The upcoming anime titled Ancien and the Magic Tablet (Hirune Hime: Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari) took to the stage at Marunouchi Picadilly on Monday 27 February 2017 to announce the completion of the movie. The event was attended by the voice cast, including Mitsuki Takahata (who plays main character Kokone Morikawa), Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Arata Furuta, Tomoya Maeno, Hideki Takahashi, Yousuke Eguchi, and the director, Kenji Kamiyama. They talked about the movie and their experiences during the recording.
Takahata, for whom this is her first role as a voice actor, said, ‘I couldn’t meet Eguchi (Momotarou) during the recording. It was difficult to do voice work without knowing how the other voice actors talk, because I usually perform while facing others. I thought being a voice actor is tough.’
Mitsushima (who plays Kokone’s childhood friend, Morio Sawatari) is from Okinawa prefecture and commented, ‘There have been times when I couldn’t identify with the character because of the difference in dialects. So I tried hard to speak in the Okayama dialect while listening carefully to my teacher’s instructions.’
Eguchi also said, ‘Director Kamiyama was very reliable because he is a black-and-white type of person and says OK and No directly.’
Takahashi, on the other hand, made everyone laugh by saying, ‘The director, Kamiyama, was very meticulous in his teachings. Based on my experience so far, I feel that he would be in my top 5 list of persistent directors.’ The director, Kamiyama, was put on a tough spot by this comment and just said, ‘I’m sorry…’
The story of the movie is about finding the secret that is hidden in the ‘dream.’ As the story revolves around dreams, psychologist Youko Haruka appeared on stage to analyze the cast members’ dreams.
Eguchi mentioned a dream where he got into a bout of fisticuffs and how a giant passed by the window. Haruka identified Eguchi as a ‘gentle and solid person.’ Eguchi seemed to be surprised and said, ‘Oh! Really!?’ According to Haruka’s analysis, ‘Eguchi is fighting with his fists because he knows it is a dream. Also, when the giant appeared, he hid himself in a safe place. That’s why he is actually solid.’
On the other hand, Maeno talked about a dream where he felt guilty about abandoning his sister and being afraid of getting kicked out into outer space. Haruka identified Maeno as a ‘narcissist who likes fantasy,’ and also a person who is ‘delicate about guiltiness and fear, and respects his feelings.’ Maeno seemed to feel like his mind was being read and remarked, ‘I like myself.’
Furuta told everyone about a unique dream he had once where he found a sloth under his body while he was flying in the sky. He put the analysis aside and laughed a lot while talking about this spectacular dream.
Finally, Director Kamiyama said, ‘Although I always worry about whether people will enjoy the movie, it has been a while since I felt this level of nervousness.’ In the end, Takahata said, ‘It is hard to express it with words but the movie was completed amazingly well, all the way to the animation seen in the end roll. That’s why I hope people will stay and watch the movie all the way until the end.’
http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/hirunehime/
Will be released on Saturday, March 18th, 2017 (At Marunouchi Picadilly, Shinjuku Picadilly, and other theatres)
(c)2017 ひるね姫製作委員会
The first season of the new year is just one month away from its finale. It was a great start with many amazing titles that made these past months worth the extra hours we put in front of our sets. Now, it is time for the cold wind to give way to the pink hues of the sakura tree and for the Winter 2018 season to give the anime baton to Spring 2018.
