"You could call Hiroki an ordinary kid if you want," "About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa You could call Hiroki an ordinary kid if you want," "About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa but he's someone who can say "beautiful" without hesitation when something's beautiful." "About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa" "About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa He's someone who has a gentle nature and I think he's a nice kid too." "He's someone who has a gentle nature and I think he's a nice kid too." "The Hiroki that I played is someone who went from being a boy to a young man." "To be honest, since I got this offer more than two and a half years or so ago," "I've already forgotten how I felt then." "But when I saw the director's three-minute film and its script," "I felt it was a "movie" although it was anime." "Since things like his sense or his timing were really the same as in movies," "I thought I might be able to do it." "Also, since it was the role of a middle school student, which I wouldn't be playing anymore in the future, or rather, since I'd be able to play someone who wears a school uniform," "I accepted this offer." "He's a type of person that I've never seen before," "Working with Director Shinkai He's a type of person that I've never seen before," "Working with Director Shinkai or, he's really like "just Director Shinkai", who doesn't fit into any category." "Working with Director Shinkai I became very interested in him and, at the same time, I hoped to work with him," "I became very interested in him and, at the same time, I hoped to work with him, or rather, to create a wonderful movie directed by him." "Whatever the director wanted to express was written in Hiroki's lines in the script, and the other things that I needed to be careful about were things like subtle nuance, so the recording went smoothly." "On the contrary, because it went smoothly," "I felt that I wanted to talk with Director Shinkai again very much about many things once I saw the completed movie." "I really like him a lot." "It was hard." "First Try at Voice Acting It was hard." "First Try at Voice Acting But Shinkai told me I didn't have to focus so much on matching my lines with my character" "First Try at Voice Acting because he'd match them well later." "First Try at Voice Acting" "First Try at Voice Acting So I was really relieved and was able to focus on Hiroki's mood," "So I was really relieved and was able to focus on Hiroki's mood, working worry-free and mainly thinking about Hiroki's feelings." "I worked with Masato Hagiwara-san, whom I last worked with 15 years ago." "15 years ago, we played roles wearing school uniforms in a drama." "So when I played scenes where Hiroki and Takuya joke and mess around, it was really fun." "The difficult part was, rather than Hiroki's actual speaking lines, his monologue, or narration in other words." "It was difficult to continuously portray the dark part of his mind, since he came to Tokyo, in even tones." "Especially because I understood his feeling very well," "I thought I shouldn't put too much feeling into it, but still I shouldn't speak too simply either." "Since it's not like I was talking in a conversational setting," "I was very nervous speaking about nothing but how Hiroki was feeling, and it was difficult." "In that scene, I felt I couldn't make a mistake or I shouldn't do anything off, so I was nervous and it was difficult." "In any case, it was my first voice-over work." "An Anecdote in the Studio In any case, it was my first voice-over work." "An Anecdote in the Studio In a small studio, there were just three microphones standing and one monitor sitting." "An Anecdote in the Studio I wonder how many people were there?" "Maybe 12..." "I guess 12 or 13 people." "I wonder how many people were there?" "Maybe 12..." "I guess 12 or 13 people." "And someone said, "Please do gaya"." "I wondered, "What's gaya?" and stood up with everyone else, but I was told, "Yoshioka-kun, you can stay in your seat."" "Then they started making "gaya-gaya" noise, which was the sound of people talking for the scenes at the train station." "When I saw it, I was very shocked." "I clearly remember thinking, "What's this?" and my heart was pounding very hard." "Then I was asked, "Okay, Yoshioka-kun, please speak Hiroki's line."" "Since my heart was still pounding but the movie in the monitor still kept going," "I got a little flustered and felt, "This isn't a place for me,"" "or rather, "What am I doing in a place like this?"" "So I thought I might have been able to feel the same way as Hiroki did because of that." "I like the timing when the words, or rather," "Favorite Scenes and Lines I like the timing when the words, or rather," "Favorite Scenes and Lines conversation breaks off in the scenes where Hiroki and Sayuri take the train home together." "Favorite Scenes and Lines It's really a small thing and lasts just a moment," "It's really a small thing and lasts just a moment, but I realized, "The director expresses the entire scene in this one moment,"" "so I like the timing, or rather the atmosphere, especially in the middle-school period scene where Sayuri and Takuya end up alone together." "They're very innocent and such, so I like it." "Also as for the lines, every time I see the movie, my favorite scenes and lines change, but what I can say consistently is that" "I really like the line "Welcome back," that Hiroki says at the end very much." "It's a phrase that we always use casually, but I feel, "Oh, this phrase is actually deep."" "I like that line so much no matter how many times I see the movie." "When I remember this movie and see it a few years from now," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" When I remember this movie and see it a few years from now," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" I think it'll remind me of many things or help me feel them, like," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" "Oh yeah, I was feeling this way around that time."" ""Oh yeah, I was feeling this way around that time."" "Since this is a "movie,"" "it won't fade away no matter how many years have passed, and I think this movie will still teach me many things in the future." "When I think about Hiroki's line, or narration," ""l wonder when it was that I became burdened with something like this."" "I think it's something that anyone would feel unexpectedly." "Since this movie is giving various hints to people who have fallen into such solitude," "I want people to cherish this movie as their emotional support and watch it when they feel they're lonely or something like that." "I think how Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri feel is something that everyone goes through." "A Message to Viewers I think how Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri feel is something that everyone goes through." "A Message to Viewers So when they, or the viewers too, take something like solitude within them," "So when they, or the viewers too, take something like solitude within them, protecting someone can be the answer and it can also be something to make them grow or something that saves them." "So when they experience solitude or setbacks, just like Hiroki and Takuya, when there's a chance to get back on their feet, I definitely want them to go forward." "If they do so, I think in their future and also at the moment they finish watching the movie, they'll feel it's kinda nice, just like Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri's future is surely a wonderful one." "I played the role of a girl named Sayuri Sawatari." "About the Role of Sayuri Sawatari I played the role of a girl named Sayuri Sawatari." "About the Role of Sayuri Sawatari She is in the same grade as Hiroki and Takuya and a classmate of theirs." "About the Role of Sayuri Sawatari She is like a chairperson in their class and she's a sensible and kind girl." "She is like a chairperson in their class and she's a sensible and kind girl." "She's a cute girl; the type that boys probably admire at least once when they're in school." "I was told through my agency," ""There's this Director Shinkai who has done films like this and there'll be an audition for his new movie."" "So when I went to my agency office, I got some materials and read them." "Also I watched his last work, "Voices of a Distant Star" on DVD right there and then I read some lines and recorded them onto tape." "When I watched "Voices of a Distant Star,"" "I felt like it hit my pressure point in the right way and it came into my mind very naturally." "I thought, "Oh, I love this director's work."" "Since it was a very deep movie that had a deep meaning," "I couldn't quite understand it right away after watching it only once, but I liked it on a sentimental level, so I hoped that someday I'd be able to participate in this director's movie." "He was exactly the way I imagined so I was very surprised myself." "Meeting Director Shinkai He was exactly the way I imagined so I was very surprised myself." "Meeting Director Shinkai You can see that he's very soft and kind," "Meeting Director Shinkai and his sensitivity shines through." "and his sensitivity shines through." "I'm the type that is shy around strangers, but from the beginning I was able to look at Director Shinkai directly and talk with him." "First, when we recorded the pilot version," "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over First, when we recorded the pilot version," "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over I read things like production materials a lot." "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over" "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over But because there were very few lines for me to speak and the story was very deep," "But because there were very few lines for me to speak and the story was very deep," "I couldn't understand the story very well within myself." "So I walked into the studio still feeling uneasy, thinking, "Am I gonna be okay?" and recorded the pilot version." "I recorded with Yoshioka-san and Hagiwara-san that time and that also made me very nervous." "I remember being nervous like, "l didn't know my heart could pound this much."" "What I had fun with..." "When I received the script for the main movie, I went to the script reading feeling happy." "Since all the cast members were there, we did the read-through, and I thought, "Oh, so this is what the movie's about!"" "I watched it on video and started understanding the story better and realizing, "Oh, Sayuri-chan had this kind of side."" "So it was really fun getting a better understanding of these things little by little." "When I entered the studio and recorded it with everyone else," "I was so excited I felt like the time passed in an instant." "Well, the scene at the end, where Sayuri was in the plane alone with Hiroki," "An Anecdote in the Studio Well, the scene at the end, where Sayuri was in the plane alone with Hiroki," "An Anecdote in the Studio that stayed in my mind very strongly." "An Anecdote in the Studio We recorded that scene at the end." "We recorded that scene at the end." "Right before we recorded it, the rest of the cast suddenly left the studio, so Yoshioka-san and I were saying, "What's going on?" "What's going on?"" "Then they said, "We thought it would be easier for you two to do it alone."" "On the contrary, we were saying," ""lt makes us more nervous if they leave us alone, doesn't it?"" "and laughing "What shall we do?" "What shall we do?"" "But I think it might have been a good nervousness." "Since we recorded the scene that way, it stayed with me strongly." "The scene with Sayuri-chan that I like the most..." "Favorite Scenes and Lines The scene with Sayuri-chan that I like the most..." "Favorite Scenes and Lines this is what I thought after seeing the completed movie," "Favorite Scenes and Lines it was the scene after she got off the train and said goodbye to Hiroki-kun, it was the scene after she got off the train and said goodbye to Hiroki-kun, where she walked on the railroad like this." "She was so cute!" "This scene moved my heart a little and it made me think, "Sayuri-chan's a really cute girl."" "And this is also something I thought after seeing the completed movie," "Hiroki-kun's monologues were so moving, with each word, I felt," ""Oh, this is Shinkai-san's language."" "My favorite phrase was" ""The smells of the night wafting into the train,"" "and each word makes me feel good or nostalgic." "They gave me a very mysterious feeling." "I had friends who shared the same dream as me," "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept I had friends who shared the same dream as me," "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept and I was working hard to achieve that dream with those friends." "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept" "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept There was a time when I was trying hard every day to achieve my dream with my friends," "There was a time when I was trying hard every day to achieve my dream with my friends, saying, "Let's achieve our dream together." Just like Hiroki and Takuya." "I couldn't achieve it, and my friends all went separate ways." "When I look back, I think that a promise that can't be kept is something that everyone experiences at least once," "like "that happened to me," "yeah, that happened to me too."" "Thinking how I am right now, working and going to school every day like this," "Your Own Promised Place Thinking how I am right now, working and going to school every day like this," "Your Own Promised Place I think that the promised place for me may be that classroom in my high-school days" "I think that the promised place for me may be that classroom in my high-school days or the place where I worked so hard toward my dream with my friends." "Since the things I felt and worked on at that time are strongly connected to who I am right now," "I think my own promised place is my high school." "After auditioning for the film about two years ago," "After watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" After auditioning for the film about two years ago," "After watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" after coming across a story that I came to really like," "After watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" after I put what I'd been nursing into it, after the actual pictures and animations were added," "After watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" after all that, after all that, when I thought I'd be able to see the work that the director had poured his heart into," "I was moved even before seeing the movie." "So when I was watching it, I was frantic, trying not to miss a single thing." "I felt very strongly that the world and the scenery on screen were very nostalgic to me." "Sometimes they made me feel warm and sometimes they broke my heart." "I've lived in Tokyo since elementary school, so I don't remember seeing such scenery..." "How should I put it..." "Scenery where the green field spreads out, or a place where clouds and sky open out." "But for some reason, they made me feel nostalgic and that made me very happy somehow." "When you enter the world of this movie," "A Message to Viewers When you enter the world of this movie," "A Message to Viewers seeing the art, hearing the voices and listening to the music," "A Message to Viewers I think it'll make you feel..." "A Message to Viewers How can I put it?" "Um..." "How can I put it?" "Um..." "It'll make you feel nostalgic, as if the movie prodded your memory." "I also think that this is a movie that causes people to feel in many different ways, so I'd like you to watch it many times and gain various new sensations each time." "I also read the ending song thoroughly and I felt that I was able to enter Shinkai-san's world, so I'd like you to read the lyrics in print as well." "He's the exact opposite of Hiroki, the main character." "About the Role of Takuya Shirakawa He's the exact opposite of Hiroki, the main character." "About the Role of Takuya Shirakawa Well, what they have are the same, but..." "How should I put it..." "Well, what they have are the same, but..." "How should I put it..." "If Hiroki embodies "gentleness," Takuya embodies "toughness."" "Their roles are like "plus" and "minus."" "So when those two come together, they become one and come across as well-balanced." "That was the kind of image I had of them." "From the beginning, I've been really interested in anime voice-over work for a long, long time, and I was hoping to do it some day, but since there are many professionals in the anime voice-over field," "I didn't get a chance very easily." "So I was glad when the offer came in, thinking, "lt finally came!" Really." "The movie gave me an impression that he was probably a very sensitive person." "Meeting Director Shinkai The movie gave me an impression that he was probably a very sensitive person." "Meeting Director Shinkai All we could do was express things using our voices," "All we could do was express things using our voices, or use our voice to show a character's impression or aura, or what have you, since we couldn't move or show facial expressions." "So, since it was a similar but also a totally different process from what I usually do," "I hoped to be able to quickly assimilate myself into the director's world." "This was a kind of anime I had never seen before." "The image I had of anime was very simple." "When I was a child, anime was all about "robots"" "and when I became an adult, it was "mononoke (spirits)"." "So, because it was very simple like that and because the director's world was new to me," "I became very interested in that sense." "It was fun." "It's often the case that people who do drawing work are very different from the images we have of them, but as for Director Shinkai, when I think about it now," "I don't think he was that different." "For example, when we talk about this movie, he looks like Hiroki." "He looks like Takuya too." "That's how I felt." "Because this was pretty much a first time experience for both Yoshioka-kun and me," "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over Because this was pretty much a first time experience for both Yoshioka-kun and me," "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over there was a feeling of nervousness." "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over" "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over There were a few pro voice actors there." "Thoughts While Working on the Voice-Over I felt that what the director wanted from us and from those pro voice actors differed slightly." "I felt that what the director wanted from us and from those pro voice actors differed slightly." "When we listened to those pros, we thought they were really good, but the director would say, "Something's not right."" "So those kinds of things happened many times and it made me nervous, really." "I spoke my line once and when the director said," ""Hold on a second, please," and spoke with the voice-over director, it made me restless and I thought, "l wonder if that wasn't right?"" "So those things made me nervous, but it was also fun." "As time passed in the movie," "After Finishing the Voice-Over Work As time passed in the movie," "After Finishing the Voice-Over Work Takuya in particular had matured, more than Hiroki did." "After Finishing the Voice-Over Work" "After Finishing the Voice-Over Work Yoshioka-kun showed that change very well," "Yoshioka-kun showed that change very well, but I wondered if I showed Takuya's growth well." "I know it was all done but, if I may say so," "I had afterthoughts about my work a little." "Like, "Should I have said it more clearly?"" "I thought I was doing it then, but I guess this is how difficult voice acting work is." "I enjoyed every single word." "Since Yuji Mitsuya-san was the voice-over director, it was a lot of fun when he taught us the images that we should have and showed us examples, because he's a voice actor that we admire." "Yoshioka-kun and I worked together in a movie a long, long time ago and I felt that it was mysterious fate that we meet again doing anime voice-over work." "It was a job where it was all fun and it was all hard, I guess." "I know this is an ordinary comment, but I like everything." "Takuya's very cool." "Favorite Scenes and Lines I know this is an ordinary comment, but I like everything." "Takuya's very cool." "Favorite Scenes and Lines So when he was cool, even my voice acting started sounding cool." "Favorite Scenes and Lines I thought if I, Hagiwara, really played this role in live action," "Favorite Scenes and Lines he wouldn't be this cool." "he wouldn't be this cool." "I really thought it was good that I was only doing voice acting." "I really thought he was cool." "I like all the lines." "It's natural for people to think, "This killer line's cool!"" "But I also like many other lines." "Although the three in this movie may have been fortunate enough to have a promised place," "Your Own Promised Place Although the three in this movie may have been fortunate enough to have a promised place," "Your Own Promised Place as for me, I thought I'd like to have a place that I could have such strong feelings for, as for me, I thought I'd like to have a place that I could have such strong feelings for," "but when I noticed, I was already over 30." "In my case, it may be my worksite." "I go to my worksite without oversleeping." "I go there at the "promised" time, act in the "promised" way, and try hard so that I can contribute to the movie, even if just a little." "Unless I keep that up right now, there's no meaning to what I'm doing." "That may be the most important thing to me." "So it isn't anything wonderful like in this movie." "I don't like it much when someone breaks a promise with me," "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept I don't like it much when someone breaks a promise with me," "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept and of course, I don't like breaking a promise either." "About a Promise That Can't Be Kept So I'm someone who doesn't make promises that he can't keep." "So I'm someone who doesn't make promises that he can't keep." "Especially these days, I don't." "Hey, that means that I don't make any promises!" "This doesn't apply just to anime that I did the voice-over work for," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" This doesn't apply just to anime that I did the voice-over work for," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" but just like when I watch other movies that I was in," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days"" "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" I really can't watch it objectively throughout the movie." "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days"" "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" I first go through having the afterthoughts and hating myself," "After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" and then after I forget about them, I try to watch it again." "and then after I forget about them, I try to watch it again." "When I watch this movie again," "I'd like to watch it from a different angle as an anime fan and as a Shinkai fan." "As I said earlier, there are too many afterthoughts to watch it calmly, so to be honest it's hard to say, "This movie's interesting because of this or that!" right now." "Sorry, really." "I was thinking that certain people would watch movies like this first, but I recently found out that there were so many among my friends who were looking forward to this movie." "So there are a lot of Shinkai fans, I guess." "Sorry, I now realize there are a lot of Shinkai fans around me." "When I watched this movie," "I felt that people can't change unless they strongly keep a feeling of, "I'll cherish this."" "I guess that's the point of this movie." "This is totally a different kind of movie from what I usually do," "A Message to Viewers This is totally a different kind of movie from what I usually do," "A Message to Viewers" "A Message to Viewers so my true feelings are that I want many people to see it." "A Message to Viewers" "A Message to Viewers I think it turned out to be a movie that's not just an animation," "I think it turned out to be a movie that's not just an animation, and to people in my generation, it makes us feel very good." "It's also a love story, so it may be good to see it with your boyfriend or girlfriend." "It's probably better to go see this one than to just go to any old stupid love story out there... a movie that the advance reviews call a love story." "I guess that may be the point of this movie." "In a certain sense, this is the ultimate love story."