Kakeru Hatano Talks About His Character Preparation for "Tamon's B-Side"! He Shows Embarrassment at Praise from Saori Hayami

In the following "Kapu Kapu Talk" segment, the first part of the conversation between Morikubo and Kawashima was broadcast. The two first met around 2019 at the Higashi-Osaka performance of the reading play "Hoshi × Koe" launched by Keiji Fujiwara. Kawashima, who was still a newcomer participating as staff at the time, shared an episode where he confided at the after-party, "I'm anxious (about the future)," and Morikubo encouraged him by saying, "It's okay to be anxious. If you're not anxious now, when will you be?" Kawashima was apparently deeply moved at the time by Morikubo's acting philosophy of "expressing emotions through breathing and heart rate."

The two later performed together for the first time in the anime "The Great Cleric." However, since they recorded separately during the COVID-19 pandemic, Morikubo confessed his surprising honest feelings about Kawashima at the time: "To be honest, I thought 'He's working hard,' but I wasn't really interested (lol)." However, his evaluation completely changed as they worked together more frequently over the past six months. He praised him highly, saying, "Watching Reiji's acting, I became incredibly interested. He deviates slightly from the standard approach and betrays expectations in a good way. That's what I do too," noting that there were aspects that overlapped with his own acting approach.

Furthermore, when Kawashima revealed that during his first starring role in "To Your Eternity," he did meticulous character preparation equivalent to 17 A4 notebooks, saying "The only thing you can do as a newcomer is take your time," Morikubo was moved, saying, "I love that! I love that kind of thing. You really did it, that's why. Your effort comes through." He explosively expressed his love for his junior, saying, "I love him so much now that I wonder why I didn't try to get to know this kid earlier."

The topic turned to Morikubo's principles as a "quirky voice actor." Morikubo developed his philosophy, saying, "I'm not trying to be eccentric; I want to do simple things. Even with a regular 'good morning,' if there are 100 people, I don't do what 98 people would do, but rather what the 99th or 100th person would do. That passes through the filter of how I've lived, so it connects to individuality." When Kawashima asked, "Have you ever struggled thinking 'this quirk is a hindrance?'" Morikubo revealed his true feelings, saying "I do have a sense that the strike zone being requested of me is becoming limited," but also shared an episode where he was saved when senior voice actor Hōchū Ōtsuka, when he mentioned "People say I'm a quirky voice actor...," immediately said "Quirks are good." He sent a passionate message of encouragement to Kawashima, saying, "I think you're also part of the 'quirks are good' faction. I'm counting on you."

In the second part scheduled to air next Friday, March 6, there will be a scene where the individualistic voice actor Morikubo tells Kawashima, "In your 30s, ride high on life to the maximum, it might be your last chance." Furthermore, Kawashima will consult Morikubo about "serious concerns I've never mentioned anywhere," making it another unmissable episode.

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