Tokyo Rebirth: Start From Picking Up Sayu

When it comes to games and animation, music and dubbing are indispensable.

It is no exaggeration to say that voice actors and music can enrich the soul of a work.

No matter how crude the work is, if you want to attract fans to pay for it, you must spend some money on it.

There are many factors that determine the price of dubbing for a game.

For example, the size of the game, the amount of music, the popularity of the voice actors, the complexity of the post-production design, and so on.

The partner chosen by Kato Yusuke is "Cube Co., Ltd."

This is a well-established company in the industry, mainly engaged in dubbing, music, post-production and other businesses, and has a large lineup of voice actors.

After several discussions, the two parties finally settled on a dubbing price of 60,000 yen per hour.

In fact, Cube's original quote was 70,000 yen per hour, but because a certain auntie said hello, the price was finally given.

——This is still when there is plenty of time.

If you encounter a case where the production cycle is very tight and a large amount of dubbing work needs to be completed in a short period of time, the price will be correspondingly higher.

Back to business.

On Tuesday, the main members of the "TYPE-MOON" studio came to Shinjuku City to attend the upcoming voice selection competition.

In the recording control room, the sound supervisor, sound production, mixer, and producer from "Cube" have all arrived.

After a while of greetings, Kato Yusuke sat down on the chairs and coffee table in the corner with Megumi, Shiwa and Eiri.

Hasumi Kanoko took the initiative to take on external work and talked with the disc producer about specific matters.

The layout of the control room is relatively compact, and bright lights illuminate various professional audio equipment and buttons to ensure that staff can see the details on the screen clearly.

Separated by a huge piece of glass, the recording studio opposite looked relatively dim.

There are all types of microphones out there.

The walls, floors and ceilings of the room are all covered with dark-toned soundproofing materials to minimize the interference of external noise.

The two spaces usually have one-way communication.

Sound from the control room reaches the recording studio only when certain control buttons are pressed.

Kato Yusuke and the others arrived earlier than the agreed time, and all the voice actors who participated in the audition had not yet arrived, so they had to wait for a while.

Hui took the compiled materials and ran to talk to the sound supervisor, discussing the original paintings that would be displayed in conjunction with the audition and making arrangements.

Yinglili took out her sketchbook and pencil and fumbled to draw a sketch of the original painting.

Shiyu yawned slightly, took out a Meiji lollipop from his pocket, and threw it into his mouth.

"Huh?"

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but feel a little curious, "Xiao Shi, do you like eating this? Why have I never seen you eat it before?"

"I can't say I like it, I just don't hate it~"

"When did you buy the lollipop?"

"It was given by someone else."

"……What?"

Shiyu raised the corners of his lips meaningfully and said lightly:

"Nothing. I got it from a nasty guy and I kept forgetting it in my coat pocket so I didn't want to waste it."

"I see."

Seeing that she didn't want to say anything more, Kato Yusuke didn't ask any more questions, and took the voice actor information provided by "Cube" and started browsing.

The so-called voice actor selection, as the name suggests, is the selection of suitable voice actors.

As for how to choose specifically, the difference is actually quite big.

For example, those supervisors who have participated in the production of many works.

Since I have come into contact with many voice actors at work, I often think of a suitable voice actor candidate the moment the character anchor is finalized.

A similar situation exists with these on-site sound supervisors.

They have been getting along with voice actors all year round, and they also know very well what kind of roles a voice actor is suitable for.

Unfortunately, Kato Yusuke is just starting out and he has neither of the above connections, so he can only use other methods.

The situations here are divided into two types.

One is to listen to the voice samples recorded in advance by the voice actors on the official websites of each voice acting agency, and draw up a list of favorite candidates from them, and then agree with the agency on a time for interviews.

This is a common practice for casting voice actors when you don’t have much of a budget.

The second is to directly send a certain line that can highlight the characteristics of the character, along with the character's personality setting information, to the agency, and let them be responsible for drawing up the candidate list, and then arrange for people to come to the recording studio to conduct interviews one by one.

Of course, the second method is more expensive than the first.

But I had enough budget to add someone, so I chose the second option.

Ten minutes later, the door to the opposite room was pushed open. A voice actor entered the recording studio under the instructions of the staff, while the others were waiting outside.

In the audition process, several candidates are often auditioned together for a role. This can save time to the maximum extent and can better hear the comparison between voice actors.

The first thing to choose is the voice actor of the male protagonist "Okazaki Tomoya".

The first male voice actor stood in front of the microphone and bowed to Yusuke Kato and others behind the glass.

"I am Yuichi Nakamura from Sigma7 Laboratories, please give me your advice."

After confirming that everyone was ready, the mixer pressed the record button, "It's time to start."

Nakamura pondered for a while and began to read the lines from the script.

"I hate this town because it's full of memories I want to forget."

As soon as he spoke, his voice became different.

Becoming cold, bored, cold and heartless.

When it came to the next sentence, the seiyuu's voice suddenly changed again.

“That’s when we started climbing, up those long streets.”

Like melting ice, the voice is gentle and warm, as tender as water.

"You bastard! You are Sister Mei's brother, right!? Think more of Sister Mei——!"

The third line is full of anger, disappointment and anger towards his friend.

"——"

"——"

After that, Nakamura read two more lines, and the emotion contained in his voice kept changing, full of tension.

——The voice actors are all monsters.

This sentence is really not spread randomly.

Unlike the situation in the control room, there is no screen to display the original painting in the recording studio.

In addition, "" is a work that does not exist in this world, and it is impossible to refer to the original work like those adapted works.

The voice actors can only figure it out on their own through the character-related information provided by Kato Yusuke in order to grasp the feeling of the character, which extremely tests the sense of presence and acting skills.

Originally, the first voice actor's audition should have ended here, but Kato Yusuke asked the sound supervisor to call a pause and added another link.

After listening to his words, the sound monitor's expression became a little incomprehensible, but he still pressed the call button and conveyed his arrangements to the recording studio.

"Well, please imagine that you are a person who lost his mother in childhood, his wife in youth, and his daughter in adulthood. When your daughter Xi falls ill in front of you and you don't get any help, do an impromptu performance."

As soon as he finished speaking, people suddenly turned to look at Kato Yusuke.

Megumi, Shiu, Eiri, and Kano were a little surprised that he would take out the extra part.

Others had strange faces and hesitated to speak.

Kato Yusuke was indifferent to this and looked directly at the voice actor in the recording room.

According to the original plan, today's audition did not actually include the game sequel, but he felt that the voice actor's performance was pretty good, so he wanted to further observe the other person's level.

When Nakamura Yuichi heard this request in the recording studio, he couldn't help but froze for a while and thought to himself: What kind of human tragedy is this? It's hard to imagine that this kind of plot would appear in Galgame, which is mainly about otakus.

But immediately, he came back to his senses.

After all, work is work and should not be mixed with personal feelings.

Besides, the pay for this case was pretty good, and he really wanted the role.

So Nakamura Yuu looked solemn, clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and imagined the scene as requested.

Something thick, dark and heavy gradually came up.

After brewing for a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and burst out with a deafening roar.

"Xi——!"

Ignoring people's startled reactions, the voice actor covered his chest with one hand and stretched out his other hand tremblingly with a heartbreaking expression.

"I don't want...I don't want this..."

His face was distorted, his eyes were red, and his eyes showed extreme helplessness and despair, as if he had lost all hope and strength.

"Nagisa...save...Xiu, haha...wu...Nagisa..."

He called his late wife's name in vain, and the torrent of emotion dominated his body, causing him to cry silently.

"Ahem, uh...who can come...who can come...come and save Xi!"

The hoarse voice echoed in the recording room, intuitively conveying the strong emotions of grief and depression, making people can't help but raise goosebumps.

At this moment, the voice actor's facial expression seemed to be an extension of the character's emotions, giving people an indescribable heaviness.

Again, voice actors are the soul of a character.

Especially for Japanese-style Galgame, the voice that voice actors can give to characters' emotions can perfectly fill in the natural flaws of hand-painted original paintings.

Affected by the explosive acting skills of the voice actors, the girls were a little moved, with some sentimental and sad expressions on their faces.

Having said that, this kind of on-the-spot outburst without any foreshadowing is actually somewhat abrupt and embarrassing.

But as long as the emotion and expressiveness are achieved.

After listening to the voice actor's audition, Kato Yusuke nodded with satisfaction, remembered the other person's name, and signaled to the sound supervisor that it was over.

The sound supervisor, who was accustomed to big scenes, calmly pressed the call button and said thank you to the voice actor over there in the recording studio.

The voice actor who had not yet completely calmed down took a deep breath, bowed to the control room, expressed his thanks in a hoarse voice, and then exited.

Kato Yusuke took a sip of the oolong tea he brought, and when he put his hand down, the little finger of his right hand was suddenly grabbed.

Look sideways.

Yingli was lowering her head and wiping her tears, and her left hand placed under the table was secretly holding his hand, as if seeking support.

Kato Yusuke hesitated and acquiesced to this action.

As a result, even after all the voice actors dubbing the male protagonist had completed their audition, the other party did not let go of him.

Since Ying Lili was sitting at the innermost position and was blocked by the coffee table, no one noticed her little movements.

In this way, the stage came to the dubbing part of the heroine.

As a character that runs through the entire storyline, "Furukawa Nagisa" ranks first without hesitation.

Because of the outstanding performance of the male voice actors, Kato Yusuke also has some expectations for the female voice actors.

Unfortunately, the first voice actor who dubbed the movie disappointed him.

The other party seems to be obsessed with leaving a deep impression, and it feels like she used too much force during the audition, completely losing Nagisa's natural cuteness.

Not only her, but the next two people were in the same situation. They seemed not to consider the compatibility of their voices and roles at all, but just wanted to stand out.

Considering the abnormal competition in the voice acting industry, this desire to compete is understandable.

Kato Yusuke doesn't intend to make any more comments, but he won't accept it either.

Then comes the next person.

Compared with the previous three, she is not that eager for success, and her voice has its own characteristics, but it still does not meet Kato Yusuke's requirements.

He listened expressionlessly and couldn't help but feel a little irritated.

Perhaps the character of "Nagisa Furukawa" is relatively ordinary, which makes it difficult for the voice actors to express the highlights of the character...

but--

Kato Yusuke came here today to get his wish, so naturally he would not choose to give in easily, especially with the first heroine.

So even though the performance of the fourth voice actor was acceptable, he still made a cross in his heart.

Perhaps feeling his irritability, Yinglili put her whole hand into his palm and squeezed it gently as if to comfort her.

The cool and soft touch was very comfortable, and it made Kato Yusuke's frown relax a little.

It was under such circumstances that another voice actor entered the recording studio.

"I am Mai Nakahara from Enterprise, please give me your advice."

After introducing himself, the host immediately started reading his lines.

“…red bean bread!”

A weak and uneasy whisper came from the loudspeaker.

Kato Yusuke's eyes suddenly lit up and he sat upright.

The so-called expert will know whether there is something or not as soon as he takes action.

With just a simple line, Nagisa Furukawa's anxious mood to cheer himself up came out.

Then comes the next sentence.

"I'm pretty useless too, but...if two of us work together, we can become strong."

This time, it was a warm and healing soft voice, which also contained a vague feeling of distress and sadness, exuding the feeling of Yamato Nadeshiko.

Kato Yusuke's eyes became brighter and brighter as he watched the voice actor ponder for a while and read out the next line.

"No matter what happens in the future, please don't regret meeting me."

The voice of the seiyuu became gentle, but strangely not bland. There is a kind of gentle exhortation and prayer from a wife to her husband, mixed with some slight illness.

This foundation is really deep.

Kato Yusuke made the decision directly, "Okay, Furukawa Nagisa's voice actress will be her."

The sound supervisor smiled and nodded, and asked someone to make arrangements.

After that, the audition continued.

Sister Fujilin,

Tomoyo Sakagami,

I blow the wind,

Miyazawa has Ji Ning,

Kotomi Ichinose,

…

In the end, basically all the major roles were cast.

Although there were some twists and turns during the period, the overall performance of the voice actors was still good.

Whether it is the accuracy of pronunciation, the ability to quickly change the voice line according to instructions, or the performance skills and emotional expression, they all reflect great professionalism.

Kato Yusuke is quite satisfied.

The audition for "" will start at 10 am and last until 8 pm.

Not counting the two-hour lunch break, eight full hours were spent working.

Even so, they will have just finalized the candidates for the main roles, and the auditions for the supporting roles will have to be postponed until tomorrow.

After the sound check, Kato Yusuke and the others greeted the staff at "Cube" and left the recording studio.

After such a day, everyone is a little tired.

It's not just the voice actors who have to work hard at the selection meeting, it's also not easy for the people listening.

It is really a labor-intensive thing to listen to hundreds of people repeating a line in one day, and you have to make judgments and selections during the process.

It can only be said that both sides have their own difficulties.

Back to the topic.

Kato Yusuke stopped several taxis on the side of the road and asked everyone to sit in them.

When it was Eri's turn at last, the girl suddenly said this in a low mood.

"Yusuke, what we are doing...is this such a great game...?"

"...Do you think it's incredible?"

"...Well, a little bit. The voice actors' performances are so good, it feels like the characters are coming to life."

Kato Yusuke nodded, "Yes. When we add music and BGM later, our game will become even better."

Yinglili was silent for a while, then raised her head as if she was remorseful, and said: "...Anyway, I will try my best not to hold you back."

As soon as she finished speaking, she reached out to stop a taxi and got in quickly.

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but be stunned.

However, the other party didn't seem to want to wait for his response. He hurriedly said goodbye to him and left directly.

…