Commemorating the release of "Seoul Station Pandemic," a zombie movie that shows the other side of Korean society! Interview with Tomoaki Maeno as Ki-woon & Yohei Tadano as Isan!

The Korean animated film "Seoul Station Pandemic" will be released on September 30, 2017 (Sat) at Shinjuku Piccadilly and other theaters in Tokyo, Japan. The story is a prequel to "New Infectious Final Express" and is directed by Yong Sang-ho, an up-and-coming director who has been garnering attention in the Korean animation world, as well as his first live-action feature film "New Infectious Final Express". The story, which sounds a warning bell for modern society with its poignant episodes of social inequality, dysfunctional state power, and human ego revealed under extreme circumstances, and its ironic climax, has been the talk of the town at film festivals around the world. The film has been screened as an invited film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, and has won the Silver Crow Award at the Brussels Fantastic International Film Festival and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Best Animated Feature Film. The film was dubbed in Japanese.

In the Japanese dubbed version, Ryoko Shiraishi plays Hae-Soon (Shim Eun-Kyung), who has run away from a life of slavery in a brothel; Tomoaki Maeno plays Ki-Woong (Lee Jun), her worthless lover who forces her into prostitution; Chikahachi Tsuji plays a man who claims to be Hae-Soon's father (Ryu Sunryong); and Yohei Tadano plays Y-San, a homeless man. The film depicts the beginning of the infection panic around Seoul Station.

Akiba Research Institute interviewed Tomoaki Maeno and Yohei Tadano, who dubbed the film. We asked them to speak frankly about their thoughts on the film.


Interviews】 ※Honorifics omitted.

What are the "difficulties" of dubbing a Korean movie from a voice actor's point of view?

───Can you tell us about your impressions of the script, the images, and other aspects of the film?

Tomoaki Maeno (Maeno): It was a very innovative scenario, and it was an animation with a style of direction not often seen in Japan, so it was a fresh experience for me to work on it. I never get tired of watching this kind of work, just as I do when I read the script, so I was able to check the script while having fun and forgetting that it was my job.

Yohei Tadano (Tadano): To be honest, I was like, "Oh my God! (laughs). The producers and staff of the Japanese version are wonderful. As for the content of the film, it was so realistic and scary. After settling down, I was thinking about how to make it "interesting. Then I was told, "You don't have to make it particularly funny, just make it realistic. I was told, "You don't have to make it particularly funny, just play it realistically.

───Could you tell us about the character you played?

Maeno: Kiun was a hopeless man, but I felt that he was not a real scumbag because he had a side that worried about his girlfriend in a desperate situation. I was glad that he was not a real scumbag, because he had a manly side to him that allowed him to take various risks for her in the final stages of the play.

Tadano: I played the role of a homeless man named Isan, and in fact, I also played another role, that of the old man who develops the disease in the beginning. Isan is an ordinary uncle who travels with Hye-sun all the time. I don't know how he became homeless, but I think he is a very ordinary man who doesn't have any special skills.

─ Was there any scene that you liked or that left a strong impression on you when you played the role?

Maeno: The scene where he worries about his girlfriend's safety is memorable because I can sympathize with him. I was also able to sympathize with the scene where she is alone in such a situation, so I thought we were able to act in sync with each other.

Tadano: "I want to go home! I want to go home! I don't mean a specific place, but rather, "I want to go home to my family. So, I think he really represents the typical uncle of the world. Not homeless people, but ordinary people who live alone for some reason, or people who live together but feel distant from each other, or people who have various other problems. There are also political backgrounds such as conscription and wars that Japanese people don't understand. It was also refreshing to hear him express bitterness toward the current Korea, or something like that. I think his words are the thoughts of every man in his 50s who lives in this day and age, so I hope that his words will be seen by viewers.

─ ─ Is there any character other than the one you played that you would like to play or become?

Maeno: Do you want to try? ......?

Tadano: There are no good guys in this film (laughs).

Maeno: I think it would be better to have a weapon in a situation like this, so maybe a policeman.

Tadano Didn't all the policemen die? (laugh).

───Could you tell us any behind-the-scenes stories from the recording sessions?

Tadano: There was a great big incident that I can't write about. But we got through the recording without incident, and here we are (laughs).