A hot uncle makes you hot!　Interview with Tomokazu Seki and Ai Chino to commemorate the start of "Infini-T Force" broadcast.

The broadcast of the TV anime "Infini-T Force," which brings together four major heroes, "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman," "Space Knight Tekkaman," "Shurakken Polymer," and "Shinzojin Casshan," has started as a Tatsunoko Productions 55th anniversary production. To commemorate the start of the broadcast, we interviewed Tomokazu Seki, who plays the role of Gatchaman/Ken Washio, and Ai Chino, who plays the heroine Emi Kaido!　They talked about the charm of the work and behind-the-scenes stories.
⇒2017 Fall Anime

The snow humiliation for the Tatsunoko productions that had been making us suffer!

--First of all, can you tell us what happened when you heard about the project?

Ai Chino (Chino): The audition was last spring or summer, a long time ago. I think it was partly because it was a 3DCG work, but first, an actor played the role for the motion, and then we received the CG version of the actor's performance, which we then checked.

Tomokazu Seki (Seki) This was my third audition for Gatchaman. I also auditioned for the previous TV series and OVA (*TV anime "Gatchaman Crows" and OVA "GATCHAMAN"). I took "Polymer," "Casshern (Sins)," and "Tekkaman (Blade)," and they all failed. For "Casshern Sins," they said, "We'll probably go with Seki-kun," but he didn't get it, so I've had a hard time with the ...... Tatsunoko film.

Chino: If you had done Casshern then, it might not have been Gatchaman this time.

Seki That's right. So I am glad that I was able to participate on the 55th anniversary, which was a perfect milestone for me. I was also able to make up for my mistake (laughs).

Chino: Please keep it "cool and funny" here.

--Yes, that's right. Mr. Seki, were you aiming for the role of Gatchaman this time?

Seki: I had about five roles, including that of the enemy, but I really wanted to play Polymer. I really wanted to play Polymer, because I like Polymer. But when I looked at the pictures, they had a modern look and the atmosphere was very different from the original, so I thought to myself, "Oh, this is not me now, so I guess Gatchaman is my choice. I also thought it would be fun to play the bad guys. I thought the heroes would be played by people a generation younger than me (laughs).

Chino: I also auditioned for Laugh, Belle Lynn (one of the enemies, a bewitching alien played by Kana Hanazawa), and two female characters. Laugh was played in a natural way, but she is a bit younger than me, so I was conscious of the lightness of her speech, although she is not a "gyaru" (gal). It was a strange feeling to be playing with heroes that everyone knows.

--By the way, have you seen any of the original works?

Chino: I watched them in reruns. I am a girl, so I watched "Akubi-chan" (*"Haxon Daimaou") and "Minago Hatch" more often. I had also seen the works of the heroes in this film, so I was filled with anticipation that it would be cool to see heroes who have been active for a long time in 3DCG.

Seki: I watched "Gatchaman Fighter" (*"Science Ninja Team Gatchaman F") in real time, and I've seen most of the other works through reruns and distribution. However, I was not a fan of the depiction of the pain when Tekkaman transforms (......). I was scared of Pegas because he only said "Rasaa". And then he transforms inside of him and gets hurt badly.

Chino: Ah~. Were you able to overcome that this time?

Nob Seki: That part was worse this time (laughs).

--(laughs) - is this talk going to be okay?

Nob Seki No, no, no. I'm just giving you my pure impression (laughs). But as a hero lover, I found Tekkaman the most interesting this time. Gatchaman and Polymers are more about fighting, but Tekkaman has flying weapons, a whip, and a lance, which adds an accent to his fights. Also, he often comes to the rescue on his pegasus in the middle of a fight, which is a very tasty way to treat him. That's why Tekkaman is featured in my mind this time.

Is the theme a hot sermon?

--What is your impression of Ken Gatchaman?

Seki: The director's intention was to make a serious film about a serious old man giving a sermon to young people, and although it is passionate and old-fashioned in today's world, he thought it would move young people if it had an honest feel. In that sense, I think I was the right choice for Gatchaman. I didn't really feel it when I was on set, but when I saw the finished film, I understood it well.

--I like the feeling of a man from the Showa period. His sense of justice and kindness make him nagging and lecturing.

Seki: He has been nagging me for a long time now, all the way to the end. Until the very end. That's the theme of the film (laughs). (Laughs.) Like in the scene at the Halloween party, when he is giving his friend a licking, he says to him, "You shouldn't talk that way. He would say, "You can't talk to me that way. Apologize to your friend.

Chino: He says, "That's annoying," and disappears (laughs).

--(laughs) - Mr. Chino, what do you think of Laugh?

Chino: Laugh is too honest. She is very natural in the way she follows every greeting. When Gatchaman first came to her rescue, he asked her if she was hurt, but she said "Hello. but he just said, "Hello" (laugh). (Laughs.) So the exchange of "Are you hurt?" was very interesting.

Seki: But that "Hello" was foreshadowing what was to come. It's not just a natural quip.

Chino: Actually, it is. I know it looks natural in the beginning. ...... His language is harsh, so I was worried that people would not like me when I played him. She is serious and honest in a way, but it comes out in both good and bad ways. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this work besides the greetings. You can tell that the father is the enemy rather early on.

Nob Seki: That's why you should see it twice.

Chino: The images are beautiful, and I was impressed by the CG. The camera work in the battle scenes is also cool. Also, the sudden change in the touch of the picture during the reminiscence scenes is very nice.

--The background and the characters are in the same painting style, which is a harmony process. It was an indispensable direction for a Showa-era work.

Chino: It was very fresh. I was really looking at it closely, thinking, "This is the way you did it.

--Did you find any difference in the way of acting in the 3DCG work compared to normal animation?

Nob Seki: The presence of the motion actors was a big factor. I think they were probably regular actors or suit actors, but their acting was natural. For better or worse, voice actors are too accustomed to doing voices for animated films, and they tend to use stereotypical expressions. But they said the lines without being bound by that, and our tone of voice was able to be more in line with theirs.

Chino: The actors' acting was also very helpful, and I learned some nuances from them.

--How was the atmosphere at the postrecording studio?

Chino: The men talked a lot about the heroes.

Nob Seki: There are many other Tatsunoko heroes, so we were talking about what would happen if I appeared in one of them.

Chino: I really enjoyed the play-acting. Speaking of which, there were so many funny parts of Mr. Seki's acting that I could only think he was going for it. ...... was almost cut, but the scene where he is being chased by Frender was terrible. I mean this as a compliment (laughs). I mean this as a compliment (laughs), but it was just awful!　Stop it! It was hard to hold back my laughter because laughing would have made noise (laughs).

Nob Seki: If you were being chased by a dog like that, you would normally look stupid because you are a human being. But I'm a very serious person, you know?　It's better to have that part of you that makes you look cool in the fight scenes. I don't want to play cool roles just for the sake of being cool, I need to be cool in everyday life as well.

Chino: I really enjoy that kind of outgoingness. I thought he was an "old man" who was easy to love.