Feel Inori Across the Dimensional Wall!? Voice Actors Yuki Kaji and Tasuku Hatanaka Look Back on Milestones for Guilty Crown and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

One thing Guilty Crown and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress have in common is music by EGOIST. Hatanaka, who watched Guilty Crown to prepare for the exhibition, offered a candid impression: "(Heroine Inori Yuzuriha) appears as EGOIST's vocalist, but she also sings in Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, doesn't she?"

Kaji also appears in Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress as Takumi, and he added that he had explained to Hatanaka at the recording sessions that EGOIST, born in Guilty Crown, was singing there. Hatanaka answered, a little flustered, "(At the recording) I was nervous and it went in one ear and out the other, but after 10 years it finally clicked," drawing laughter from the audience.

When the conversation moved from Guilty Crown to Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Hatanaka shared his impressions of the exhibition: "There is an area that sums up the stories of both series, and it was stunning. The two works overlap in places, so I felt it's an exhibition where you can look for those common points, too."

Asked, as Kaji had been, what he kept in mind while playing Ikoma, he replied: "I was desperate back then, and my field of view had narrowed so much that the studio only kept running because Kaji covered for me... But maybe that also fed into Ikoma's desperation."

Kaji added: "Hatanaka's earnest passion for the work linked up with Ikoma in some ways, and it was a set where everyone, including Senbongi (who voices Mumei), wanted to support each other and make a great series."

Hatanaka also looked back: "I felt that same feeling from the staff and from all of the cast, and we came together as one on that set, so I can only feel grateful. Watching it again now, there are scenes where you'd lose your voice shouting like that, but I thought losing it was part of the deal." Kaji, for his part, reportedly praised that attitude even back then.

Hatanaka summed up, "It's a series we made by truly burning our lives, and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and Ikoma are special to me." It is also well known among fans that Hatanaka, who voices Ikoma, and Sayaka Senbongi, who voices Mumei, married after working together.

When the host put him on the spot by asking whether Mumei had sent a message for the press conference, he answered, "I was told 'Go on,' and I answered 'I'm off.'" Kaji remarked, "I may have seen that same balance of power at the recording sessions, too."