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Made in Abyss Pre-Screening Event Report

by Kiriya Kasai

3 years ago

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The cast of anime Made in Abyss: Miyu Tomita voicing Riko, Shiori Izawa voicing Nanachi and Mariya Ise voicing Reg.

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On 18 June 2017, the pre-screening event for the upcoming anime Made in Abyss was held at Kadokawa Cinema Shinjuku in Tokyo. They showed Episode 1 and featured a talk event with the cast of the three main characters: Miyu Tomita voicing Riko, Shiori Izawa voicing Nanachi, and Mariya Ise voicing Reg. They talked a lot about the anime and held a quiz on stage, getting the crowd excited for more.

They began by screening Episode 1 right off the bat. On the big screen of the cinema, you could see the finely drawn lines. The sound was produced with care and the first scene was the meeting of Riko and Reg as their world was gently introduced to us. It was a perfectly put-together episode and it felt like a short movie.

During the cast talk, they first talked about the episode. Izawa, who is a big fan of the original manga, agreed with Ise who said, ‘It just seemed like the manga.’ And Tomita said, ‘The pictures were drawn first and then the music was created.’

In the first episode, Riko and Reg meet for the first time. Tomita said about Riko, ‘She is very curious, straightforward, and pure. She left a deep impression.’ They then talked about how Riko seems to be particularly good at cooking and wondered how the ‘Riko-food’ will be re-created in the anime.

Then Ise talked about Reg, ‘He is a boy who seems to be a robot coming from the Abyss and who is very pure.’ She also said to pay attention to ‘the memory he has lost and what happened in the past.’ Izawa said about her character Nanachi (who hasn’t appeared in Episode 1) ‘I can only say that Nanachi is a mysterious creature Riko and Reg meet.’ It seems like this mystery will be unveiled in the story, but in the original manga it is written that ’Nanachi smells.’ to which Ise said, ‘It seems like she is smelly [laugh].’

The cast also added that the intonation of the characters’ names and of the terminology in the series are all unique and taken from the original. For example, Jiruo’s name sounds similar to Japanese names, so the three cast members worried a lot about how to pronounce the different names. Sometimes, they would find a mistake after the recording had ended and then had to redo it. They took care even of the tiniest details.

From there on, the talk changed to the auditions. Ise said, ‘I wanted to voice a boy I could grow together with. I auditioned with the original creator Akihito Tsukushi at the studio and got to listen to explanations on the world built for the manga.’ Izawa also told the audience an unexpected story about Tsukushi, ‘I showed him a picture of a pig’s brain I ate when I went to China. And he told me “I want to add this to my material!”‘

The opening theme is sung by Riko and Reg, and the ending will also include Nanachi on the CD. Tomita talked about her recording experience, ‘The opening is cool but feels good. It’s not only Riko being cute but also the strength behind the song.” About the ending, Ise said, ‘I can imagine the three characters marching around, having fun and singing,’ to which Izawa added, ‘Nanachi doesn’t give the image of one to start singing on her own initiative. I imagine her being drawn into doing it by the singing of the other two.’

They then talked briefly about their private lives and then had a quiz competition!

The TV anime Made in Abyss will start airing on 7 July 2017.