[Kyomaf 2018] Cells at Work! Stage Report

On Sunday 16 September 2018, the first stage to open the busy day of the Kyomaf Stage was Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibou). There were four guests attending this stage event. Voice actresses Kana Hanazawa (voice of Red Blood Cell) and Maria Naganawa (voice of Platelet) and music composers Kenichiro Suehiro and Mayuko. The event was 40 minutes long and took place from 11-11:40 a.m.

Opening

The stage started with Red Blood Cell and Platelet talking from behind the stage. Red Blood Cell is lost…again! Luckily, Platelet was there to explain that they had arrived at the Kyomaf special stage. Red Blood Cell started to poke Platelet’s cute cheek, getting so lost in the act that she wanted to do it all day! The guests came out on stage and, after short self-introductions, the concept for this stage event became clear: They would go do different ‘countries’ in the body and pretend that they are a show called ‘ItteC’. The guests were all making fun of the host, asking if they thought up the concept themselves. Only Hanazawa kept saying that she somehow thought this concept sounded familiar and was baffled and kept asking if they were really sure that they were the first ones to come up with the concept. It got a good laugh out of the audience.

After that got sorted out, everybody started their trip around the ‘countries’. During their first stop, they talked about which episode they enjoyed most from the series so far. Hanazawa chose Episode 8 while Naganawa chose Episode 10. They also talked about the recording and to be honest during this part, the best thing was not what they talked about but the way they talked. Maria Naganawa voices Platelet cutesy enough, but seeing her sit on stage in that cute dress, giving us her cutest voice was a shot through the heart and an overload on cuteness. Hanazawa probably thinks similarly, because she showed how much she liked Maria and made her repeat certain words or parts of the things she said. They both seemed to have fun with this kind of game and it left no doubt that the two of them also had this kind of fun during recordings.

[Kyomaf 2018] Cells at Work! Stage Report

Surprise message

Fans of Tomoaki Maeno were also in for a real treat because even though the voice actor of the Neutrophil couldn’t be at the venue, he sent a video message. It wasn’t even a short one, because he put his all into it. When the video started, we could see Maeno in a perfect cosplay of the Neutrophil as he greeted the fans. Then he got to answer the first question, which was what he thought was the charm of Kyoto. Aside from the food, which definitely is a good point to start with, he mentioned that every year he visits Fushimi Inari shrine, which is a shrine famous for the hundreds and hundreds of red torii (=Japanese gates usually found at shrines) that visitors can walk through. It is also famous for the many fox statues that can be found in the area.

The second question was which scenes he thought were most memorable to him and he says that it definitely was the parts where he worked together with Akira Ishida, who voiced the cancer cell in Episodes 6 and 7 of the series.

The third question let him answer what he could say about singing the opening theme song, which he explained wasn’t easy, because he was the first one to record so he didn’t quite know with what kind of power and feeling to sing the song, but since they got a demo, he somehow ended up singing it similar to it.

Lastly, as the final episode is getting closer, he was asked if he has anything to say to the audience. He mentioned that everybody could look forward to see how all the cells will do until the end of this series and that they should please keep supporting it.

Music

Since the two people in charge of the music were also present on this stage, they of course had to talk about the amazing score of this series! At first, Mayuko was asked about the opening theme, which she wrote specifically after deciding that the four voice actors Kana Hanazawa, Tomoaki Maeno, Daisuke Ono, and Kikuko Inoue would sing in it. Hanazawa also mentioned that even without lyrics, the song already made her feel all warm and good, so it was a great song. The song is also available to sing at karaoke, so of course, everybody should sing it if they have the chance!

Suehiro also worked on the score for this series and they played one of the background songs at the venue while he explained that he wanted to write something great and fitting for the series. The next piece they played at the venue was the battle theme, which also was done by Suehiro. If you have watched it, you will know that it has an epic battle feeling to it, while also sounding clumsy-cute. It really is a great fit for this series!

They also talked about the background music for Macrophage. Behind this piece lies the intention of making it sound like a piece for ballet, that represents that fluffy feeling and elegance and softness.

At the very end, they talked about the song ‘Sensei Ano Ne’, which is the B-side to the opening theme CD. Unmistakably, it is sung by the cute Platelet, Naganawa. Hanazawa couldn’t hide how much she liked the song and said that she felt her heart healing with this song, which made Nanagawa blush but Hanazawa only said thank you to her co-worker, for making her feel so good with the song.

Naganawa herself wasn’t too sure if it sounded cute when she heard the song for the first time on her own, but Hanazawa was fast to assure her that it indeed is a very cute song. This also resulted in Naganawa giving a live performance of her Platelet voice! Hanazawa could be heard squeeing in the background, it was just so cute.

Closing

The event ended with a trailer, preparing everybody for the ending of the series and also building up the excitement for the final episode. After a few parting words from the guests, the event ended with the fans leaving the venue looking forward to the last few episodes. Episode 12 will air on 22 September 2018 and will be the penultimate episode with the thirteenth and last episode airing one week later.