The animated feature film "Ganbatte Ikimasshoi" (directed by Sakuragi Yuhei), based on Shikimura Ryoko's coming-of-age novel that has also been made into a live-action film and a TV drama, was released on October 25th. The original novel is a masterpiece coming-of-age novel that won the grand prize of the Botchan Literature Award in 1995. In 1998, it was made into a live-action film starring actress Tanaka Rena, and became a long-running hit. In 2005, a drama starring Suzuki Anne and Nishikido Ryo was broadcast. The anime is also attracting attention for its star-studded cast of voice actors, including Amamiya Sora as the protagonist Murakami Etsuko, Ito Miku as Saeki Hime, Takahashi Rie as Takahashi Riina, Kito Akari as Hyodo Taeko, and Hasegawa Ikumi as Imoto Mayumi. We spoke to Takahashi about what went on behind the scenes of the recording and her memories from high school.
◇What is "Takahashi-ness"?
"Ganbatte Ikimasshoi" is set in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, and depicts the growth and emotional turmoil of high school girls who devote their youth to the rowing club. Although it is a work filled with "youth," it has a charm that cannot be explained in one word.
"When I auditioned, I researched the work, and I heard that this anime is reconstructed with girls living in the present era, so instead of creating roles by watching previous dramas and movies, I tried to cherish the atmosphere that I was creating from now on. It is a work filled with youth, but I feel that it cannot be dismissed with just the word 'youth.' It is filled with the way I felt excited and depressed about small things at the time, and I like how each conversation and event is connected to the other. The work is firmly centered around boats, but I felt that the girls of this age who are involved with boats are also an important element."
Takahashi Rina, played by Takahashi, is a transfer student from Saitama who transfers into Class 2B where Etsuko is. Inspired by the class match event, she gets Etsuko and the others involved in reviving the rowing club. She has a fearless and positive personality, but is not good at talking to boys. Her nickname within the club is "Lee." Takahashi herself is from Saitama Prefecture, and their names are similar. "It's the first time I've played a character with such a similar name, so I was really excited. I was also surprised to find out that he was from Saitama Prefecture. To be honest, I wondered if he was written specifically for me, but that wasn't the case at all (laughs). The other day, I had a stage greeting, and the director told me that it was a coincidence, which made me feel really relieved. As he's a transfer student from Saitama, this is just my personal feeling, but I think that people with the same surname have a certain "Takahashi-ness." Tanaka-san feels a sympathy for fellow Tanakas, and Takahashi has a "Takahashi-ness." There are about two of them in class, so they're written as Takahashi (Li), they're given the nickname "Taka ○○," or they've even been called "Takahashi." I've played Takahashi myself, so I feel a special sense of camaraderie with Takahashi. Rather than being confident that we have a lot in common, I feel a great sense of closeness. I feel like we've put on the equipment of Takahashi and walked through life together."
What exactly is "Takahashi-ness"? ? It's a point I'm curious about.
"It's such a common surname, I wonder if there's any self-deprecation. Personally, I think Saitama has a similar vibe to it (laughs). People from Saitama have a habit of self-deprecating about Saitama, but when people from other regions say it, it feels a bit different. I feel like there are moments when Takahashis can be self-deprecating with each other, like that. Of course, I don't know what Takahashis all over the country think, and I'm not representative of all Takahashis! I'm more used to Takahashi than people who haven't lived as Takahashis, and I think I can use it when I act. It's a mysterious confidence. I have almost no basis for it (laughs)."
Takahashi said that he auditioned for roles other than Lee, but Lee was the one that felt the most right.
"During the audition, I start by saying the role's name and my own name, but the moment I said 'Takahashi Riina', I thought, 'This girl might talk like this...' and something like a creative desire welled up within me. The audition lines were fewer than usual, just three words. Among them was, 'I transferred from Saitama. I'm Takahashi Riina.' I was sure that out of all the auditioners, I was the one who was most familiar with saying this name! I turned that into confidence (laughs)."
◇Be conscious of not going overboard with your acting
Lee is energetic but also easily upset, and in a different sense to the main character, Etsu-nee (Etsuko), she seems like an ordinary high school student of today. The anime carefully depicts the delicate emotions of an ordinary high school student. "Both of them are honest about their feelings, but I think that Lee expresses them differently from Etsunee. Lee expresses her joy and sadness in words, and has a wide range of facial expressions. In addition, Etsunee and Hime are childhood friends, as are Dakko and Imochi. I realized that Lee is not someone who is always with someone, but can be with anyone. There are scenes where she is walking with Imochi, and scenes where she is talking with Hime about Etsunee."
Lee is also a mood maker. Takahashi was conscious of not going overboard with her acting.
"I was conscious of not going too far with anything, taking into account the balance of the five of us. For example, not being too clingy, too crybaby, expressing my opinions too clearly, being too considerate, etc. If I push myself too hard because of my individuality, the distribution will be biased towards the more intense characters who are like Dakko and Imochi, so I try to tone it down a bit. I was able to record with Etsu-nee (Amemiya-san), who has the most delicate expressions, so the atmosphere of not being out of place even when talking with Etsu-nee was very helpful."
◇Youth! In high school
Lee is a person of action, such as reviving the rowing club. Takahashi-san himself said that he was also a person of action in high school.
"I can really understand why Lee would say, 'There's no rowing club? Let's make one!' I was in the broadcasting club, but we didn't have a training camp. But I really wanted to try it. I researched it myself, persuaded the teacher, and finally we all went to a training camp. I remember that in the broadcasting club, we made radio dramas, so some of the kids collected sound materials, and I was in the announcement department, so I would wake up in the morning and practice my voice facing the mountain. When I think about it now, it was like my youth. I loved club activities and school festivals. I'm the type of person who gets excited when we get together and do something, so I can really understand Lee's feelings. My current job is also something we make together, so I've always enjoyed it."
She has wanted to be a voice actress since middle school.
"I started aiming for it in middle school, and I wanted to go to a high school where I could learn about voice acting right away, but my parents told me that it would be better to have insurance, so I went to a regular high school. I studied hard, and joined the broadcasting club, which seemed to lead to the basics of voice acting. Since high school, I had been itching to do something quickly. I didn't want to waste time itching, so I was always looking for auditions. I was greedy (laughs). In the broadcasting club, we also had basic training in traditional tongue twisters and pronunciation charts, so when I entered the training school afterwards, I realized that this is what I did in the broadcasting club! My experience in high school came in handy right away."
Looking back, it feels like such a luxury to be able to hear Takahashi's announcements in high school.
"I secretly played nerdy songs (laughs). At the time, anime songs were often included in the J-POP rankings, so I would introduce them with a bold statement like, "Houkago Tea Time, #1!" (laughs). I can understand the feeling of spending high school years like Etsu-nee, but for me, I found it especially easy to understand the energy of Lee."
In the anime "Ganbatte Ikimasshoi," we want you to pay attention to the performance of "Takahashi Rie," which is synchronized with "Takahashi Riina." Finally, we asked Takahashi-san about the highlights of the anime.
"I hope that even those who have never heard of the film will feel free to come to the theater. It's a story about reuniting the rowing club... if this film were a four-panel manga, Lee would be in a position to be the main character. But what makes this film so fascinating is that the main character is Etsunee. I hope that viewers will take in the subtleties of Etsunee's heart in detail. This time, it's being made with CG, so I thought it would surely convey the waves of the ocean and the feeling of riding a boat, but it was even better than I imagined! The characters' eyes are also very beautiful. Even their eyes are portrayed in minute detail. The way they walk and their stride are full of character, and their feelings are conveyed. It felt like they were living in the film, one after the other. I hope that viewers will experience it for themselves."
