White Album 2 Radio Episode 83 Analysis
This episode is something of a change of pace compared to the final four episodes of the show, in large part because the guest is not Takahiro Mizushima, but Tsuguo Mogami, the voice of Setsuna’s father, Susumu Ogiso. In a series where so much detail and consideration and nuance is put into the stories and circumstances of the main three characters, it is refreshing as well to see a secondary character like Susumu receiving his own share of consideration, in the form of questions from the viewers and of Mogami’s own ideas.
Perhaps Susumu’s most emphatic character trait is his strictness. He isn’t cruel, exactly; but he is, as a general rule, inflexible, difficult to win over. One crucial bit of character direction Mogami received, which he brings up more than once in the episode, is that Susumu keeps his anger controlled to a certain extent: he feels it, but he doesn’t yell, doesn’t explode. The scene that demonstrates this best is specifically mentioned in one message from a listener, in which Haruki visits the Ogisos to call off his engagement to Setsuna. Here, more than anywhere else, Susumu is furious—and it is evident that he’s furious—but he maintains his control, maintains his dignity, keeps everything he says in terms of “we,” “us,” the household, rather than allow his personal emotions to take the wheel. This makes it no less brutal when he declares that Haruki has nothing to do with their family, after their years of involvement with each other; in fact, as Mogami explains, that suppressed, swallowed anger might be even scarier than an outright explosion. Madoka Yonezawa remarks that Haruki must be “shaking” in this scene, and it’s not hard to imagine: while it is possible, with extraordinary strength of will, to suppress fury of that degree, to keep it from boiling over, it would be almost impossible to conceal it.
Beyond the discussions of actual events in-story, Mogami’s personal, added conceptions of Susumu, particularly in the realm of his relationship with Setsuna’s mother, Akina, are quite enjoyable and provide a welcome bit of levity. Susumu Ogiso is just about as far from an openly romantic person as it is possible to be; and yet he has a wife, one whose personality is markedly different from his own. Mogami’s notion of how the two of them got together is rather specific: Akina fell for him first, for being such an upright, straightforward man, but Susumu was the one who proposed, because proposing is the man’s job. The image of Susumu struggling slightly in picking his overly serious way through asking a woman to marry him is deeply charming, but it also ties in with a point that has been made in other episodes as well: there is something slightly old-fashioned, almost archetypical, in the overall atmosphere of the Ogiso family, something often sought-after but not often found in reality. The balance between Susumu and Akina is perfect: when he starts to get a little too carried away in his severity and intensity, she breaks it up and lightens things with her sweetness. Mogami suggests that this contrast could have been what attracted Susumu to Akina, that he was looking for someone who had traits that he himself was lacking. The idea that there was such an element of self-awareness in his choice of spouse further humanizes him.
Considering all of the thought and effort that Mogami has clearly put into understanding Susumu as a character, it is not all that surprising to hear him describe moments of that “fatherly” mindset taking over outside of the recording studio—feeling a proud, parental affection while watching Yonezawa perform, for example. This also comes into play when a message from a listener asks him what he personally thinks of Haruki. His answer sounds much like one Susumu himself might give: a favorable impression of Haruki’s single-mindedness, which sets him apart from others his age, but an absolute refusal of anyone who might hurt his daughter. He describes how it came over him personally as he was recording, the progression of Susumu’s view of Haruki, viewing him as a future son, deeming him potentially acceptable. The fact that the voice actor can become this deeply involved and entwined with his character, even as a secondary character, speaks very well of the quality of the story, to say nothing of the dedication of the actor himself.
That Susumu didn’t actually have a first name until the anime rolled around is an extremely interesting bit of trivia. Mogami speaks of the importance of further building up the details of the surrounding world when moving from game to anime as a format. That little gesture, that fleshing-out, seems in a way to reflect what goes on through the conversations in this radio episode, ending in a more detailed portrait of Susumu Ogiso as a person.
White Album 2 Radio Episode 83 Script
Setsuna, Kazusa: WHITE ALBUM2 Fan Club Radio
♪Todokanai koi
S: All right, let’s get started. Hello, everyone. I’m Madoka… All right, let’s get started. Hello, everyone. I’m Madoka Yonezawa, the voice of Setsuna Ogiso.
K: Hello, everyone. I’m Hitomi Nabatame, the voice of Kazusa Touma. March is over, and you fumbled again.
S: What? This is the first time I’ve fumbled.
K: I don’t think so.
S: No way. It’s the first time for me, as far as I can remember.
K: Really?
S: Yeah.
K: I don’t know, but, well, maybe you haven’t fumbled your own name that much before,
S: Uh-huh.
K: but you’ve fumbled plenty of other things. (laughs)
S: Seriously? I don’t remember at all.
(01:00)
K: Well, anyway, it’s April.
S: It’s getting pretty warm.
K: Yep. And the cherry blossoms are… in bloom? Maybe.
S: Are they in bloom? I think it was supposed to be around the end of March.
K: Yeah, that’s what they said.
S: The blooming announcement. Right.
K: Well?
S: Should we go look?
K: I want to go. Let’s go flower-viewing.
S: Flower-viewing? Yeah.
K: It’s spring and all.
S: Right.
K: Well, there’s our event for the spring.
S: Our spring event, settled.
K: Yes.
S: All right.
K: Why don’t we get going? We’ve got a guest today.
S: That’s right.
S: Okay, as our guest this week, we’re welcoming Tsuguo Mogami-san, the voice of Setsuna’s father, Susumu Ogiso. We’ll have lots to talk about with him, so there’s a lot to look forward to. Now, let’s get going. WHITE ALBUM2 Fan Club Radio,
S, K: Begin!
S: This program is sponsored by Aquaplus. WHITE ALBUM2
S, K: Fan Club Radio
(02:00)
Rena Uehara’s new album, Emergence. Includes the theme songs from WHITE ALBUM2 and Tears To Tiara 2. Emergence, by Rena Uehara. Out now.
K: WHITE ALBUM2 Fan Club Radio
S: Now, without further ado, let’s welcome our guest.
K: This week, our guest is Tsuguo Mogami-san.
Susumu: Was there something funny? Was something funny just now?
S: Why are you laughing?
S: Why are you laughing a bit?
Su: Was something funny?
K: No, no.
Su: If you say so. Ah, hello, I’m Tsuguo Mogami, the parental representative. Thank you for having me.
S: Thank you for being here.
K: Thank you.
S: The parental representative. Yes.
K: And this is your first appearance. Right?
Su: Yes, I’m the father. This is my first time here.
(03:00)
Su: Yes.
S: For dubbing. It’s been quite a while. Since the dubbing?
K: Oh, yeah.
Su: Yes, since I only showed up once in the anime.
K: You were only there once?
Su: Yes, only once.
S: Wow. I guess in my head you were there more.
Su: Oh, really? That’s just the kind of presence I have. I leave an impression.
S, K: (laugh)
S: Right.
K: That’s true. I did have a notion that you showed up more.
S: Right?
Su: Really. Maybe I just left a lot behind. All sorts of things.
K: Oh, huh. Like regrets? Did you leave regrets behind?
S, K: (laugh)
Su: Meaning things that I personally regret? I mean what I left here in the studio, as my existence. If I left regrets, I would just be crying at home.
K: (laughs)
S: You two started in the same year, right?
Su: That’s right.
K: Yes. Our training, with Ken Production. Training.
Su: Don’t just stop at “training.” What about the training?
S: (laughs) Your training. Yes.
Su: In training school, we were in the same year.
K: Yes.
S: I can tell you’re super close.
K: Are we?
S: You definitely are.
Su: It seems that way, right?
Su: Actually, we’ve barely talked before.
S: No way.
K: But, when we were in training school,
Su: Right.
K: yeah, we might not have talked much at all.
S: Really?
K: I guess, comparatively, we were both
S: Uh-huh.
S, Su: Uh-huh.
(04:00)
K: more the type to do things on our own, I feel like.
Su: Yeah, probably.
S: Wow.
K: Doing things our own way,
S, Su: Yeah.
K: and, like, in class,
S: Uh-huh.
K: if something came up like, “Let’s do something,” “Let’s do some personal training,”
S: Yeah.
Su: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
K: I wouldn’t go.
Su: (laughs) Ah, right.
S: (laughs) You have gone!
Su: And afterward, if people said, “Hey, let’s all go out drinking,” it would be, “Oh, I’m going home.”
K: Not the type to go along.
S: Wow.
Su: Definitely.
S: I’m surprised. I’m really surprised.
K: I didn’t really go out drinking much, either.
Su: Right. Still, out of all of them, Nabatame-san really sparkled as an entity.
S: (laughs) Of course.
K: (laughs) Oh, knock it off.
Su: I’m not joking! I mean it.
K: Sorry, Yone-chan, we just keep talking about us.
S: No, it’s totally fine.
K: So, at the training school, at our training school, there were about 40 people.
S: Oh.
K: Out of 40 people, yes, there were 40 people in our year,
Su: In each year.
S: Uh-huh.
K: and Mogami-san was at the top. His evaluations.
Su: I was there.
S: Oh, wow!
Su: In breadth. It was mostly breadth.
K: No, no! You were the top, the top-rated.
Su: I was not.
K: Everyone was going, “Mogami’s amazing, Mogami’s amazing.”
(05:00)
Su: Really? I didn’t get along with anyone, so I never heard that.
S: Then, okay, it could be different between girls and guys. For guys, for guys it would be Mogami-san, and for girls it would be Nabatame-san.
K: No, it wasn’t. I was a very bad student.
S: Liar!
Su: No, she—well, think about it. This is Kazusa.
S: Right, of course. Kazusa? Kazusa—
Su: So she really does have a lot of ability, but like I just said, it was, “Nah, I’m going home,” over and over, a very aloof existence, as it were.
S: I see, I see.
K: That wasn’t—
Su: The real Kazusa. Kazusa Nabatame. (laughs)
S: Really! You were just like her. (laughs)
K: That just means I was a homebody. (laughs)
Su: Well, that’s how it was. So, look, nowadays, in the recent jobs I’ve been doing,
S: I see. Uh-huh.
Su: when I get to the studio and I say, “Hi, I’m Mogami,” there isn’t much of a reaction, but if I say, “I went to school with Nabatame,” it’s always “Oh, okay, okay.”
S: Yes. I see.
K: That’s not true. That is not true.
Su: That’s the general pattern.
S: I’m not sure how much of this to believe.
K: Seriously, every part of that is a lie.
S: Oh?
Su: It’s absolutely true. Should I tell the Dorothy story?
K: No, no thanks.
Su: Should I talk about Dorothy?
K: No need.
S: With a reaction like that, I think he has to tell it, now.
(06:00)
Su: So, when we were in training school, in class, there was a point when we made a drama CD.
S: Okay.
Su: I was in the same class as Nabatame-san then, and we did The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
S: Uh-huh. Wow.
Su: And, out of all of the Ken Production girls lined up, who do you suppose managed to win the leading role of Dorothy with aplomb?
S: Uh-huh.
Su: This one right here, Hitomi Nabatame-san.
S: Nabatame—(laughs)
K: It wasn’t like that! Well, all right, I was Dorothy, though. (laughs)
Su: It was Nabatame-san. Actually, we talked about that CD a bit at the meeting earlier,
S: Uh-huh.
Su: and at that point, one of the staff said
S: Uh-huh.
Su: that if they’d known, they would have asked me to bring it, and then they both just disappeared somewhere.
S, K: (laugh)
K: It’s been lost.
Su: We’re both completely free.
S, K: (laugh)
S: What a waste.
Su: At this point, that could have been something pretty valuable.
S: Definitely.
K: Yeah. It could be valuable, nowadays.
S: Seriously. Man…
Su: Right.
K: Well, whatever. That’s enough about me.
Su: Yeah? Okay.
K: What do you think about Yone-chan, Mogami?
Su: Well,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Oh, god, I’m nervous.
Su: I, well, of course, in WHITE ALBUM,
K: Right, right.
(07:00)
Su: we were father and daughter,
K: Right.
S: Yes, we were.
Su: but particularly, there was an Aquaplus game a while back,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Yeah.
Su: called Routes,
S: Right.
K: Ah.
Su: that I was in,
S: Right, right.
Su: and she was my little brother.
K: What?
S: I was.
Su: Yonezawa-san’s character was.
K: Yone-chan was? Oh, you were playing a boy.
S: Yes, I was playing as a boy.
Su: Yes, yes. She was my little brother, but now she’s grown into my darling daughter.
K: Uh-huh. (laughs)
S: (laughs) My gender changed.
K: Right.
Su: Yes.
Su: And when I went to see the concert recently, she was just blooming,
K: Yeah, yeah.
Su: and I wasn’t thinking, “That’s my younger brother,” it was, “My daughter is the loveliest in the world.”
S: (laughs)
K: I get it.
S: Well, thank you very much for your praise.
K: Mogami-san, you really are all over the place in Aquaplus’s games.
Su: Yeah.
S: Right. Utawarerumono, Routes,
Su. That’s true. And my personal favorite, Dungeon Travelers.
S: Tears to Tiara II, right.
K: Wow.
K: That’s a bunch.
S: Bairds-san. Baird.
Su: Baird. But there’s more than one of them now.
S, K, Su: (laugh)
K: They keep popping up.
(08:00)
Su: “Hello, hello, we come in pairs!”
S: Baird-san. Right.
Su: Right, yeah.
K: I mean, you really like video games, right?
S: Yeah.
Su: I do like video games.
K: So, have you
Su: Uh-huh.
K: played all of them? Everything you’ve gotten from Aquaplus to this point, I mean.
Su: Well, no, not all of them.
K: Okay.
S: Huh.
Su: Fighting games aren’t really my specialty, for example, so Aquapazza
K: Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah.
S: Yeah.
Su: wasn’t really one I got into that much,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Right.
S: while the game genre I’ve tended to like is more the kind where you take it relatively slow,
K: Ah.
S, K: Okay.
Su: so, like Tears to Tiara,
S, K: Right.
Su: and Dungeon Travelers—actually, Dungeon Travelers, you might not know what I’m talking about here, I apologize for getting into game fanatic talk,
S: Not at all.
K: It’s fine, we’ll know.
Su: the dungeons in Wizardry—see, you look like you don’t know what I’m talking about.
K: Oh, yeah, yeah, I know that one.
S: I’ve played that.
Su: There’s Wizardry, which is a dungeon-crawling type game,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Right.
Su: and on the whole, it feels sort of like that.
S: Right, right.
Su: It’s made in a way that isn’t super friendly to the user.
S: Yeah. It’s the sort of game you play through to challenge yourself deliberately.
Su: Exactly, exactly. I find that extremely enjoyable.
K: Ah.
Su: So, the games I do play, I get really into.
S: Huh.
K: So, you go deep.
(09:00)
S: Ah.
K: When you get into it.
Su: Yes, exactly. If I get obsessed with a game, I go deep.
K: All right, all right. So, you must hear about a lot.
S: Ah, right. We should be able to talk about this.
Su: Yes.
K: Yes, definitely.
S: I’m a gamer, too.
Su: Really?
S: Yes. I love it.
Su: I look forward to it, then.
K: I’m shallow on that point.
S, K: (laugh)
Su: I guess you aren’t very interested in video games, Nabatame-san.
K: I am!
S: Uh-huh.
K: I am. I love them. I like video games a lot, but it’s shallow. Shallow and broad.
Su: You are? You are? Ah, that’s not bad either, though.
S: Right.
Su: That means you can follow a lot of different people’s conversations. Right. Yes, yes. I think that’s good.
K: Well, I do understand, because I like games.
S: Now, Mogami-san, in the WHITE ALBUM2 anime and game,
Su: Yes.
S: you played Setsuna’s father, Susumu Ogiso.
Su: Yes, I did.
K: Papa Ogiso.
Su: Yes.
S: And Papa Ogiso was given the name “Susumu.”
Su: Yes, he was.
K: What, did you suggest that or something?
Su: I put a fair bit of pressure on.
K: Seriously?
Su: Yes, I applied a whole lot of pressure.
S: Where did you apply it?
K: He’s applying it on the mic right now.
Su: I applied it in all directions, and the name finally stuck. Yes.
S: How much of that is true?
K: I’m guessing most of it is a lie.
Su: Yes, well, but,
(10:00)
Su: he was always just called “Setsuna’s father,” but when it comes to the anime,
K: Right.
S: Yeah.
Su: the building up of the surrounding world, the details, become more important, right?
K: Yeah, yeah.
S: Right.
Su: It’s more important to—not patch things up, exactly, but atmosphere is important,
S: Yes.
Su: and I think that’s why he got a name.
S: Uh-huh.
K: Ah. By the way, did you do an audition? Oh, huh.
Su: I didn’t.
S: Wow.
S: Just about everyone auditioned for, say, Haruki.
K: Yeah, everyone, right. They did that audition, and then
Su: Haruki would need an audition, of course.
K: from Haruki to Takeya, or Chikashi, or whoever.
S: Right, right.
Su: Ah.
K: Everyone.
Su: Right, right, right, right. Well, I don’t really have the voice of a “Haruki-kun,” I don’t think. “Haruki-san,” maybe. Haruki-san.
S, K: (laugh)
S: I guess.
K: Good point.
Su: So, anyway—
K: I still think it would have been funny if you had.
Su: Well, but I didn’t do an audition.
S: Ah.
K: Right, okay. So it was all from your track record.
S: Yes.
Su: Although, looking at this list of all the things I’ve appeared in,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Yeah.
Su: my vocal tone is really pretty scattered.
(11:00)
S: Ah.
Su: All over the place.
K: Guess so.
S: Although, your natural voice is on the low side, right.
Su: Right, it is.
S: So I guess I assumed Setsuna’s dad’s voice was fairly natural, too.
K, Su: Ah.
S: What was that like?
Su: Well, when I was recording him,
S: Uh-huh.
K: Yeah.
Su: what the director generally told me was,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Yes.
Su: when he gets mad, he still doesn’t raise his voice.
S: Oh, yeah.
K: That makes sense.
Su: I was being told that sort of thing constantly.
S: Okay.
K: Yeah.
Su: Now, my personality is sort of like a kettle, so if I see something in the script and go, “He’s probably angry here,” I get pretty angry,
K: (laughs) All right.
S: Right.
Su: but I swallow that down,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: so, in a sense, rather than blowing up for real, it was something that would actually seem way scarier
S: Huh.
K: Ah.
Su: that they wanted me to do. So I kept up a very strong awareness of that as I went.
S: Oh, yeah. The way that goes, if you really got steamed up when you got angry,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: Right.
S: you would lose some of that dignity.
K: That makes sense.
Su: Right.
(12:00)
K: So you were thinking about that,
S: As her father.
K: while you were acting.
Su: Well, yes, I suppose I was thinking while I acted.
K: No, no, I—I know that!
Su: I was thinking. Yes.
S: Such good friends!
Su: It really was fun, though. Also, at the beginning, since I knew I was being a dad,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: I tried adding a few years to my voice,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Yeah.
Su: but they said, “You can just do it normally. Just do it normally.”
S: Ah.
Su: “Just use your voice as it is.” So, now, it’s like,
S, K: Yeah.
Su: “Stop this right now.”
K: Right.
S: Yes.
Su: I started thinking of him as young, or at least my personal sense of him feels fairly young,
S: Huh.
K: Well, and her mom is very cute and sweet, too, so there’s a good balance in that way.
S: That’s true.
Su: Right, right.
S: I’m dying to know how he wooed such a sweet lady.
K: Absolutely.
Su: Oh, I definitely think it was her mom who fell in love.
S: Oh, wow. (laughs)
K: (laughs)
Su: She fell in love with me, or rather Susumu, because of how straightforward he was. “He’s so honest,”
S: So that’s the backstory you’ve created, Mogami-san.
Su: “he’s so straightforward.”
S: The “he’s so straightforward” feeling.
K: Well, it’s right there in his name.
(13:00)
Su: He would be very, very rigid about proposing. He’d go, “This is something the man is supposed to do,” and he’d do a lot of, “Er, well,”
S: Oh, that’s cute.
Su: as he proposed, Susumu would.
K: Ah.
S: Susumu would.
Su: Yes, that’s the kind of guy Susumu is.
S: Uh-huh.
K: Well, and—I mean, you played the game, right?
Su: Thoroughly. Completely.
S: Ooh.
K: Nice.
Su: Yes.
S: Wow, now I’m curious about which route you took.
Su: Well, when I was at a different studio, with Naba,
S: Uh-huh.
Su: the very first thing I said was,
S: Uh-huh.
Su: “You know, I played WHITE ALBUM2. It’s really compelling, isn’t it?”
S, K: (laugh)
K: Right, right. I went, “Hey, he played it!”
S: Wow. I’m really happy to hear that.
Su: You really killed it.
Su: So, there are a number of different routes, of course.
S: Right. Yes.
Su: and first, first of all, I played the PC version.
S: Okay.
K: Uh-huh.
Su: and after that the PS2? PS3 version, and the Vita version.
K: 3.
S: All of them?
Su: I did, I did.
S: From the beginning? That’s impressive.
Su: I did, I did.
K: Wow.
Su: So, after I’d cleared it the first time,
(14:00)
Su: I thought, “Kazusa’s pretty cute,”
S, K: Ah.
Su: from that first play-through. Yes, yes.
K: I see.
S: Hmm.
K: In IC?
Su. Oh, all of it.
S, K: Ah.
Su: All of it—or, IC and Coda, I mean.
K: Right. Right, right.
S: Huh.
Su: After the first, when I started my second play-through from the beginning, my fondness for Kazusa went boom, again.
K: Ah.
S: Okay. I was thinking about asking you who you prefer, Setsuna or Kazusa—
Su: Kazusa. Definitely Kazusa.
S: That was a quick answer.
K: Your daughter, your daughter is cute, of course—
Su: See, I’m not giving my daughter to anyone. I’m not giving her away. But Kazusa.
S: Uh-huh. (laughs)
K: (laughs) That’s complicated.
S: Not an object of romantic interest.
Su: I won’t let anyone lay a finger on Setsuna, though.
K: But you played another role, too, right?
Su: I did. Listen.
K: What?
S: What is it?
Su: My casting changed around the time of the anime.
K: Right.
Su: I played Kazusa’s, her teacher,
S: Yeah.
K: Right.
Su: in Sworn Enemies.
S: Uh-huh.
(15:00)
Su: But then it was Itaru Yamamoto-kun, whose face resembled mine.
S: What, he was cast because your faces looked the same?
K: Face-casting? Face-casting.
Su: Yes. I’m sure of it.
S: No one would know, though!
K: I don’t think I saw you written as Suwa-sensei, though, in the script.
S: Oh, teacher, like homeroom teacher. That was written there.
K: It just said “teacher.”
Su: Right.
K: So that was, well, it was a bit different, but—
S: His face looked different, too.
Su: But, here, for example, since the anime,
K: Uh-huh.
S, K: Yeah.
Su: people are wondering whether there might be a follow-up, since the next pivotal point is in the game,
S: Right.
K: Yeah, yeah.
Su: in CC, and when I think about Itaru-chan coming back and grinning all big, like, “Oh, yeah, that Touma, she’s really changed a lot since then,” I hate it. Hate it.
S, K: (laugh)
K: Yeah, I don’t blame you.
S: Right.
K: Yeah, it really did surprise me. I thought there was something different.
S: Right.
Su: Maybe,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: maybe when you said you felt like I’d been there more, it was because of Itaru-chan? In the studio.
S, K: (laugh)
(16:00)
S: What!
K: Because you look the same.
Su: Because we look the same.
S: That’s ridiculous. That’s not the reason.
K: That’s not it.
Su: Is that so?
K: I, I can tell you apart.
Su: Oh, please do, please do.
S: I can tell you apart, too.
S, K: (laugh)
Su: I’ll line up some pictures of us later,
S: Right.
Su: and ask you who’s who.
S: Sounds good. I’m sure our listeners are looking up pictures, too.
K: Oh, to compare the two.
Su: Yes, exactly.
S: People who are curious about it. Yes.
Su: Yes.
K: So, why don’t we move along?
S: All right.
K: Oh, to the mail. We’ve got mail.
S: It looks like we’ve got some mail.
Su: Oh, nice. I’m not surprised.
K: We’ve got some.
Su: Everyone wants to join the group.
K: So, let’s go.
S: Yes.
Su: All right.
K: This is from “Borderman”-san.
S, Su: Okay.
K: “Yone-san, Naba-san, Mogami-san, hello.”
Su: Ah.
S, Su: Hello.
K: “WHITE ALBUM2 is full of moments that make your stomach hurt, but in my case, the scene that hurt the most was during Kazusa’s route in Coda, when he went to the Ogiso house to cancel the engagement.”
Su: All right.
K: “Especially when Susumu-san said Haruki had ‘absolutely nothing to do with our family.’ When I thought about the association built up over the course of IC,
(17:00)
K: it was extraordinarily painful. I feel that, as the scene at the Ogisos’ place progressed the story, everything got heavier and heavier. My question is, when you were dubbing, were there any scenes that were particularly difficult, because you had to do a lot of retakes, for example, or acting it was hard? P.S. When Ono-san was on as a guest, Susumu-san’s wife and daughter were saying it was lucky she didn’t take after her father, because his face was big, or something like that, but I like him a lot.”
Su: Okay.
S: His face is too big. (laughs)
Su: What is this pattern of putting me down and then bringing me back up again?
K: (laughs) No kidding.
Su: Well, my own face is pretty big, so I guess I can’t really say anything.
K: Really?
Su: It is. My hat is huge. Even my hat is huge. It is.
K: Overall—oh, no, your hat. Is it?
S: Oh, really?
Su: Yes. You were about to say my hat is tiny compared to my face, weren’t you?
S, K: (laugh)
S: It’s not even really on your head.
Su: It looks like it’s sitting on top of a boiled egg, doesn’t it? Like the bottom part of it is swollen?
K: No, no.
S: You’re wearing it, okay?
Su: But, about this question,
S: Right.
K: Yeah.
Su: about performing scenes, this exact one,
S, K: Uh-huh.
(18:00)
Su: right here.
K: Ah, this one.
S: I see.
Su: This exact one. It’s where he’s actually the angriest,
K: Right.
S: Yeah.
Su: but he doesn’t say—well, his inner anger comes through, but he’s doing his utmost to keep it about “us,” the household,
K: Yeah, yeah.
Su: this is exactly where you see that the most.
S: Ah.
Su: The director was talking to me a lot, like, “Okay, do it like this here, do it like this here.”
K: Ah, you discussed it.
Su: Yes.
S: Man. I’m sure Haruki-kun is shaking here.
K: God, it hurts, though.
Su: It does. It’s awful.
S: Yeah.
Su: I start thinking, “Hey, we could just keep this relationship going, couldn’t we?”
K: Yeah.
Su: But, no, don’t think about that. Can’t forgive Haruki.
S, K: (laugh)
K: That’s how you end up.
Su: I go into “no forgiveness” mode.
S: Ah.
K: All right. So, should we keep on?
S: Here’s another one, from “Shirorin”-san.
Su: All right.
S: “Yone-san, Naba-san, everyone on the staff, and Mogami-san, hello.”
(19:00)
Su: Yes, hello.
K: Hello.
S: “Since Mogami-san, the voice of Setsuna’s father, Susumu Ogiso, is the guest this week, there’s something I would love to ask him.”
Su: All right.
S: “It’s about Haruki. Through Setsuna, Susumu-san is concerned with Haruki for five years, and depending on the route, various endings await, they could become family or part on unhappy terms,”
Su: Right, right.
S: “so, as Setsuna’s father, and also as just a man, what do you think of Haruki? I would be thrilled to know. Bye!”
Su: Huh.
S: This is a tricky question.
K: Yeah.
Su: Personally, I like him.
K: Uh-huh.
S: Ah.
Su: I like Haruki.
S, K: Okay.
Su: I believe he has a single-mindedness that you don’t see in a lot of young people today,
S: Right.
Su: but if he’s made my daughter unhappy, then it doesn’t matter how much I liked him personally, or what good parts he has, he’s out.
K: (laughs)
S: Ah.
Su: No forgiveness.
S: Wow, I’m starting to feel like I’m actually hearing my father speak.
K: You’ve really, you’ve got the fatherly point of view perfect.
S: Yeah.
(20:00)
Su: Yeah. I mean, from their first moment together, when they first meet,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: as IC, CC, and Coda progress, he really gradually becomes a member of the family,
K: Yeah.
S: Yeah.
Su: so I had this feeling the whole time, like, “He’s going to become my son,”
K: Yeah.
S: Right.
Su: and from a personality standpoint, too, I was seriously thinking, “He might be acceptable.”
S: (laughs)
K: Oh, so, the script, the script for when we were recording,
Su: I felt the same. Yes.
K: did you get the parts that you weren’t in?
Su: No, I didn’t.
K: I didn’t think so. So, were you ever surprised?
S: Ah.
Su: Oh, by the plot developments?
K: Yeah, yeah. Did anything make you go, “What?!”
S, Su: Right, right.
Su: It did, it did.
K: I thought so.
Su: Because, I mean,
S: We got an explanation.
Su: I would ask. I would ask, “What went on between here and here?”
K: You asked. You asked what happened. Okay.
Su: But my biggest “Whoa, that’s what happened?” moments were while I was playing the game,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Ah.
Su: so when I was playing, I started thinking, “Ah, if only I’d said a little more.”
S, K: (laugh)
(21:00)
Su: That was something that happened now and then.
K: No kidding.
S: Yeah, yeah.
K: When we were doing the game, I’m almost completely absent in CC,
K: so I didn’t get CC.
S: Right.
Su: Uh-huh.
K: So, while I did have a few words, I didn’t know anything,
Su: You just had a few words.
S, Su: Right.
K: when I started recording Coda. I was really glad I wasn’t familiar with CC. For a lot of reasons.
Su: Ah, that makes sense.
S: Right.
K: If I’d known how things were with Setsuna, I think I actually might have started feeling a little weird.
Su: Good point.
S: Yeah, yeah.
Su: Ah.
K: So I’m glad I didn’t know.
S: Definitely. Since Kazusa doesn’t know, either.
Su: Exactly, exactly. I think that was the right move. One example of not getting the script being the right move.
S: Yeah.
K: Yeah.
Su: But, really, I did like him.
S: Yeah.
K: Aw.
S: You did, but. Right?
Su: Oh, but in Setsuna’s route,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: I like the image of Susumu-san at the end, on the verge of tears, getting emotional as he’s drinking his alcohol.
S, K: (laugh)
S: There’s a real old-fashioned feeling in that family, isn’t there?
K: Right.
Su: Yes, yes.
S: Like, I don’t think you see a lot of fathers like that these days.
K: Maybe so.
S: They’re an endangered species. This is a very valuable dad.
(22:00)
Su: Yes.
Su: Feel free to protect me, then.
S: We’ll protect you.
K: Okay, let’s read another one, why don’t we?
S: Yes, let’s.
K: This is from “Shobo, the one who loved Akina Ogiso”-san.
Su: All right.
K: “Yonezawa-sama, Nabatame-sama, and Mogami-sama, hello.”
S, Su: Hello.
K: “I have a question for Mogami-sama.”
Su: Okay.
K: “Please tell me exactly what makes Akina-san appealing.”
Su: All right.
K: “Of course she’s a good cook, and reserved in a way that supports her husband, but the Akina-san I really love is the one who trusts and watches over her daughter when her daughter is in trouble, crying secretly in the shadows now and then. I would like to know what Mogami-sama, as the one who plays her husband, likes about Akina-san.”
Su: I would say,
K: Uh-huh.
S: Yes.
Su: she’s a strong—is she a strong woman? Maybe I would say that, but first, in terms of the balance of the house,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: as the head of the family, we’ve got Susumu-san,
K: Right.
S: Yeah.
Su: and then, to break things up a bit, his wife.
(23:00)
S: Yeah.
K: Yeah.
Su: That’s what makes me think, “Ah, this is a complete relationship,”
S: Right.
S, K: Yeah.
Su: and I think there must have been an element of looking for someone who had what he was missing.
S: Ah.
K: Uh-huh.
Su: The man himself is overly serious,
S, K: Right.
Su: or maybe not “overly,” but very serious, so when he gets like that, rigid, stern, when his gaze gets, you know, intense,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: having someone to go, “Now, dear, I think it’s just fine,” to lighten things when the seriousness of the conversation gets overwhelming—
S: Yeah.
K: Yeah.
S: That’s something you need.
Su: There’s that, and she’s a beauty, too.
S, K: (laugh)
S: And her voice is so charming.
Su: Right.
K: Right.
Su: And thus, Setsuna is born.
S: Oh, also,
Su: Uh-huh.
S: we have another one.
K: We’ve got a lot today.
S: This is from “Famille”-san. “I have a question for Mogami-san.”
Su: All right.
S: “Which camp do you belong to, Setsuna, or Setsuna’s mother, Akina-san?”
Su: I had not thought about that.
S, K: (laugh)
Su: Hadn’t thought about that. Okay, let’s see.
(24:00)
Su: Well, Setsuna is the apple of my eye.
K: Ah.
S: Okay.
Su: While, Akina, I don’t—don’t want to—
S: Don’t want to.
Su: don’t want to let her go.
S, K: (laugh)
K: I see. So, both.
S: Both.
Su: Well, see, love, I mean, romantic love, and familial love, are two different things, right?
S, K: Right. Ah.
Su: So, thinking in those terms, I suppose I would say my number-one was Akina.
S: Aha.
K: You keep slipping this smooth voice in now and then. What’s with that?
S, K, Su: (laugh)
Su: Yes, I’m trying to fool everyone.
S: What? Don’t you always talk like this?
K: No, I just keep hearing him
S: Okay, so it was intentional.
K: inserting this voice.
Su: No, I am not.
S: I just assumed his voice always sounded this nice.
Su: That is not true. That is not true.
S: Thank you.
K: Thank you.
S: And, since we have Mogami-san as our guest today,
Su: Yes.
S: we’ve planned something special. We call it—
K: The Ultimate Battle, the Dodge-One Grand Prix!
(25:00)
Su: Wow.
K: Yay!
S: Yay! Dodge-One!
K: Yes. In the seventh episode of the anime, after the school festival show, Setsuna presses in on Haruki and suddenly brings her lips in close.
S: You can move out of the way, if you want.
K: In the course of this show, we have examined numerous methods of dodging Setsuna’s relentless onslaught, and given it the name, the Dodge-One Grand Prix. This week, we would like Mogami, Mogami-san, with his love of video games,
S: Mogami.
K: to use his gamer-sense to select the most effective method.
Su: All right.
K: Out of messages the show has received with various methods, we have created a set of command options, out of which Mogami-san will select the one he thinks will work the best.
S: Yes.
Su: Got it.
K: Yes. What? Have you ever wanted to dodge?
Su: I’m a pro wrestler. I don’t dodge my opponent’s moves, I take them.
(26:00)
S: You’re a pro wrestler?
K: You would take it?
Su: Pro wrestlers don’t dodge their opponents’ moves, they take them.
K: All right,
S: Wow.
K: did you ever wish you could dodge her, in this scene?
Su: Did I ever want to dodge her? No.
S: Huh.
K: Daichuu-san said he wanted to dodge.
Su: Well, but, I think it’s to be expected that Haruki would want that, considering everything.
S: He wanted to dodge her, just once.
K: He wanted to dodge.
Su: Oh, to try dodging, just to see what happened.
S: Right.
K: Yes. To try dodging.
Su: So it’s like, after going a bunch of times without dodging her, you think, “I’ll see what happens if I dodge, just once.” Sneaky.
S: Right, right.
S, K: (laugh)
S: And now, we’re going to have you dodge.
K: Yes. This is the Dodge-One Grand Prix.
Su: Ah, fine. Okay.
K: Although, since it’s a fighting game, it might not totally be your style.
Su: Yes. Oh, good point.
S: That’s right.
Su: So, in that case, you could say, “Oh, no, you reacted too slowly and you weren’t able to dodge!”
S, K: (laugh)
S: But we’re giving you a list of options,
K: Right.
Su: Ah.
S: so you can just pick one of them.
Su: I see.
K: Setsuna’s very strong.
S: Yes, she is.
Su: Oh, man. She must be the strongest.
K: So, tighten your focus.
K: Yes.
S: She’s final-boss class.
Su: And I can’t guard?
K: Right.
S: Yes.
Su: Oh, god.
K: You have to dare to challenge her. Be a man. (laughs)
S: That’s right. (laughs)
Su: Be a man. Let’s do it.
K: Now,
S: All right.
(27:00)
K: let’s get right to it.
Su: All right.
K: Round 1. Are you ready? 2, 1, go! Setsuna’s turn.
S: You can move out of the way, if you want.
K: Mogami’s turn. Command 1: Stylish dodge. Command 2: Lowbrow dodge. Command 3: Overhead throw dodge.
Su: Lowbrow dodge.
K: You grab hold of Setsuna’s boobs.
Su: Yes!
K: Setsuna flinches slightly, but that isn’t enough to stop her.
Su: No!
K: Setsuna’s lips make the hit! Setsuna wins!
S: (laughs) I win!
Su: Damn it…
K: (laughs)
Su: I may have lost, but I don’t regret it.
S: (laughs)
K: Since you got to grope her.
Su: Yes. I don’t regret this loss. This is great!
S: All right. These commands, 1 through 3,
K: Yeah.
S: were adopted from the first dodge method mail we received,
(28:00)
S: sent by “Tsuyoiko”-san.
Su: Ah.
K: This is the way we’re doing it.
Su: Ah.
S: Yes.
K: So, he picked the lowbrow dodge.
Su: When I chose, I don’t know. I felt like I drew the winning ticket.
S: Incidentally, if you’d picked the stylish dodge, you would have put your pointer finger against Setsuna’s lips to stop her, but that wouldn’t keep her away. Setsuna wins.
Su: Ah. Ah.
S: For the overhead throw dodge, you make use of Setsuna’s momentum as she approaches to fling her behind you. However, Setsuna, sensing what you’re about to do, pins you before you can throw her. Setsuna wins!
Su: What? Oh.
S, K: (laugh)
S: So, shall we continue?
K: Want to do another one?
Su: Let’s do it.
K: Who knows, maybe you’ll win this time? (laughs)
Su: Maybe I’ll win? There were zero winning options the first time.
K: All the more reason to try another round, right?
Su: Yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes. Yes. This time I’ll dodge her!
K: Round 2. Are you ready? 2, 1, go! Setsuna’s turn.
S: You can move out of the way, if you want.
(29:00)
K: Mogami’s turn! Command 1: Mario dodge. Command 2: Figure skating quadruple-turn jump dodge. Command 3: Lecture machinegun dodge.
Su: This is Haruki, so it’ll have to be the lecture machinegun dodge.
K: You begin to lecture her, “Now, look, think this through,” and so on, but Setsuna is no longer listening. Setsuna’s lips make the hit. Setsuna wins!
S: I win!
Su: I should have chosen a lower-brow option.
S: Lower-brow. (laughs)
Su: As soon as I heard an option that fit Haruki, I jumped straight to that one.
K: (laughs) You picked it,
Su: Ah. Man.
K: but she’s not listening.
S: By the way, option 1 came from “Trinder”-san, 2 came from “Fried shrimp”-san, and 3 came from “Middle-aged man who is depressed because he just developed farsightedness”-san. For the Mario dodge, you jump over Setsuna. Then, you try to jump on top of her several more times, in order to gain more lives, but she moves, so you miss. Setsuna wins.
Su: Huh.
(30:00)
Su: Uh-huh.
S: And for the figure skating quadruple-turn jump dodge, in an—in an attempt to dodge Setsuna, you perform a quadruple-turn jump in front of her. You fall down flat, Setsuna wins. Those were the others.
Su: Oh, I’ve had enough. Come on, where’s the need to dodge her in the first place?
K: Hey, you never know. You might be able to do it.
S: Right.
Su: I might? With those options? Wait, is there more?
S: You can keep going. You’re still good.
Su: There must be a right choice, right? Not that I have any idea what the right choice would be.
S, K: (laugh)
K: One more. One more fight.
Su: I’ll do one more.
S: Let’s do it.
Su: I’ll do one more. I’ll do it, I’ll fight. Yes.
S: All right, this is the final round.
K: The final round.
K: Here we go.
Su: All right.
K: Round 3. Are you ready? 2, 1, go! Setsuna’s turn.
S: You can move out of the way, if you want.
K: Mogami’s turn. Command 1: Playboy dodge. Command 2: EXILE dodge. Command 3: Fake dodge.
Su: These are terrible. I think EXILE dodge is my only option. EXILE dodge.
(31:00)
K: Just as Setsuna moves in, Takeya and Chikashi pop out from inside the cleaning bins.
Su: All right!
K: At the front of the line, Mogami-san spins around. Behind him, Takeya spins around. And behind Takeya, Chikashi spins around. All three of them spin around and around. Setsuna aims with her lips and makes the hit. Setsuna wins.
K: (laughs)
S: Setsuna is the winner!
Su: Then that would be… a chuu-chuu train?
S: That’s right.
K: Exactly.
Su: Like that?
S: Nice one!
Su: See?
K: It was pretty useless, though. Since you were at the front of the line.
S: Right.
Su: Apparently so.
S: It’s a pretty slow move.
K: You just wouldn’t want everyone to see it.
Su: That’s right. There’s no escaping this.
S: And if she hit someone else, that could cause its own problems.
K: That could cause problems.
Su: Oh, like getting beaten up by Io.
S: Exactly.
K: So, who sent these?
S: Option 1 came from “Amazoness”-san.
(32:00)
S: 2 came from “Hay-fever Zed”-san, and 3 came from “Komeokure”-san. Also,
K: Uh-huh.
S: for the playboy dodge, as Setsuna draws near, you say, “Hey, you know, I’ve got lots of other kittens, too. In fact, you’re number 50 exactly. What would you like as your prize? Maybe a kiss?” And Setsuna’s lips make the hit. Setsuna wins.
Su: All right, I can see that one. All right.
S: And for number 3, the fake dodge, just as Setsuna closes her eyes, you stick cod roe all over your lips as defense. Setsuna’s lips hit, but what they hit is cod roe. Mogami wins!
Su: Ah, I see.
K: You could have won with that one.
S: You could have.
Su: But,
S, K: Uh-huh. (laugh)
Su: with a name like “EXILE dodge,” you were all but telling me to pick that one. That’s barely a quiz.
K: That’s true. I would go with EXILE out of these three options.
S: Yes, I would also pick that one.
Su: Right? Well, whatever the outcome… I don’t know.
S: That’s good, the cod roe dodge. You get to eat cod roe afterward.
K: Right.
Su: You do.
K: I don’t know, Mogami, Mogami could,
(33:00)
K: could you win with this?
S: He could win.
Su: Yes, I guess.
K: You would win, and Setsuna ends up crazy about cod roe.
Su: Yes. Exactly.
S: But, as of rounds 1 and 2, you’ve already been kissed.
K: That’s right.
Su: It’s already a done deal.
S, K: Yes.
Su: This isn’t something you dodge, anyway. I mean, you don’t dodge this.
K: Really? So, you’re never able to dodge?
Su: Listen, you do it rugby-style. Jump right out in front, hit before you get hit. That’s what I think.
S: Do it yourself.
K: Make the move yourself?
Su: Yes, yes. With something like this, moving forward is better than stepping back.
S, K: Huh.
Su: They say something like that in Fighting Spirit, right?
S: Hmm.
K: Yeah, they do.
S: Really?
K: So, Mogami.
S: But, after all, there’s no option to dodge her.
K: So, if someone confesses to you, you have to accept it? You can’t turn it down?
Su: Well, okay, first of all I would have to get into a situation like that.
S, K: (laugh)
S: Oho.
Su: Yes, that’s it.
K: You’re weaker than I thought, against love story attacks. (laughs)
S: You couldn’t dodge.
Su: Right. Man, I wish I were popular. I want to be popular.
K: No, you don’t.
(34:00)
Su: What kind of lead-up is “No, you don’t?” I want to be popular. Yes.
K: All right.
S: All right.
K: That’s it. Battle’s over.
Su: All right.
K: This has been our special project, The Ultimate Battle, the Dodge-One Grand Prix.
S: WHITE ALBUM2 Fan Club Radio
♪Yasashii uso
S: The time has come for the ending of our program, WHITE ALBUM2 Fan Club Radio. Now, we have some announcements from Aquaplus. The song you are currently hearing is the Setsuna version of “Gentle Lies.” You can find it, together with the Setsuna version of “Koi no you na,” on the TV Anime Vocal Collection CD, out now.
(35:00)
S: Please, enjoy the CD for yourself. Volume 4 of the TV anime Blu-ray set is also now available. And, now, we have an announcement from Mogami-san.
Su: Oh, an announcement?
K: Yes.
Su: Ah. Um, I like video games.
S, K: (laugh)
K: What? Don’t you have anything to announce?
Su: Oh, well, let me think, ah… Oh, right.
K: Yes? What is it?
S: All right.
Su: On April 5th, next month, on Tokyo MX and BS, and I think Disney Channel XD on April 6th?
K: Uh-huh.
S: Uh-huh.
Su: Pac-World, the Pac-Man
K: Uh-huh.
S: Ah, Pac-Man.
Su: 3DCG animated show,
S: Hmm.
K: Wow.
Su: will start. Yes. I will be playing the role of Betrayus, the evil overlord,
S: Uh-huh.
Su: who is basically like a very noisy Baird.
S, K: (laugh)
S: Makes sense to me.
Su: Yes. Like a Baird who’s been made just a bit noisier.
K: Okay.
S: Huh.
K: You’re playing that role.
Su: Yes. Yes. I’ve been screaming so much during every recording session that my head hurts.
S: Right.
(36:00)
K: You’re working hard.
S: Ah, you might be bursting some capillaries.
Su: Yes. I think, at some point, I’d like to see what would happen if we got our heads scanned.
S, K: Ah.
Su: Like—yes, exactly.
S: After we’ve been talking a ton? Huh.
Su: Not everyone pushes themselves to their limits in their daily life,
K: Right, they don’t.
S: Right.
Su: I think, but in our line of work, it happens.
K: Yeah.
S: Right.
Su: Which could cause us to get a lot of headaches.
K: Right.
S: Yes.
Su: What’s the deal with that, I wonder?
K: Good question.
S: I’ve thought about it before, that it might be an oxygen shortage.
K: Oh, maybe we don’t get enough oxygen. The studios are pretty small.
S, Su: Yeah.
Su: Right.
K: They’re not all that big.
S, Su: Right.
Su: Anyway, it should be very interesting,
K: Yeah.
Su: and I’ve put a lot of hard work into it, so please, please watch it, if you would.
K: All right. What else?
S: All right.
Su: Hm? Oh, games I like. Right now, I’m playing Dark Souls II. Also Final Fantasy XIV.
S: Ah.
K: You’re involved in all sorts of things.
S: Yeah.
Su: When I’m in transit, I play Chain Chronicle.
K: Uh-huh.
S: Wow.
Su: At the arcade, I play Sengoku Taisen and Lord of Vermillion.
S: That’s a lot.
Su: Sheesh, gaming is all I do.
(37:00)
S: (laughs)
K: Sounds like it.
Su: Every spare moment, I’m gaming.
K: I don’t hear a lot of romantic rumors about you.
S: Ooh.
Su: Leave me alone. I want to mess around. All right, there, I want to mess around.
K: (laughs)
S: (laughs) He wants to mess around.
Su: Important announcement: I want to mess around. Mogami wants to mess around.
S, K: (laugh)
S: Yes, we are currently accepting applications for people who will mess around with him.
K: So, what kind of person do you like?
Su: What kind?
K: I don’t think we’ve ever really talked about that before.
Su: Yeah.
S: Oh, really?
Su: We didn’t get along that well for our four terms.
K: It wasn’t that bad.
Su: Anyway, yes, my type?
S, K: Yeah.
K: What type do you like?
Su: Well, with my personality, I guess I like someone who can match my pace well.
K: Uh-huh. Really?
S: So, would you like someone like Kazusa?
Su: Kazusa, she’s very earnest, right?
S: Then, you like earnest people?
Su: Well, I guess I do.
S: Hm.
Su: I do, but basically, I like someone who matches me well.
K: For some reason, I genuinely have this image of a pushover.
Su: Yeah. (laughs) Right.
S: Okay. Well, in that case, Setsuna is earnest, too.
K: Right.
Su: If it comes to strength of will, just from a glance,
K: Setsuna.
Su: Setsuna is stronger.
S: Hmm.
Su: Her spirit. It may be murky, but it’s deep, very deep,
K: Yeah.
(38:00)
S: Oh, so you want a deep romance.
K: Ah.
Su: Yeah, I want something deep. I want a deep romance. Oh, but when I was in high school,
K: (laughs) Uh-huh.
S: (laughs) Yes?
Su: I was, I was in the archery club,
K: Oh, you did archery.
S: That could make you popular.
Su: Yes, though I might not look it. Between guys and girls, there were definitely more girls.
K: Yeah.
S: Okay.
Su: Anyway, the archery club, generally, since there could be arrows flying around if you’re careless, they’re at a corner of the school building.
S: Right, right.
K: Yeah.
Su: Which means that right next to the archery practice grounds, you’re off the campus.
S: Yes. Hm.
Su: And my high school was out in the country, so outside the campus was just open fields, farms, and rivers.
S: Uh-huh. Ah.
K: Okay.
Su: One day, when I was in high school, I, well, a girl and I, we skipped out on practice,
K: Uh-huh.
Su: and started walking home.
K: Uh-huh.
S: Right.
Su: And just as we turned a corner on the school road, our advisor’s car came zooming in, and caught us right there.
S: Uh-huh.
K: Uh-huh.
Su: Now, our school’s archery club was pretty strong.
(39:00)
K: Uh-huh.
Su: So, every day, we had practice, and morning training. So, the next day—there was this spot out back that we called the “Talking Bridge,”
S: The talking bridge.
Su: it was a stone bridge, maybe five meters, over an irrigation ditch, like you see out in the country,
K: You do.
S: Right.
Su: so I was called out there, and she said, “Hey, what were you trying to pull yesterday?”
S: Oh, no.
Su: And so, my romance ended.
K: (laughs)
S: (laughs) Had things been going in a good direction, up to that point?
Su: I mean, we were leaving together. That’s where we were at. And just right then, the advisor had to show up.
S: Right. Oh, man.
Su: And spotted us. Stuff like that happened.
S, K: (laugh) Wow.
Su: The Talking Bridge. The Talking Bridge made my hair stand on end.
S: Wow.
K: No kidding. That’s interesting, though, stuff like that happening at school.
Su: It happens, it happens.
S: Wow.
K: Man.
Su: Yes.
S: What perfect timing to get caught.
K: Spotted.
Su: Ah,
S: If you hadn’t been seen, maybe things would have kept going.
K: Maybe things would have progressed further.
Su: you know, I figure skipping out on club practice was a thing.
S: Yeah.
K: I see. You were involved in a very serious club.
(40:00)
Su: I did other stuff, too. Not like this, not like WHITE ALBUM,
K: What?
S: Uh-huh.
Su: but I was the chairman of the school festival committee.
S: Wow.
K: But that seems like it could have given you some popularity.
Su: No, it didn’t. Even that wasn’t enough. No. I mean,
S: Oh, you didn’t end up like Haruki-kun.
Su: right, all I remember about the school festival was, when everyone was gathered at the end and cheering,
S: Yes. Yes.
Su: we put on “Linda Linda” and “Train-Train” and everyone got into it.
S: (laughs)
K: Okay.
S: Well, there’s no denying that.
K: Reality never quite matches your ideal. Things don’t work out like in games.
Su: Yes, exactly. That’s why I flee to games.
S: (laughs) Games are packed with wonderful romantic opportunities.
K: (laughs) Ah, I get it.
Su: It’s true. It’s true.
S: Yes. (laughs)
K: Nicely tied together. Well done.
S: Now, Mogami-san, do you have a message for all our members?
Su: Let’s get more popular together. Let’s live more vigorously. Yes.
S: Thank you.
Su: How was that?
K: That was good.
S: Yes.
K: Thank you.
S: Thank you very much.
Su: Thank you.
K: I’m glad you were able to come hang out with us.
(41:00)
S: Yes.
K: Since your schedule has so many regular appointments,
S: Right.
K: appearances on radio and such.
Su: Yes, yes.
S: And we managed to get everything to mesh nicely.
K: Right.
Su: Yes, I was destined to come here.
K: I’m glad.
S: Thank you.
K: We got to talk. We classmates were finally able to have a real, proper conversation.
Su: Seriously. I feel like our connection finally deepened a bit.
S: All right. We at the show will be looking forward to mail from all our members.
K: The mail address is wa2@onsen.ag, wa2@onsen.ag, and you can also send it from the show’s mail submission form. Feel free to shoot us material for segments, questions for us, or whatever you like.
S: Yes. Also, here in an announcement from the program. After broadcasting since August of last year, WHITE ALBUM2 Fan Club Radio will be suspending its activities at the end of April.
S, K: Aww.
Su: But it was so much fun.
K: Yes, it’s a shame.
S: Yeah.
K: So, throughout that entire month, we will have Takahiro Mizushima-san as a guest, to talk long and hard and passionately about each route in the game.
Su: All right.
(42:00)
K: Will you come?
Su: Maybe. I know I just said my schedule didn’t allow it, but…
S: Will you?
K: Right. Yes, you could talk.
Su: I could do some talking myself. I could talk.
S: Yeah.
K: Please mail us any scenes from IC, CC, Coda, and the Infidelity and Sworn Enemies routes, that you would like Daichuu-san to talk about.
S: If you write what part or route you’re discussing at the beginning of the message, they’ll be much easier to sort! The staff will weep with joy! We look forward to your passionate messages.
Su: That’s wild, that you get to read all of this.
K: Right. But, seriously, when we ask for people’s thoughts and impressions, we get a lot of extremely passionate messages,
S: Yes, we do. Which is wonderful.
Su: Yes. Right. Yes, I think so.
K: so if they’re written in a way that’s a bit easier to understand,
S: Right, yes.
K: it makes things easier for us, too. We want to read as many as we can.
S: Saying we’re suspending our activities makes it feel kind of like a band.
K: Yes, it’s a pause.
Su: You know, it’s something like Mr. Children.
S: Yes, yes.
K: We could start back up again at some point.
S: A few years down the line.
Su: As a legend, say.
S, K: Yeah.
Su: After you stop, you become a legend, and then you make a comeback. That’s the pattern.
K: Maybe so. Yes, let’s aim for that.
(43:00)
S: Good idea. Yes.
K: And we’re going to have Daichuu-san here, so go ahead and send us lots and lots of mail.
S: Please do. We’ve got four consecutive weeks.
K: Yes. Very exciting.
S: It should be an exciting month. All right, this brings an end to our fan club meeting for the day. We are Madoka Yonezawa,
K: Hitomi Nabatame,
Su: and Tsuguo Mogami.
S, K, Su: Thank you, everyone.
K: This program is sponsored by Aquaplus.