AnimeJapan 2019] "ULTRAMAN," "7SEEDS," "Seiya," and other topical works will be introduced with voice actors! NETFLIX Anime Fest Special Stage - Hashage, Sekai! 〜Repo

AnimeJapan 2019, one of the world's largest anime events, will be held at Tokyo Big Sight for two days on March 23 and 24, 2019. NETFLIX Anime Fest Special Stage - Hashage, Sekai! 〜was held at COBALT BLUE Stage in East Hall 4.

This stage was held by NETFLIX, which distributes videos in more than 190 countries around the world, to announce information on new animations scheduled to be distributed in 2019, along with the main casts and artists.

The cast members included Yoko Takahashi, theme song singer of "Neon Genesis Evangelion," Ryohei Kimura of "ULTRAMAN," Nao Higashiyama and Jun Fukuyama of "7SEEDS," and Seiichi Morita and Tomiko Orikasa of "Saint Seiya: Knight of the Zodiac.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The stage began with a live performance by Yoko Takahashi from "Neon Genesis Evangelion. Although it was early at 10:50 a.m., Takahashi sang in her usual smooth voice, enlivening the audience with the theme song of the TV series, "Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis" and "Soul no Lefranc" from "Neon Genesis Evangelion the Movie: SITO Shinsei.

In addition to the TV series, "DEATH (TRUE)2", "Neon Genesis Evangelion The Movie: Cito Shinsei", and "Neon Genesis Evangelion The Movie: Air/Magokoro wo Kimini ni" will be available from June 21, 2019 (Friday). Eva" will once again sweep the world.

Takahashi left the stage with the words, "I hope this work will reach the world.

Next came the talk part, moderated by Nippon Broadcasting System announcer Naoki Yoshida.

Ryohei Kimura, who played Shinjiro Hayata/ULTRAMAN from "ULTRAMAN," Nao Higashiyama, who played Natsu Iwashimizu from "7SEEDS," Jun Fukuyama, who played Arashi Aota, Seiichi Morita, who played Pegasus Seiya from "Saint Seiya: Knight of the Zodiac," and Tomiko Orikasa, who played Saori Kido from "7SEEDS" appeared on stage with an introduction video for each work. Tomiko Orikasa as Saori Kido from "Saint Seiya: Knight of the Zodiac". This year's NETFLIX theme "Hashage, Sekai! Netflix's theme for this year's event, "Hashage, Sekai! The talk started with the call of this year's NETFLIX theme, "Hashage, Sekai!

ULTRAMAN

First, "ULTRAMAN" was introduced. The main character is Shinjiro Hayata, the son of Susumu Hayata, who was transformed into Ultraman in the tokusatsu drama "Ultraman," which is an interesting story for viewers of the real-time generation. The hero is loved by people of all ages. "I used to watch Ultraman and play with him" (Morita), and "I once complained to my parents why they didn't name him Taro (Ultraman Taro)" (Fukuyama), indicating that the male members of the audience also have feelings for him.

This film is a full CG work, and the actors' performances were incorporated into the film to create the images. In doing so, the actors are also doing voice acting, and the voice actors have to put their own acting on top of it.

Mr. Kimura said, "The picture is completely finished (during postrecording), and the actor who is a master of motion is acting. The dialogue is actually spoken, so even though it is an anime, it is like a dubbed version. The story is also a bit more mature. The story is a bit more adult-oriented: "The main character, who is naive and doesn't know anything, grows up in a royal way, but the backbone of the story is heavy.

The film is scheduled for simultaneous worldwide distribution on April 1, 2019.

■7SEEDS

Next up is "7SEEDS," a new anime based on Yumi Tamura's manga. This hard-hitting sci-fi girls' manga was serialized from 2002 to 2017. It is a survival piece about how the main characters survive after waking up from cold sleep after the world is destroyed by various disasters.

Higashiyama, who said she read through the 35 volumes of the original comic in about three days, commented, "I was curious to see how they would land on that epic storyline. Orikasa-san is also a reader of the original comic and said, "I'm anxious to see the anime version! I'm anxious to see the anime version!

Higashiyama said that he approached his role as the lead actor of this work, which has many fans in the industry, with such enthusiasm that he wondered what he had become a voice actor for if he couldn't perform it well.

Mr. Fukuyama said, "It is quite interesting because there is a theme of how humans build their mentality, how they build a community, and how they progress as a single living organism when placed in this kind of environment.

The film is scheduled for simultaneous worldwide distribution this summer.

Saint Seiya: Knight of the Zodiac

The last performance was "Saint Seiya: Knight of the Zodiac.

Seiichi Morita, who plays the role of Seiya Pegasus, wore a red shirt just like Seiya. Mr. Morita first revealed that this was because Toru Furuya, who played the previous Seiya, always wore a red shirt when recording "Saint Seiya," and that he wanted to carry on the tradition of his predecessor.

This work is a full CG re-animation of "Saint Seiya," which was broadcast on TV in the 80s and gained great popularity not only in Japan but also in Europe and Latin America. This is an ambitious work that re-creates the original story from the very beginning. The production is being done in Hollywood, and based on the English version, Morita-san and the other cast members will add their voices to the film in the form of "dubbing.

However, both Morita and Orikasa have already played characters from the OVA "Saint Seiya: Pluto Hades Underworld Arc," so they approached this work as a "joint production" in that they are dubbing, but they are also putting the soul of the characters they originally played in the film.

Ms. Orikasa also commented, "I wonder if (the Saori in this film) is more feisty than the Saori I used to play. The character portrayal unique to this work is also a matter of concern.

The CG animation also makes the special move effects more spectacular.

The film is scheduled for worldwide exclusive distribution on July 19 (Fri.).

In closing, Mr. Kimura pushed the anime on NETFLIX, saying, "I hope many people will watch it both at home and outside! If you have not subscribed to NETFLIX yet, why not take this opportunity to give it a try?