But, You-chan’s always full of energy, and she supports the impulsive (Takami) Chika-chan from the shadows every now and then. She has so many good sides to her that I came to love her right away!

「A」: Aqours 

What is the charm of ‘Aqours’?  Aqours’ activities have just begun, so everyone is really giving it their all right now. I think this side of Aqours is what makes them the most charming. Not to mention, Aqours is a name created by combining the words “aqua” and “ours”. So, it represents how the girls live in Numazu, surrounded by both nature and the warm-hearted townspeople who watch over them. In this sense, I don't think Aqours was formed by the nine of them alone, but also with the support of everyone in Numazu. This kind of outside support is wonderful to have, too.

「q」: Question

What would you like to try asking Watanabe You? I would like to ask You-chan about how she feels now, looking back at when she first started trying to become school idols together with Chika-chan. You-chan is also involved with the swim club’s activities, and on top of that she has to design their idol outfits, so it must be super difficult for her. Even so, she didn’t give up on being a school idol. This is surely because she wants to know why Chika-chan is so fixated on school idols, as well as because she would have the chance to experience many new things together with Chika-chan as a school idol. So, I want to ask You-chan about what kind of future she thinks is in store for them right now and how her world has changed.

「o」: Objective

What is your current goal for the future, Saito-san? I want to become You-chan! That’s my goal!! Not just to act like Watanabe You, but to completely become Watanabe You herself, so that whenever fans see me, they’ll immediately think of You-chan. Unfortunately, you’ll have to give me a little more time before I can make “Yousoro” my catchphrase (laugh). I’ve been closely observing both You-chan’s behavior and her expressions so that I can become more and more like her!

「u」: Uniforme

Which costume was your favorite? All of them were really cute, which made me realize, once again, that You-chan is an amazing kid. In particular, I think the outfits from the Episode 9 Insert Song ‘Mijuku DREAMER’ had a distinct Japanese feel to them, as if only someone Japanese could have made such a costume. This is something I really liked about them. Then again, if I were to choose based on You-chan’s point of view, then the the outfits from the Episode 11 Insert Song ‘Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare’ were also some of my favorite. I have a strong emotional attachment to those outfits, since that was what You-chan wore while dancing right next to Chika. In addition, there are actually quite a few instances where You-chan and Chika-chan’s outfits are matching. I guess that’s one of You-chan’s special privileges as the costume designer (laugh).

「r」: Radio

How do you feel about doing radio broadcasts and Niconamas? It was my first time doing radio broadcasts and Niconamas, so I was super nervous! Whenever I get nervous, my hands start shaking. Every time we broadcast, I have to hide my shaky hands like my life depends on it (laugh). But, although I do feel uneasy, the fact that we have the chance to hear from our many fans during our broadcasts always makes me happy. Plus, above all, it’s just super fun to be able to chat as a group of nine. Of course, it’s still fun when it’s just us second years, but it just isn’t quite Aqours without all nine of us there. I enjoy it the most when everyone is there to participate!

「s」: Stage

Please tell us your thoughts on the 1st Live, which is going to be held February 2017 in Yokohama Arena! I’m anxious, I’m nervous... no matter how I think about it, only negative feelings come to mind right now. But, the only thing we can do for the fans who come to watch us is to give it our 120% to make sure everyone enjoys the Live. So, I’d like to enjoy the performance while going “Full steam ahead, Yousoro!” And, since Love Live! is “a story about everyone fulfilling their dreams together”, it would be nice if all of us — both the fans and everyone in Aqours — can fulfill one big dream together at this Live!

Brought to you by ONIBE  ( `・ω・´)ゝ

Scans: Yunii TL + Typeset: shukamod QC: Mega

[toraonice]

Yuri on Ice BD audio commentary translation - Volume 2

Translation of the audio commentary of the BD/DVD vol.2! By Mitsurou Kubo and Kouki Uchiyama, voice actor of Yuri Plisetsky. Unlike the commentary of vol.1, that contained lots of things already appeared in countless interviews, this one has some VERY interesting information that I’m sure everyone wants to know. For example, we finally get to know more about Yurio’s family... There really is a lot of stuff regarding Yurio!

The commentary is only for episode 3. Episode 4 has no commentary. In a way it’s still not a full translation because I didn’t really translate every single line, but I think I translated/summarized basically everything they talked about. Therefore, it’s also really long... As in vol.1, since the format is different from normal interview translations, you can find my comments too (mostly in brackets).

Since it’s long you can find it under the cut. Enjoy!

-Kubo and Uchiyama actually never really talked before now, because even though they were together at the YOI preview screening Uchiyama went home right after because he was tired. He says that it’s not like he’s weak, but he can’t function when he’s sleepy (he can’t fight sleep basically). Both he and Kubo do not really do any type of sports, and Kubo says she quit softball after 1 week in her first year of middle school. Regarding sport, Kubo says that she has always watched it though, and she has also drawn shonen manga in her career. She says that she likes to observe sport but she doesn’t feel like she wants to participate, though if she were a guy she guesses maybe she would want to participate too.

-Kubo mentions Toyonaga asking her how she felt about him now, so she talks a little about the audition with Uchiyama. Before the actual audition each seiyuu actually sent a tape, and she says she was impressed by the way Uchiyama said the name of his agency Gekidan Himawari and his own name and she already wanted to cast him as Yurio after that. Uchiyama laughs and says it was probably because he sounded unsociable, and he also reveals that he actually recorded that at home with his iPhone so the sound isn’t great in the first place. Apparently, not all agencies record the tapes in studios with proper microphones, lol.

-The above audition talk was actually interrupted once during the scene where Yuuri and Yurio watch Victor skate Eros and Yuuri says the infamous line “he’s so eros I feel like I might get pregnant”. Kubo comments that the line gave rise to criticism, but that “this line was important for the balance within the story” (=“balance” as in “equilibrium”) so that’s why it’s there. (She doesn’t say anything else, therefore I can’t give an exact interpretation of what she means… I have a few ideas but it would be too long to elaborate on that here.)

-Regarding the scene where Victor tells Yuuri that the world still hasn’t seen his real eros (if I say “the scene where he has his face 3mm away from Yuuri’s” you might remember it better). Uchiyama comments “they’re so close (LOL)” and Kubo says that in the YOI LINE stamps (which unfortunately as far as I know are still not available for purchase from overseas) they used that scene for the stamp with the text “tell me, how is the progress?”. She says she hopes that company workers will feel more excited when they ask someone about the progress, lol. (In Japan asking about the progress of someone’s work, “shinchoku” in Japanese, is almost a template line and sometimes when combined with certain pictures may even become a meme or go viral. It is also used a lot by mangaka and doujinshi authors to refer about the progress of what they are drawing, mostly when it’s not progressing.)

-Regarding Yurio. Actually Yurio is the first character that they conceived thoroughly, even before Yuuri. And they came up with the nickname “Yurio” before of his real name. They looked for a Russian name for which they could use the nickname “Yurio”, and that’s how they decided to call him “Yuri”, but Kubo and director Yamamoto have been calling him Yurio from the start. In the series the name Yuri comes first and he only starts to be called Yurio from episode 2, so there were fans who were actually upset and felt sorry for him because his real name Yuri was “stolen” (as in that in the series other characters aren’t calling him with his real name). Kubo says that she’s a bit sorry that some people are feeling like that but that she’s also very happy that Yurio managed to become such a fascinating and loved character that viewers will feel upset for.

-Uchiyama asked Kubo who created the story exactly. She replies that she and director Yamamoto created it together, but that the first one who had a clear vision of it was Yamamoto. Then they had to flesh it out in detail and create all the characters in a way that they would feel realistic, which was a lot of work. For Kubo it’s the first time that something she draws is turned into an anime, so before YOI she had never drawn something thinking that the characters would speak the lines out loud. After watching the anime dubbed with Uchiyama’s voice she was glad that they had chosen him for the role of Yurio.

-Regarding Yurio training at the temple. They actually don’t say much, but Kubo laughs commenting that it’s “abuse” and Uchiyama says that they recorded a lot of different patterns for that scene. From that, the talk shifts to the recording.

-Kubo asks Uchiyama what kind of conversations they had with the sound director Shimizu. Uchiyama says that actually he has known him since Uchiyama was in his last year of elementary school (he also used to be a child actor, in fact his first important role as a seiyuu was Roxas of Kingdom Hearts II when he was still 15 years old) and that he’s a passionate person. When giving instructions to voice actors he’s not the type that will speak in detail like “say this line this way”, but he talks more about the spiritual/mental side of characters, like “this character is this kind of person”, therefore their conversations can get pretty long. Kubo comments that it must be difficult to act out the role of a character for an original anime, without any previous work to use as a reference like in adaptations of already existing manga, also because seiyuu were just given the script without much detail about how the scenes were created. Kubo also comments that she was very impressed by the voices of the crowd (usually the voices of the crowd are created on the spot by the seiyuu who are participating in the recording that day), because they had to think about lines that spectators would actually say without anything written in the script.

-Regarding the manga storyboard (called “name” in Japanese). Uchiyama says that it was really interesting and asks Kubo whether they have any plans to publish it, but she says that they don’t, because it wasn’t something created to be published (I hope they change their mind on that one day, I’m willing to pay some good money to read it, lol). Uchiyama believes that it was good enough to show it to people, and that in a way he’s very happy and feels lucky because he had the chance to read it. Kubo says that she mostly just drew what she wanted to draw, and asks him whether the storyboard helped him shape his role. He replies that it helped him a lot, and that even though of course he’s playing Yurio because it’s his job, the storyboard stimulated his motivation a lot because he liked seeing how the character came alive with his voice.

-Regarding the relationship between Yuuri and Yurio. The waterfall scene is what triggered this topic. Kubo mentions that from the waterfall scene you can see the bond between Yuuri and Yurio developing. She says that one of the things that made her happy to have chosen Uchiyama for Yurio’s role is that he is able to express Yurio’s slightly twisted personality in a natural way, without making it look like he might have some sort of dark past. She also thinks that the anime is done better than her storyboard and you can clearly see that Yuuri and Yurio develop a kind of friendship, like they are rivals but they also start getting along. They are not that kind of rivals that are hostile with each other. Uchiyama says that, looking at the scene during the Grand Prix (the tournament in Russia) where Yurio sees Yuuri screw up his program, almost cheers on him and is stopped by JJ, he realized that Yurio does want to win against Yuuri, but also feels that it’s pointless to win if Yuuri is not using 100% of his skills. Yurio wants them to compete against each other at the best of their ability, clash at 120% of their strength and then he wants to win by going still one step ahead of that. Uchiyama comments that seen from the eyes of an amateur it’s like a “clash of gods” and that he was impressed by Yurio’s mentality. Kubo also says that in figure skating athletes do not really fight 1 vs 1 but it’s more like everyone is trying to give their best performance. Apparently having someone who is very skilled close to you is one of the most motivating things and rivals are also a way to motivate oneself to get better, to give one’s best. Rivals are more like “fellow competitors”, so most skaters tend to get along well with each other. That’s why she thought it would be nice to have Yuuri and Yurio develop that kind of relationship too, and she thinks that in the anime, with the voices and all, it shows much better than in her storyboard.

-Regarding announcer Morooka in Onsen on ICE. They comment that Katou, the person voicing Morooka, is so good that you would never think he’s a normal person working for a company (not a voice actor). They laugh saying that the part with him looks like “Get Sports” (a sport documentary program of TV Asahi), and Kubo says that actually she wanted to include a Get Sports parody where they make a special feature on Yuuri and interview him but it didn’t fit in the episode and so they gave up. She went as far as to take screencaps of the program to make the TV screen look similar, however the storyboard was already huge and they really had to cut any second or line that was not indispensable. Basically there is nothing pointless in the episodes. Actually, in the storyboard Yurio’s mother dashes to Japan from Russia to see the match (Onsen on ICE), but there wasn’t enough time to add this part in the anime.

-They have a parenthesis regarding Yuuko’s nosebleed. They comment that it’s amusing, and Kubo says that they originally wanted to use it in the LINE stamps too, but since the regulation forbids stamps that contain any kind of violence it couldn’t go through because she’s bleeding, lol.

-Back to the topic of Yurio’s mother. Kubo has pictured Yurio’s mother as a former Russian idol (EDIT: She says “like xxx, with sauvage” where xxx is a name that starts with “Ta” and the rest is bleeped out, but she probably refers to t.A.T.u.! Thank you @nemesisfall for the input!! “Sauvage” is a hairstyle, permed hair with loose curls, that was also popular in Japan especially in the 80s), who retired from show business early, gave birth to a child at a young age, and the child skates, but there isn’t any clear mention of the father in the story. Yurio was mostly raised by his grandpa in Moscow, however to improve his skating skills he moved to St. Petersburg to train under Yakov at the sport club there. She says that she likes this kind of character who loves his grandpa. Unfortunately since it didn’t fit (because there wasn’t enough time) in the anime the part with Yurio’s mother was cut from Onsen on ICE and so she wasn’t mentioned afterwards either. But Kubo was sure that he could become stronger even without inserting the part about his mother. Uchiyama comments that he would like to see more about all the characters’ background. (To sum things up: no details about Yurio’s father so it’s not sure whether his mother raised him alone or not, but since apparently he spent a lot of time with his grandpa there is a chance that either his mother or both his parents worked the whole time and couldn’t spend time with him, though it’s not like his mother hates him or he was abused, and there is also a high chance that he’s an only child)

-Uchiyama asks Kubo about the schedule of a mangaka. She says that it mostly depends on whether she has assistants coming over or not. When the assistants are coming there is an exact schedule, like they come over 3-4 days a week at 10:00 in the morning, work there for 10-12 hours and then leave. During the other days she works on the “name” (storyboard/draft) of the manga and she might take some time to rest. For YOI she created all the storyboard alone (it’s not like it was cleaned and inked like for a manga that is published on a magazine so she didn’t have assistants coming over), and sometimes she had slumps and felt bad because the production staff was working super hard on the anime and she wasn’t doing anything. She said that it was like being confined in her house, she almost never went out and she happened to spend over one week without talking to anyone, but since she appears in a TV program (not YOI related) about once a month there was this day where she had to speak a lot after days of not speaking at all. She says she was really happy when she could go drink together with the voice actors after the TV Asahi event (I assume it’s the preview screening of the anime that was held before it actually aired, and it’s when Uchiyama went home right after the event, so I think “the voice actors” are Toyonaga and Suwabe). She also says that she never drinks alcohol when she’s working.

-Kubo says she was amused by Murase (seiyuu of Kenjirou Minami) and Uchiyama’s talk in “Yuri on Radio”, where they said that they went drinking together and Murase did the voice of a nasty woman. Uchiyama explains that when they go drink together late at night Murase tends to have a very high-pitched voice and can perfectly play women, so he randomly asked him to play the role of a nasty deceitful woman just for the laughs. And Uchiyama played a guy who is deceived by the woman. (By the way, according to a recording report from Otomedia Plus, in episode 10, when they were recording the voices of the crowd, Murase was put together with the female seiyuu, so actually there’s a woman in the crowd voiced by him, lol)

-Regarding figure skating programs. When Yuuri is skating Eros Kubo comments that it’s a program that will be shown many times but every time it’s shown in a different way. Uchiyama asks whether it’s interesting to watch how the same program by the same athlete evolves in the course of various matches, like in the GP series, and Kubo confirms that it’s extremely interesting. She says that it may also look completely different depending on what athletes are participating in a tournament and their skating order, like the same musical can look totally different with a different cast of actors. It also changes depending on the skater’s conditions and it evolves with time. Usually, if an athlete skates the program too well in their first match, people even get worried because they wonder whether they will be able to keep up the pace until the end. But this “human side” of figure skating is something that makes her want to cheer on the athletes.

-Regarding Yurio and his relationship with other characters. The time Yurio spent in Hasetsu is a very important memory to him, that will keep on giving him support. Kubo asks Uchiyama whether he liked playing Yurio, and he says that he really enjoyed playing him. He also says that he had read all of Kubo’s manga “Moteki” and the first time he saw a picture of Yurio he reminded him of a female character from Moteki (he doesn’t mention who). During the scene where Yurio leaves the rink to go back to Russia after Yuuri wins Onsen on ICE, Uchiyama comments that you see him talk with Yuuko here and then in later episodes they can be seen exchaging messages with their smartphones. Kubo says that the scene looks like he’s going back alone, but actually Yuuko drove him to Fukuoka airport with her car. Regarding how he was able to buy a plane ticket, she says “please do not think too much about that”, lol. Uchiyama laughs and comments that maybe Yuuko helped him buy it. They also say that Yurio has many interesting female characters around him, like Lilia and Mila. Uchiyama is amused by the fact that Popovich appears in the background a few times in the scenes where Yurio and Mila are shown, and says that it’s nice to rewatch the series because after knowing all the characters you can spot them when they appeared in the early part of the show and were still unknown. Same goes for the ending footage, that you might see in a different light after getting to know the characters.

-Regarding the last exchange that they have during the ending, I will report it exactly as it was because it’s hard to summarize, lol. Kubo: Ahh, and to think it’s ending in December… Uchiyama: I can’t believe it either. K: Cos you know, I really really want to write at least the story in St. Petersburg (LOL). U: So basically your head is still full of Yuri on Ice stories that you want to write, right? K: The director and I very much think so, but I don’t know what will happen. I mean, it’s so hard to create an anime, isn’t it? U: Sure it is. K: At worst we might just do it in the form of street theater (LOL). (She says “kamishibai”, it’s a traditional Japanese performance where a person narrates a story while showing it with a series of pictures, like a narrated slide show) U: Street theater (LOL). K: We can tour the country (LOL). It’s not even like a live reading play (LOL). U: Street theater (LOL). K: Like, “once upon a time, in St. Petersburg, there was Yurio…”. We can do it, I’m sure (LOL). U: You know, I genuinely want to see all those stories, as a viewer. K: But seriously, now the show has such a good reputation overseas. And in Japan too. U: I hear that lots of real skaters are watching it too.

And then the ending is over and they don’t have any time left, so they just do the final greetings. I would REALLY like to see whatever story they want to write, any form is fine, but of course I do hope they can do a second season of the anime… The sales of the BDs/DVDs (which are basically what can influence the future of an anime the most) have been going great so far, therefore I believe there is hope.