Hiroshi Kamiya, Mamoru Miyano, and Sumire Uesaka: Thoughts on the characters they play: "We're only kept alive through our work."

Translated by: Dylan Acres

On Sunday, December 25, "Bokura no Jidai" featured voice actors Hiroshi Kamiya, Mamoru Miyano, and Sumire Uesaka.

The three play the roles of Ataru Moroboshi by Kamiya, Shutaro Mendo by Miyano, and Lum by Uesaka in Urusei Yatsura (Thursdays at 24:55/ Fuji TV), which has been re-animated after 36 years.

Mr. Miyano said, Urusei Yatsura is truly legendary," and Mr. Kamiya said, "I couldn't help but like it," as the three talked about the audition process.



Miyano: Did you audition for both?

Uesaka: Both?

Kamiya: I auditioned for Ataru and Mendo.

Uesaka: Ahhh.

Miyano: You record your own voice, and in a sense, you send it to them right?

Uesaka: That's right.

Kamiya: It's called a tape audition, at first.

Miyano: I couldn't come up with a good idea at all. Even after I finished recording, I wondered if it was good enough. But Mendo kept coming out more and more.

Kamiya: Wow! That's amazing.

Uesaka: Amazing!

Miyano: (laughs) Rather than the correct answer, "I think I want to try it this way," kept coming up.

Kamiya: That's wonderful.

Uesaka: I see. I auditioned for Lum, Shinobu (Miyake), and Sakura...

Kamiya: Three totally different characters.

Miyano: You also took on Sakura!

Uesaka: That's right. No, but I didn't think so. I thought that Lum-chan was the one I struggled with the most. I was really surprised to hear that I passed the studio audition.



Kamiya: (To Miyano-san) Which of the two roles did you play first?

Miyano: Oh, I was only invited to play Mendo in the studio.

Uesaka: I was also called to the studio with only one choice, Lum-chan.

Kamiya: I see. I was both Mendo and Ataru.

Miyano & Uesaka: Wow!

Kamiya: They asked me, "Which do you want to play?" I said, "Well, I'll play Mendo.”

Miyano: Very funny.

Kamiya: Anyway, I said please tell me whatever! Anything you want, I’ll do! I'll adjust to the slightest millimeter!

Uesaka: I just want to be accepted (laughs)!

After hearing Kamiya-san's passion for the audition, Miyano-san revealed that while he was recording he kept saying, "This is so fun. This is great,” revealing the friendly atmosphere at the studio.
Miyano-san revealed his memories of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, in which he and Kamiya-san appeared together in 2007. ^[1]

Miyano: It was hard to find a job that had a lot of different roles.

Kamiya: That's right (laughs).

Miyano: It was like we were going around on a traveling tour. We spent a lot of time together.



Uesaka: Oh yeah?

Miyano: And along the way, when they would tell us backstage stories, we would say, "So that's how it was!

Kamiya: Yes, that's right.

Uesaka: Ah.

Miyano: We can pick up a lot of information. We are just the voices, so to speak.

Kamiya: That's right. That's really true.

Miyano: That's why I think it's not genuine unless we all work together on it.

Kamiya: I really think so. There is something unnatural about it. Even if we were to put on our clothes and makeup like this, and the camera was pointed at us and we were asked to say something, we would say, "No, I don't really have anything to say...”

Uesaka: (laughs)

Kamiya: That's what I would think.

Miyano: That’s been the case ever since. We had something to say as representatives. If we are given the opportunity to speak as representatives of a show, we should carry the work on our shoulders and try to convey the good points of the work to everyone.

Uesaka: Oh, that's wonderful.

When Miyano-san said, "Communication is more necessary now (with the Corona disaster)," Uesaka-san replied, "I think so now! I wish we could get together for dubbing.”
When asked if they search for information about themselves online

Kamiya: I don't. You can think whatever you want. If it's something malicious, and you'll get burned anyway, right?

Miyano: Are you okay with doing "business as usual" on TV (laughs)?

Kamiya: (laughs) Well, it's been like this for a long time now. You're really great, Mamo-chan. You really do it for TV.

Miyano: Ha-ha-ha-ha!

Kamiya: I really respect you （I don't have any TV-friendly comments. I don't know. The media) just cut it out and use it in whatever way they want).

Miyano: Look (laughs)! It's dangerous, dangerous. It is dangerous, but I hope you will use it.

Uesaka: We can't stop them.

Miyano: (To Uesaka-san) Do you look online at comments?

Uesaka: I used to be very, very hurt by verbal abuse at times. But in the past year or two, I really don't care anymore. I wonder what changed...

Kamiya: You've become an adult.

Uesaka: I've become able to stop caring about it.

Miyano: (laughs) Recently, just all of a sudden?

Uesaka: Suddenly.

Miyano: Is it because of Lum-chan? Isn't it a big thing to embrace a character?

Kamiya: Yes.



Miyano: Because of playing Lum-chan? Getting a chance to play characters like her?

Uesaka: Yes.

Miyano: You gain confidence because its like “I was able to get this part!”

Uesaka: It's not like I’m saying "this girl has my back," but it does give me confidence.

Miyano: It gives you confidence.

Kamiya: You might think that you can be the voice of this character, especially if you like the work or like the character. And when I feel that there are a lot of people like that, I think, "They like this work. That means they like listening to my voice, too.”

Miyano: The longer your career is, the more people listen to you. I feel that I have been helped by that. I think voice-over work is the best way to express myself. Ideas constantly come to me.

Uesaka: Wow.

Miyano: I think that's the confidence that this job has given me.

Kamiya-san said, "A voice actor is really only a voice actor when there is a work to be done. If you ask me to do something alone as a voice actor, I can't do anything. We are only a part of the work. For example, when people say, "You are a popular voice actor," it doesn't really ring a bell," he concluded for all three.

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Footnotes

• [1] In Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Mamoru Miyano played the protagonist Setsuna F. Seiei (刹那・F・セイエイ). Hiroshi Kamiya played Tieria Erde (ティエリア・アーデ).

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