"Doing Everything I Can" — Akihisa Shiono's Approach to Rakugoka Kaisei Arakawa in His Voice Acting Debut ["Akane-banashi" Interview]

——Ms. Nagase told us that Mr. Fukuyama's approach was less about showcasing his rakugo skills through the character of Shinta and more about presenting the story beautifully. Is that the ideal form for you as well?

Shiono: While keeping that in mind, I don't think I am skilled enough to pull off something that dexterous at this stage, so I just focused entirely on throwing everything I have into it.

——By the way, we heard that during the recording of the rakugo scenes, you could choose between sitting down like on an actual koza (rakugo stage) or standing up like in a regular voice recording session. We heard that Ms. Nagase recorded sitting down and Mr. Fukuyama recorded standing up, but what did you do?

Shiono: I recorded standing up. I was sitting at first, but I stood up halfway through (lol).

——Was it because sitting in seiza makes your legs go numb, so standing up was easier for you?

Shiono: I think the others have unconsciously mastered how to project their voices and direct power into the microphone, but I am still far from that. I felt I wouldn't be able to keep up unless I stood up and breathed properly, so for that reason as well, I chose to stand.

——So you wanted to make the most of the weapons you already possess?

Shiono: Yes. Acting in dramas and films has the characteristic where, conversely to anime, lines shouldn't sound like "lines"—they need to blend into the atmosphere. If I did the same thing in anime, the dialogue would completely wash away, so I was very conscious of that difference.

——So you approached it by grasping the difference between live-action acting and voice acting. While rakugo is mastered through oral tradition, did your experience as an actor help you during your training and practice?

Shiono: Since I have always acted exposing my entire body, in that sense, my stance hasn't changed. If you watch closely, you can tell when someone is calculating things like the shifting of their eyes, a misplaced gaze, or slight movements in their facial muscles.

It becomes completely obvious whether you are acting with a deep, internal understanding or not. Therefore, I view rakugo training as an extension of the various things I've done so far, like acting and action scenes.

Keep an eye on how Shiono, taking on both voice acting and rakugo, expresses Kaisei and the art of rakugo, along with the progression of the story.

Interview, Photography, Text / kato
(C)末永裕樹・馬上鷹将／集英社・「あかね噺」製作委員会

List of images for this article