L to R: Eriko Nakamura (MC), Yuto Uemura (Ageha), Tasuku Hatanaka (Domon),
Daisuke Ono (Kodai), Maokoto Furukawa (Alphon), Harutoshi Fukui (Gen. Director)
Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199 Chapter 2 is a story of the “bottom of the barrel,” and the hope that Daisuke Ono found
Published by Natalie on November 23. See the original post here.
A stage greeting to commemorate REBEL 3199 Chapter 2, Red Sun Sortie, was held November 23rd at the Shinjuku Piccadilly Theater in Tokyo. On stage were Daisuke Ono, who plays Susumu Kodai, Makoto Furukawa, who plays Alphon, Tasuku Hatanaka, who plays Ryusuke Domon, Yuto Uemura, who plays Takeshi Ageha, and General Director Harutoshi Fukui. The host was Eriko Nakamura, who plays Mikage Kiryu.
Red Sun Sortie was just released on November 22nd. Ono said of the heavy storyline, “The ship is moving forward, but Susumu Kodai’s heart is looking backward, which is very frustrating and painful, but I think there might be some hope beyond that pain, so I’m desperately trying to look up and hold back my tears.”
Furukawa, who plays Alphon, a new character in this film, revealed that there are still many things he doesn’t know about Alphon. “I’ve been building Alphon in my mind piece by piece, and I think Chapter 2 is the first step of that,” he said, hinting at future success. “I think Alphon’s future is very interesting.”
Hatanaka sympathized with Domon’s feelings of dissatisfaction with Kodai’s attitude in the film, and asked the audience for their agreement, saying, “It’s a very frustrating story,” drawing laughter. He looked back at Domon’s angry performance, saying, “I was surprised when I saw that I was more angry than I thought.”
Ono seemed to feel as if he was being scolded, and became embarrassed. But then, Hatanaka, while empathizing with Kodai’s situation, expressed his dissatisfaction with Ageha, who judged Kodai harshly. He turned to Uemura and said excitedly, “You didn’t have to say that!” When Uemura looked back at Ageha’s words to Kodai with a smile, Ono looked at him anxiously and asked, “Maybe Uemura thinks of me like that too?” The audience erupted in laughter.
Ono also laughed bitterly at Hatanaka’s powerful talk, saying, “Domon is too involved!” Hatanaka, who had calmed down, expressed his thoughts: “I sincerely hope that Captain Kodai will recover soon.”
The recording for this film is often done in separate locations, and Ono revealed that he was not able to record with Houko Kuwashima, who plays Yuki Mori. When Furukawa, in response, proudly said, “I often record with Yuki,” Ono immediately pursued him, saying, “Hey, what do you mean?”
Ono once recorded at a location where Kuwashima and Furukawa, who were recording together, were sitting side by side on a bench. While recreating the command to fire artillery, he revealed his jealousy, saying, “I almost said, ‘FIRE!’ to them,” and the audience erupted in laughter.
To add insult to injury, Furukawa teased, “Yuki is doing well, so why is (Kodai) so depressed?!” Ono again took it as if it were about himself and shrank back. According to Director Fukui, the reason Ono and Kuwashima were recorded separately was purely due to scheduling conflicts. Ono reflected on the situation, saying, “It’s because we’re apart that I’m even more fired up.”
Eriko Nakamura
When the topic turned to the characters they each favored, Ono and Furukawa both answered “Yuki,” competing over how much they love her. Ono, who hadn’t been able to meet Kuwashima for a while, talked about the content of an email he sent her after watching Chapter 2. In it, Kuwashima said that she cried because the “separated love” between Kodai and Yuki stood out, and that Ono’s ending theme song Reach for the Star made her think, “Kodai and Yuki will be okay at the end.” Ono said that he also cried when he read the email.
When the topic turned to the lyrics of Reach for the Star, Ono explained that the title means “to have high expectations” and “to challenge something that seems impossible.” “Even if you know it won’t come true, you keep struggling. I wrote the lyrics on the theme of living.” He shared the thoughts he put into the lyrics, saying, “Kodai regrets letting go of Yuki’s hand. He also lets go of Sasha’s hand. He struggles even though he knows it won’t work. You can’t go back to the past. It’s the same for us. Just like the name Susumu Kodai [which translates to Ancient Tradition], you have to embrace the past and move forward. I put that feeling into the song.”
Regarding the song recording, he said, “My throat was not feeling well at the time, but my voice held up. After I finished, I couldn’t sing the next day. I put everything into it. I wonder if Yamato is that kind of work. Push yourself to your limits.”
Ono looked over the script again in preparation for the stage greeting and found a note he wrote on the cover that read, “Fall as far as you can and break through your limits.” He remembered that General Director Fukui had described Kodai’s feelings as, “This is rock bottom.”
Tasuku Hatanaka and Yuto Uemura
General Director Fukui looked out at the audience as if to give them hope, saying, “You may be feeling anxious, but we’ve hit rock bottom and from now on, it’s only going to go up.” However, when asked about the status of the production, he reported that he was completely exhausted, saying, “It’s not a very hopeful situation,” but smiled and said, “I’m doing my best.”
As the stage greeting drew to a close, Uemura conveyed a message saying, “I hope everyone will be able to see how Ageha unravels in the story.”
Next, Hatanaka said, “I think (Domon) probably believes in Captain Kodai more than anyone else,” empathizing with Domon’s feelings, and asked the audience to support Kodai.
Furukawa said, “I thought it would just follow the story of Be Forever Yamato, but it’s completely different! I’m creating my role by building it up with little information. I think his growth is the key point. It’s growth that can be taken in both good and bad ways. How will he change? Kodai and Alphon are two of a kind. How will their relationship develop? I hope you enjoy it.”
Finally, Ono reflected on the crew who supported Kodai up until now, as well as those who had parted ways. As if to superimpose these feelings on the production staff and cast, he looked ahead and said, “Each crew member has steered the ship this far, and now, with the new cast members and new production staff standing on this stage, there is nothing but hope.” He then concluded, “Today, once again, I’m ready to steer this ship into the future. I hope that you’ll all continue to be part of that crew,” and the stage greeting came to a close.
Official report from the stage greeting on Saturday, November 23rd
Published by Animate Times on November 24. See the original post here.
After the main screening, Daisuke Ono stood in front of a packed audience and shared his complicated feelings about the very heavy developments for Kodai.
“I’m sure I’m feeling the same way as everyone here in the theater. Hope and despair are mixed together. During the stage greeting for Chapter 1, I said, ‘I’m in a very difficult situation, but as long as I’m on this ship, I feel there is hope.’ Chapter 2 is a much more difficult situation. But in the midst of all that, Yamato sets out. The ship moves forward, but Kodai’s heart is looking backward. It’s very frustrating, and I’m in pain too, but I think there might be hope beyond that pain. Right now, I’m desperately trying to look up and hold back my tears.”
Next, Makoto Furukawa, who plays Alphon, an officer in the Dezarium army, said, “Finally, Alphon and the Dezarium army will begin to play an active role. To be honest, I’m excited, but while Kodai is on the brink of despair, I’m also in the dark all the time.”
“When we record the episodes, Mr. Fukui tells us about the situation in that particular episode, but there are also some things that haven’t been revealed yet. We’ve already recorded the next chapter, but there are still many things we don’t know. In the darkness, Fukui-san turns off the lights one by one, so I’m trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces. That’s how we’re recording it.” He laughed and said, “Even though there is that ending (in Chapter 2), there is nothing to be proud of. For now, I hope you will watch the activities of Alphon, the members of the Dezarium army, and the crew of Yamato.”
Tasuku Hatanaka, who plays Yamato crew member Domon Ryusuke, said with a wry smile, “From Domon’s perspective, it is frustrating. At first, I sympathized with Captain Kodai’s situation. But things started to go wrong toward the end. I was surprised when I watched the film, and Domon was angrier than I thought. I didn’t think he was like that during the recording. On top of that, ‘Frustration No. 2’ is him (Takeshi Ageha, played by Yuto Uemura). He knows that Captain Kodai is in that situation, but he just blurts out things that shouldn’t be said.”
Hatanaka then said to Uemura, “You see, (Kodai) is sensitive.” Ono responded to the two of them, saying, “Can you stop acting like you’re touching a sore spot?” which got a laugh from the crowd. Ono continued with a smile, “Hatanaka is too into the role. He’s starting to dislike me too. I understand how he feels.”
Hatanaka appealed to him, saying, “The voyage will continue from now on, so I want Captain Kodai to recover quickly.” However, he looked away and said, “Until then, I can’t look him in the eye,” which made the audience laugh again.
On the other hand, regarding Ageha, who appears as a new crew member on Yamato, Uemura said, “Ageha also has some kind of past with Domon. He starts out as a character who can’t easily look him in the eye and talk to him. So I was both excited and anxious to see how everyone would receive him. However, when I saw the preview, I was really happy that Ageha’s debut scene was so cool. As I said earlier, I think the highlight will be how he and Domon will develop from now on.”
Due to schedule conflicts, the dubbing was split into separate recordings. “So I didn’t record with Alphon or Yuki,” Ono said sadly. Furukawa triumphantly replied, “I recorded with Yuki!” Ono seemed flustered by this and replied, “What do you mean, Alphon?” But Furukawa asked him, “Do you like Yuki, or do you like Houko Kuwashima (the voice actress who plays Yuki)? Which is it?” Ono replied, “Both!” with a strong voice, and the audience burst into laughter.
Ono also joked, “We pass each other during the recording. When we come out of the studio booth, there is a bench right in front of us. The next people who are going to appear are sitting there next to each other. So when I came out of the booth and saw Houko and Furukawa sitting next to each other…I almost fired my gun.”
Furukawa tried to admonish him, saying, “Do you know what they were talking about inside after that? They were saying, ‘He’s going to kill you,'” which made the audience laugh.
Ono speculated, “I thought even the recording schedule was carefully calculated and prepared,” to which Fukui replied with a laugh, “That’s not true.”
Ono was completely immersed in Kodai’s feelings, saying, “But it’s precisely because we’re apart that I’m more fired up. At that time I hated Furukawa the most. He was like the other man…”
Furukawa replied with a wry smile, “He was called ‘the other man’ right away on stage at AnimeJapan (where the casting of Alphon was announced). I want Kodai to see Yuki talking with others in the Dezarium army. If he sees Yuki working so resolutely, he won’t be able to stay down.”
Hatanaka added, “Yuki Mori is cool!”
Uemura added, “With a tactical chief like Kodai…” and the fight between Domon and Ageha that unfolded in the story broke out on stage as well. “We’re on the same page here, too,” Hatanaka said, and the audience was enthralled by the exchange between the cast members who were fully immersed in their roles.
Ono spoke heartily, saying, “As I said earlier, I didn’t have time to talk to Houko-san at length, even during the post-recording. We were unable to meet for a long time. We also missed each other at the first screening, so we weren’t able to talk. But later she contacted me and said, ‘Chapter 2 is good. The love between them despite being apart is outstanding, and it made me cry. And the ending theme came on top of that, and I thought Kodai and Yuki would be okay in the end. Thank you.’ I wish she’d told me that earlier, but when she heard it, I also shed a tear.”
Ono wrote and sang the ending theme song for this film, Reach for the Star. Talking about the feelings he put into the lyrics, he explained, “Reach for the Star is an English idiom that means aiming high, or attempting the impossible. Composer Takuya Watanabe gave it the title Reach for the Star even at the demo stage. These words, which link with the story of reaching for the stars, were what inspired me to write the lyrics.”
He added, “Another thing I can say is that you can’t go back to the past. I’ve been involved with Yamato for 12 years, and I’ve never forgotten the past, but I can’t go back to the past. That’s why I wrote the lyrics with the idea that we need to hold onto our feelings for the past and move forward.”
Daisuke Ono and Makoto Furukawa
Ono continued, “You push yourself to your limits. I think Yamato is that kind of work. Actually, before I came here, I was rereading the script (for Chapter 2), and I had written on the cover, ‘Fall as low as you can and break through your limits.’ I wondered if I had written something like that, but it was something Mr. Fukui told me. During the recording sessions, Mr. Fukui would explain to us each time what the story for that episode was like, but this time he told us this was the lowest point. He said that we would fall to the bottom, but from here on out, it would only be up. The production team doesn’t have much hope, but everyone is doing their best,” which caused the audience to burst into laughter.
Ono laughed and said, “Everyone is completely exhausted.” Finally, he said, “I think that the hope I felt when REBEL 3199 began was the hope held by the crew of Yamato. There are companions who have supported us for the past 12 years and steered this ship forward together with us. There are companions who we parted ways with along the way. And the new cast members who are now standing on the stage, Director Yamato and the rest of the production team…with this crew, there is nothing but hope. Right now we may be in despair, but today we are once again ready to steer this ship forward into the future. I hope that you’ll all continue to be part of that crew,” and the audience erupted in applause.
