Animation Industry Watching No. 19: Interview with Eriko Kimura, the sound director behind the voice actors' performances in works ranging from Gundam to Ghibli!

Eriko Kimura is a veteran "sound director (recording director)" of unique TV animation such as "Mobile Suit Gundam UC," "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt," "TIGER & BUNNY," and "Ping Pong," as well as "Ponyo on the Cliff," "The Wind Rises," and other works directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Eriko Kimura is a veteran sound director (recording director) of unique TV anime such as "TIGER & BUNNY" and "Ping Pong".

How does she create a taste that is "different" from other anime performances?　We interviewed Ms. Kimura at Tohoku Shinsha's foreign picture production division, where she serves as the director.

No need to distinguish between "anime voice actors" and "live-action actors"?

─ You specialize in directing dubbing for foreign films, but how did you get involved in animation?

Kimura: About 10 years ago, I received my first animation job. I was invited to join "Yakitate! Jappan" (2004). (2004). The producer, Hideyuki Tomioka of Sunrise, who approached me, said, "It's okay if you have no experience in animation," and was very amused. I didn't know anything about the world of animation from left to right, so I managed to get by with the help of the music selector, effects technician, and mixer, who showed me the ropes. The process of casting, recording, and dubbing is similar to the sound direction for foreign films, but since I have no sense of music, I always have a music selector with me.

───Aside from that, do you mainly instruct the voice actors in acting, as you do for dubbing for foreign films?

Kimura Yes, but I don't really think in terms of "this is anime, so let's do it this way" or "this is a foreign dubbing, so we should do it this way. I think in terms of individual works, saying, "It would be interesting to approach this work in this way.

─ Since "Ponyo on the Cliff" (2008), you have worked on several Studio Ghibli films, including "The Borrower Arrietty" (2010).

Kimura: I don't really separate voice actors from live-action actors. For "Marnie: A Memoir" (2014), which starred actresses Ayara Takatsuki and Masumi Arimura, I invited voice actors to audition for the lead roles.

─ Did Director Hayao Miyazaki decide on Hideaki Anno for "The Wind Rises" (2013)?

Kimura: I was constantly searching for a voice that fit the director's image and collected voice samples. As a result, Director Miyazaki realized that "Anno's voice was a perfect fit. If we had tried to find a voice of Anno's type, it would have been difficult to find one among professional actors.

Touching two directors, Tomino and Miyazaki

─ ─ Fukujuro Katayama, who played Peco in "Ping Pong the Animation" (2014), is not an animation voice actor, is he?

Kimura Yes, he is a Kabuki performer and an actor.

─ Isn't it unusual to cast such a person?

Kimura Yes, first, the director asks what kind of direction he wants to take with the casting. After that, I call candidates for auditions, and I asked Fukujuro Katayama, whose voice I had been interested in for some time, to come to the audition for "Ping Pong," and he fit the role of Peco perfectly.

───Do you ever think about "this voice actor is popular among anime fans now"?

Kimura If a voice actor seems to be a good match for a character, then of course I will put him or her on the list of cast members, and I will consider the schedule to accommodate that voice actor. The conditions vary depending on the director and other people involved in the production, but I start by thinking mainly about the image of the role.

─ Is there a difference between an anime voice actor and an actor who has never done postrecording before?

Kimura: I think there are differences in the direction of the performance, the way the voice is used, and many other aspects. However, I am biased in the animations I have worked on, and I have not been involved in many animations with a lot of girls. It is the same with foreign films. Many of them are "men's festivals," or hard-core works. I am more suited to films like "Silmido" (2004), which are more masculine. That's why I don't get any requests to do heartwarming animated films with cute girls (laughs). In "TIGER & BUNNY" (2011), the director asked for a "foreign-style" atmosphere, so I think the people who place orders with me know what kind of work I am best suited for.

I usually take note of the names of actors I am interested in through voice samples and programs. If I feel that the voice actor is a good match for the character of the work I have been given, I will cast him or her, regardless of whether it is an animated or foreign work.

─ Another series that has been an integral part of Kimura's career is the "Gundam" series. In "Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt" (2015), Yuichi Nakamura and Ryohei Kimura starred.

Kimura: Director Koh Matsuo is also a sound director, so I had a clear image of their voices. The background music of "Thunderbolt" is jazz, and the picture is very mature. And the theme of the work is also profound. Considering this, I felt that only an adult who knows both the sour and the sweet sides of the story would be able to play the role.

─ ─ "Mobile Suit Gundam UC" (2010) starred Koki Uchiyama?

Kimura I have known Uchiyama since he was a child actor. On the last day of the audition for "UC," I suddenly remembered Uchiyama, whom I had not seen for several years, saying, "I feel like I'm forgetting someone ....... He is just the right age to play Banagher, I thought. I called the theater company that morning and made it in time for the last minute that night. Uchiyama didn't seem to have much prior knowledge of "Gundam," but the way he played the role in a natural and spontaneous manner was very much in keeping with the image of Banagher.

───It is interesting that you used Koki Uchiyama for the role of Smile in "Ping Pong".

Kimura: Yes, I had him come to the audition because I thought he would be suitable for the role of Smile from the beginning, but I even asked him to read Peco's lines just for fun (laughs).

─ You were the sound director for "Thunderbolt," "UC," and "Gundam G Reconguista" (2014), did you pay attention to the unique theories of "Gundam"?

Kimura: No, I didn't know much about "Gundam," so Sunrise producer Naohiro Ogata prepared DVDs of all the "Gundam" films in the Space Century series for me. While watching them, I took notes on the names of the characters, terms, and storylines as if I were a student preparing for an entrance exam, and I read and studied the "UC" novel and script.

─ ─ I think you are the only sound director who has been involved in both the "Gundam" series and Ghibli works. ......

Kimura Well, I had never really thought about it. But directors Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hayao Miyazaki were really great people. They were thinking about things that an ordinary person like myself could not even begin to fathom, and I think I spent a very stimulating and valuable time with them. Their styles are completely different, but I felt that the underlying passion is the same.