General Director of the fall anime "Reel Romanesque" Sasayoshi Hirasawa talks about the highlights of the anime version and the work of the sound director.

The short anime "Reel Romanesque" follows a group of beautiful girls known as "Railroads," who use their wits to revive the railroads that have entered a period of decline.

The work began broadcasting and distributing on TOKYO MX on October 2, 2020, and its general director is Hisayoshi Hirasawa, who has also worked on many other works as a sound director.

In this interview, we asked Mr. Hirasawa about the highlights of this work and his secrets of working as a sound director!

--First of all, could you tell us how you have been working as a sound director on this Corona Disaster?

Hirasawa: I would like to tell you that as of the time of this interview (September 2020), I am still not back to my previous state.

Fortunately, the recording of "Heterogeneous Reviewers" and "ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream!", which I was in charge of, were finished when the new coronavirus started to spread, and around March or April, we started "dubbing (matching dialogue, BGM and sound effects)". (matching dialogue, BGM, and sound effects), and it had become the norm for staff to participate in this process remotely.

For the recording of other works, the director and other staff members began to participate in postrecording remotely.

There were some inconveniences, but the recording studios were very creative in making sure that the voices and sounds were clearly audible to the remote participants, and the recording went very smoothly.

--What did you think about the fact that there was a lot of "cutting and recording" (recording the voices separately)?

Hirasawa: Actually, many of the works I have been in charge of were originally recorded without the voices. So I don't think it had much effect on me.

For me, there are various circumstances that lead to the flow of postrecording. There are advantages to both recording with everyone and recording without everyone, so I hope to record the best take on the spot.

What is a sound director's job and what is NG voice acting?

--In this interview, we would like to ask Mr. Hirasawa, who also works as a sound director, what the job of a sound director is, while talking about "Reel Romanesque" prior to its broadcast. First of all, I would like to talk about the casting of the voice actors. First of all, how exactly do you decide on the casting of voice actors?

Hirasawa: For the main characters, I think it is common to hold auditions.

In the case of the original game, the voices are already in place, so it is common for the cast members to be cast in the anime without any changes. For me personally, I would like to hold auditions and make a decision after careful consideration with the original creators and everyone involved.

──It is impressive that sound director Hirasawa's works feature "unexpected casting" such as casting veteran or popular voice actors for mob characters, although it is sometimes fondly referred to as "a waste of Mr. XX's time" on social networking sites.

Hirasawa: First of all, there is the "drop the lines that are not necessary. So, we consider the remaining lines as "this is an important line that cannot be dropped," regardless of the number of characters. So we hope to cast the right actor for every line. As an example of how we would ask a veteran voice actor to do this, let's say there is an exchange between a boss and a subordinate.

In this case, if the subordinate is done by a veteran voice actor, and there is a scene where his boss comes out for one episode and quietly reprimands him, we would not compromise on that, saying that it is only one episode, but would use a "more senior veteran voice actor" than the veteran voice actor.

I don't think it would be a good fit with a younger person because of the difference in experience and career. Also, they are called in because they are needed for one word. I believe that is where the value of veteran voice actors lies.

--That was the intention behind scenes like ...... where the big-name voice actors appear with just one word and leave.

Hirasawa: In the work "Kiantaro Boy's Yokai E Diary," we asked Michio Hazama, a big veteran, to narrate the first episode, and thanks to him, anyone who hears this narration will think, "This is good stuff! and we cast him as a surprise. As a result, it is very special to hear the original author and the audience say, "It was good.

--Do you also give acting guidance to the voice actors on site?

Hirasawa: "Acting instruction" is a difficult subject. I am going to make the assumption that there are two aspects to the job: directing and acting instruction. First, direction, in the case of anime postrecording, what kind of acting is appropriate for this scene ......?　The correct answer is obvious if one understands the script lines, the script notes, and the postrecording video. I can ask the actors to perform accordingly. In some cases, there may be more than one answer. In such cases, we may ask the actors to re-record the recording, using the correct answer here instead of the one there.

In addition, if the final picture is difficult to understand in the recording V, we may say, "This character in this scene will have a richer facial expression, so please make it richer. The image of the instruction may not be smooth or may be difficult to hear. In such cases, we would like to record a good take, so we will record it again. However, there are times when it is difficult to get it right. In such cases, I will tell you what I have noticed, such as, "If you do this, the sound will come out a little more easily. In such cases, we may tell them what we have noticed, and in that case, we may call it guidance. Either way, there are a variety of things that happen on location, and it is our job to make adjustments to improve the recording process on a case-by-case basis.

Of course, the actors also feel each other's performances and make the scene work, and the sound engineer is also very important. Therefore, the sound director, the actors, the sound engineer, the director, the director of each episode, etc., all feel each other, and I think it would be great if we can record takes that everyone is satisfied with and confident of being able to present to the world, in order to make it better.

--I think of it this way, I get the impression that the recording studio is a gathering of craftspeople who "work together to gradually shape the finished product".

Hirasawa: Of course, everyone participating in postrecording is a craftsman. As for the sound director, he has a role to play at the postrecording site, but I think dubbing is very important. In extreme cases, the main recording is done by the actors. And it is always finished when you go to the studio (laughs). The work before and after that is more important and time consuming. First, there is the ordering of the play accompaniment for the dubbing. This is the process of deciding what kind of music to order from the play accompaniment artist. Then we also have to decide where to put the play accompaniment, etc.

There are also many decisions that need to be made for the dubbing, such as looking at the whole scene, having the dialogue be theatrical, having the play accompaniment be theatrical, and ...... that the effects are important here. And we also have to put together a lot of things to tell the engineer who will put the final sound together.

However, as you can probably tell from what I have said so far, the work of a ...... sound director is mainly to think about and ask for work, so the actual work is done by the playwright, the effects person, and the engineer. Therefore, the person who has worked with you many times will be able to make the work go more smoothly. In many cases, we are told that we can specify the playwrights, effects people, and engineers, but in that case, we often ask for the help of people who have helped us in the past.

--So you are saying that "casting" is not limited to voice actors?

Hirasawa Yes, that's right. As a sound director, I am responsible for casting not only the actors, but also the accompanists, effects, and engineers, and once I get into that area, there may be almost nothing for me to do on site at ...... (laughs). At the most, I may have to work with the director, production producer, or producer's assistant. (Laughs.) At the most, I would check with the director, the production producer, and the original author, "How about this? (laugh). (laugh).

--By the way, recently, I have heard several voice actors at various production sites say that some of their voice acting is caught by the broadcasting code. (Laughs) -- By the way, I have recently heard from several voice actors that their voice acting has been caught by the broadcast code at several production sites.

Hirasawa I see. ...... Is that your main point? (Laughs) Certainly, I have worked as a sound director for many works that are called "monk's frame" such as "A night of lustful sexual intercourse with a monk...", and I have also been in charge of works that have been talked about a bit in that aspect such as "Fake Trap" and "Hetero-Reviewers", so I think I can tell you a little bit about them. I think I can tell you a little bit about them. First of all, it might be a bad idea to do the "characteristic breath play" too intensely. Sound effects are ...... well, ...... if I may say, "sounds similar to the sound of water, but not the sound of water", too loud sound may not be good.

─ ─ In sexually explicit animation, the visual aspect of the regulation, such as "mysterious light," is often talked about, but is the sound aspect of the regulation actually more severe?

Hirasawa: There are no clear standards for "characteristic breath play" or "sound similar to the sound of water, but not the sound of water," as I explained earlier. I have not heard that there is a clear standard that "characteristic breath play" should not exceed this range of waveforms, or that the volume of "sounds similar to the sound of water, but not the sound of water" should be this loud.

However, I think the hurdles are getting higher and higher in terms of the regulation ...... (regarding sound) and the volume level that is considered OK. If the hurdle is going up, that means the volume is going down. However, that is for broadcast, and the volume for BD and DVD will be larger than for broadcast. I consider this to be the original version.

--I think that if you listen to the same work in different media and compare them, you may be able to see to what extent the restrictions have been applied.

Hirasawa: Yes, that's right. By all means, please compare! As for broadcasting, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) is the ministry that ultimately has jurisdiction over TV stations, so if a station is instructed to re-dub a work, I consider that to be "the will of the Japanese nation and MIC. Of course, I have no intention to disobey. (Laughter). But if the "will of the Japanese nation and MIC" is strengthened in terrestrial broadcasting, it means that the value of the original version recorded on the web and on discs (BD and DVD) will increase. I hope that everyone will also enjoy the original version, which contains the power and thoughts of all the members involved in the production, including the original author, related parties, production, advertising, production staff, actors, sound members, etc!

I hope that "Reel Romanesque" will be a work that will touch the people in the disaster-stricken areas, even if only a little.

--I hope "Reel Romanesque" will resonate even a little with the people affected by the disaster. In the meantime, the anime "Reel Romanesque," for which Mr. Hirasawa serves as sound director and general director, will begin in October. What kind of work is it?

Hirasawa: The general framework of the story is that in a world where railroads have fallen into disuse, the characters, called "Railroads," struggle to restore the railroads .......

--How do you think the story will unfold?

Hirasawa: Some characters from the original game ("Maitetsu -pure station-" for Play Staion4 and Nintendo Switch) will make cameo appearances, but all major characters will be making their first appearance in the anime.

The main storyline of the 5-minute anime is 3 minutes long, but it is divided into two parts, A and B. It's a very aggressive structure. The film is 3 minutes long, but it is divided into two parts, A and B. It's a very aggressive composition (laughs).

And ...... what a surprise!　The narration is by Shigeru Chiba.

--Why did you choose Mr. Chiba?

Hirasawa: The main setting of the story is Hitoyoshi City in Kumamoto Prefecture, so we asked Mr. Chiba, who is also from Kumamoto Prefecture, to do the narration.

--The story is set in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, and we were very interested in having Mr. Chiba, who is also from Kumamoto Prefecture, join the cast.

Hirasawa: Yes, Mr. Chiba did a wonderful job narrating the story, so please look forward to it as well.

--Can you tell us about the characteristics of each of the characters and their performances?

Hirasawa: "Suzushiro," played by Uesaka Sumire, is the leader of the group, but she has a serious yet heartwarming personality.
Aya Suzaki plays the role of "Kiko," a young lady, but she also has a cute and elegant side to her. Ai Furuhata's character "Iyo" is very cute, but she also has a strong personality. Tomoyo Kurosawa's "Beni" is a very energetic character, but I was glad to see her heartwarming and innocent side come out. Riiko," played by Yurika Kubo, is a bit of an elusive character who loves insects, but she also has an assertive side. I think that she was able to express this difficult balance very well. Mai Nagai did a great job in portraying the character's "kakaa" (literally, "mother"), or, to put it another way, the feeling of having enough room. Ayaka Izasaki, who plays the role of "Xiuri," is the only character from another country, and I think she did a good job of conveying a sense of foreignness in a naturalistic manner. Chihiro Kamitesto, who plays Shirogane, may seem quiet, but I think she did a good job of portraying the passionate element hidden inside. I also think that Shigeru Chiba's narration supports the conversational drama among the cute characters, which is a very well-balanced and good casting.

--The city of Hitoyoshi, which is the model for the stage, was severely damaged by the July 2020 torrential rains.

Hirasawa: We had planned to go location hunting around May, but we couldn't go because of the state of emergency declared in Corona. Finally, in July, when we had a good chance to go, we were hit by the torrential rain disaster. ...... I was informed that the places I was planning to visit for location scouting had also changed.

At that time, the "significance" of this work increased a little in my mind. The mission to "preserve the scenery that may never return through this animation" came down to ...... on its own. I had originally planned to include eye-catching images of various regions associated with the Railroods in the film, but I changed the concept to "preserve the scenery before it was lost due to the torrential rains". Since we are unable to go on location scouting trips, we are borrowing many photos from local people and others who are willing to help us. Although we can't help much, the staff is working hard to preserve the scenery in the animation, even if only a little. We hope that the local people and those who love Hitoyoshi will watch this work and feel, even if only a little, that this is the kind of scenery they remember.

--We have received a lot of support through crowdfunding.

Hirasawa: I was surprised to see how many ardent fans there were for the crowdfunding. This has put a lot of pressure on us to create something good. We hope that the content will meet your expectations and that you will enjoy the various challenges we are taking on. We hope you will enjoy the show.

(Interview, text, and photography by Atsushi Saeki)