Excerpt from the Kizumonogatari Visual Book, published on 28 July 2016 by Kodansha BOX.



Tagline (black strip) reads: “Upon encountering a bloodcurdlingly beautiful girl, the young man abandons his humanity—. This is the tale of the wounds he received. The tale of how he wounded her.”

CAST INTERVIEW ONE

Hiroshi Kamiya

Voice of Koyomi Araragi

DIFFERENCES IN DIRECTION BETWEEN THE TV SERIES AND KIZUMONOGATARI

—There was a long gap between when Kizumonogatari was announced and when recording began. How did you feel when you finally got around to recording for it?

It was half “I’ve been waiting for this!” and half “Are you serious?” During recording sessions for the Monogatari Series, I kept asking things like “When are we doing Kizumonogatari?” I was very grateful for the opportunity to be in a film with Koyomi as the protagonist - in other words, with me as the lead actor. I was really looking forward to it. But when it came time to actually do it, I thought “oh, it’s finally here” and felt the responsibility weighing on me. I’ve wanted to see this production myself for quite some time after hearing rumors about how extraordinary it is, so I felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

—What exactly do you mean by “extraordinary”?

First of all, I heard that the storyboards were all drawn by the director, Oishi-san himself. Normally several people work on film storyboarding, so I knew that he couldn’t have done it alone unless he dedicated an “extraordinary” amount of passion and thought. I worried, “As a cast member, would I be able to show that same degree of passion?” Frankly, I was terrified.

—What were your honest thoughts when reading the script?



Every entry in the Monogatari Series features a ton of dialogue, so I was ready no matter how much Koyomi would have this time. Which means I ended up being a little disappointed. Especially because I read the novel1 first, I was prepared to say “Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade” a million times (laughs). But when I read the script and noticed that a lot of monologues and narration were excluded, I realized that they were taking this film in a different direction compared to the TV series.

—Considering the change in direction, did you have to change the way you played Koyomi?



I recorded for Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen and Owarimonogatari at around the same time. That being the case, I didn’t think I had to change my fundamental approach between Kizumonogatari and the TV series. When going through the novel, I review each line word by word and consider what kind of emotions are behind them. Using the original work as reference, I write notes all over my lines to create a completed script. After that, I compare it with the animation, check if it depicts the same emotions I noted down, organize my thoughts, and head in for recording. In the TV series, however, there’s quite a dichotomy between the content of the monologues and the accompanying animation, so I receive a lot of direction from the staff. In contrast, Kizumonogatari has no monologues, so it was essential for me to clearly understand Koyomi’s thoughts and the subtle emotions behind his eye movements and breathing patterns. Even though the art was so effective at portraying the drama such that there were definitely parts where it alone would have sufficed, I would’ve felt bad leaving everything to the artists. Wherever the novel provided an explanation, I’d take the nuance from the novel and put those emotions into my ad-libbed breaths (makes breathing sound). In other words, I suppose there was a difference in how I approached the input, which included everything, and the output, which had to be either tangible words or breaths.

—Did you receive any instructions from the director during recordings?



Since he’d been preparing for such a long time, I assumed that the director already had a completed image of the film in his mind, so I went in expecting him to make a ton of specific requests. However, all he told me was “I’ll leave Koyomi’s details to you, Kamiya-san,” which made me happy. Come to think of it, I’ve done almost 80 episodes associated with the character called Koyomi by now, but every time I get a new script, I still question whether or not I deserve it. I strongly believe that I have to maintain this attitude moving forward.

—You’re like the embodiment of reliability.

If I’m being honest, the pressure is scary. For example, in Tekketsu-hen, during the scene where I encounter Kiss-Shot and I’m like “take all of my blood,” Koyomi’s situation is changing every minute. He can’t retain his composure, so he ends up offering his life to her. While his internal turmoil is finely described by the words in the novel, the film has to continue without pause. But honestly, aren’t the subtle changes in his emotions depicted in the film pretty accurately? The terror with which he asks the strange question “Can’t you just get a transfusion?” is shown, his eyes widen as he realizes he’s about to die, then he’s struck by fear when Kiss-Shot looks at him like he’s food… The film takes this profound scene from the novel and goes through it in a flash. I had to internalize this heart-pounding moment and convey it through my acting and breathing. In addition, I had to pay close attention to the nuances of my lines. When I told Kiss-Shot to “Take it all. Every last drop. Suck me dry,” I had to maintain my dignity as a human despite being an inferior existence. I couldn’t mess that up. However, those complex scenes became truly amazing once the dramatic music was added. That was my reaction the whole time I was recording.

WHAT YOU CAN SEE AFTER MUCH TIME HAS PASSED

—Hearing you speak, I get the impression that you’re like an athlete. You practice repeatedly and act with frightening precision when you craft your performances.

That might be true (laughs). Often when I’m in the middle of recording for animation, it feels like I’m part of a racing team. The novel is the machine, we [actors] are the drivers, and surrounding us are the director and staff who act as maintenance. If I didn’t prepare enough, it would have been my fault if we crashed (laughs)… On a related note, something that made me slightly anxious every time before I went in for recording was my age. When the Monogatari Series TV anime first aired, I was only in my 30’s, but now I’m already 41. Considering how much time has passed, if the current me were to act out the earlier episodes, the character of Koyomi the high schooler would lack a certain freshness due to the acting technique that I’ve built up — that was my only worry as a driver.

—Such difficulties arise with a long-running series, huh.

Be that as it may, a guy in his mid-30’s was never really at the best age to be playing a high schooler in the first place (laughs). Now I realize that, by being involved over a long period of time, I was able to profoundly mold Koyomi’s character, which meant that the passage of time wasn’t a bad thing. In Owarimonogatari, I acted out the episodes featuring elementary schooler Koyomi first, so I knew the hidden meaning behind Koyomi’s “I don’t need friends because my strength as a human would decrease” attitude. I’m also grateful for receiving more details about Koyomi’s parents, since I gained a deeper understanding of him. I could add my understanding of how his parents being policemen influenced his sense of justice and duty, or formed the basis of his actions, to his voice. I feel that, thanks to acting in Kizumonogatari, I came to the right conclusion about particular details.

—Now that recording for Nekketsu-hen has also ended, what were your thoughts?



It was really tough. My approach wasn’t different from Tekketsu-hen, but there were many scenes where the underlying emotions don’t match the actions on the surface; there are parts where you won’t understand Koyomi’s feelings from solely looking at the art. Do I convey what the art is showing or do I convey what Koyomi is really feeling in that moment? I racked my brain over which option was better. In those situations, it was hard deciding to what degree I would convey which emotion through my voice. I was aware that Koyomi would be misunderstood even if I picked up on all the nuances in the art. Having said that, it would look weird if I acted in a way that diverted too much from what was depicted in the art… This time, the animation is close to perfection. That’s why, when conveying the emotions of the art through my voice, I left small openings for the audience to catch a glimpse of Koyomi’s hidden agenda. I had to bear in mind how to create those openings while judging whether to create one at all, which was troublesome to an extent. It felt like I was almost cheating whenever I was expressing those emotions with an off-line (a line given to a character who’s not moving on screen).2

—Finally, please give a message to all the fans who are looking forward to watching Nekketsu-hen.



Those of you who watched Tekketsu-hen must be dying to know what happens next. That ending probably made you think, “This is where it ends?!” (laughs) But this time, Nekketsu-hen is actually extremely dense. The previous film covered a lot, but even more intense developments await. Kizumonogatari, as one whole film, is meant to leave those who simply watch it feeling satisfied, so the expectations of people who watched the previous film definitely won’t be betrayed. Otherwise, I feel like you’d think that you were tricked into coming to see it.

Hiroshi Kamiya’s recent main roles have been in Attack on Titan (as Levi), Prison School (as Kiyoshi Fujino), Noragami (as Yato), Psycho-Pass: The Movie (as Nicholas Wong), among others.

Next Up: Interview with Horie Yui, voice of Hanekawa Tsubasa

1 Every time Kamiya mentions “novel”, he actually says “original work” (原作), but I felt that “novel” flowed better in English.

2 He means that there was less emotional depth to worry about if Koyomi’s expression wasn’t constantly changing.

Further reading: Some earlier interviews with the Kizumonogatari staff can be found on Wave Motion Cannon.