2023 Summer Anime] "BASTARD! The second season of "BASTARD!!! -Darkness God of Destruction-" "Hell's Requiem Arc" starts! Interview with newcomer Takuatsu Terashima (Joshua Belaheer): "I was just roaring at the acting of the co-stars.

The "Hell's Requiem Arc" is expected to feature more dark fantasy battles with the addition of the Twelve Demon Warlords on the side of Kal-Su and the samurai army that fights against their great power, and a new character, Joshua Belaheer, the leader of the samurai generals, will be added. He is played by Takuatsu Terashima.

He plays the role of Takuatsu Terashima, who saw the anime "BASTARD! -What is the charm of the anime "BASTARD! He also talked a lot about the appeal of the characters and the performances of the co-stars he witnessed during the recording sessions.

Expressing the core strength of the character through the "tension" of his voice

--What was your impression of the original "BASTARD! What was your impression of the original "BASTARD!

Terashima: I was still young when the series was first published, so I had heard about it but had not read it. So this time, I read it again from the beginning. As an otaku, I was thinking, "The pictures have evolved so much," and I realized how interesting the work was and why it became a hot topic. Dirk Schneider is quite meta, and I enjoyed reading it because it was full of the atmosphere of the time, with Mr. Kazuyoshi Hagiwara making his own cracks outside the frame of the panels.

--What was your impression of the first season of the anime?

Terashima: The magic effects were amazing. The vibrations of the air, the glare, and the intensity of the sound are things that are difficult to convey in a comic book, so the anime made it clear how amazing a magician Dirk Schneider is. I was impressed by that. I was also impressed by the way the male characters, as well as the female characters, were drawn physically, which I felt was "just like in BASTARD! I felt that it was "just like in 'BASTARD! I think that the drawing ability of Mr. Kazuyoshi Hagiwara, or the precision of his manga, has been talked about since the series was first published, but I couldn't imagine how he would translate that into anime. However, the changes in the illustrations I mentioned earlier were well incorporated into the character designs, and I could sense the sense and strength of the animation production team.

--What is your impression of Joshua, who is played by Terashima-san?

Terashima: All the samurai in the samurai mansion are just like our image of "samurai. In addition, their actions and skills are flashy and have the taste of the "samurai" that people in other countries imagine. I felt that Joshua was not a character with much room to spare, and that he was tightly surrounded by his superior, General (Nils Sean) Mifune, his subordinates, and his enemies. I got the impression that he is not oppressed by his surroundings, but that they shape him. He is connected to the pressure from those around him and his own strength, and his strength lies in the fact that he does not play around much, so for me, if I played him at face value, it would be correct. I was also hoping that I could convey a sense of his capacity and softness as a person through the sound of his voice.

--In that sense, in the world of "BASTARD! In that sense, was she a rather life-size character in the world of "BASTARD!

Terashima Oh, yes. It may sound strange, but compared to characters like Dirk Schneider, I think I was able to play characters with a mentality closer to our own in real life. There is no "I don't understand what he is saying" kind of thing. In terms of the starting point, I think the characters were easy to play.

--In a sense, the other characters are all "children.

Terashima That's right. They are free (laughs). I think Joshua is a very working person. And Kai is the same way. People who are in a certain position may be no different from those in our world.

--Can you tell us a little more about the "sound" part?

Terashima: I was hoping to express Joshua's unwavering consciousness through the tension in his voice. After all, I am in a position where I have to express myself through sound. I thought about how I could create the "samurai" in my voice and bring out Joshua's samurai-like quality. It's different from "shouting" (......). I guess you could say it's a way of making your voice sound majestic. I am in a position to lead as a Samurai Master, so I had to be conscious of making my words clear, whether I was shouting or having a normal conversation. That has not changed since the audition. In a way, the character is easy to read. I feel that I was able to do the same job as I did when I tried to do the voice myself while reading the original work.

--I think Joshua is a calm character, as you said, but there was a range between the battle scenes and the conversation scenes. Were you conscious of this?

Terashima: The enemies first show their strength, don't they?　The first one, Yngwie (von Malmsteen), looks very strong. （He is played by Junichi Suwabe (laughs). I had to be aware of the fact that I had to play someone who could compete with them, and that I had to start from a calm, rather than a frantic, state of mind. I imagined that the "tension" and "pressure" that I mentioned earlier should be strong. In that sense, I think I was thinking a little about the right balance between tension and calmness in my performance. The secret sword technique "Butterfly Dance Asura Zan" is completely different from the first time I performed it, so the second time I performed it, it was flipped a little bit. However, it was a natural change depending on the situation, so I thought it was a good idea and left it as it was. Of course, the director didn't give me any objections. But I have the impression that I played the role while feeling the changes in Joshua's own way.

Senior members who put themselves into the character

--Terashima: I imagine that there were some restrictions in the postrecording at the site of the Corona Peril.

Terashima: We were limited to a maximum of four people in the Corona Hazards, and the recording was distributed among a maximum of four people. I often worked with Saka (Yasuto) as Wei Staabe, Kijima (Ryuichi) as Shen Ka, and Shizuka (Ito) as Kai Hahn. And sometimes I worked with Dirk Schneider (Noriaki Taniyama). Dirk Schneider is the only one who is out of his element, so it was always fun to watch his play and listen to Taniyama's play with excitement. I was excited to listen to Taniyama-san's performance. Even Wei, who is a young character among the samurai, played the role with high tension, and I thought to myself, "He looks like he's having fun," and "But I'm going to be strong. I thought I had a good connection with Shizuka-san, and I enjoyed working with him. So I had a good time working with him. We all had a lot of fun together, like when we were all giving the work a good talking-to. For me, there were many scenes that called for serious acting, so it was a very rewarding experience for me to be able to have a good balance between the two.

--I think Kai is the one who shows the openings for Joshua, who is a calm and collected character.

Terashima: It was the natural fluctuation of his heart that came out naturally. He would break down a little bit, and his voice would waver. Joshua shows pinpoint agitation when Kai is mentioned, but it is of a completely different quality than the agitation he shows during battle, so I was conscious of this as a sound while playing the role. Kai is not the only special person in his life, but Dirk Schneider and Mifune as well, but she is the only woman he has romantic feelings for. I was conscious of the fact that she is the only woman who is the object of his romantic feelings, so I was conscious of expressing something that is unique.

--What kind of character do you think Kai became with Shizuka Ito's performance?

Terashima: I think the great thing about Shizuka's voice is that she is an adult, but still has a little bit of the innocence of a young girl. I have the impression that her voice is straight but a little mysterious. She also has a beautiful tongue, which is perfect for a character like Kai, who conveys her thoughts and awareness. When I heard that Kai was played by Shizuka-san, I was convinced. I think there is a part of you that adds your own strength to the role, and that is also attractive. Shizuka-san himself is a frank person, and he is a wonderful senior who makes me feel relaxed when I talk with him outside of recording sessions. In terms of adding on to his feelings, it was easy for Joshua to receive.