500 TYPE EVA" appears in the TV anime "Shinkansen Transforming Robot Shinkarion Z"! Emi Ogata, who plays Shinji Ikari, talks about the 9/17 broadcast of the "Shinkarion Z x EVA Collaboration" episode!

The TV anime "Shinkansen Transformable Robot Shinkarion Z" ("Shinkarion Z") is currently airing. Recently, the collaboration with Hello Kitty became a hot topic, and in the 21st episode to be broadcast on September 17, the collaboration with the "Evangelion" series will be realized again.

This is the third collaboration between the "Shinkarion" series and the "Evangelion" series, following the previous TV animation "Shinkansen Transformable Robot Shinkarion" and the film version "Shinkansen Transformable Robot Shinkarion: ALFA-X of God Speed". Some of you may have been hoping that it would appear sometime in this film as well.

This time, the design has evolved even further, and the name "Shinkarion Z 500 TYPE EVA" will appear. In addition, Meitetsu's "Series 2000 Mu-Sky Evangelion Special Edition" (no longer in service) will appear as the "Zyliner," a vehicle with enhanced armament, and when combined with the Z, it will become the "Shinkarion Z 500 Mu-Sky TYPE EVA. In addition to the "MUSE SKY PROGRESSIVE Shingoutou," a weapon that has evolved through the Z-formation, it will also be equipped with the "Spear of Bunkinus.

We spoke with Emi Ogata, who plays Shinji Ikari in the "Evangelion" series, about this and previous collaborations.

At first, I wondered if it would be okay for a work like ours to be included (laughs).

-This is your third collaboration with us, following the previous "Shinkarion" and the movie version. What was your honest impression when you heard about this collaboration?

Ogata: I wondered if it was a good idea even though the "Shinkansen 500 TYPE EVA" (in operation from November 7, 2015 to May 13, 2018) had long since ended its service. I thought so.

-- So, how was the first time you collaborated?

Ogata: When I heard about it, I thought it was for real. I wondered if it would be okay to include a serious work like ours in a program for children (laughs). I was joking, of course, when I said ...... that I thought there might be a future in which a bullet train would run straight into Godzilla, as in Anno's other works. I am glad that it was a relatively peaceful world line.

--When the "Shinkansen 500 TYPE EVA" was put into service, it was a big hit, wasn't it?

Ogata: I thought it was great that the Shinkansen was painted in Evangelion colors, and I wanted to ride it, but it was the Sanyo Shinkansen, so I thought I would never have a chance to ride it.

--But since it was the Sanyo Shinkansen, I thought I would never have a chance to ride it.

Ogata: Yes, I had a live TV program on Abema at the time, and I rode the train once as part of the program. The ride was from Fukuoka to Hiroshima. （I was told that I could only get a ticket up to that point (due to the popularity of the train), so I took a regular bullet train from Hiroshima back to Tokyo.

--Do you remember what it was like on the train?

Ogata: It was a while ago, so my memory is a little hazy, but I do remember hearing Akira Ishida's voice (playing Kaworu Nagisa) (laughs).

--And this time, the collaboration will take place after the completion of "Shin Evangelion the Movie".

Ogata: After the final stage greeting for "Shin Evangelion the Movie," I said to everyone, "Thank you for your hard work," and "It may be a very long time before we meet again, but we will meet again in the far, far future! When I said something like that, the manager of one of the performers in this collaboration told me, "I'm sorry, the recording is tomorrow" (laughs). (Laughs.) "So it's not in the distant future.

What did Shinji Ikari never say in "Evangelion"?

--What is it like to play the role of Shinji Ikari in the world of "Shinkarion Z"?

Ogata: At the very least, I think of it as a different world from "Evangelion," so I don't really feel like I'm playing the same person, but rather a different character. I don't really feel like I am playing the same person, but rather a different character. I don't see him as the same Shinji.

--Did you have any direction for the recording?

Ogata: Not this time, but when we first collaborated, but I remember that I was told to be more like an older brother than I was in "Evangelion.

--I remember that you asked me to make it look more like an older brother than in "Evangelion".

Ogata: The main difference is that I shout out the names of the techniques. In the "Evangelion" series, he never shouts out the names of the techniques, so I don't think he probably shouted out the names of the techniques even once.

--Did you feel embarrassed to shout out the names of the techniques that you normally don't shout out?

Ogata: I'm a voice actor, so I don't have any resistance to saying the names of techniques, but as Shinji, how should I say them? (laughs).

(Laughs) -- So there was that kind of difficulty, too.

Ogata: When acting a character, I start from the environment around the character, for example, what I would think if I were 14 years old, surrounded by such people, in such a situation, and in such a way... I think it is important to be able to say what the character is capable of doing.

The fact that he is able to say the technique means that his upbringing is different from that of "Evangelion," so I imagine what kind of environment he would have had to grow up in to be able to say the technique. So, I try to imagine what kind of environment they would have had to grow up in to be able to say that. But since there was not much information, I had to force some changes in order to make the character shout out the technique.

--I see that was the case. So, what are the highlights for "Evangelion" fans?

Ogata: Shinji is not the one talking the most this time. So, please look forward to his activities, or rather, the fact that he is talking so much! (laughs). Also, the "Lance of Longinus" in "Evangelion" is called the "Lance of Bunkinus. I thought a lot about whether it was the same thing, whether it was a gag, and whether I should say it while laughing. It was a little embarrassing to say this (laughs).

--Lastly, do you have a message for those who are looking forward to it?

Ogata: I think it's really great and gratifying to be asked to work on a film like this, even after the film has come to a close. The other day, when Mr. Anno said in his stage greeting that "Evangelion" was a robot anime, I was surprised because I had never thought of it as a robot anime until now. But I think it's interesting that (in the world of "Shinkarion Z") it looks like a robot and that people can enjoy it.

This time, there is a new transformation (called "Z Combination"), so I hope "Evangelion" fans can look forward to that as well, and I hope "Shinkarion Z" fans will enjoy the appearance of a slightly different brother and a different Shinkarion Z again.

(Interview, text, and photos by Kenichi Chiba)