Special Interview part 1
White Album 2 is now well into the dubbing stage!
For our first special interview, we spoke with the main cast, Takahiro Mizushima-san, Madoka Yonezawa-san, and Hitomi Nabatame-san!
What were your thoughts when you first heard that White Album 2 was going to be made into an anime?
Mizushima:
I had been hoping ever since we were recording for the game that it would be made into an anime, so the moment that came true, I was so thrilled that I was dying to tell everyone who had given the game so much love. Being able to see everyone’s reactions firsthand when it was officially announced at that event made me truly happy.
Yonezawa:
I also always hoped that it would become an anime, so I was really happy when it was settled. Just thinking about seeing Haruki-kun, Setsuna, and Kazusa moving around on their own on the TV screen was extremely exciting.
Nabatame:
What made me the happiest was getting to see the three of them in motion. Apart from that, with a game, only the people who buy it can play it, but with an anime, sometimes you’ll just happen to catch a glimpse of something on TV and get curious about it, right? As an anime, White Album 2 will have that much more of a chance to catch someone’s eye, and I was really glad about that.
After the time you’ve spent playing your respective characters, what impressions do you have of them?
Mizushima:
The whole time that I’ve been playing Haruki, the point that I’ve brooded over the most is, “If Haruki were someone who existed in reality, would I want to be friends with him?” He’s such a busybody, so I played him not as a “good guy,” but as the kind of guy who would lecture people on things like eating when they’re hungry. (laughs) The sort who could tell someone in no uncertain terms that they were wrong, if he believed it was for their own good. I sensed that he would stick to his principles in everything he did, regardless of whether it made people hate him, or anything else. So, rather than bring too many of my personal intentions as an actor into it, I played him as the honest Haruki I felt from the script, thinking, “I haven’t done anything wrong!” (laughs) He’s the kind of guy who’s perfectly willing to lie from time to time in order to reach his goals, but there’s nothing truly malicious or unpleasant about him.
Yonezawa:
At first glance, Setsuna is the school idol who’s somewhat inaccessible, who puts some distance between herself and her classmates. If you were to look at Setsuna and Kazusa next to each other and compare them to shadow and light, Setsuna would be the light, but while she looks bright, there’s a lot she’s hiding within herself. …She’s complicated, you could say. (laughs) Because she has so many facets, playing her could be difficult, and I had to put a lot of thought into it. But I feel like she’s the most realistic girl. Apart from the idol thing, her ways of thinking and living feel the most real. Girls that age frequently have their own complexities, and I kept that in mind while I was playing her.
Nabatame:
Thinking in terms of light and shadow, Kazusa is the shadow figure, but in her case, she doesn’t let herself get close to people because she doesn’t want to get hurt—she has that temper as a defense mechanism, but she’s really very lonely, which I think makes her quite lovable. On the inside, she’s very childish, you could say, and there’s a significant gap that shows up when she drops her restraint, which to me makes her way easier to understand as a character than Setsuna. As an actor, one often has trouble figuring out how much emotion to express at a given point, but I remember thinking as early as the auditioning stage that Setsuna was the more complicated of the two. (laughs) Kazusa is just adorable!
What are the parts of your characters that are appealing to you, or that you sympathize with?
Mizushima:
Haruki is stubborn—the type of person who won’t shy away from sacrificing himself for the sake of someone dear to him—but at the end of the day, none of the three main characters is especially good at navigating romance, and I think it speaks very well of him that in the midst of that he tries his best to live in a way that keeps anyone from being unhappy. Realistically, it may be hard to make that happen, but there’s nothing calculated about it, so I would almost say his lack of skill in love is an appealing point.
Yonezawa:
Just like Takahiro-san said, all three of them are bad at love, but I feel like with just a few more steps forward, Setsuna could be quite the little devil. (laughs)
Nabatame:
She does use particularly womanly tactics. (laughs)
Yonezawa:
I’m impressed by how she just employs those womanly tactics naturally, without any malice behind them, because I don’t think that’s something I’d be able to do. (laughs) That said, Setsuna has a lot on her mind, and a lot that she’s worrying about, so I can’t really blame her… Her fondness for singing is something I share. Just earlier, I had two free hours after work, so I did some solo karaoke before I came here. (laughs)
Nabatame:
If anything, I’m the kind of person who has a hard time showing feelings of love through my behavior, so in that way I’m similar to Kazusa. When I was in school, I really couldn’t ever put my feelings across, so when I look at Kazusa, I think of myself—like, “Come on, you could try to act just a little more gracefully!” (laughs) …I wonder whether the people watching the anime will be able to sympathize?
Mizushima:
I don’t think Haruki is all that sympathetic. (laughs)
Yonezawa:
My guess is that Kazusa will be the one who draws the most empathy.
Nabatame:
You think…?
Yonezawa:
She’s the kind of person you want to cheer on! Like, “Come on, what are you doing?! If you just communicate, everything will be fine!”
Nabatame:
That’s definitely true. If she had conducted herself a little better, I feel like this story would have ended with way fewer complications. (laughs)
Yonezawa:
Well, we couldn’t have that! (laughs)
Mizushima-san, what are your own impressions of Setsuna and Kazusa?
Mizushima:
Kazusa is a prodigy who lives in a different world, and Setsuna is an idol type, the sort there’s really no way to get involved with. If they actually existed, I don’t think either of them would be within my reach, but I feel like Kazusa is the one who would be a really good friend if you could get manage it. I get the sense that she’s the type who’s extremely picky with people, but if she picks you, you’ll be close for life. In that sense, Kazusa would be the easier of the two to deal with. The doors of Kazusa’s heart could be wrenched open if you tried hard enough, but Setsuna’s heart is heavily locked, and there’s no opening it unless she decides to do it herself… Still, Setsuna has that kind of appeal that makes you want to see how she is deep inside. So, in a word, neither of them is all that simple. (laughs) In the context of the game they’re worth the effort it takes to win them, but in real life, they’d be hard to handle! (laughs)
Then, Yonezawa-san and Nabatame-san, what are your impressions of Haruki?
Yonezawa:
I think he would be a great guy to have as a friend. He might sigh at you for what you’re doing, but he’s responsible enough to stick with you until the end, no question.
Nabatame:
He would never betray you.
Yonezawa:
Exactly. That’s why I say he would be good as a friend. (laughs)
Nabatame:
But if you started looking at him as a man, you’d probably get irritated by how completely he failed to realize it. (laughs)
Yonezawa:
He’s definitely pretty dense. Why is that, I wonder?
Mizushima:
What?! …No, Haruki would assume from the start that there was no way something like that would happen. It’s not that he’s self-deprecating, but he’d say, “I’m not that kind of person.”
Yonezawa:
I see. So the two of them were drawn to him precisely because he didn’t entertain that possibility.
Nabatame:
Put simply, if you don’t tell him outright, he’ll never get it. (laughs) Still, I don’t hate him. (laughs)
Now that dubbing for the anime has begun, please tell us some of your thoughts from recording.
Mizushima:
The game operated from Haruki’s first-person perspective, but in the anime, that turned into a birds-eye view. Playing Haruki from a place that was detached from his point of view for the first time felt very new—or like I had a stronger sense, within myself, of being able to think about Haruki’s true opinions. The protagonist of a game occupies a very normal position, but once you put him in the anime, that position more firmly becomes Haruki’s will, and his ways of directing what he says to people become more clear. That’s what I have in mind while I’m playing him.
Yonezawa:
In a game, the scenarios naturally run long, so in the course of those long conversations you gradually get a picture of what the characters are thinking, but an anime is of a set length, so you see expressions entering in that are different from the game—you make discoveries about which emotions came up at certain points. It’s a great tempo, so acting it out is a lot of fun.
Nabatame:
In general, it’s a setting without a lot of people, and the conversations tend to go on. But it’s not just their mouths moving—the conversation is always set to the scenery, and so on, so that can make things easier or harder depending, but the way conversation is prioritized makes it very enjoyable. Also, the art is just so beautiful that even looking at it sets my heart aflutter. (laughs)
Yonezawa:
The passion of the staff members is really something. Once, we all went out to eat after we were finished recording, and we talked about all sorts of things, but even then they got into a really enthusiastic conversation about the work.
Mizushima:
Everything we talked about wound up coming back to the production at some point!
Yonezawa:
Also, for some reason, there was a karaoke place around, so I went, “Yeah, I’ll sing!” (laughs) That was just the mood of the gathering. As the story progresses, I’m constantly excited to see how it’ll be expressed in the anime while we’re dubbing.
In your opinion, what are the highlights of the White Album 2 anime?
Mizushima:
We were just talking about the conversations—it doesn’t really happen that often that the people saying the lines are just “on,” talking the whole way through. So the conversations have the background scenery as their entry point, or other people, and that feels like a special characteristic to me. In one sense, it makes me think, “Could some part of this touch on our acting, too?” But I think that’s just how important the exchanges between the characters are. It shows the subtleties of the heart, which can be open sometimes and not other times, and when you add that to the wonderful art and music, I hope everyone who sees it will be equally moved.
Yonezawa:
Setsuna loves to sing, which means there are a number of scenes with her singing, but if you pay close attention there, I think you’ll find some unexpected surprises, so I recommend that. In addition to dubbing, I’m doing some recording in a recording studio, so I’m putting all my effort into it! (laughs)
Nabatame:
Overall, I feel like the anime has been made in a way that will make people want to play the game. Since the game is naturally longer, there were parts that had to be cut short, and I believe the people watching will think, “I wonder whether there was more to this part in the game?” People who already played the game will make new discoveries while watching the anime, and people who watch the anime will want to play the game. I think that kind of effect is the highlight.
White Album 2 is a winter story. How do you all feel about winter?
Yonezawa:
I’m really not good with winter—I love summer. My fingers and toes are extra sensitive and get cold really easily, so I’m not a winter person.
Mizushima:
I used to be a winter person, but lately I’ve been leaning more toward summer. I can be more positive during the summer. Winter feels more like something you just have to endure until it goes away. You can’t make yourself do much of anything active in winter, you know?
Nabatame:
I like winter better than summer.
Yonezawa:
You can handle the cold?
Nabatame:
Absolutely! I’m a big fan of baths, and taking a bath while watching the snow is the best. I went to do that with some friends of mine once, but a lot of my friends are kind of boyish—which is to day, kind of dumb—and we ran out naked into the snow. (laughs)
Yonezawa:
Whaaat?! Wasn’t it cold? Was this after you’d warmed up?
Nabatame:
Yes, we’d just been bathing, and then we said, “Let’s make holes shaped like ourselves!” and jumped out, and we had a blast while screaming about how cold it was. These are adult women we’re talking about! We were messing around like that because we were the only ones there, but when the group of women after us came in, they saw the holes in the snow and went, “What? Did someone jump in here? How funny!” And we just kept quiet because we were embarrassed. (laughs)
As we close in on the start of the anime broadcast, do you have a message for all of the eager fans out there?
Mizushima:
The anime handles the scenario beautifully, of course, but I think the beauty of the characters is a big highlight. Kazusa and Setsuna are lovely, and Takeya and Chikashi are real lookers, too. And Io is really adorable… Basically, there are a lot of great looking guys and girls. (laughs) I think that point is worthy of attention, so I hope you’ll all agree.
Yonezawa:
We do something called a “VTR check” at home before we start dubbing, and I’m always amazed by the ending. As I was watching, I knew exactly what was going to happen, but I still found myself going, “What’s going on? I have to know what happens next!” so I’m really anxious for everyone else to see it.
I believe White Album 2 is the kind of show that will spread gradually through word of mouth, so if you like it, please, recommend it to people you know, and you can talk about your opinions of Haruki and all that good stuff while you’re watching. (laughs)
Nabatame:
I’ve had a female staff member at one of my other workplaces tell me that she found White Album 2 very interesting. If anything, the original game is male-oriented, and I think there are parts of it that a female audience might find it hard to get into, but someone said, “It made me think that women should give the game a try, too,” which made me really happy. It may not be as flashy as a comedy, but I feel the story stands on its own with pure interest, so I want lots of people to see it. I hope that people seeing it for the first time can get just as excited about White Album 2 as people who love the game!