Continuation of interview (1) The TV anime "Chi. -About the Earth's Movement-" is based on the manga by Uo Yutaka, which was also selected as the Manga Grand Prize winner of the 26th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The original manga was serialized in "Weekly Big Comic Spirits" (Shogakukan) from 2020 to 2022, and gained popularity as an unusual manga that depicts people risking their lives to study the heretical theory of heliocentrism in 15th century Europe. The TV anime began broadcasting on NHK General TV in October, and the shocking development of the third episode in which the main character Rafal was executed became a hot topic. Ten years after Rafal's death, after many twists and turns, the substitute fighter Okji, the monk Badeni, and the astronomy research assistant Yolenta take over the research on the heliocentrism and devote their passion to it. We spoke to Katsuyuki Konishi, who plays Okji, Yuichi Nakamura, who plays Badeni, and Saya Niimi, who plays Yolenta, about the appeal of "Chi.," and the behind-the-scenes story of the recording.
◇Difficulties unique to "Chi."
--What did you pay attention to or value when acting?
Nakamura: This is simply a technical issue, but since this is not a work that focuses on movement or action, I had to make it easier for the audience to understand things that would be easily forgotten if they were just said in words, such as things related to the heliocentric theory, by putting them in the characters' words. But it's not just that, I also had to convey the feelings of the characters. It would be easier if the conversation was more emotional, but there is a lot of intelligence left, so I thought it was technically difficult. I had to make it seem like it was born from the conversation.
--Is that something unique to the work "Chi."?
Nakamura: I think so. However, as a character, Badeni is not a person who changes a lot, and he continues to move with strong conviction from start to finish, so that was an easy point to act. As expected, it was difficult to say what to say, so I thought about it carefully and did it carefully.
Konishi: I think I put a lot of importance on what Okuji is looking at and where his heart is. Okuji is the one who changes the most. So I wanted it to be easy for the viewers to understand, but not too pushy, so that it would naturally convey, "Oh, this is what caused him to become like this now," or "So this is why his way of speaking has changed." It's a small thing, but this work is also a dialogue drama, so I thought it would be good to pay attention to such things. How has he changed? Hitomi: This work has quite a lot of long lines, so it's about how to enjoy listening to them. Sound director Koizumi (Kisuke) also told me many times, "It's important that the content moves." Words come out because the heart and feelings are moved. You must never forget that flow, and if you don't value it first, you won't be able to convey the message, and there are also cases where the other person's heart won't be moved, so I thought that was very difficult, but I worked hard on it. ◇Pay attention to the moment when the three of them get together. Okji sees, "That sky must be beautiful."
--Which scene left an impression on you while acting?
Nakamura: What I found interesting was when the three of them got together for the first time. The base was always Okji and Badeni, and Yolenta was working on a drama in a different place, but the two dramas became one and they acted together as a mission to achieve one thing. They had that conversation in front of the bulletin board, and when they met there, it was kind of interesting. They were together. For the viewers, it makes them think that the three of them will join forces and create something big? I thought the same when I read the manga.
Hitomi: It was when I first met the two of them (Okji and Badeni). I think Yolenta was not treated very well at the observatory research lab and had a hard time living there. At first, Badeni said that if anything happens, he can just cut her off, but he was very happy that she was recognized as a researcher and that she was talking to him as a person. I think that's why Yolenta started asking Badeni more questions and finding new conversation points.
Konishi: I really enjoyed interacting with different people every time. As this continued, Okuji's feelings changed more and more, so when I was asked "What was fun? What left an impression on you?", I thought that everything remained. However, if I had to pick a scene, there is a scene in the future where Okuji looks at Venus, and I was acting thinking that the sky must be really beautiful. I wonder what that sky is like. I'm looking forward to watching it on air.
Okuji, Badeni, and Yolenta take over from Rafał and others and put their faith in proving the heliocentric theory. I want to pay attention to the passionate performances of the voice actors.
