Kokkoku Preview Screening Event Report

A preview screening for Kokkoku (Moment by Moment) took place on 20 December 2017 at the Akihabara UDX Theater in Tokyo. Chika Anzai (voice of Juri Yukawa), Asami Seto (voice of Shoko Majima), Kazuhiro Yamaji (voice of Jii-san), director Yoshimitsu Ohashi, and the opening theme artist Boku no Lyric no Bouyomi were attending as guests.

After the screening of the first episode, the guests were welcomed with a big applause. It then was revealed that Anzai and Seto had already seen the first episode beforehand, but they added with excitement, ‘We saw the opening and ending for the first time.’ Director Ohashi then explained, ‘The opening and ending aren’t perfect yet. They will change a bit. So look forward to when it airs on TV.’

Seto was asked how the anime is different to others, to which she naturally replied with, ‘Aren’t all anime different?’, which made the audience laugh. Anzai jumped in to help, ‘No, no, the difference is in the sound effects! In the time-stopped world, there are no sounds.’ The series is set in a world where some people can enter the world in a state where time has stopped. Ohashi then explained about the production, ‘An anime is not only its visual but also the music and sound effects, which give series more depth. But in the time-stopped world, only the sounds the characters make can be heard. When I talked with the sound director about it, he said, “That’s hard.”‘ Since The keyword of the series is ‘pressure’, he added, ‘I make an anime that appreciates many different things. I want to make it seem as if the images are trapped.’
Seto told the audience more about the recording process, ‘We also talked about how we would behave in a world without sound. I got conscious of my play. Like if you want to call out to someone far away by screaming “Oi!”, in a soundless world, it would reach the other person even if you don’t scream it.’

Next, Boku no Lyric no Bouyomi appeared on stage. He provides the ending theme of the series. Ohashi explained why he chose the song ‘Asayake to Nettaigyo’, which came out in November on his album. ‘I wanted an ending that could take away some of the heavy feelings of the series. While there were some good candidates, this song fitted best. His voice and the song fit well and the lyrics fit well with their sentimental part.’ Boku no Lyric no Bouyomi, who heard his words, answered, ‘It’s the first time to hear these words properly from the director, so I am happy he said it.’

Anzai said about the ending, ‘It is a wonderful song that takes away the heavy feeling the anime leaves and it lets you go to sleep pleasantly so that in the morning, we can welcome Monday with a good feeling.’ BokuLyri added, ‘The opening and ending themes have different roles, right? The ending is there to make the transition from the anime into the real world easier, that’s why I think it is a breathtaking song in a positive way.’

Furthermore, a video message by Miyavi, who provides the opening theme ‘Flashback’, was screened. Ohashi said about the circumstances with Miyavi, ‘At first, we wanted him to sing an insert song, but what was born through it was a song with so much volume and such a good song that we slipped it in as the opening theme.’

Later, they were asked, ‘If you could stop the time for one day, what would you do?’. Anzai answered, ‘First, I would like to try different things. What things are possible to do in a world where time has stopped. Then I would like to see some of my acquaintances and friends and see where time stopped for them.’ Yamaji answered to that, ‘That’s a terrible thing to do. [laugh]’ Seto thought about a more serious reply and said, ‘I would do my homework. We still have a lot of work that is related to paper, so I want to read everything carefully.’ Ohashi agreed and said, ‘My answer is similar to Seto’s. I would stop time shortly before a deadline and work.’ Yamaji said, ‘I thought about it, but everything might seem strange. [laugh] I would stop time during the best weather and go to the south and there I can enjoy some time alone. Or go to the museum.’ Everybody liked his ideas.

In the end, there was a surprise for Anzai, who celebrates her birthday on 22 December 2017. Everybody in the audience said ‘Happy Birthday!’ and you could hear the sound of birthday crackers. Anzai, as the only one who didn’t know, said ‘Wah! I want to stop time at this moment! I am really happy! This time we talked a lot about the wonderful Kokkoku. From now on, I hope we can have more events where we tell the fans directly what happened behind the scenes and can get everybody excited for Kokkoku.’ Ohashi added, ‘The last episode will include an ending that isn’t drawn in the manga. So please watch it until the end to find out what will happen!’

Kokkoku will start airing on 8 January 2018, 00:30 (JST). It is a science fiction series, where one family has the ability to stop time and move freely in the time-stopped world. The series has been serialized in Kodansha’s Morning Two and has 8 volumes.

Kokkoku

Starts airing on 8 January 2018

Staff

Original Work: Seita Horio
Director: Yoshimitsu Ohashi
Series Composition: Noboru Kimura
Original Character Design: Yasuomi Umetsu
Animation Character Design, Chief Animation Director: Masaki Hinata
Music: Michiru
Theme Song: Flashback by MIYAVI vs KenKen
Ending Theme: Asayake to Nettaigyo by Boku no Lyric no Bouyomi
Animation Production: Geno Studio
Distribution: Twin Engine

Cast

Juri Yukawa: Chika Anzai
Shoko Majima: Asami Seto
Jii-san: Kazuhiro Yamaji
Junji Sagawa: Hozumi Goda
Sakafumi Yukawa: Koji Tsujitani
Tsubasa Yukawa: Hirofumi Nojima
Makoto Yukawa: Ryuto Iwata
Shiomi: Yuya Uchida
Sako: Hiroyuki Yoshino