Interview with "Gegege no Kitaro" Sawashiro Miyuki and Kamiya Hiroshi in commemoration of BD/DVD BOX6 release! Jacket and special features also unveiled!

DVD and Blu-ray BOX 6 of "Gegege no Kitaro" (6th season), currently being broadcast as a TV anime, will be released on January 8, 2020 (Wednesday). To commemorate the release, interviews with Miyuki Sawashiro, who plays Kitaro, and Hiroshi Kamiya, who plays Zero Ishidou, have been released.

Gegege no Kitaro" celebrated the 50th anniversary of its anime adaptation in 2018. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no one in Japan who does not know about this historical masterpiece by Shigeru Mizuki, and this will be the sixth time it has been animated.

The booklet included in Box 6, which will be released on January 8, 2020 (Wed.), will feature special interviews with Sawashiro Miyuki, who plays Kitaro, and Kamiya Hiroshi, who plays Ishidou Zero. A part of the interview, which regrettably was not included in the booklet, has been specially disclosed this time.

Interview with Miyuki Sawashiro playing the role of Kitaro and Hiroshi Kamiya playing the role of Zero Ishidou (original text)

--What was your first impression when you two first met?
Kamiya-san (Kam): At first I thought "Paniponi Dasshu! would be "Pani Poni Dasshu! Then "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" and "Bakemonogatari" and so on.

Mr. Sawashiro (Sawa): There was also "Natsume's Book of Friends.

Kami: Yes, that's right. Anyway, the works that Miyuki and I have performed together have all been rather intense (laughs). Each of them had many roles that occupied a pretty important position, so we would say to each other, "It's tough, isn't it?

Sawa: We were both carrying different difficulties on our shoulders. I think it was especially difficult for Kamiya-san. But "Kitaro" may be the first role where you were able to talk to each other on such an equal footing.

Kami: That may be so.

Sawa: In any case, I have the strong impression that he is a "hard worker" at every scene.

Kami: (laughs). I don't even remember what the hardest part was anymore (laughs).

Sawa: Of course, everyone is working hard. Everyone is working hard, but the quality of Kamiya-san's hard work is a little different.

Kami: At that time, everyone around me seemed to be more talented than I am now. In that situation, I thought Miyuki was a genius, but actually she wasn't. I realized that she was the type of person who uses logic in her plays based on her own various experiences. So now I feel sorry for her because she is troublesome.

Sawa: I don't need the "poor" at the end (laughs).

Kami: No, I can sympathize with him because he seems to be the same type as I am. People with genius skin create very good "sounds" with their instantaneous power and reflexes. There were many people around me who were able to consistently produce "sounds" that came out of their sensitivity, not logic. Surrounded by such geniuses, I wondered what I could do, and the only answer was steady effort. I thought that if I didn't carefully do what everyone else could do, I wouldn't be able to work side by side with them at the microphone.

Sawa: You are very polite, aren't you, Kamiya-san?

Kami: I couldn't think of anything else I could do.

--So, how did you feel when you and Sawashiro-san decided to work together on "GeGeGe no Kitaro"?
Kami: I was very happy. When I saw the on-air performance, I thought, "That's great! I was very happy to see Miyuki embodying my ideal image of Kitaro. It is a blessing to be able to perform with your ideal Kitaro.

--What exactly is your ideal image of Kitaro?
Kami: I haven't seen the whole series, but when I watched the second season of the TV animation "Kitaro" as a child and "Graveyard Kitaro" as an adult, as well as the original story, I felt that Kitaro was not a simple hero with a sense of justice. A quiet boy with only one big eye, always looking up, comes from far away, echoing the sound of his clogs, and tells the children who are playing tricks on the shrine, "It's dangerous if you do that," and leaves. So the children are later badly hurt and are saying, "Help! and then he says, "I told you so ......". I think it's very Kitaro-like. You can't do that!" or Kitaro who takes the initiative to save the children who are suffering from a terrible situation, I feel a little uncomfortable. So when I heard Miyuki Sawashiro's voice, which has a gloomy and gloomy atmosphere, I thought, "Oh, that's wonderful" and "I really like this actress.

Sawa: Yin Yin Yin Yin (laughs) ...... It's Sunday morning (laughs).

Kami: Haha (laughs). But children love scary beings like yokai, don't they? Something that is not human, something that is stirring in a place other than the human world. I think it would be better if Kitaro, who serves as a guide to this world, did not have a cheerful atmosphere. But Kitaro is not trying to scare you. Miyuki must have been very sensitive in finding the right balance between the two. She didn't say, "There's something behind you! Instead of scaring him, she softly murmured, "Look, there's something behind you in the dark at ......." It's more like "Look, there's something behind you in the dark at ." It's like he's trying to get you to imagine it. It's wonderful that you approach it as if it were a matter of course.

Sawa: We are very much in love with each other (laughs).

Kami: Haha (laughs).

--How was it playing the opposing roles of Kitaro and Zero for two people who get along so well?
Sawa: As Neko-musume said, Kitaro seems to be obsessed with Zero, or rather, he seems to have a special dislike for him.

As Mr. Kamiya said, there are many different images of Kitaro, but this season's Kitaro basically goes out because he is asked to, and he does not go out to kill them, but rather listens first and then thinks about what to do. So I physiologically dislike people like Zero who don't listen to me at all (laughs).

Kami: Ha-ha-ha (laughs).

Sawa: But now that I think about it, I think it was a kindred hatred. There was a scene in which Kitaro suddenly came to his senses and realized that what he was doing for the sake of others might have been just imposing his own opinion. The difference between the two of them is their circumstances. Zero was very unfortunate, and he was only able to burn his feelings like that. In the end, they were able to realize that they were like mirrors to each other. (Laughs)

God: "Just talk it out!" (laughs). But the fact that they don't listen to me at all is because I am an unfortunate existence. As I play Zero, I have to accept that. But it was very hard for me to translate that into sound. A dialogue is made up of conversations, but in the case of Zero, the harder I tried, the more it would come out empty. In the case of Zero, the harder I tried, the more it would spin out of control. It would be nice if someone would hit me back, but it was just too much of a one-way street, and it wasn't really a battle at all. It was just too much work (laughs).

Sawa: It was so excessive that everyone was drawn to it (laughs).

Kami: Kitaro even unusually complained to his father, "Dad, I can't forgive him" (laughs).

Sawa: Because he complained in a whisper (laughs).

Kami: Although the play was well executed, there were many episodes in which I had no sense of accomplishment as a performer. However, in episode 75, "The Fox of Nine Tails," the fights became more of a fistfight after understanding various things, and a "conversation" was established where I could say things with passion and they would say them back. The gears finally meshed, and I was finally able to enjoy "Kitaro". I am grateful that you were able to provide a way out at the very end.

--K: I was only in the show for seven episodes this time, so I was not able to make any more appearances.
Kami: I only appeared in seven episodes this time, and I personally would have liked to appear in more, but if I had been involved in more, I would have gotten to know Kitaro and his friends, and I might not have been able to maintain the tension of the role. So I think seven appearances was just right. Also, Ishidou Zero was a role that I had a hard time playing because it was a role in which I was forced to hold a biased opinion dominated by loneliness and meanness, and I just kept spinning my wheels. But in the 75th episode, we were finally able to exchange lines without the one-way traffic, and many things were resolved, so it was a lot of fun. So, if I am asked to appear again in some way, I would be able to interact with Kitaro and the other characters in a different way based on my experience this time. In total, I think it was a lot of fun!

In addition, the booklet included in Box 6 contains an interview with Mr. Sawashiro and Ms. Kamiya about their memories of Kitaro's family and the characters that left a strong impression on them, which is "unique to Kitaro! Please enjoy the rest of the interview in the booklet enclosed in BOX6!

Product Information
Gegege no Kitaro BD/DVD BOX6 (2-disc set)

Price:
　Blu-ray: 15,200 yen (excluding tax)
　DVD: 11,200 yen (excluding tax)
Release date: January 8, 2020 (Wednesday)
Publisher and distributor: Happinet Co.
Video bonus: Non-credit ED
Specifications and enclosed extras:
　Three-sided art box with newly illustrated artwork
　Original inner case
　Picture label
　Special booklet (20 pages)
　Sawashiro Miyuki & Kamiya Hiroshi special interview "Gegege no Chat
　Includes staff interview and more
　Set of 2 postcards (three-sided art box design for BOX3 and BOX4)
Release schedule for subsequent volumes:
　Blu-ray & DVDBOX7: April 2, 2020 (Thursday)
　Blu-ray & DVDBOX8: July 2, 2020 (Thursday)

Product specifications are subject to change.

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