Somali and the God of the Forest" Commemorates Broadcast of Winter Anime "Somali and the God of the Forest"! Commemorating the start of the winter anime "Somali and the God of the Forest" broadcast! The relationship between the two is like a real parent and child! Interview with Daisuke Ono (Golem) and Inori Minase (Somali) of "Somali and the God of the Forest"!

In a world where deformities rule the earth, a golem, the guardian of the forest, meets a human girl. The highly anticipated 2020 winter anime "Somali and the God of the Forest" is a record of the journey of a father-daughter bond between a dying race of "humans" and a forest guardian "golem.

To commemorate the long-awaited start of the broadcast, we asked Daisuke Ono, who plays Golem, and Inori Minase, who plays Somali, about the highlights of the work.

I feel that the experience I have cultivated as an actor is reflected in the sound of my voice.

───What was your impression when you read the original comic of "Somali and the God of the Forest"?

Ono: When I read it, the first thing I thought was, "The drawings are amazing! I thought. For example, in the background and the worldview, there was a great amount of information that I received from the pictures, and I thought it was very warm. I wondered how much time was spent on this. I felt as if I could sense the time that the golem has lived for nearly 1,000 years, and I was very moved by that.

Mizuse I felt a kind of simple love and a sense of security that there were no flashy things. I was reading the book while thinking about playing Somali, so I paid attention to Somali's dialogue. Somali's words are very simple when it comes to expressing emotions. There are no excuses, no defenses, nothing like that. It is childlike how they choose words to express what they are thinking. I felt as if I had become an adult, and I thought to myself, "Even if there are few words, there is something to be conveyed! I felt like I had become an adult. I felt that when we become adults, we tend to use too many words. After reading the book, I felt like I could learn something moral.

─ ─ What were you conscious of when playing the characters?

Ono: First of all, golems are not human. There is absolutely no blur to that setting, and there are no exceptions. As a voice actor who expresses emotions and the fact that humans are alive for a living, I felt as if I had been deprived of all the skills of that job (laughs). So at first I thought, "This is difficult ....... But I felt that the sound of my own voice and the experience I had cultivated as an actor could be put into my voice as sound. I was weaving the dialogue, thinking that I wanted to create a voice that had no emotion, but had a feeling, a heat, a warmth, and a sense of being alive. Inori's Somali compensates and adds to the parts that I had cut out, so I was careful to strike a balance between the two.

Minase: Somari and Otou-san have a relationship in which they both receive and give each other various feelings, but I didn't think of it as a "giving" kind of relationship. Because Otou-san is a golem, his reactions are always weak (laugh), but I always try to move forward together with him, believing that he is receiving my messages. So in the script, I would sometimes cut out Dad's response like "......," but in my mind, I would try to say the next line while feeling the pause while he was catching Somali's words. That is why Somali always laughs with all her might, cries with all her might, teases with all her might, and gets angry with all her might.

─ Did the director give you any words of encouragement?

Ono: Regarding the golem, I was told that it had no emotions, and I was asked to suppress any outpouring of emotion in the performance, but he told me, "Even if it comes out in the test, it's fine if you can suppress it in the performance. I was actually very grateful that I was allowed to do that work. I was very thankful to be given the opportunity to do that work, because I could not understand how I felt when I received Somali's dialogue at home, even if I was doing it by myself. But when I came to postrecording, there were things that came to me, so it was important for me to let them come to me and then work on putting them into my father, who is a golem.

Mizuse: When I saw the picture, I wondered if she was a girl with a boyish look. I was quite surprised when I was told that I could be a girl. I was thinking that the boyishness with a sense of adventure was one of her charms, so I went to ....... I was told that I could use a high voice, so I went ahead with it, and the manager asked me, "It's pretty high, but are you okay with it?　Can you handle it? But the manager said, "Yes, I can do it! But I said, "I can do it!　I'll do it! I'll do it!" (laughs). (The key itself is high, but the endings are "~~ you're doing it! and "I'll do it! I got it! I thought he was trying to give off a boyish impression.

─ By the way, I think this is the first time you two have worked together in such a close relationship as father and son.

Mizuse: I feel comfortable with my father's voice because he never changes. As we talk to each other, I somehow know that if I say something like this, he will respond in this way. （There is no irregularity (in terms of the character), like, "I wonder what kind of a different kind of response he will give me," but he definitely responds in the way I imagined. No matter how much Somali expands the envelope, the father always returns to it, which makes it very easy to work with and very rewarding to play with and expand.

Ono: I see what you mean. So you can imagine. I feel secure in the knowledge that she will always return to me in this way. I'm grateful that you say that, and I'm glad that I'm doing this play. I wouldn't like it if my father was a bit shaky (laughs). Like, "Oh, Somali (grin).

Mizuse If he did that, I would run away (laughs).

Ono: Because of the way she looks (laughs). (laughs) The more Inori-chan moves my heart and performs like that, the more my performance stands up. I think that because she cries a lot, her voice afterwards sounds kinder. That's why it is impossible for me to express the Golem if I do it alone. I don't think I could do it even if someone said to me, "Just do the golem. I don't think I could do it even if someone said, "Just do the golem! If Somali was to be excised, I would say "I can't do it! I think I would refuse.

(laughs) Mizuse I don't think I can do it either. ......

I have no experience in calling a father.

───Well, were there any parts that were fun or difficult for you to play?

Mizuse: The fun part was being able to call him "Dad". I myself used to call my real father "Papa," so I have no experience in calling him "father. But now that I am an adult, I feel that "father" and "mother" are nice words, and I am very happy to be able to call him "father. And to tell you the truth, my father's name is also Diesuke (laughs). Is this coincidence or inevitability? So I was happy in a double sense.

The difficult part was until the first episode of recording. When I was practicing at my house, I didn't know what kind of atmosphere I was going to get. ...... But after the recording of the first episode started, it wasn't so much that it was difficult, and the characters of Somali and Dad just came to me. I was able to get rid of everything that I thought was difficult. I was able to visualize the future of the story in my mind, and I was able to imagine "this is how I would do it," so there were not many difficult parts.

Ono: The difficult part was to suppress my emotions as I mentioned earlier, but the fun part was being able to watch what was going on around me during the postrecording. If anything, I could be on the receiving end, so it was a lot of fun to watch from the back. Even when Somali is the only one talking, I can see how she is feeling, how she is crying or laughing while thinking about something. I could watch them while thinking "how nice" they were feeling, so I felt I was in the most privileged position.

─ Is there a place you would like to visit in the film?

Ono: I thought it would be nice to go to a bar or a diner. There was a scene where you are a waiter, and it was very nice. The scene was a bit bigger in the anime, but it was fun. The sound director was very particular about the gaya, and they were all of different races. So he told me to make the voices and the content of the speech more intense because it is better to deviate from human voices. With the golem, I had to keep the same tone the whole time, which made me feel depressed (laughs).

Mizuse: You took this opportunity to play a fat character, didn't you?

Ono: Yes, that's right. Like, "This is delicious, I wish I could eat more of it (in a fatty way).

Mizuse Oh, no!　He's here this week, too! I was thinking that (laughs).

Ono He is always there. He was always exchanging with Yuu Kobayashi as a fatty character.

Mizuse He seemed to be having fun (laughs).

Ono That's why I would like to visit the diner (laughs).

Mizuse I like to read books, so it is a witch's library. A whole room full of bookshelves is like a dream, isn't it? I think I could spend a whole day there and have a lot of fun.

───What are the highlights of the anime?

Mizuse: For those who have read the original, I think they will be looking forward to seeing which towns we will visit, what kind of encounters we will have, and what kind of voices we will give to these characters. There are no regulars other than us, so I hope you will pay attention to the cast of guest characters in each episode. The first episode is quite intense!

Ono: I hope you enjoy the gorgeous guest voice actors. Kujira-san was talking a lot in the first episode (laughs). Kujira-san plays the role of an old woman named Toad, and she is a lot of fun and really enlivened the scene from the very beginning.

─ ─ And since she is not playing a human character, it will be interesting to see how she will act.

Ono: It's hard to imagine people coming in here. However, everyone fits the role perfectly.

Minase: What? And then we were like, "Wow! and we are impressed.

Ono: That's true, it's like that. Also, the structure of the story was slightly changed for the anime version. The relationship between Somali and her father is structured in such a way that it builds up, so I think that is another highlight of the story. I think there are parts of the story that are rather unpredictable, so I think fans of the original will enjoy it as well.

I am looking forward to it. Finally, how do you think you will feel after seeing this film?

Ono: When I read the original comic, I felt warmth and thought it portrayed the love between parents and children, but when I tried to act it out, I found that it also portrayed cruelty and the difference between humans and non-humans. It also depicts the love-hate drama and tragedies that arise because of that. So, in general, I think it is an anime that makes you think. It is not just a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Mizuse It leaves a good impression on the viewer.

Ono That's right. I think it is a "memorable work" that will leave a strong impression on your heart in a good way.

(Interview and text by Junichi Tsukagoshi)

Commemorating the start of "Somali and the God of the Forest" broadcast! Three winners will receive original comics autographed by Daisuke Ono and Inori Minase!

Commemorating the start of "Somali and the God of the Forest" broadcast! We are giving away three comic books autographed by Daisuke Ono (Golem) and Inori Minase (Somali) to three lucky winners!

<Prize
The first volume of the original comics signed by Daisuke Ono and Inori Minase.

<Entry requirements
Entry period: Tuesday, January 14, 2020 - Tuesday, January 21, 2020 (23:59)
Number of winners: 3
Prizes will be shipped by the end of March 2020.
How to apply: Use the dedicated application form below.

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