Saiunkoku Monogatari Seiyuu interview – Kourin, Eigetsu and Ensei!

As there is a special on the three seiyuus last week, there is no episode for the second season of Saiunkoku Monogatari. For now, my wifey has just finished encoding the second episode of the second season, so do expect the update for a subbed version of Saiunkoku Monogatari to be out pretty soon. I have not watched her handiwork yet, but I think it will be out by today or tomorrow.

On the Seiyuus talking about their character and their favorite scenes, it is perhaps a refreshing take to see the three characters in a different light, that of the seiyuu playing the character itself. I must admit that I am not that great a seiyuu fan, but it is definitely fun to watch them talk on various aspects of the show. Without further ado, here is a brief summary of what the seiyuu mentioned in their section, as well as the little thoughts I have mixed altogether.

Ensei’s Seiyuu – Kentarou Itou

The first thing that Itou noted is that Ensei is actually someone who has experienced a lot of things in life, and has that lax in the normal situation yet a hot-blooded warm male feeling when he really is fighting. He finds that Ensei is one that does not reveal his weaknesses a lot, due to the fact that he has subconsciously changed his personality due to his own personal problematic history. He added that he had to add the emotion of how Ensei is regretful somewhat of his past actions, and that even if his own weaknesses are revealed, he is too strong to cry or feel sad over it but immediately adapt to the situation.

Itou also laughed when he was asked about the image of Ensei as the hot blooded warm man. He noted that his favorite scene is perhaps with Shuurei in the first season when he gave advice to Shuurei and was described as a man that is like air, flowing freely yet never obstructing your view. He answered that his favorite character in the series is Shuurei, as she is the one that supported the family while growing up as a child, and is a very strong-willed girl.

Itou said that Ensei definitely likes Seiran a lot but not love (sorry, all yaoi fangirls), but probably has that feeling that he cannot leave Seiran alone. On an amusing note, he said that if Ensei and Seiran got into a serious fight, Ensei would be unable to really focus and fight properly. Hence, he said that even though Ensei is probably better at fighting compared to Seiran, he will just lose somewhat but prevent himself to be killed. The problem is that if Seiran finds out, he will probably get more pissed and attack Ensei more viciously as Ensei is not giving his full.

I actually like how Itou noted about the friendship of Seiran and Ensei, which is a very interesting character dynamics ever since the first season until the transition of the second season. I somehow find Itou’s favorite character to be unsurprising, as the interaction of Ensei and Shuurei is perhaps very special, and it somewhat runs in when you are exposed to this charismatic female character in Shuurei.

Kourin’s Seiyuu – Eri Sendai

Sendai first started on the relationship of everyone in the studio, saying that it’s an amicable place where there is no difference between males and females (note: Japan is perhaps still considered to be a patriarchal society). She also discussed how Kourin was initially a very shy girl at the start of the anime, and by the 27th anime, she turns to be a very strong woman. Sendai said that it was due to the fact that it was one year after she first met Shuurei, and Kourin’s intentions of trying to be more mature was a flawed one. She said that her favorite character is Eigetsu naturally due to the constant interactions, and Sakujun is a character that she does not really like.

Sendai also noted the scene of the bun, when Kourin added a chestnut in the manju, showing how the degree of love is different. She explained that she felt that Kourin probably did not know that it was love then, but felt that she just could not get her eyes off Eigetsu. Hence, she probably subconsciously wanted to do something special for him. Sendai then mentioned that the director told her to be in love in real life when dealing with the love scenes, as to have more experience and emotions during the role play, which shocked her.

I really was shocked when Kourin’s seiyuu mentioned the director’s intent for her to be romantically attached. Initially, I thought that it might be a joke, but it seemed that the director really had some intentions to get her in a romantic relationship eventually to make the Kourin x Eigetsu scenes sweeter. This is perhaps no wonder why Kourin and Eigetsu are very attractive to me as a couple. Awww!

Eigetsu/Yougetsu’s Seiyuu – Daisuke Namikawa

Namikawa discussed firstly about the problem of dealing with two drastically different characters, Yougetsu who is the rough violent one and the frail peaceful Eigetsu. There is one scene too that he felt that was refreshing, which is the scene of the wine when Yougetsu and Eigetsu talked to each other. Under normal circumstances, Yougetsu’s voice acting would be done separately from Eigetsu’s one, but he did it at one go, hence having to adjust the very different emotions within the next line.

For Namikawa, his favorite character is Shuuei, as he felt that there is this maturity of an older brother in him where you can always ask him for help. The hosts also laughed that Ensei must be sad due to the close relationship of Ensei and Eigetsu, and Namikawa said he was too GAR and hot blooded even though Ensei would be responsible when it was required. He also jested that Seiran was a bit dangerous for him as he felt that his head would be looped off if he said the wrong things.

Namikawa then said that Shuurei was perhaps an important character for Eigetsu, due to the fact that it was due to Shuurei’s older sister support that Eigetsu was able to survive up to now. Eigetsu, he felt, really respected Shuurei a lot and worked hard due to Shuurei. When quizzed why Eigetsu had a huge female fanbase, he laughed and said it was probably Eigetsu’s character that made female fans want to protect him no matter what. The kiss scene in the second season was also a huge surprise for him as he did not expect Eigetsu’s character to do that advancement of the relationship.

I personally find it extremely surprising that he was playing the role of Yougetsu and Eigetsu in one shot rather than the separate roles. I mean, to transfer the emotions of two different characters is not only difficult but also emotionally draining as you have to attach the feelings of the character and change it within one-two seconds. I am also surprised that the seiyuu chose Shuuei as his favorite character, considering the little interactions of Eigetsu with Shuuei. I can perhaps understand his reason for it, since Shuuei is somewhat really like a big brother, despite his very mysterious exterior.