The TV anime " Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo, " based on the manga by Akira Konno serialized in "Gessan" (Shogakukan), began airing in April on TOKYO MX, MBS, and other channels. The mysterious creature Kujima, neither bird nor human, comes to live with the somewhat tense Kouda family, bringing a breath of fresh air to the home comedy. The enigmatic creature Kujima is voiced by Yuria Kamizuki. After reading the manga, it's hard to imagine what kind of voice Kujima will have. Is Kujima even cute? Will its voice be cute too? These are some of the questions that people who haven't seen the anime might have. How did Ms. Kamizuki portray Kujima?
◇Russian language and accents, including katakana.
Kujima is a mysterious creature from Russia that looks like a bird or a penguin. It is slender, tall, has human-like limbs, and can speak. It is currently learning Japanese and is quite proficient at it. In " When Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo," strange and inexplicable creatures exist naturally.
"I had seen the work on X before I even auditioned, and I was like, 'What kind of creature is this!?' (laughs). There's this mysterious creature called Kujima, but everyday life is unfolding, and Kujima is there so naturally. It's so natural that it makes you wonder, 'Does Kujima really exist in the real world?' I felt that the worldview was so wonderful, and the more I learned about Kujima, who I initially thought was a mysterious creature, the more I grew to love him, and now he's a very lovable character."
Kujima can talk, sing, and make noises. Because it's such an unknown creature, it's sometimes difficult to imagine what it sounds like.
"I myself had no idea how Kujima would speak, or what kind of voice she would have. I looked at the materials and started by trying to faithfully reproduce the required voice quality, even though I didn't fully understand it. The materials explained that her voice would be lower when she was angry or speaking Russian, based on the image of a stove from the TV show 'Gretel's Oven,' so when I recorded the audition tape, I listened to it over and over again and acted it out repeatedly. At first, I thought maybe just her voice would be cute, but after reading the materials, it seemed that wasn't the case. When she makes a discovery or is surprised, she makes a rough sound, and I made sure to convey a sense of her being alive, something that would tickle your heart."
It's not easy to portray a voice that readers can't imagine. Moreover, Kujima also speaks Russian, which makes it even more challenging. Kanzuki said that this was her first attempt at speaking Russian.
"During the audition, I listened to the Russian guide, wrote it down in katakana, and memorized it by ear. The recording for the anime is already finished, but when I listen back to the Russian from the audition, it's a mess. I hadn't even studied Russian at the time, so I started studying Russian after I was cast as Kujima. During the recording, we had a Russian language supervisor, but actually, the Russian accent in Japanese was much harder than the Russian itself..."
Apparently, they needed to capture the unique intonation of a Russian-speaking person speaking Japanese.
"Russians often raise the second syllable of their Japanese accent, making it sound like 'watashi wa' (I am). It was an unfamiliar accent, and it confused me. I watched YouTube videos of Russians speaking Japanese to study the accent."
Although it was a challenging role, he said that during recording, "I was allowed to do it exactly the way I wanted."
"Kujima came to Japan from Russia, so I think things that are normal for me are new and exciting for her. I tried to return to my childlike self and remember that novelty. And then there's the beak. Kujima has a beak, and I wondered what it felt like, so I decided to try it myself by holding a toilet paper roll to my mouth and talking through it."
When reading the original work, you'll notice that Kujima's lines include katakana characters in places. In particular, there are many instances where the end of a sentence is written in katakana.
"For example, instead of saying 'It's fun,' I would say 'It's fun,' with a rising intonation at the end, like 'It's fun, ne!'. I have a cute image of katakana, so I made sure to express a Kujima-like ending by adding a curved, rising intonation."
◇The joy of playing non-human characters
Kanzuki said that playing the role of Kujima has brought about changes in her daily life.
"My throat has gotten stronger, so sometimes I end up shouting too much (laughs). My throat has started to make a lot of noise. Once I trained the back of my throat to make noise, it started to come out even in everyday life. Even when I'm speaking normally, it sounds a bit bird-like. And then there's the rolled R'. When I was a child, I couldn't roll my R', and I was frustrated because I'm very competitive, but I learned to roll my R' by playing Kujima."
As a child actress, Kanzuki voiced the main character Ponyo in the 2008 animated film "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" (directed by Hayao Miyazaki). In 2022, she returned to voice acting after approximately 14 years since "Ponyo" in the TV anime "Chimimo," and she is also gaining attention for voicing Goma-chan in the TV anime "Little Third Grader Ashibe QQ Goma-chan," which will start in April. Her ability to portray non-human creatures, including Kujima, is attracting attention.
"When playing non-human roles, I think about how to completely shed my human nature because they have different emotions and expressions than humans. I would be happy if I could convey emotions that don't show on the surface. I'm constantly experimenting to eliminate any sense of incongruity so that people won't realize a human is playing the role."
◇The Koda family cast is like a real family
On his way home from school, Shin, the second son of the Kouda family, encounters Kujima, who is picking up loose change from under a vending machine, and takes him home. Shin is played by Ayumu Murase.
"Mr. Murase plays Arata in 'Kujima' in a natural and unpretentious way. Kujima's voice is a fictional one, so there's a clear contrast between the fantastical character of Kujima and the person living an everyday life. Mr. Murase told me, 'Kujima is the driving force, so I'm adjusting my voice to match Kujima.' That's why, when I was doing the voice recording with Mr. Murase, I was able to give my all to play Kujima."
Reflecting on working with Murase-san, she said, "I learned so much from doing the voice recording together."
"There were lines we had to say together, like 'Good morning' and 'Have a good day,' but since I don't have much experience on set yet, Mr. Murase was very clear about how to take deep breaths so I could sense what he was doing. This was my second time working with Mr. Murase, and he was considerate of me, just like how Arata calms Kujima down when he's acting out. When I was in a pinch speaking Russian, he encouraged me by saying, 'It's okay, you can do it. Kujima can do it,' and it might be presumptuous to call him an irreplaceable partner, but he was like family to me, and I really enjoyed recording with him."
Shin's older brother, Ei, is also a key character. Since failing his university entrance exams, he has become gloomy and nervous, and has been holed up in his room. Yohei Azakami plays Ei.
"This was my first time working with Mr. Azagami. I try to watch as many of the works of the people I'm working with as possible, and Mr. Azagami's voice for Ei was both powerful and natural, exactly as I imagined it would be. I was so impressed that it suited Ei so perfectly! Kujima has a free-spirited personality, and with Shin readily accepting him and Ei playing the straight man, I had a lot of fun participating in the recording. Even when I made some really crazy ad-lib requests, they went along with it, and I felt a warmth like family throughout the recording, wondering if this is what it's like to have an older brother."
The recording session seemed to be enveloped in a warm atmosphere, but what kind of drama will unfold from the Kouda family? Kamizuki said, "It's a charming work that's like an anime adaptation of Akira Konno Konno's worldview. Don't be intimidated just because the mysterious creature Kujima appears, and if you watch it with a relaxed attitude, I think you'll be able to feel the same way as Kujima, or the same way as the Kouda family. I hope you'll watch it with a sense of excitement." The endearing days woven by the mysterious creature Kujima and the humans. We hope you'll feel the excitement that overflows from it through the anime. (Mitsuru Anima/MANTANWEB)
