2023 Summer Anime] Interview with Taku Yashiro (playing the role of Tsugaru Shinchi) for the TV anime "Undead Girl Murderfalse" "We discussed the balance between the parts we wanted to do and the parts that sounded good while making the anime.

Taku Yashiro plays Shinuchi Tsugaru, a half-human, half-demon who goes by the nickname "Oni-killer" in the TV anime "Undead Girl Murderfalse," which starts in July.

He and his maid Shizuku Hasei (CV: Makoto Koichi), a detective specializing in monsters, work together to solve numerous cases as the "Torigoten Master" in order to find the body of the immortal detective Rindo Aya (CV: Tomoyo Kurosawa), a beautiful young girl, The film depicts their journey through Europe, and the light-hearted dialogue between Tsugaru and Raven Night is also a highlight of the production. Mr. Yashiro, who says he has been looking forward to playing the role for a long time, told us about his approach to playing Tsugaru, the recording session with Mr. Kurosawa's Raven Night, and the "phallus=funny drama" element he felt in this work.

You said that you were looking forward to playing Tsugaru. How did you feel about actually playing the role?

Yashiro: The character started with the idea of what kind of death would be interesting as an art form, and even after meeting Raven Night, he still has the same desire to see, hear, touch, and do interesting things. No matter how serious the situation around him becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, no matter how serious the situation becomes, Tsugaru is funny, or he himself is funny, and he acts in such a way that people can laugh at him. I was conscious of this imbalance, and it was a part of the performance that I enjoyed. No matter how dark the story gets, I always laugh it off or make a small joke that is not appropriate for the situation. I really enjoyed playing that kind of air-headedness.

Mr. Kurosawa, who plays the role of Raven Night, seems to be quite fond of Tsugaru. He said it was a massive fetish. What do you find attractive about Tsugaru?

Yashiro: The biggest attraction is that they are not stupid. They may look like they are playing coy, but they are actually playing a trick, or they may look like they are not thinking, but in fact they are thinking. Tsugaru is a man who is prepared to die once, so I think he is like a "phallus" until the curtain comes down, even though that is not the title of the play. That is his core. People with a core are cool and attractive. Whether that core is serious, passionate, cute, or funny, people with any kind of core are attractive. I feel that people who are hungry convey something to the audience, and that is why I think Tsugaru is attractive.

Q: I heard that you listened to a lot of Rakugo in order to play Tsugaru.

Yashiro: The rakugo in the original story was a real one, so I had a lot of exposure to it through images and sound recordings. It was very interesting to see how different storytellers told the same story in different tempos and delivery styles. What was amazing was that even though I knew the story and the ending, I could laugh no matter how many times I heard it. I thought that was the ultimate. When I was watching the show alone at home, I found myself chuckling and laughing, and I felt that it was a great trick. I felt it was an amazing art form. I thought, "This is what it means to laugh unintentionally.

Q: How did you develop the unique way of speaking in Tsugaru?

Yashiro: I had not had much experience with rakugo, so it was very useful to hear a lot of rakugo. I thought it would be best if I could take the characteristics of the way he spoke and the way he presented his speech and make it into Tsugaru-bushi. One theme I had in mind was the aesthetics of the indistinctness of language. I wanted to intentionally create a tone that was slurred, but with a slight flow of particles, rather than a crisp, clear tone. However, it would be meaningless if I overdid it and the words were not audible, so I worked with the sound director, Mr. Wakabayashi, to find the right balance between what I wanted and what was audible.

Q: The dialogue between Raven Night and Tsugaru is also a major highlight of the film.

Yashiro: In both the novel and the script, I felt that Raven Night and Tsugaru's dialogue had a good chemistry, and I also thought that they had a similar sense of humor. Combined with the fact that they are both immortal heads and half-human, half-demon, I felt that there was a unique atmosphere woven between them. The tempo of the rehearsal V was beautifully created, so I was very grateful for the inspiration I received not only from the script but also from the images. The tempo was so fast-paced that I wondered what I would do when I played the role myself (laughs). (Laughs) During postrecording, I used the tempo of the rehearsal V as a base and fine-tuned it to add tone to the words. I put in as much playfulness as I could without going over the top.

Q: Tsugaru's speech itself is also a highlight of the film.

Yashiro: To be honest, Tsugaru's small talk itself seems necessary for the world of this story, but it is not necessary at all for the story to follow (laughs). In that sense, I would be happy if you enjoy it, but it is totally fine if you listen to it with a sense of "Tsugaru is talking again," like a quiet phrase. It would be great if you could just think of it as a little bit of spice. If I talk, I will be called noisy, but it is Tsugaru's personal words that inevitably come out of his mouth, so I hope you can enjoy it with that feeling.

Q: What did you think of the character played by Mr. Kurosawa, Raven Night?

Yashiro: He delivered his lines in a light-hearted and easygoing manner, so it was easy to get on board whether he was making fun of me or not, and I really enjoyed our conversations. I really enjoyed listening to the mystery part. The deduction part is to explain the facts and what happened, and there are a lot of cuts, so I think it was a lot of work to write the lines. I could tell from the amount of words in the script that it was a lot of work, but I felt that the text was not only easy to understand, but also colored in an interesting way. I was also excited by the phrasing that only Mr. Kurosawa could come up with and the reasoning that he made us listen to.

Mr. Kurosawa called it a "fairy tale for adults.

Yashiro: As an element of the original story, it is a stylish story that makes adults want to say "Wooooooo! I think it has a stylishness that makes adults want to say, "Woooo! It is very difficult to find the right balance of fashionable and stylish, and if the taste is too strong, it becomes cold. However, this work does not have that problem at all, and it is always stylish in a convincing way. The charm of this work has not changed even when it was made into an anime. The conversations, the events that happen, and all the little things that make adults giggle and get a little excited are all elements that I believe are definitely there. I feel that the "little" and "unintentional" parts are very adult. At the same time, I am curious to see what children will think when they watch it, and I think it is a work that will be interesting to those who do not usually watch anime, and will also appeal to those who have watched various types of anime.

Q: Various two-dimensional characters appear in the film as you travel around Europe. What is your favorite character?

Yashiro: Lupin. I think he has a different direction from Tsugaru, but he has an interesting core. Tsugaru has a direction that ultimately leads him to self-mutilation and is like a muddy art form, but Lupin is very straight-forward and cool. It's very difficult and hard to live a life of silliness, but he does it in his own way (laughs). I think the two of them are similar in the sense that they are both unwavering, and I hope people will look forward to the moment when they cross paths.

What kind of image do you have of "Phallus," which is also in the title?

Yashiro: A comedy is one that ends with everyone smiling. In this work, various incidents and events occur and people are lost, but in the end, I feel a sense of phallus in the way things fall into place in a smiley, joking, and stylish way. Comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin. It is easy to fall in either direction, but I think there is a sense that because it is a comedy, it does not end with a high laugh, but that there is a tragedy right behind it.

Q: Were you conscious of the fashionable way of dropping the ball when you played the role?

Yashiro: I didn't feel like I had to drop it. It was just a bit ridiculous and ridiculous to have a half-human, half-demon with a birdcage, a girl with an immortal severed head in the birdcage, a puppet maid nearby, and the three detectives. Whether they are doing a gag or a serious scene, a mystery part or solving a case, as soon as the three of them are together, a comedy has already been created. As long as I was playing Tsugaru, I felt a strange sense of security that everything would be all right.

(Reporting and writing by Shinobu Tanaka)

Anime Information

Undead Girl Murderfalls

＜Broadcast Information
Airs every Wednesday from 24:55 on Fuji Television's "+Ultra" and other programs starting July 5, 2023.
Broadcast times are subject to change.

<Broadcasting station/airing date/time> Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Fuji Television Network, 24:55 every Wednesday from July 5
Kansai Television: From July 6, every Thursday at 26:25
Tokai Television: From July 8, every Saturday at 25:45
Hokkaido Bunka Broadcasting, every Sunday from 25:10 on July 9
TV Nishinippon from July 5 on Wednesdays at 25:55
BS Fuji every Wednesday from July 12 at 24:00
AT-X Every Sunday from July 9 at 23:00
Repeats every Thursday at 29:00 and every Sunday at 8:00

<Distribution Information
Preceding distribution on dAnime/U-NEXT from July 6, 2023 on Thursdays at noon.
Preceding distribution service】 dAnime Store
dAnime Store
dAnime Store Niconico Branch
dAnime Store for Prime Video
U-NEXT

Distribution will begin sequentially from July 9, 2023 on Sundays at noon on each service provider.
All-you-can-watch service
ABEMA
Amazon Prime Video
Disney+ ・DMM TV
Disney+ ・DMM TV
FOD
J:COM On Demand
Milplus
Nico Nico Douga
Bandai Channel

Pay-as-you-go service
Amazon Prime Video
Google Play
HAPPY!
J:COM On Demand
J:COM On Demand, milplus, music.jp, Nico Nico Douga
music.jp・Nico Nico Douga
Bandai Channel
Video Market