Ootsubo Yuka Interview: Famitsu Weekly May 27th 2018

Ootsubo Yuka, seiyuu of Kitakami, Ooi Hiburi, Daitou and more

The following interview was conducted in the Famitsu Weekly Magazine May 28th 2018 edition (released on April 10th, 2017) in which seiyuu Ootsubo Yuka discusses her involvement with KanColle.

Within this 2 page article, Ootsubo Yuka does an interview talks about her 5 years of history doing voices of the ship girls she has voiced along with the explaining her impression on all of them and how they grew on her over time. Her experience with seeing KanColle's development over the 5 year and her impression and struggles she experienced working on her newest characters Daitou and Hiburi.

"KanColle has increased my personal repertoire"

Learning about warships through KanColle

Interviewer (I): Five years have passed since KanColle started service. Time flies, huh.

Ootsubo (O): Yeah. Looking back, it really feels like it went by in the blink of an eye. But I think a lot happened during that time. I'm really happy admirals have continued to support KanColle for so long.

I: Do you remember your first recording?

O: Yes. It wasn't long after I had debuted, so I have strong memories. When I got the briefing materials for the recording, there was a lot written for shipgirls like Hyuuga and Ooi, but at first I thought I was just voicing a couple characters, like Hiyou. Sure, some were sister ships, but I figured they were just laying out the setting for me. So when I got to the recording studio and they asked, "Please do all of them", I... (laugh)

I: Something like, "I'm doing all of them?" (laugh)

O: This was the first project I've done that had me in so many roles, so it was quite a shock.

I: Many people were startled to see how many roles a single seiyuu was doing when KanColle first started.

O: It doesn't surprise people anymore though (laugh). During recording, starting with Ise I did Hyuuga, Kitakam, Ooi, Furutaka, Kako, Hiyou, and Junyou - the first 8 ships, implemented at the beginning of the game.

I: Did you look into the ships themselves beforehand?

O: I did, figuring it would help to study for my role. It ended up being pretty fun and expanding my horizons. The Management Naval District's Tanaka-san and Saitou-san were super happy that I was able to talk with them during recording about the things I had learned and stuff (laugh).

I: I see (laugh). Recording 8 ships at once - that must have been tough, huh?

O: It was. I had just debuted and my resume was pretty thin, so I didn't have much, experience, to draw on. So I ended up trying this and that, so it was sort of like, shuffling things in and drawing things out of my experience as I went.

I: Sort of like, "There's just something off about how I'm doing this", huh?

O: Yeah, like that. Like, "Is this right?", that sort of mixed feeling. Also, I was only 19 and couldn't drink, so doing Junyou was pretty tough, I remember.

I: Do you drink now? I've heard pretty heavily...

O: Oh no no, I am fond of it but have never gotten as drunk as Junyou gets. Junyou Kai Ni was recorded after I had become an adult, so I think my drunk act had gotten much better (laugh).

I: You do get the sense with the shipgirls, including Junyou, that as the years pass their personalities stand out more and more.

O: Ooi and Kitakami's interesting relationship continues to deepen, yeah. Hyuuga's support for "Zuiun" has gotten to the point that she's carrying out Naval Base Zuiun Festivals. Ooi was actually a reward for those who preregistered. The girl's always thinking of Kitakami and saying sorta scary, or uh, mean-spirited things, but really she's a cute character at heart. But as time passes, her character gets more fleshed out and you can sense the evolution. In her Kai Ni hourlies I'm yelling (laugh). Ooi's a shipgirl for which you can "explode" while performing, so it gets pretty interesting.

Double roles means it's time to flirt!?

I: Speaking of Ooi, she and Kitakami make a pretty popular duo.

O: They come in contact a lot in their lines, those two. There was an especially large amount of interaction between them during the anime recording. Kitakami's an interesting character too, always saying something good in a sorta absentminded way, it's great. Lately she's started acting like an old lady though (laugh).

I: Come to think of it, how do you record those double role scenes?

O: I think it depends on the person, but I do it "Ooi first, then Kitakami". They show up a lot, and it's always together, so people have said "Oh look, she's flirting with herself~" when I start recording those two in the studio (laugh).

I: Well put (laugh). There was a movie as well.

O: I was happy Kako and Furutaka got to debut in the movie. And as Kai Ni ikemen!

I: Yes, I remember them from the preview screenings. By the way, there was also "4DX" and "MX4D" versions which let you experience water splashes and smells. Did you see the movie in MX4D, Ootsubo-san, and if so how was it?

O: I do like those "4D" experiences and have been to many, but KanColle's water splashes were the most incredible of all. The seats moved with the explosions, like a theme park attraction 0 that was a lot of fun. If there's another one, I hope they add searchlights. For bath scenes, instead of some weird steam you could have actual smokescreens (laugh).

Happy to be able to feel the shipgirls right beside me!

I: KanColle Arcade had its own Second Anniversary last month. Ise and Hyuuga feature prominently in the Arcade version.

O: Yeah! They're the main figures in the visuals and even feature in the design of the arcade cabinet itself. I'm really happy about that. I was featured in one of the play videos - it was super exciting to be able to control the shipgirls with my own hands. And the way the arcade prints out the cards for you to hold in your own hands is rewarding too.

I: It also feels like there's more and more to see of Ise and Hyuuga.

O: Hyuuga's love for Zuiun has become especially well-established. I'll gladly continue to say Zuiun again and again (laugh).

I: The "Zuiun Festival" has gone on for two years now - this year and last. It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say KanColle and Zuiun go hand-in-hand (laugh).

O: Building a life-sized Zuiun seemed like an April fools at first. It was incredible they went through with it. The admirals' passion for Hyuuga and Zuiun has been heating up in each Zuiun Festival, and I've even had fans call out "Master!". The admirals themselves have played a huge part in Hyuuga growing up to become the Zuiun lover she is today, so thank you.

I: There was also a performance of "Kanmusu Ondo" with attendees at the Zuiun Festival.

O: I finally got to dance with everyone! It was the highlight of my summer last year especially, since I didn't get to do much other summer-like activities like festivals (laugh). That was the funnest part.

I: KanColle is holding more and more live events. You've participated in all the KanColle Naval Reviews, to be specific.

O: Right, since the very first. The direction is getting better and better with each one.

I: Last year, admirals even got to direct the path of the story.

O: If the performance keeps evolving like this, at some point we'll end up on an actual ship, won't we (laugh)?

I: We'll have to do it in the harbor (laugh).

O: I especially remember the First Naval Review (the "rehearsal"). The anime and such wasn't around back then, so it was a unique place because shipgirls could actually converse there. It was super exhilarating, and they all said they were glad to be there. KanColle has a lot of events with a touch of serendipity, not just the Zuiun Festival.

I: Especially the Naval District Saury Festival - going from an in-game event to grilling pacific saury in real life.

O: It's great, isn't it? As far as collaborations go there's also Mitsukoshi. And with Lawson, Ooi and Kitakami were even drawn with the torpedo-shaped Type 93 Oxygen Éclair.

I: And Junyou was on the packaging of Cratz (a Glico snack) in the past.

O: Seeing my own characters at convenience stores made me really happy. So I hope they do more (laugh).

I: Coastal defense ships Hiburi and Daitou were recently added to your roles, Ootsubo-san.

O: I'd continue hearing about new shipgirls, of course, but I was surprised that I would be taking on some of them. I had to be sure the whole time not to let my other shipgirls' performances or vocal quality slip in.

I: What were you worried about, performance-wise?

O:' Coastal defense ships are very childlike characters, so I was concerned about how to do that. For Daitou, I settled pretty quick on intentionally laughing in a sort of raspy voice that I thought suited her well. But Hiburi caused me some trouble... As the first of the Hiburi-class coastal defense ships I thought she should really have her act together, but taking that too far would make her sound like an adult which would really clash with her appearance. As I worried, one thought that came to mind was "puppy". A puppy that gets really happy when you praise it - I thought it fit her perfectly.

I: Hiburi and Daitou make 10 shipgirls performed by you, Ootsubo-san. What kind of shipgirls would you like to perform in the future?

O: Battleships, light carriers, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, coastal defense ships - I've been assigned quite a few ship types... So, I'd like to do a submarine, if I could. And destroyers too. After all, if I perform types I haven't done yet, a fleet composed solely of my shipgirls would get stronger. But Kitakami thinks destroyers are "annoying", so I guess if I did a destroyer I'd be calling myself annoying, huh (laugh).

I: That makes me want to hear it even more (laugh).

O: I perform 10 ships myself, but the other seiyuu-san's shipgirls are also cute characters, so go ahead and (temp) marry 'em all! Thanks to the admirals, I believe KanColle will be able to continue to strive on in its sixth year.

Translation was provided User:-a-nonymous