Interview #1 in "Netojin no Susume" with Hozumi Gouda, sound director, and new voice actor Yosi Suzuki: "Unanimous selection".

The main character, Moriko Morioka, who is tired of her life as a company employee, finds solace in online games, and through her relationships there, she aims to return to "Neto-Matsu to Ria-Matsu" (from Neto-Matsu to Ria-Matsu), a story similar to a live-action drama. In this production, the avatar character in the game world and the player are played by different cast members, a characteristic of anime sound effects. Sound director Hozumi Gouda and Yoshiaki Suzuki, who plays Moriko's avatar character Hayashi, talk about the features of the work and the recording process from the perspective of a new voice actor. Gouda is also an actor and voice actor known for his role as Chirico Cubby in "Armored Trooper Votoms". In this interview, you should not miss what kind of vision he has for his work as a sound director.

───First of all, I would like you to tell us about the audition process.

Hozumi Gouda: We listened to the tapes that each actor recorded in the studio, and I narrowed it down to a few actors that I thought would be good for a particular role, and then the producers worked together to come up with a consensus. As the sound director, I was responsible for putting them all together, but in the end, they were chosen in a way that fit Director Yanaginuma's image. We decided on Mr. Suzuki through this process, and it was unanimous.

─ What were the key points in choosing the role of Hayashi played by Mr. Suzuki?

Gouda: Many of the other actors were veterans, so we wanted someone fresh and youthful for the role of Hayashi. When I heard Mr. Suzuki's voice, I had the impression that it was young, but also "stable".

What do you mean by "stable"?

Gouda It's a sense of security or trust, but I think it's whether or not he is confident in his tone. I think it is a characteristic of the player, rather than something that comes from training or experience. Suzuki was still in high school at the time, and even though there were other voice actors in his age group who were "aspiring" to be voice actors, he was already a professional in a good way. I saw that as a "sense of stability.

How did you approach the audition?

Actually I was auditioned by the manager for another character. I came to the audition at the end of the school day and was last in line, so luckily I had enough time to take a couple of roles. So, to be honest, I don't really remember how I felt about the role of Hayashi at the time of the audition. Later, when I heard that I was accepted for this film, I was very surprised to see that the role of Hayashi was written on the list.


─ ─ What was your impression of "Netojin no Susume"?

Suzuki: First of all, I was impressed by the unusual setting in which the main character is a "NEET, an office worker who has left the workforce after graduating from a salaried job. I thought that the story would concentrate on the game, but the real world is also depicted in the story, and I thought it was innovative to depict the intersection of the two. In the game, the player characters are all very kind, and the monsters are cute, rather than brutal, which I thought gave me a warm feeling.

───How did you approach the actual recording of the first episode as Hayashi?

Suzuki: I had played other characters during the audition, so I read the original story carefully before going to the recording to concentrate on Hayashi. However, I was extremely nervous during the recording of the first episode. Maybe it was because I was dressed in my school uniform (laughs). However, the seniors around me were kind to me, and I think I was able to perform well, linking my first appearance in a regular anime production with the freshness and freshness Moriko felt when she started playing the game. Moriko, Hayashi's player, is a person who can devote herself to one thing at a time, and whenever she makes a new discovery, she takes it in stride and has a big reaction. I felt that I had to take that sensitive side of her and pass it on to her as Hayashi.


─ Did you have any meetings with Mamiko Noto, who plays Moriko?

Suzuki: No, we did not have any particular meetings. We just had to watch and learn on the spot. If I thought that parts of Moriko that Ms. Noto was weaving in and out of the story would also appear in Hayashi, I would listen carefully to her performance and imitate it.

Gouda: Generally, actors don't discuss assembly with each other on set. We don't talk about things like, "I'm going to play this kind of character..." (laughs).

─ I heard that "Netojutsu" was recorded by prescoring (a method of recording the voice without pictures), how was it for you as a performer?

Suzuki: As a beginner voice actor, I think it is easier to get a feel for a scene if there are pictures first, but this time, since there were no pictures, I had to be sure to present what I had thought of, which I thought was difficult. I didn't know how to improvise at all at first, so I learned how to react and how to breathe by watching other actors.


───How did you feel during the recording?

Suzuki: First of all, it was great that I could gradually get used to the atmosphere. I tried to express myself as much as possible, because it is not good to be reserved or shy when you have to express yourself in your performance. I am not sure how much I grew over the course of the recording.

Gouda: Suzuki was a very talented boy from the beginning, and that is why he was chosen for the role this time. That's why he was chosen for this project. (Laughter).


(Everyone laughed).

Gouda I was joking, but when I listened to the audition tape, I could tell that the film was in such a high state of perfection. It might be possible to use an actor who is still in his infancy and have him grow through the program as the main character grows, but most productions nowadays are one-cour productions, and I think there is no room for that kind of thing anymore. Therefore, we did not select Mr. Suzuki on the basis of the expectation that he would be able to perform well from the beginning, rather than on the basis of a "let's hope he will develop through this" approach.