She played the role of Eren in "Tensura" for the first time as a regular! What is the ideal voice actress that fresh girl Akane Kumada is aiming for? Welcome, newcomers! 11th Edition]

With more and more anime being released every day, newcomers are appearing on the scene one after another. In this series, Akiba Research Institute will conduct in-depth interviews with "newcomers" of interest to Akiba Research Institute!　That is "Newcomers, welcome! The series is called "Welcome, Newcomers!

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This time, we have a new voice actress, Akane Kumada, who plays the role of Eren in the TV anime "Tensei Tareta Slymu Datta Netto Koto" currently airing on TV.

In 2017, Ms. Kumada won the Grand Prix at the "ANISONG STARS" audition for the next generation of voice actors and artists, where top runners in the industry such as Noriyasu Uematsu, Hironobu Kageyama, Aki Hata, and Kenichi Suzumura served as judges, despite being only 17 years old. She is a Cinderella girl who successfully made her debut as a voice actor artist out of 4,846 applications.

One year after winning the grand prix, she is now 18 years old and studying hard. We asked her about episodes before her debut and her goals as a voice actor artist.

Part-time job, club activities, and auditions...... busy student days

--Nice to meet you! First of all, please introduce yourself.

Kumada My name is Akane Kumada, born on February 3, 18 years old. I love singing and acting, and my favorite food is hamburgers!

--I love to sing and act, and my favorite food is hamburgers!

Kumada: I have appeared as a mob character before, but this is the first time for me to play a character with a name.

--How did you feel when you saw your performance on TV?

Kumada: I was very happy to see how well Ellen had turned out, and I thought she was cute, even though she was my own character. I also thought, "I wish I could have done a little more.

--What made you want to become a voice actor?

Kumada: I have loved "HUNTER x HUNTER" since I was a child, but the work that made me decide to become a voice actor was "Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I was so absorbed in anime that I started to yearn for a career as a voice actor, and I set my sights on becoming a voice actor because I wanted to be able to give people the emotions I felt.

I started thinking about my career path between the third year of junior high school and the first year of high school. That is when I started to think about my future career. I also started to go to various auditions around that time.

I also love Mare Uchida. I respect her singing and her personality both as a voice actress and as a human being, and from there my desire to become a voice actress grew stronger.

--Did you originally attend voice actor training or lessons?

Kumada: I did all of my training on my own. I only attended voice training with a teacher, but my parents told me, "We won't support you, but we don't want you to do what you want to do. So I started working part-time at a supermarket from high school and used the money I saved to go to lessons. I also had to pay for transportation to go to auditions, so I used my savings there as well. So I had to work part-time, do club activities, and go to auditions.

--By the way, what kind of club activities were you involved in during your school days?

Kumada: In junior high school I was in the badminton club, and in high school I was in the koto (Japanese harp) club. I really liked sports, and I was planning to join an athletic club in high school as well, but a friend of mine happened to take me to see the koto club, and it was really cool. I had an image of Japanese musical instruments as being rather plain, but in fact, the seniors were playing in kimono, and the moment when they played all the notes together was so cool that I instantly decided to join the club.

I was the head of the club, and while I was doing that, I had help from the vice president and other club members as I went through the audition process.

--Kumada: So you were open about your dream of becoming a voice actor.

Kumada: I have a desire to share my dreams with others, even if I am embarrassed to do so. I also believe in kotodama, that by saying it out loud, my dream will come true, and that I have to work hard because I have said it to others. I told a lot of people around me and received a lot of support from them.

The first words my family said to me after I passed the audition

--Kumada: Thanks to your efforts, you won the grand prix in the "ANISONG STARS" competition.

Kumada: I passed this audition right around the time I was graduating from high school, and it was a time when I was considering whether or not to go to college. At the time, I was auditioning for more than 30 companies, and I thought that if I failed this audition, I would go to college, so it was really my last audition and I gave it my all.

I had been allowed to go to the final screening for a few other auditions, but I failed in the first and second rounds. If I really wanted to do it, I could try again after graduating from college.

--I was in such a backwater position when I auditioned for "ANISONG STARS," but was there ever a moment when you thought you might make it this time?

Kumada: At the time of the audition, before I left home, I told my family for the first time, "I'm going to win the Grand Prix! I said to my family before I left home.

--That was the Kotodama effect, wasn't it?

Kumada (laughs). I was still very nervous at the venue, but I was so excited because the people around me were kind, they had prepared a box lunch for me at the final screening, and the makeup artist was in the room. It was the first time in my life that I had someone do my makeup. I was really excited because it was the first time in my life that I had someone do my makeup. I was really fascinated by makeup artists, and I felt like I was really a model.

--You mean you feel like a celebrity? (laughs).

Kumada That's right (laughs). (laughs) So instead of being nervous, I was talking with the makeup artist the whole time.

Actually, during the final screening of the audition, I was told to come without makeup or anything. I took that to heart and thought, "If I don't do anything, that means I have to show them as I am! So I went to the venue with my head shaggy from sleeping, and the makeup artist said, "What! Then the makeup artist said, "What? (laugh). (Laughs.) But because of that, I became friends with the makeup artist. The people at the office said, "At first we thought you were a staff member" (laughs).

(laughs) -- Do you remember how you felt when you became a finalist in that audition?

Kumada: I was surprised. I had rarely made it to the final round before, so I was really surprised when I received a phone call saying that I had made it to the final round, and I wondered why I had made it.

--What do you think was the deciding factor for you?

Kumada: During the second round, I sang a song a cappella, and while I was singing I realized that I was so nervous that I had raised my pitch one note higher than I normally do. But it was too late, so I just sang it to the end. I think I might have been able to show that I could sing in a higher key.

I also read the script I received on the spot, and I put my heart and soul into my performance, so I think something stuck with me here. I can't really say "this" for myself. ......

But I really enjoyed taking part in the final screening. All the finalists were kind and we did makeup together and ate lunch while saying, "This is delicious. ...... I wonder if that was part of what they saw in me.

--The judges were a stellar lineup, including Noriyasu Uematsu, Hironobu Kageyama, Aki Hata, and Kenichi Suzumura, all of whom were actually at the event.

Kumada: Yes. The audition outline also said that a number of distinguished people would be judging the audition, but I thought they would take a video and watch the footage. But I didn't expect to see them lined up in front of me. ...... I was surprised to see such people standing in front of me in line. I was surprised to see them standing in line, but at the same time, I was so happy to see them that I got excited and said, "I'm going to do my best for the audition! I was more excited than "I'm going to do my best in the audition," because I was so happy to meet them.

--I was more excited that "these people will see me" than "I'm going to do my best in the audition!

Kumada: I have a shallow sense of humor, and even at postrecording sessions, I find things funny without even trying to find them. I try to do it right every time.

That's why I enjoyed the final audition so much. Perhaps because of that, I was told later that I looked like I was having fun.

--How did you feel when the Grand Prix was announced?

Kumada: First of all, I called my family, sobbing. They thought I had failed, and told me that there was always the next round, and that I should just keep on trying at college (laughs). (Laughs.) "No, I got accepted. They didn't believe me at first. After I went home, they said, "It was just a dream, wasn't it? I love my grandmother so much.

I love my grandmother, so I called her that day. She said, "Did you put the laundry in? She said, "Did you put in the laundry? It was raining on the day of the final screening, but she said, "That's not important! I passed the audition! They kept talking about the laundry.

My family couldn't believe that I had passed the audition.

But they supported my efforts to keep working part-time and going to auditions on my own, so in the end they told me that they were happy for me and that if I was that serious about it, they would support me as much as possible.

The "trans-slab" site was full of learning!

--You said you were self-taught, but what kind of training did you have before your debut?

Kumada: I did postrecording by myself with the sound of the animation turned off, and I would search the Internet for videos of voice actors doing postrecording and watch them to get an idea of how they would do it.

What I felt from watching the videos was that the eyes of the voice actors change when they are acting. I can't explain it well, but I could see the moment of "acting" or "becoming" the role, and I thought that it would be a great feeling if I could change myself like that.

That is why I started out by imitating. I was trying to imitate the voice actor's voice, the way he or she said things, and everything else. Now I don't try to imitate them anymore.

--So you are now in the process of learning the techniques of a proper voice actor for the first time?

Kumada Yes. This is all new to me. I was self-taught, so I was told how to do the voice, how to create the role, and how to make it more emotional. Since I am seeing the script for the first time, I am learning what it says and how to read it. But I'm the type of person who gets angry a lot. ......

--But you seem to enjoy even that.

Kumada I'm kind of happy (to be scolded). When I work alone, I feel lonely because no one says anything to me.

And when they get mad at me, it means that they are watching my performance. I think it is really kind of them to tell me what they think, and they wouldn't have said anything if they didn't want to nurture me. I would be more afraid of that, so I appreciate it. I think I am the type of person who grows when I am praised even when I am angry ......, so I am happy when people are angry with me. Haha (laughs).

--I often hear that voice actors need not only acting skills, but also craftsmanship skills such as how to stand in front of the microphone and how to turn the script around.

Kumada That's really true. When senior actors turn the script over, they don't make a sound. I don't understand what that means anymore! Even though it's on paper! I was like, "It's on paper!

I practiced that for the first time in the lesson, and my seniors taught me how to hold it between my fingers, but even now I still make a little sound. That's why I always watch my seniors' movements desperately. When I was practicing by myself, I thought I was supposed to go to a certain position when moving to the microphone, but in reality, I was surprised to see how quickly they moved to the appropriate microphone position based on the atmosphere of the scene. It was like a field day! I thought.

--Kumada Yes, that's right.

Kumada That's right, the newcomer sits by the door and opens and closes it. I am the newest one on the set, so I am always in charge of opening the door, but there is one person who opens the door very quickly, so I was desperate (laughs).

At the recording studio for "Tensura," there are chairs on both sides of the door, and I was supposed to sit in the shorter chair, but I mistakenly sat in the longer one. When I apologized desperately, he gently said, "I don't mind," and I was really happy.

I was really happy, and it got me fired up to do my best. Tensura" is a project where I am constantly fired up.

--Did your impression of the job change before and after you started working on it?

Kumada: It changed a lot. I am learning a lot in the lessons while helping my classmates, but you can't really understand the atmosphere of the work site unless you actually go there. The "Tensura" studio is very warm, and everyone seems to be working together to make everyone happy. The sound director, Hitoshi Akeitagawa, is also a person who really gets the cast excited and draws out good performances from them.

I'm the type of person who usually asks questions too aggressively, but he is very kind to me even when I do. The character I play, Eren, is an adventurer in a trio with two other characters, Gido and Cabal. My character is called "Sis" in the movie, and I was really happy that they called me "Sis" even when I wasn't recording. Even when I was dragging her down because I ate other people's lines (or overlapped with them) or didn't match the time, she told me, "Even if you don't match Akane-chan's lines, we will match them later, so you can act as much as you want. I was surprised that they were so kind to me even though I was a newcomer. It is a place where I am really able to put out all the power I have at the moment.

LiSA's words saved me from the hard days.

--You also love to sing, don't you?

Kumada I have always loved singing. My hobby is cooking, and I sing while cooking, or I spend all day at home spinning around in circles while singing (laughs).

(Laughs) When I was in my first year of high school, a friend introduced me to LiSA and I went to my first live concert. I cried, laughed, and had fun. I wanted many people to know how happy I felt, and I thought that I would be happy if my performance made them feel this way.

When I heard the MC say, "I believe in you, it's going to be okay," I cried a lot. ...... At that time, it was really hard for me not to pass the audition, but those words saved my life and I thought, "If LiSA-san says so, I can do my best. I started going to voice training not as a hobby, but with the aim of becoming a professional.

--You could say that LiSA-san decided my life.

Kumada I like rock music, so I admire not only LiSA who sings those kinds of songs, but also LiSA who sings ballads, LiSA who sings cute songs, and so on. My dream for the future is to become an artist with an unprecedented style, and I have always said that I admire LiSA as part of that.

I have read many interviews with LiSA, and she also says that she has been auditioning a lot, and that in the end she would be happy if she could sing in any audition, whether it be for gravure or idol. I kept auditioning in that spirit.

--Kumada: You say that you want to be an artist with an unprecedented feel.

Kumada This is another kotodama, but my goal is to become the world's best voice-over artist who is active in a wide range of fields. I am the type of person who enjoys everything, and of course I enjoy acting as a voice actor, which I am currently learning in lessons. I also enjoy acting lessons as an actor, which emphasize the use of the entire body and facial expressions, and I also enjoy singing. I am also trying my hand at writing lyrics, and writing lyrics is fun, and I hope to be able to do all of these fun things.

I am also very interested in foreign countries. I want to travel abroad, and I want people overseas to say "Akane" when I say "Akane" and "I love Akane" when I say "Akane. I also love anime and songs, so if I can spread them around the world, it will surely lead to world peace (laughs). (Laughs) I think it would be a lot of fun if anime could bring everyone closer together.

--Do you want to sing the theme song of an anime someday?

Kumada That is really my dream. I have a dream to sing the theme song of an anime in which I am in--or, more broadly, in which I play the main role.

-- and I'm going to ...... for Anisama.

Kumada Wow! I feel like I'm going to collapse the moment I hear about it (laughs). I couldn't make it this year, but I went last year. I went with friends, and we made a lot of noise and enjoyed watching the show as a fan, while learning a lot.

--But let's not forget to mention that (laughs). It's a kotodama, isn't it?

Kumada Yes, let's say that. Someday, please do!

--Lastly, what kind of person do you want to be one year from now?

Kumada: Right now, there are still many things I don't understand, and I am supported by many people. I would like to repay them all, even if only a little.

The staff at the office are really kind to me, and I feel like they are my second family. I want them to feel as much relief as possible.

I would be very happy if anime fans like Akane Kumada as a person, not just as an artist, and that is what I am trying to achieve every day. That is my human goal, and from this point on it is just a kotodama, but I have a strong desire to sing the theme song.

I love singing, but I have a lot of challenges. I am hitting a wall right now because I have been self-taught and have not learned any technical skills until now. I am learning every day, and I keep tripping up, getting depressed, and getting encouragement, but I would love to sing the theme song someday!

--And who would you like to co-star with: .......

Kumada: That would be Mare Uchida, of course. She played the role of Arka in "HUNTER x HUNTER," and I have loved her since then. I was shocked at how cool it was. I was also shocked at how cool it was. And Uchida's face is my personal type (laughs). I really like girls. ......

--...... hmm?

Kumada: Oh, I don't mean that in a weird way (laughs). I watch them at night, and I am soothed by their cuteness before I go to bed (laugh). I want to be that kind of voice actor. I would like to be that kind of voice actress, and I would be very happy if someone said, "I can easily recognize you as Akane Kumada, but your acting is completely different from mine. I would like to see Uchida-san's acting, which is my goal, at my side. I would also like to work with LiSA-san in singing.

I will do my best for that day!