1 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:09,576 You could call Hiroki an ordinary kid if you want, 2 00:00:09,576 --> 00:00:15,248 About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa You could call Hiroki an ordinary kid if you want, 3 00:00:15,248 --> 00:00:19,152 About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa but he's someone who can say "beautiful" without hesitation when something's beautiful. 4 00:00:19,152 --> 00:00:20,086 About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa 5 00:00:20,086 --> 00:00:24,090 About the Role of Hiroki Fujisawa He's someone who has a gentle nature and I think he's a nice kid too. 6 00:00:24,090 --> 00:00:27,253 He's someone who has a gentle nature and I think he's a nice kid too. 7 00:00:27,827 --> 00:00:32,499 The Hiroki that I played is someone who went from being a boy to a young man. 8 00:00:32,499 --> 00:00:34,901 To be honest, 9 00:00:34,901 --> 00:00:41,207 since I got this offer more than two and a half years or so ago, 10 00:00:41,207 --> 00:00:44,677 I've already forgotten how I felt then. 11 00:00:44,677 --> 00:00:52,619 But when I saw the director's three-minute film and its script, 12 00:00:52,619 --> 00:01:03,196 I felt it was a "movie" although it was anime. 13 00:01:03,196 --> 00:01:11,438 Since things like his sense or his timing were really the same as in movies, 14 00:01:11,438 --> 00:01:15,341 I thought I might be able to do it. 15 00:01:15,341 --> 00:01:20,680 Also, since it was the role of a middle school student, 16 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,517 which I wouldn't be playing anymore in the future, 17 00:01:24,517 --> 00:01:27,714 or rather, since I'd be able to play someone who wears a school uniform, 18 00:01:27,787 --> 00:01:29,778 I accepted this offer. 19 00:01:31,624 --> 00:01:32,692 He's a type of person that I've never seen before, 20 00:01:32,692 --> 00:01:36,296 Working with Director Shinkai He's a type of person that I've never seen before, 21 00:01:36,296 --> 00:01:44,838 Working with Director Shinkai or, he's really like "just Director Shinkai", who doesn't fit into any category. 22 00:01:44,838 --> 00:01:47,207 Working with Director Shinkai I became very interested in him and, at the same time, I hoped to work with him, 23 00:01:47,207 --> 00:01:51,109 I became very interested in him and, at the same time, I hoped to work with him, 24 00:01:51,377 --> 00:01:59,079 or rather, to create a wonderful movie directed by him. 25 00:01:59,352 --> 00:02:11,798 Whatever the director wanted to express was written in Hiroki's lines in the script, 26 00:02:11,798 --> 00:02:17,804 and the other things that I needed to be careful about were things like subtle nuance, 27 00:02:17,804 --> 00:02:19,472 so the recording went smoothly. 28 00:02:19,472 --> 00:02:22,876 On the contrary, because it went smoothly, 29 00:02:22,876 --> 00:02:28,214 I felt that I wanted to talk with Director Shinkai again very much 30 00:02:28,214 --> 00:02:33,618 about many things once I saw the completed movie. 31 00:02:34,020 --> 00:02:38,457 I really like him a lot. 32 00:02:40,260 --> 00:02:41,861 It was hard. 33 00:02:41,861 --> 00:02:42,829 First Try at Voice Acting It was hard. 34 00:02:42,829 --> 00:02:50,670 First Try at Voice Acting But Shinkai told me I didn't have to focus so much on matching my lines with my character 35 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:54,741 First Try at Voice Acting because he'd match them well later. 36 00:02:54,741 --> 00:02:54,841 First Try at Voice Acting 37 00:02:54,841 --> 00:02:56,376 First Try at Voice Acting So I was really relieved and was able to focus on Hiroki's mood, 38 00:02:56,376 --> 00:03:05,251 So I was really relieved and was able to focus on Hiroki's mood, 39 00:03:05,251 --> 00:03:16,219 working worry-free and mainly thinking about Hiroki's feelings. 40 00:03:16,529 --> 00:03:26,461 I worked with Masato Hagiwara-san, whom I last worked with 15 years ago. 41 00:03:26,573 --> 00:03:31,611 15 years ago, we played roles wearing school uniforms in a drama. 42 00:03:31,611 --> 00:03:39,919 So when I played scenes where Hiroki and Takuya joke and mess around, it was really fun. 43 00:03:39,919 --> 00:03:42,522 The difficult part was, 44 00:03:42,522 --> 00:03:48,561 rather than Hiroki's actual speaking lines, his monologue, or narration in other words. 45 00:03:48,561 --> 00:03:54,434 It was difficult to continuously portray the dark part of his mind, 46 00:03:54,434 --> 00:03:59,472 since he came to Tokyo, in even tones. 47 00:03:59,472 --> 00:04:05,278 Especially because I understood his feeling very well, 48 00:04:05,278 --> 00:04:12,685 I thought I shouldn't put too much feeling into it, 49 00:04:12,685 --> 00:04:18,555 but still I shouldn't speak too simply either. 50 00:04:18,891 --> 00:04:24,497 Since it's not like I was talking in a conversational setting, 51 00:04:24,497 --> 00:04:30,169 I was very nervous speaking about nothing but how Hiroki was feeling, and it was difficult. 52 00:04:30,169 --> 00:04:33,439 In that scene, I felt I couldn't make a mistake or I shouldn't do anything off, 53 00:04:33,439 --> 00:04:36,101 so I was nervous and it was difficult. 54 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:39,512 In any case, it was my first voice-over work. 55 00:04:39,512 --> 00:04:42,715 An Anecdote in the Studio In any case, it was my first voice-over work. 56 00:04:42,715 --> 00:04:51,124 An Anecdote in the Studio In a small studio, there were just three microphones standing and one monitor sitting. 57 00:04:51,124 --> 00:04:54,027 An Anecdote in the Studio I wonder how many people were there? Maybe 12... I guess 12 or 13 people. 58 00:04:54,027 --> 00:04:55,585 I wonder how many people were there? Maybe 12... I guess 12 or 13 people. 59 00:04:57,263 --> 00:05:00,528 And someone said, "Please do gaya". 60 00:05:01,267 --> 00:05:05,638 I wondered, "What's gaya?" and stood up with everyone else, 61 00:05:05,638 --> 00:05:07,907 but I was told, "Yoshioka-kun, you can stay in your seat." 62 00:05:07,907 --> 00:05:12,211 Then they started making "gaya-gaya" noise, 63 00:05:12,211 --> 00:05:16,749 which was the sound of people talking for the scenes at the train station. 64 00:05:16,749 --> 00:05:19,786 When I saw it, I was very shocked. 65 00:05:19,786 --> 00:05:24,490 I clearly remember thinking, "What's this?" and my heart was pounding very hard. 66 00:05:24,490 --> 00:05:27,721 Then I was asked, "Okay, Yoshioka-kun, please speak Hiroki's line." 67 00:05:27,827 --> 00:05:31,197 Since my heart was still pounding 68 00:05:31,197 --> 00:05:34,100 but the movie in the monitor still kept going, 69 00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:39,072 I got a little flustered and felt, "This isn't a place for me," 70 00:05:39,072 --> 00:05:41,607 or rather, "What am I doing in a place like this?" 71 00:05:41,607 --> 00:05:45,839 So I thought I might have been able to feel the same way as Hiroki did because of that. 72 00:05:47,213 --> 00:05:49,182 I like the timing when the words, or rather, 73 00:05:49,182 --> 00:05:52,218 Favorite Scenes and Lines I like the timing when the words, or rather, 74 00:05:52,218 --> 00:05:57,790 Favorite Scenes and Lines conversation breaks off in the scenes where Hiroki and Sayuri take the train home together. 75 00:05:57,790 --> 00:06:03,696 Favorite Scenes and Lines It's really a small thing and lasts just a moment, 76 00:06:03,696 --> 00:06:05,288 It's really a small thing and lasts just a moment, 77 00:06:08,167 --> 00:06:20,046 but I realized, "The director expresses the entire scene in this one moment," 78 00:06:20,046 --> 00:06:24,684 so I like the timing, or rather the atmosphere, 79 00:06:24,684 --> 00:06:28,788 especially in the middle-school period scene where Sayuri and Takuya end up alone together. 80 00:06:28,788 --> 00:06:34,954 They're very innocent and such, so I like it. 81 00:06:36,195 --> 00:06:44,137 Also as for the lines, every time I see the movie, my favorite scenes and lines change, 82 00:06:44,137 --> 00:06:46,672 but what I can say consistently is that 83 00:06:46,672 --> 00:06:52,412 I really like the line "Welcome back," that Hiroki says at the end very much. 84 00:06:52,412 --> 00:07:01,116 It's a phrase that we always use casually, but I feel, "Oh, this phrase is actually deep." 85 00:07:01,487 --> 00:07:06,857 I like that line so much no matter how many times I see the movie. 86 00:07:08,294 --> 00:07:10,096 When I remember this movie and see it a few years from now, 87 00:07:10,096 --> 00:07:12,632 After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" When I remember this movie and see it a few years from now, 88 00:07:12,632 --> 00:07:18,604 After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" I think it'll remind me of many things or help me feel them, like, 89 00:07:18,604 --> 00:07:24,610 After Watching "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" "Oh yeah, I was feeling this way around that time." 90 00:07:24,610 --> 00:07:25,167 "Oh yeah, I was feeling this way around that time." 91 00:07:25,745 --> 00:07:30,182 Since this is a "movie," 92 00:07:32,185 --> 00:07:35,555 it won't fade away no matter how many years have passed, 93 00:07:35,555 --> 00:07:44,327 and I think this movie will still teach me many things in the future. 94 00:07:44,630 --> 00:07:51,337 When I think about Hiroki's line, or narration, 95 00:07:51,337 --> 00:07:56,075 "l wonder when it was that I became burdened with something like this." 96 00:07:56,075 --> 00:08:04,283 I think it's something that anyone would feel unexpectedly. 97 00:08:04,283 --> 00:08:16,218 Since this movie is giving various hints to people who have fallen into such solitude, 98 00:08:18,598 --> 00:08:27,373 I want people to cherish this movie as their emotional support 99 00:08:27,373 --> 00:08:36,680 and watch it when they feel they're lonely or something like that. 100 00:08:37,683 --> 00:08:39,619 I think how Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri feel is something that everyone goes through. 101 00:08:39,619 --> 00:08:47,126 A Message to Viewers I think how Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri feel is something that everyone goes through. 102 00:08:47,126 --> 00:08:54,133 A Message to Viewers So when they, or the viewers too, take something like solitude within them, 103 00:08:54,133 --> 00:08:55,501 So when they, or the viewers too, take something like solitude within them, 104 00:08:55,501 --> 00:09:01,974 protecting someone can be the answer 105 00:09:01,974 --> 00:09:09,904 and it can also be something to make them grow or something that saves them. 106 00:09:11,484 --> 00:09:17,723 So when they experience solitude or setbacks, just like Hiroki and Takuya, 107 00:09:17,723 --> 00:09:25,665 when there's a chance to get back on their feet, I definitely want them to go forward. 108 00:09:25,665 --> 00:09:35,007 If they do so, I think in their future and also at the moment they finish watching the movie, 109 00:09:35,007 --> 00:09:44,382 they'll feel it's kinda nice, just like Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri's future is surely a wonderful one.