Keiko Han is currently appearing as Mother Desarium in the remake series of the popular anime "Space Battleship Yamato." She played the popular character Sasha in the third animated feature film, "Be Forever Yamato," released in 1980, and is now appearing in "Space Battleship Yamato" again after more than 40 years. Based on "Be Forever Yamato," the latest film in the remake series, "Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199," which reinterprets the original work and reconstructs it, has drawn attention for her daughter Megumi Han playing Sasha, taking over the role from her mother. We spoke to Keiko about her thoughts on appearing in "Space Battleship Yamato" again and her daughter Megumi.
The importance of thinking about others
Mother Desarium, played by Keiko, first appeared in the two-part "Space Battleship Yamato 2205: A New Voyage," which was released in theaters in 2021 and 2022. Keiko was in charge of the series composition and scriptwriting for "2205," and was eagerly awaited by Harutoshi Fukui, who is not only the series composition and scriptwriting for "3199" but also the general director, to appear again in "Space Battleship Yamato."
"I have fond memories of Sasha, and I couldn't play two roles in one production, so I initially declined. I've gotten older, so I thought it would be a problem if something were to happen, and I thought I'd hold off on taking on a new role. There were so many people who wanted to play the role, so I felt bad for them. Fukui contacted me. I told him, 'I've already done it once,' but he told me, 'This time it's a remake, so it's different,' and 'You're playing an AI.'"
Encouraged by Fukui's passion, Keiko "returned" to "Space Battleship Yamato." Mother Dezarium is the mysterious being who reigns at the top of the Dezarium.
"Nowadays, AI is developing, and I thought that in the future, AI would be able to speak normally, so at first I made it so that it was spoken by a normal human being, but Fukui said, 'It should be absolutely condescending. No emotion.' I remembered 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: 1000-Year Queen,' which I previously appeared in. I had the image of a human who pursues eternal life and sells their body to a machine. This is a reference to Matsumoto Reiji (the author of the original '1000-Year Queen'), but from the time we were working on '1000-Year Queen,' he said, 'Don't lose to machines! Don't lose to AI! Humans will definitely win against AI!' So it overlapped with that. It made sense to me, but Fukui might say, 'That's not right.'"
Keiko says she feels that the existence of Mother Desarium is connected to the grand theme of "Space Battleship Yamato."
"I don't know how 3199 will end, but when I think about what it can defeat an AI, I think it's the ability to care for others. Love, parents and children, friends... we have the desire to do something for someone, we have feelings for people, and we can be grateful. Can an AI do that? I think the theme is people caring for other people, and it's wonderful that this continues to exist without changing."
◇ I never showed my daughter my acting face
Following on from "2205," Keiko will be playing the role of Mother Desarium in "3199." I heard directly from Fukui that her daughter Megumi will also be appearing.
"I wondered if it would end with '2205,' but it never ended (laughs). One day, when I was having dinner with Fukui-san, he brought me a storyboard and said, 'I'll ask Megumi to play Sasha.' I remember saying, 'I wonder if Megumi can do it?'"
"Sasha in ' Be Forever Yamato' is fragile, but girls these days are strong. Sasha has a strong will, but at the time fragility was what was required, so I wonder if it was the times? My daughter is stronger than I am. She has a strong will, stamina, and spirit. The Sasha I played when I was 26 years old was 14 to 17 years old, so I wondered if my daughter could convey that fragile feeling. But when I was shown the storyboards, I wondered if Sasha from that era could do it."
Her daughter Megumi made her voice acting debut in 2011 as Gon Freecss, the main character of "HUNTER×HUNTER", and is a popular voice actress who has appeared in many anime. Keiko reveals that she "doesn't like" mother-daughter collaborations.
"It's fine for us to sit together at events and such, but I really don't like acting. I play a different personality and I don't like showing sides of myself that I don't normally show to my children. My children have to live on their own, and as an actor I don't want to let my private life out in the open. It would ruin the role. For a voice actor, the character is important, so I think it's best not to be in the public eye. After all, it's the character that counts. That's been my motto since I was young. There was a time when I couldn't do that (laughs)."
The role of Sasha was passed down from mother to daughter, but she didn't offer any advice.
"I have nothing to say. I'm not worried. The only time I said anything was at the very beginning. Before the audition for Hunter x Hunter, I heard you practicing in your room, and I simply said, 'You won't have anyone to date you like that!' I said, 'Because what's important is having a partner and what that other person thinks... who is that other person?' Once I said that, it seemed they understood. Space Battleship Yamato is also filled with feelings of caring for others. Because those feelings never fade, no matter what."
"We do the same job, but..." he says, expressing his feelings for Megumi.
"We only really talked about work at the very beginning. We ended up living apart. Actors are special, so you can't live together. Even after my daughter was born, the moment I lock the door to go to work, I become a different person. I decided that when I get home, I'll be a mother. Normally, I have to be a normal mother. I've never taken her to the studio, and I've never shown her my acting side. When I stand in front of the microphone, it becomes my own world, so I don't want to show it. When you're acting, you have to be on time and you have to stay calm. It takes a lot of concentration. You can't create a role unless you immerse yourself in it."
When asked what she thought of Megumi's voice for Sasha in "3199," she said, "She fits the role better than I do (laughs)."
"When I played Sasha, I was a complete rookie, but my daughter has built up a lot of experience, so I could sense her growth and I'm not worried. During ' Be Forever Yamato,' I felt the love in the line 'Sasha!' from my senior, Toyama Kei (who played Kodai Susumu). It was a line filled with so much love that I thought, 'He really likes me!' I was raised on a wonderful set. My daughter is also learning from the support of everyone on set, rather than from me saying anything."
"Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199" is a seven-part series, with the third chapter, "Ultramarine Asteroid," being released on April 11. There are still many mysteries surrounding Mother Desirium and Sasha, so we'd like to keep an eye on how things develop in the future.
