Special talk between Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador, Hiroya Matsumoto and Animation/Special Effects DJ, Hiroyuki Deguchi! I hope "Ryuso Jar" will betray all our expectations and make us worry!

Combining two cool elements, dinosaurs and knights, "Knight Dragon Sentai Ryuso Jar" is the 43rd in the Super Sentai series. One person who supports this work with all his might is "Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador" Mr. Hiroya Matsumoto!

Mr. Matsumoto has had a very strong connection with Super Sentai since he appeared in "Magical Sentai Majiranger" as Tsubasa Kozu/Maji-Yellow in 2005, as the senior hero Masato Jin/Beat Buster in "Special Mission Squadron Go-Busters", and as the idol Hoshi★Minato in "Space Sentai Kyuranger", the best in the whole universe. He is an actor with very close ties to Super Sentai.

At the same time, he became a "Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador" in 2017. He is actively involved in promoting and spreading the Super Sentai series through weekly live broadcasts, MCing at CD release events and program-related events, and distributing programs on TTFC (Toei's tokusatsu fan club).

Mr. Hiroyuki Deguchi, a tokusatsu-loving DJ and bassist, interviewed Mr. Matsumoto!

He asked him about his expectations for the latest in the series, "Knight Dragon Squadron Ryuso Jar," as well as behind-the-scenes stories about his past appearances in the series.
Please also enjoy the previous interview with Tomohiro HATANO and Sister MAYO!
⇒Singing coolly and dancing happily! Hiroyuki Deguchi interviews Tomohiro HATANO & Sister MAYO, who sing the theme song for the very popular 43rd Royal Super Sentai "Knight Dragon Sentai Ryuso Jar"!

How Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassadors were born

-In fact, we had several near misses at TTFC. I was not able to greet you properly at that time, so I am very happy to have this interview today.

Matsumoto: I see! It's nice to meet you again, too.

--I am very happy to meet you again. First of all, I would like to start by asking you what the "Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador" is.

Matsumoto: I don't really understand it myself (laughs), but it all started with "Space Sentai Kyuranger". Taku Mochizuki, who was the second producer of "Space Sentai Go-Busters," rose through the ranks and became the main producer of "Space Sentai Kyuranger. We started out as business associates, but after "Go-Busters" we started seeing each other on a regular basis, and when we were working on "Kyuranger" I congratulated him and asked if there was anything I could do to help. I would congratulate him and ask him if there was anything I could do to help. I was just congratulating my friend and colleague on his promotion, but then Taku Mochizuki asked me if I would be interested in being a goodwill ambassador. I was just thinking, "Congratulations to a friend and colleague of mine for his promotion. When I was starting to get into the swing of things, I decided that since I was going to be a goodwill ambassador, I should also be involved in some productions, and I ended up appearing in "Kyuranger. From such an uncertain start, we are still searching for the next step. We have been going on for three years now, with people giving and receiving instructions as to what to do next.

--You have been involved in various projects at TTFC, haven't you?

Matsumoto: Yes, I have. When I was working on "Lupin Ranger vs. Police Sentai Patranger," I was hardly working at all, and I was told by various people to do something as soon as possible, I had a huge deficit there (laughs). Well, I would like to continue to do edgy things like that, but I don't want to stop at that, so I am now appearing as an MC for the theme song CD release events.

When I MC, I try to do things that ordinary people can't do. I want to talk about things that go into the hearts and minds of the audience, but it would be boring to please only the fanatics, so I want to get to a point where people who don't know anything about Super Sentai will think it's interesting.

I want to reach a point where people who don't know anything about "Super Sentai" will think it's interesting. The name "Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador" seems a bit closed. I don't think there is any need to change the name, but I really hope that "Super Sentai" will be accepted by the general public in the end.

I myself love the word "subculture," and I like to watch anime, but at the same time, I don't want to stay in the subculture, and I want to make "Super Sentai" more popular.

For example, this year's "Knight Dragon Sentai Ryuso Jar" has a dance, and I want to get people who have influence to dance. Personally, I hate the word "influencer" to death (laughs), but at this point, we are going to use everything we can. That is the goal of this year's "Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador.

--You were originally a hero in "Magical Sentai Majiranger" and "Go-Busters," weren't you? Your work as a "Super Sentai Goodwill Ambassador" is a departure from your previous work, isn't it?

Matsumoto: Yes, it is. I don't like to get excited about past works. It sounds like my ego, and I want to go somewhere else. I will do it if I am asked to do so, but I think it is a little outdated to say, "I used to work for the Rangers.

Of course, people who like it will get excited, but people who don't know about it will just say, "Wow. I don't want to do that, so I try not to tell people about past works. In fact, there is a custom in the recent "Super Sentai" that I don't like, and I am very dissatisfied with past heroes being called alumni, senpai, or legends. I want people to feel that the current heroes are the greatest.

Well, "Kyuranger" is still in operation, so I do talk about it, but the only people who benefit from talking about "Majiranger" now are the people who like it. For example, the other day I held an event at the Sunshine Fountain in Ikebukuro, and I was a little embarrassed to say that I had done "Majiranger" there. So, Sister MAYO and I said to each other, "Oh, by the way, you used to do that, didn't you? Does anyone know about it? I wanted to do it in a very seamless way. I'm Matsumoto of "Go-Busters! I don't want to use what was popular in the past as a weapon.

For children, the current heroes are always the best, and I don't want to forget that. So, I'm always willing to talk about the past if I'm asked to, and in the end, I'm conscious of returning to the current heroes.

I don't know if that is good or bad, and perhaps it is one thing to continue to talk about past works because they are important, but in my mind that is not the right thing to do. I am sure that producer Mochizuki knew that and chose me.

Masato Jin was born from Iron Man?

--I can sympathize with that. As a series that has been running for more than 40 years, there are inevitably templates, and I know there are viewers who would say, "This is something from the past," but I think it is very healthy that current works are allowed to break those preconceived notions. I thought that Masato Jin/Beat Buster, the character you played in "Go-Busters," was also trying to break down the "image of a sentai hero.

Matsumoto: That's something I always emphasize when I work as an actor, and I think it is up to the audience to decide what a hero should be like. Also, when I auditioned for "Go-Busters," I was quite shocked by the movie "Iron Man," and I was very much influenced by Robert Downey Jr. who played Tony Stark. I had been used to watching movies like "Spider-Man" in which a weak guy gradually becomes a hero, but "Iron Man" was a little different from that kind of hero or from the so-called dark heroes. I was surprised.

Before the audition, I was asked to play the role of a dark hero, and I went to the audition site with that intention, but when I arrived there, I was told the exact opposite. I did it with Robert Downey Jr. in mind. Robert had been caught many times for drugs, but I thought that was a bad idea, so I reformed and said, "I'll definitely do this role," and auditioned for "Iron Man. ...... I sometimes wonder what an ex-convict is talking about, but even the way he lived his life made me feel like a hero. When I saw his spirit, his play, and his character, I was shocked and said, "That's good! I was shocked. It wasn't sarcastic at all.

I had my own difficult times, and for a while I was a bit out of sorts, but I felt sympathy for Robert. I felt sympathy for Robert, even though he was a Hollywood star (laughs). (laughs) From there, the character of Masato Jin was born.

--Masato Jin's roots are in "Iron Man!

Matsumoto: Yes, yes. So, during the production, I tried all kinds of things that I thought, "Now that I've been accepted, I'll do something I shouldn't do. That's why there were a lot of things that were cut. I said things like "boobs" in a normal way (laughs). (laughs) I also liked "Deadpool," and I wanted to incorporate those elements. Now that "Super Sentai" is being developed overseas as "Power Rangers," I thought it would be good to send the message with a greater awareness of overseas audiences! I was thinking that it would be great if we could send out more overseas.

When I saw Escape's (played by Ayame Mizusaki) costume, I thought to myself, "Everyone thinks that, but they just don't say it! I would say to her, "Your boobs are bare! I was grateful that this was used in one scene or another. I was challenged to see how "Masato Jin" would act if he were actually alive and how far I could break down the idea of "Sentai Hero.

Of course, I am sure that the producers want to "break it down" every year, and of course I know that there is no way they can do it with "Go-Busters" and with the hands of just one actor.

--But I know that it is not possible to do it by the hands of just one actor, but I think that's why Jin-san's character was so raw and vivid.

Matsumoto: That's why I was often told, "This is not good for the 7:30 broadcast. (Laughs).

--(laughs) - that's why I liked him so much. And Jin-san sacrificed himself in the end, didn't he? If he did that at the end, I thought he would never win again.

Matsumoto: There is a backstory to that last episode, too. Taisuke Sato, a suit actor at Beat J. Stagg, and I talked a lot about how it would be nice if things were to turn out this way. There is the question of whether it is okay for an actor to talk about such things, but at the time I really wanted to make a good film, so I called up the producer and the director and said, "I really want to die.

I called the producer and director and told them, "I really want to die." This is something an actor should never do! I knew that, but at the time, the Great East Japan Earthquake was happening, and since I was doing a work based on the earthquake, I did not want both the earthquake and "Go-Busters" to fade into the past. When Yasuko Kobayashi started writing the script, I explained to the producers that I wanted the story to unfold in this way and that I did not want to bring the characters back to life.

Because at that time, the parents of children who had experienced the disaster and lost their families would not come back to life. But they still get up and crawl back to life, and they are red busters, blue busters, and yellow busters. And since Masato Jin was more of a parent-oriented character, I didn't want to destroy that reality. I did get a lot of "I don't like the idea of a character dying" comments, but I still think it was a mistake.

--Even thinking about it now, I think it took a lot of courage to make that last scene.

Matsumoto: I think it was really courageous. Some people say it was because it was Yasuko Kobayashi, but I think Ms. Kobayashi did her best. Of course, there were things that sold or did not sell. But if you start filming with that in mind, it becomes just a PR drama about selling products. That's not what we wanted to do. I always thought that since we had done something sharp from the first episode of "Go-Busters" to this point, we should stay sharp until the very end. I said a lot of things that a mere actor would never say.

I want "Ryuso Jar" to make me worry!

--I feel very relieved to know that someone who has that kind of feeling is serving as a goodwill ambassador.

Matsumoto: Of course, they were trying to destroy "Kyuranger," and I wondered how many people were in this squadron! I was like, "How many people are in this squadron? Actually, "Kyuranger" started not from a crisis but from despair. I don't think there have been many cases in which someone rises from the depths of despair.

In that sense, the first episode of "Ryuso Jar" is the last one where the name "Ryuso Jar" is used (laughs). (Laughs.) But I was told by a great person that it was the source of their power. I thought, "Oh, I see. I think actors, directors, and producers are all looking for a place where they are comfortable. But "Ryuso Jar" showed me that they don't stay there. After doing "Kyuranger" and "Lupapato," both of which were very sharp, when I saw the commercial for "Ryuso Jar," everyone must have thought, "Oh, it's back to the usual Sentai! I'm sure everyone thought, "Oh, they've gone back to their usual Sentai style! Actually, I thought so too. But when I saw the first episode, I found that was not the case.

--When I saw the first episode, I felt that something extraordinary had started.

Matsumoto: The theme of death, the angle of the battle scenes, and the appearance of a giant enemy separate from the small monsters reminded me of "Go-Busters," but the lack of explanation was just the right balance. I think the first episode of any work is always lacking in explanations, and the motivation to watch each episode is to collect the mysteries, so I was glad that the first episode made me want more.

--Super Sentai Saikyou Battle! I thought it was a good idea to have Green and Black work independently, and to handle it with the explanation in the first episode that "the guys who left the village before".

Matsumoto: Indeed! I thought it was a good way to recover the story there. Also, I like Mitsuru Fukikoshi (laughs), so I have to look at it from a fan's point of view. I asked the producers directly if that part was ad-libbed. I am also learning a lot as an actor.

--So you can watch "Ryuso Jar" with peace of mind?

Matsumoto: I feel safe, but I have to be worried. Every time I watch "Ryusojer," I am always worried about what is going to happen. I want to be able to worry about what is going to happen each time. I want the audience to be motivated to continue watching the film until the very end.

--By the way, at TTFC, you presented a project called "Let's make a low-budget film. Was it "Blood of Kings"? You talked about a hero who is changing from generation to generation, and "Ryuso Jar" is exactly like that, isn't it?

Matsumoto: Now that you mention it, yes!　You remembered it very well. It was really a rush job, so I wondered if it was right to gather people with that kind of material. I remember it was a very simple idea: "Why don't we do a squadron based on a period drama and generational change?

--But since "Ryuso Jar" has the same taste as "Ryuso Jar," I thought, "Wow, a Super Sentai goodwill ambassador! (laughs).

Matsumoto: Maybe it just happened to be what I wanted to see and what I was looking for. At that time, I really had to rush through the presentation material, but that was also a pure extraction of what I wanted to see, so I guess that combined with the fact that I was attracted to "Ryuso Jar" strongly.

--For example, if it were up to you, how would you develop "Ryuso Jar" in the future? Do you have any ideas about how you would develop "Ryuso Jar" in the future?

Matsumoto: First of all, I am sure that the masters who died in the first episode will become Ryuso Jar. I would like to see it, even if it is a spin-off. I would also like to see how the current Ryusojas were chosen. And are there black and green masters? Or maybe the elders used to be Ryusojagers too? I would like to see how the current Ryusoujagers were chosen. I don't think that kind of intergenerational drama is common in Super Sentai. I would like to see a drama that delves more deeply into the masters. I think that would make the story more profound.

But basically, I want the masters to outsmart us and make us say, "Really? I want people to say, "Really? I also do live broadcasts, and my reactions are quite honest. I've said "I knew it!" a lot in the past (laughs), so I'm looking forward to a turn of events that will surprise me.

--I hope to see a development that will surprise us.

Matsumoto: The big boss hasn't been drawn yet. Is it the middle boss? What is the big boss like? I think there is a strong pull to ask, "What is the big boss like? Maybe he is still in a state of exploration and hasn't been created yet? Or, on the other hand, does he or she actually already exist in our neighborhood? I think about all kinds of things.

I am unintentionally moved by the stories and talents that fans think of!

--What elements are you looking for in "Super Sentai"?

Matsumoto: I want the theme to fit the times. I want the theme to be in tune with the times. I want the worldview of the work to be constructed while taking into account the current trends in Japan.

--I am not sure if I am reading too much into this, but the new era is changing from "Heisei" to "2025," and I am wondering if you have something in mind for "Ryuso Jar," which is on the borderline of the new era.

Matsumoto: Yes. I think there is some kind of trick to it. But I like to say, "Actually, this is how it happened. If you do it with a bang, I might be satisfied. That's why I'm a very relaxed person (laughs).

(laughs) -- Yes, that's right. I want them to do it in a "actually" kind of way, without making such a big deal out of it. Maybe that's the mindset of people who enjoy various contents now, not just "Super Sentai. The recipients are smart, and in an age where they are constantly choosing their own preferences from among all the information available, they are not interested in being told, "Please take a look! I would be turned off if someone said, "Please take a look! Rather, they might be more interested if you say, "Actually, this is what it looks like: .......

Matsumoto: Personally, I would like the producers to do an ego search on "Ryuso Jar. I think they have already done so. I would like them to do something different from what everyone is expecting. I was ego-searching "Lupapato," and I found that there are people who are actually predicting the final episode to be like this. There were a lot of people who predicted that the final episode would be like this. I want you to crush all of them. I want you to betray all of them. There are people in the world who think, "Yes, just as I predicted," right? I want that to be the smallest number of people (laughs).

--(Laughs.) - That's what we want, too. That's what we really want.

Matsumoto: The creativity of the artists who post their works on social networking sites is amazing, and some of it is very moving. I want them to go even further than that (laughs). Some of them are thinking about the world after the final episode of "Lupapato. Toei should just buy them all and make them on their own. I wish Toei would do something chic like buying their talent.

I have only received about 20 "Like! I am moved when I see a tweet from someone with only about 20 likes. Talent is amazing, isn't it? It's almost like the feeling you get when you go to see a small theater after a performance at a big theater and you are shocked to see someone with such talent in the world. It may be a bad way of putting it, or maybe he/she turned down a job at a big theater to work at a small theater, but it is still a thrill to know that there are so many unknown talents in the world.

--I used to be in a band myself, so when I saw videos of me playing on video sites, there are high school students who are so good that I honestly thought, "I might quit. They are doing things that are totally unprofessional, but they don't realize it, so I say to them, "No, no, no, don't even notice it! (laughs). How do you fight against these young actors who have different strengths?

Matsumoto: I am someone who has pretty much abandoned that part of my life. I think I become stronger by absorbing various things, and if a junior actor is doing better than me, I may specialize in absorbing that. It may be unfair, though.

I used to think, "Only I can do this," but now I don't think so. People often say, "Masato Jin was great," but no, you can do it too. On the contrary, I would like to see your Masato Jin. Perhaps that is the strength that keeps me going. Just as I feel that an artist's work is amazing, I think my strength is that I can think, "Oh, that's a good idea, I'll try that too.

If I try to fight in a strange way, it is not only uncool, but I often lose. I think I arrived at this point after taking various things into consideration.

─ That is your winning point.

Matsumoto: It is correct to say that I have won. In the past, it was said that the stronger the individuality of an actor, the more he/she shines, but actors today do not have much individuality. That may sound bad, but it is a great thing. It is unbelievable to those of us who have been actors for more than 10 years that it is possible to erase one's individuality.

When I was young, it was common for my personality to blend in and live on in the play, but today's kids would start from the very beginning by crushing their individuality and saying, "I am 2.5 dimensional," or "I can be this character. In other words, it is a campus where they can become anything they want. There are many people in the 2.5D and special effects fields who are called chameleon actors, but that is impossible for me!

I consider myself an actor with strong habits. I want to be someone who knows himself well and can steal the plays of today's kids and those who are called chameleon actors. Also, this is not about winning or losing, but I try to find something about that person that others can never imitate. I can never imitate his performance, so I try to steal it. So I will try to steal it, and I will try to do the same.

I think the only thing I can't lose is experience. Because I have been doing this for a long time. I want to spread and share the classic techniques, such as, "If you do this here, the audience will laugh," and so on.

I think this is our strength.

(Interviewer: Hiroyuki Deguchi, Composition: Editor A)

Extra

Tomohiro HATANO, Sister MAYO, and Super Sentai Ambassador Hiroya MATSUMOTO, who answered our questions. And Hiroyuki Deguchi, our interviewer, danced the "Kevone Dance" for Akiba Research Institute! for Akiba Research Institute!

Look out for this unexpected collaboration!