Seigaku Regulars' Seminar: Self-Intro

The special content in the last volume of the DVD series consists of the Seigaku Regulars' Seminar and the compilation of 7 OPs and EDs among the various songs the anime featured over 178 episodes. Firstly, the 9 seiyuus begin with their self-introductions and what Tenipuri means to them. We begin with Tezuka Kunimitsu, the bucchou so Okiayu-san says that although this is the longest anime he has been involved in (3.5 years), he did not take part in the voice acting for close to 1 year since Tezuka-bucchou was away in Germany for treatment of his shoulder after the Hyotei arc. As usual, he was grumbling about how little he appeared in the anime. ^__^ By the way, Okiayu-san seems to have put on a little weight as compared to what I saw in the movie's DVD because he was quite slim then and I couldn't recognise him at first. I heard on Rajipuri (Aug 04) before that he was going on a diet with Sanada's seiyuu, Kusunoki Taiten and it seemed Okiayu-san was doing quite well in this area. Since the anime's DVD was released in June and he appeared during the screening of the movie in Jan this year, I can't comprehend how he could have looked so different. Of course, I'm not sure when the regulars' seminar footage was recorded so it could have been made much earlier, maybe before the movie screening in Jan.

Next is Oishi Shuichiro, the fuku-bucchou played by Kondo Takayuki. He says that initially, he felt that Oishi seemed to be quite different from him but over the past 178 episodes, his distance with Oishi has narrowed and he feels that the character has become a part of him. Kondo-kun, being the youngest seiyuu among the regulars is always so polite and not as outspoken and everyone calls him Kondo-kun affectionately.

We have Inui Sadaharu's seiyuu, Tsuda Kenjirou next where he said things similar to what Kondo-kun had mentioned. Well, I admit that I have a soft spot for Tsuda-san especially after seeing his face for the first time in the movie's DVD which strengthened my liking for Inui too. I was pratically going wild when I saw him in Hana Yori Dango's Ep 2 and thought I was seeing things. Following that is Fuji Shuusuke's seiyuu, Kaida Yuki and she was comparing Fuji to something in an analogy. I couldn't really understand what she was getting at though. Currently, I'm hearing Kaida-san's voice in the anime, Suzuka but I just cannot reconcile that voice to what I hear from Fuji. I really have to hand it to the seiyuus for being able to change their voices to suit the roles but some of the seiyuus' voices are so distinct that it's hard not to notice like Suwabe Junichi, Okiayu-san, Tsuda-san or Onosaka-san.

Kikumaru Eiji appears next where Takahashi Hiroki said that Eiji seemed to be someone from another planet to him when he began playing this role but he has become a part of him. Well, looking at Takahashi-san, he seems quite different from Eiji where he looks quite demure and quiet. Eiji is forever full of energy and cannot keep still so that's why Takahashi-san feels that he's very different from Eiji.

The last 3rd year member is Kawamura Takashi played by Kawamoto Naru who said that he feels like a professional actor when he introduced himself and their surnames are quite similar. The most enjoyable thing he finds about starring in Tenipuri would be showing the 2 contrasting sides of Taka-san because he's gentle and nice by nature but he becomes aggressive and quite talkative (likes to speak English) when he holds the racquet. However, he mentions that these two contrasting traits are essential since they are both reflective of Taka-san. Personally, I think that Kawamoto-san sings pretty well and I like his song, "Asobi ni Ikanai?" which I heard from Rajipuri. Maybe I'll think of buying his album after buying the 30.5 illustration book and Vol 31 of the manga.

We come to the 2nd year students now with Momoshiro Takeshi i.e. Onosaka Masaya-san starting the ball rolling. He says that he did not deliberately act in a certain way when he plays Momo since he is just like a part of Onosaka-san's character. I agree with this statement totally. It seems as if Onosaka-san and Momo are the same person and I think he's very suitable for this role. In addition, Onosaka-san said that working on Tenipuri feels like he's in a club with like-minded friends instead of a extra-curricular activity as shown in the anime. That's his way of saying how much he enjoys working on Tenipuri.

Kaidou Kaoru played by Kiyasu Kohei is next and he says that he likes Kaidou for being a nice person and behaves in a cool manner which is something he says that he can't do. It feels good to him when he's playing this character. Somehow, Kiyasu-san is kind of subdued for this session since he was quite hyper during the movie's screening and celebration party as shown in the DVD. I guess he could have been feeling under the weather that day so he sees quite tired.

Last but not least, the main character Echizen Ryoma played by Minagawa Junko who says that she felt Ryoma was very different from her right from the start but when she finished the series after more than 3 years, she has sensed that the distance between her real persona and Ryoma has reduced tremendously. It is the first time she has felt that she is playing a 12-year-old character.

I'll post the remaining contents of the seminar in a few days' time since it's probably going to be an extremely long post based on the notes I took while watching the discussion segment for the 3rd time.