Fall Anime "Stardust Telepath" is more than just cute! We hope you will pay attention to the passionate drama that realistically depicts the struggles and joys of adolescence! Main Cast Interview with Yurie Funado, Seria Fukagawa, Moe Nagamuta, and Shiki Aoki

Hoshikuzu Telepath," a four-frame manga serialized in Manga Time Kirara (Houbunsha) (original story by Rasko Okuma), has been adapted into an anime. It is currently airing to rave reviews.

The story begins when a high school girl, Umika Konohoshi, who is not good at communicating with others, meets a self-proclaimed alien, Yuu Akeuchi. She tries to build a rocket to send Yu back to space, and starts working on it with Haruno Takaragi, the vice-class president who sits next to her, and Shun Raimon Matataki, who is not attending school but is very good with machines.

The four students' rocket-building activities, their youth and club activities, the mysterious existence of Yu, the growth of each character, and the cuteness of the illustrations all add to the charm of the original story. The TV anime "Stardust Telepath" does not only retain the various charms of the original work, but also adds music and movement to make the work even more wonderful.

We asked Yurie Funado, who plays Kaika Konosei, Seria Fukagawa, who plays Yu Akeuchi, Moe Nagamuta, who plays Haruno Takaragi, and Shiki Aoki, who plays Shun Raimon, to talk about the charm of the work and their memories of the recording sessions.

The part of a shy girl who tries to convey her feelings is wonderful!

───Manga Time Kirara will celebrate its 20th anniversary on November 9, and has produced many TV anime works. What are your impressions of Kirara's works, which have become a genre called "Kirara anime"?

Funado: I had the impression that Kirara works were sparkling, fluffy, everyday works. This was my first time auditioning for a Kirara work, and when I read "Stardust Telepath", I found that it was not just an everyday work, and while it had a sense of youthfulness, it also had some pretty tough scenes. So it was different from the atmosphere of the work I was expecting! That was my impression.

Yurie Funado

─ Did you have a longing for Kirara anime?

Funado: When I was in junior high school, I watched "K-ON! when I was in junior high school, and I thought that K-ON! Kirara! I felt very honored to be able to appear in the film.

Fukagawa: I had an image of Kirara anime as a kind of "YuruCan△" where I would sneak a peek into the daily lives of the girls as a wallflower! I had this image. In that sense, I felt like I was betrayed in a good way by "Stardust Telepath," and as I read it, I thought, "Oh my! Oh my! I was happy to read it.

──The characters sometimes clash with each other, don't they? How about you, Mr. Nagamuta?

Nagamuta: The first Kirara anime I ever saw was "Gakko Gurashi! was the first Kirara anime I ever saw. I hid the fact that I was an otaku from my parents, so I watched it secretly in the middle of the night, so it was also the first late-night anime I watched. After that, I think I watched "Hanayamata" and various other works. So with "Stardust Telepath," I was very happy to be able to participate in a Kirara work! I was so happy to think that I could be a part of Kirara's work.

─ ─ "HANA-YAMATA" may be quite similar in style, isn't it?

Nagamuta: That's right!　It's like coming of age. It may be close in the sense that the main character grows while going through tough times.

Aoki When I was in high school, I was exactly in the middle of "K-ON! in high school. But I was a game geek, so I didn't watch a lot of anime. was the only Kirara work I really watched. So I had an image of a fun coming-of-age story with everyday girls doing their best, but when I read "Stardust Telepath," it was a coming-of-age story, but it was also very realistic, so I was betrayed in a good way. The girls are not only cute and sparkling, but they are also very realistic, so it really stuck with me.

Kirara anime is full of cute girls, isn't it? I myself have often played roles of fighting girls, so I thought I wouldn't have a chance to be a part of it. That's why I was so shocked when I didn't expect to be asked to audition, nor did I think I would be accepted at all!　I was even more impressed by how happy my fans were to hear that "Shiki-san is a Kirara voice actress! I was even more impressed by how happy the fans were to hear that Shiki had become a Kirara voice actor, and I felt the strength of the popularity of Kirara anime and the support of everyone there.

───As for Shun, his aggressiveness did not betray my expectations, though (laughs).

Aoki Hahaha (laughs). Shun is like that. She is not a sparkling girl, so in a way it was easy for me to work with her.

Fukagawa: She is a tsundere!

───Although some keywords have already been mentioned, could you tell us again what the four of you think is attractive about the TV anime "Stardust Telepath"?

Fukagawa: Actually, we haven't seen the anime yet. (*This interview was conducted before the advance screening.) So we can only talk about the recording sessions, but we can proudly say that when we were interviewed, the interviewers who had seen some episodes told us "it was really good. We were so happy to hear that, and we can't wait to see the show! (Laughs) The bar has been raised for the actors!

Aoki: But the pictures in the PV are so bad, and the accompaniment is really good, and the OP/ED theme is also good. The gradation in the original illustration is very beautiful, and the color gradation of Kaika's hair is beautiful in the anime as well!　I think it must be very difficult to move her hair, but I could feel how much effort was put into reproducing the gradation.

Funado: I can't wait to see the scene where the rocket flies, which was also very carefully and delicately made.

Fukagawa: I think this is a work that can be seen over and over again. You can see how it was expressed in the manga and how it is expressed in the anime, or you can find your own guess and watch it. You can also find your own guesses and watch the anime! I want viewers to see that too, and to pull in and watch. I would like you to see that too, and I hope that everyone will support this shy girl who tries her best to convey her feelings to the audience!

Funado You've said all the good things about Kaika (laughs).

Aoki I think the beauty of this work is that each of the girls grows. Haruno hits a wall, Shun is always struggling, and Yu is in a state where she doesn't even know what she is.

Nagamuta As for Yu, I really hope you will do a second season!

Funado No doubt about it!

Aoki It hasn't started yet, but everyone is really eager for the second season (laughs).

Fukagawa: Kaika is the main character, but there is also a sense that everyone is a main character. Everything is connected, and the characters are just too fascinating!

Aoki That's right. I think you can get emotionally involved with any one of them.

Fukagawa And everyone doesn't deny it. They don't deny it even when Yu-chan says "Wow," and they don't deny Kaika-chan either. That's what I want you to see!

Seria Fukagawa

─ ─ In terms of the depth of her undenial, Haruno is the same way, isn't she?

Aoki: She accepts everything. But that's why Shun sometimes says quite a few things to her.

Nagamuta That's right. It is a story for the future, but it is rare to see a work that goes that far, so I thought it was great. It is like being told that you are just a beauty on all sides. But it is a work that clearly depicts that part of the story.

─ ─ It seems that even people of the same gender can relate to it in many ways.

Aoki I think that is true.

Fukagawa: When you are a student, you are desperate to take care of yourself, and you know that if you say something like this, the other person will be hurt, but you want to say it. There was a part of me that wanted to convey my righteousness. That part of her is also expressed.

Nagamuta: There is a scene where Kaika-chan is having a self-reflection meeting by herself. So, I understand it very well! I thought, "I understand it well! But because it is depicted with a gag touch, I can look back on it cheerfully. My black history (laughs).

Aoki: But I was really moved when I saw the characters moving with my voice. During postrecording, the pictures had not yet been created, so I had no idea how they would move or what colors would be added.

Funado: The postrecording had been finished about a year before, but there were times when I was told that I could do whatever I wanted because I would change the pictures.

Fukagawa: Indeed, there were times when he told us not to worry about the length of the film and left it up to the performers, so I am really looking forward to the completion of the film!　Of course, Director Kaori sometimes asked for retakes, and she was very thorough about getting the right mood for the scene until the very end. It was fun for me as an actor to get that from him.

I want the audience to see the characters come alive! I want the audience to see the characters come alive!

─ I would also like to ask you about the recording sessions.

Funado: Kaika has a lot of voices from the heart, and she speaks more from the heart than she does from the outside. Even when I look at the script, it is always the voice of my heart. She is the same character, but I tried to convey the frustration of wanting to say something but not being able to. Kaika herself is a very passionate girl who tries her best and works hard, so in her heart she says, "Okay!　I'm going to talk to the alien tomorrow! I tried to play her in such a way that she would be energetic.

─ ─ Was this said in the direction?

Funado: I was told to try to create a gradual transition between the two characters so that they are the same, but at the same time make it easy to understand that they are the voices of the heart. At first, it was very difficult to make the voices more distinct, and since there were so many voices that were not in the script, I had to think about how to express the parts where only "......" was written in the script, such as "N~~" and "H~~~".

Fukagawa: The lines were written, but you were told to make them sound almost like breaths, right?

Funado: I was told to do so. I think there were a lot of directions that told me what they wanted me to do. It was the first time for me to speak so much as the main actor, so I learned a lot from all of it.

Fukagawa: When Yu is with Kaika, she is like a mother or a girl overflowing with love. She is conscious of the fragrance of roses and musk, and when she is with everyone, she is a mood maker who is full of energy and stirs everyone up! Yay! I played the role with a soda-like aroma in mind. I also played the role of Yu as an alien-related SE, so I hope you will find that part of him as well.

─ Yu is an alien, and he has a very nice forehead pashy.

Fukagawa: The forehead pashy is great! ...... Oh! Can I complain about one thing? I got a lot of retakes for the space language "peggyov-movrov pivvvvvvvvvv"! They told me to make it sound like German, or like magma coming out, and so on, but in the end they told me to do it normally (laughs).

Aoki They said, "Like a death voice" or something like that (laughs).

Fukagawa That's right! We did a lot of different things, but we settled on the idea that it should be easy to understand if we were going to go for a buzzword! So please try to say it too (laughs).

Nagamuta: I had been with the company for about a year when I was chosen for this project. It was the first time for me to speak so much for a character with a name, so after each recording, I would go home crying after I left everyone. I thought, "I couldn't do it. That's exactly what I said to Director Kaori once, whining, "Will it be all right as it is? But then she told me, "I chose Ms. Nagamuta because I thought she would definitely grow with Haruno. ......

Aoki That makes me very happy.

Nagamuta Yes. That was a turning point for me as well, and I was finally able to go into the post-recording sessions with confidence after that episode. I had to look at Haruno herself, but I feel that I was able to overcome her obstacles together with her by growing together with her.

Moe Nagamuta

─ ─ It is a job that requires instantaneous response to direction, so it must be even more difficult for a newcomer.

Nagamuta: But the seniors around us gave us words of encouragement and told us it would be okay, and I think we were able to make it through to the end because we were all four of us.

Aoki: It's hard to talk after such a good story (laughs). Shun is the only one of the four who plays the quick-witted part, and he is really the only one around who is a buffoon. The sound director told me to make my performance more lively. I was told by the sound director to make the performance more balanced. He told me to be angrier or colder in this part, and gave me a lot of direction for the tsuntsun moments at the beginning of the performance. I was worried that he might not like me in the beginning. But as we got to know each other better and better, I started to see a little bit of the cute side of Shun, so I was conscious of bringing out the cute side of Shun to the fullest. In that sense, I was saved by the C part, because it was rather relaxed and had a gag-like feel to it.

Fukagawa: Shun-san has the most explanatory lines!　I thought that must have been tough.

Funado: There were a lot of technical terms.

Nagamuta And yet, there was only one person who could make fun of it.

Fukagawa: I always had to cover it up with my own humor, so I felt sorry for him.

Aoki He always yelled at me, so he was a character with a few extra calories (laughs).

Shiki Aoki

─ Now that episode 3 has finished airing, may I ask you to look back on the recording of the last scene in episode 3 where Yu encourages Umika?

Fukagawa: Ah! That's the bed scene!

Funado: The way you say it! Well, yes, that's true, but...

Fukagawa: That scene was there since the audition, and it was my favorite scene. I wanted to give a really warm performance with breaths, and during the postrecording test, Fu-chan (Funato) gave me a very breathy performance. Thanks to that, I was able to give a feminine performance (laughs).

Funado: Because I was embarrassed!

Fukagawa: Thanks to Fu-chan, I think we were able to create a space that was really just the two of us.

Funado That's true for me too. I was a little nervous because Yu-chan was different from usual. Eh? Meiuchi-san? It was because of that that we were able to create this scene!

Aoki: Mr. Fukagawa plays a powerful and cheerful character named Yu, but only when he is with Kaika, she suddenly becomes an adult-like older sister. I hope everyone will watch it again and again.

Nagamuta: Before and after the recording, the two of them were flirting with each other! I thought it was so nice to see that. It was like they were showing off.

Aoki They are really good friends.

Fukagawa: But right after that, Kaika went for Shun, and Shun made love with Haruno! (laugh).

─ ─ Finally, let's talk about the highlights of the future.

Funado: I'm excited to see the rocket battle in the PV, and since it was so amazing, I'm sure it will be even more amazing in the full-length version. I think the key to this work is the rocket flying scene. There is a competition coming up, and from there, there will be many painful scenes. Especially Kaika cries all the time, which makes me feel bitter too, but that's how the character comes alive! I want you to see that!

Fukagawa: You just said that the characters are alive, and I can feel the body warmth in Okuma's drawings, even in manga. We took over his drawings and added our own voices to them, and then we added the wonderful animated pictures. I think the animation also has a warmth to it, so I hope you will pay attention to it. Also, Kaika did a lot of ad-libbing, so I want you to see that as well. The girls are all fighting for what they think is right and just, so no matter how tough the scene may be, you can see a bright future at the end. I hope you will enjoy the film until the end.

Nagamuta: Definitely watch the Haruno episode! I feel that Haruno's character is a very good person and has a powerful personality. I think the reason why she is so friendly and powerful will become clear. In the third episode, Shun-chan comes out and the four of them make a rocket together, and I think Haruno was able to face herself because of Shun-chan's appearance. After this, not only the four of them, but also characters from rival schools and others will appear, and the relationships there are very good, and everyone grows, so I hope you will watch the whole thing!

Aoki: Everyone has already told me this, but just when you think one wall has been resolved, you run into a new one. Each time, everyone works together to overcome the obstacles, and each individual grows stronger and matures. The words are not hyperbole, but rather a life-size representation of a girl's life, so I feel as if I am really living there. I want people to pay attention to the realistic high school girls and their daily lives. Also, this work made me think once again about the amazing power of dreams. It reminded me of the feeling of being passionate once again, and in that sense, I hope many people will watch it because it is a very good work that reminds us of our youth. I hope many people will watch it, and I hope it will awaken their youth and passionate feelings.

(Interview, text, and photography by Junichi Tsukagoshi)