This is part 2 of 5. For the full list of entries, click here.
**Contains major spoilers for the OVA series**
Masashi Hironaka (広中雅志)
Role: Siegfried Kircheis
Even though it’s been 34 years, it feels amazing that everyone still has demand for this work. I remember that My Conquest is the Sea of Stars had a strong impression of being a pilot episode, but to be honest, there are still some things I don’t understand about how the fighting takes place (laughs). Even so, when you watch it now, it hasn’t lost any of its luster. The deep flavor of the analog cel-drawn film, which is different from CG works, has been further enhanced by the 4K remaster, which is wonderful.
It also has a good affinity with classical music. “Boléro” suits it well, but I thought the proposal scene in Overture to a New War between Yang, Lapp, and Jessica, which proceeds only with music without any lines, was stylish. It’s not a scene I was in, but it’s very memorable.
When I listen to it now, my voice sounds youthful. The key was high and it sounded fresh. I didn’t do much anime work at the time. It’s not that I had decided not to, but there were people who specialized in anime. Even so, I feel really lucky to have been given this role. I auditioned with Horikawa, and we switched roles and played both Kircheis and Reinhard, but he says he doesn’t remember (laughs). Kircheis was the role that felt right to me, so I was happy to be chosen.
However, at the time, I never thought I would do it for so long. I played him once, and then I was offered again… and it gradually became a bigger presence for me. Now, the role of Kircheis is a treasure to me.
It’s a very lengthy work, but actually my scenes were quite intermittent. In particular, in Overture, I think there are a lot of lines like, “Yes, Reinhard-sama” (laughs). But the relationship between Reinhard, Kircheis, and Annerose is wonderful. In the scene where Kircheis dies, he says, “Reinhard, please win the universe,” but at the same time, “Please tell Annerose that Sieg kept his old promise.” It’s really sad, knowing that Annerose and Reinhard are at the center of his life. Also, Kircheis is around 20 years old, handsome, cute, and a very good guy, so I personally think it would have been nice if he had had a relationship with a woman (laughs).
However, I don’t remember who it was, but a voice actor I worked with once asked me, “Are Reinhard and Kircheis together?” (laughs). That’s a very straightforward question. Initially, the dubbing was done in chronological order (recording according to the story line), but everyone was busy during that time so they began recording it randomly (only recording relevant scenes), so things may have seemed that way even more so because it was hard to follow what happened before and after. But overall, Annerose is meant to be the one Kircheis was thinking about, and I tried to act with that in mind.
I was able to work with many great senpais, and it was very exciting. It is a pity that so many of them have passed away. For Kei Tomiyama-san, it was after they’d finished recording the scene in which Yang dies. Unfortunately, I had almost no opportunity to work with Tomiyama-san on this production, but Norio Wakamoto-san, who plays Reuenthal, said of Tomiyama-san that he was “like a precision machine.” Wakamoto-san is a very wild person, so Reuenthal was really cool. Kaneto Shiozawa-san, who played Oberstein, has passed away too… But their work will remain.
If I were to play a role other than Kircheis, I think I would be good in the position of narrator Yusaku Yara-san. He’s the only person to have the perfect attendance award. However, there were cases where the entire episode was narrated, and the characters had difficult names and there wasn’t much time, so Yara-san had it rough.
My favorite character is probably Attenborough. Kazuhiko Inoue-san’s performance of Attenborough has a carefree feel that Kircheis, who is also the number 2, did not have. It contrasts with the strictness of the Imperial Army, who value decorum, and I think it’s interesting.
Nowadays, with the availability of DVDs and Blu-rays, you can easily watch the films whenever you want, so there are many people who have already seen them multiple times. However, there are so many scenes in this film that I would like people to experience on the big screen in a theater, so I was very happy about this screening. In particular, My Conquest is a monumental work that started it all, and if it hadn’t been for this, nothing would have come after. With the 4K remaster, it has been reborn as a wonderful work, so I hope it will be loved for a long time.
PROFILE
Masashi Hironaka. Born December 27th. Narrated many TV shows and commercials, including World Full View TV Special Investigation Unit (NTV). Major animation roles include Fist of the North Star 2 (Rock), Tomoe ga Yuku! (Kazusa Himuro), Genji (Benkei), and MONSTER (Christof).