This is part 3 of 5. For the full list of entries, click here.
Kazuhiko Inoue (井上和彦)
Role: Dusty Attenborough
Around 1988, during the production of My Conquest is the Sea of Stars, I was mainly doing narration work, so I hadn’t done much anime. At that time, I was really happy to be given the role of Attenborough, especially since it was a role that involved me working closely with Kei Tomiyama-san, who played Yang.
Kei-san had been taking care of me since my debut. Even though he was my great senpai, he was very friendly, and taught me many things. In the anime Arrow Emblem: Grand Prix no Taka starring Kei-san, there is a scene where I play the role of a reporter and interview him. The sound engineer told me, “Your voice is so similar to Kei-san’s that I can’t tell them apart,” so I apologized, but deep down I was very happy (laughs). When I played Liu Bei Xuande and Kei-san played Zhuge Liang Kongming in the anime Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I was told, “Your voices are so similar, Kazu-kun, you should change up your performance,” which shows how much of an influence he had on me (laughs).
Since most of the recording for Legend of the Galactic Heroes was done during the day, I rarely had the opportunity to go out drinking, but when I met Kei-san on other programs, he would often invite me out, saying, “Kazuhiko-kun, let’s go out for a drink.” Kei-san would go to a soba restaurant. He would drink sake, order kamaboko or kamo nanban without soba, and finish with sobagaki. It was a very chic and stylish way of drinking. After drinking, we would always take a taxi home together, and since I lived a little further away, I would drop Kei-san off along the way. I had him all to myself, to the point that it would violate the Antimonopoly Act (laughs). Kei-san was wearing glasses, but they were not prescription glasses, they were just for show. He used hard contact lenses, and said it was fine to sleep with them on. I tried to imitate him, but contact lenses didn’t suit me (laughs). Kei-san’s signature was also really cool. I copied how he did it and showed it to him, and he praised me, saying, “That’s good, it’s cool.” So I still use that signature.
On set, we checked the script in our free time, but Kei-san was always reading a thick paperback book. Then, when it came to actually recording, he went back to the script. And no matter how long the lines were, he never made a mistake. He was a genius. When I asked him, “You must have four eyes (because you look at both the script and the video simultaneously)?” he replied, “I have three. I have an ‘animeye’[1] on my forehead” (laughs).
I often worked with Toshio Furukawa-san, who played Poplin, and Keaton Yamada-san, who played Cazellnu. Everyone had a very friendly air about them. Furukawa-san started voice acting around the same time as me, but he was in a theater company, so he had a very unique way of acting and was very good. He had already played popular roles such as Ataru Moroboshi in Urusei Yatsura, so I thought it was amazing to have him next to me.
Michio Hazama-san, who plays Schönkopf, is also a great senpai and very fond of me. Even when I had to take time off work due to COVID-19 in March 2022, he called me as soon as I was discharged from the hospital saying, “Kazuhiko! How are you?” That was the first time I received a phone call from Hazama-san, and his voice was twice as loud as a normal person’s (laughs). We exchanged comments like, “Don’t die yet,” and “I won’t die before you do” (laughs). He plans events where he voices over silent films himself, and I’ve attended them before. He practices really hard. But when it comes to the actual performance, he comes up with completely different ad-libs (laughs). When I said, “What was the point of practicing?!” he replied, “That’s neither here nor there!” (laughs). Hazama-san is someone who really loves to perform with others.
Director Noboru Ishiguro and sound director Susumu Aketagawa-san were always at the booth together. They were very reliable. Both of them were cheerful, and that alone helped ease my tension. However, I guess they were busy with production at the time, so we didn’t have a chance to go out drinking. After that, I worked with Ishiguro-san on the animated feature film Batain Lai!! Minami no Shima no Mizu Monogatari and we finally had a chance to go out drinking when I went to Kanazawa to greet people on stage.
The role of Yang was taken over by Hozumi Gōda-san in the Gaiden series. We are the same age so it was casual between us, but I see him as a wonderful older brother and I always thought he was cool. It was very fresh to see Nozomu Sasaki-san, who played Julian, shortly after his debut. There were so many characters that it was truly a “Legend of the Galactic Voice Actors.” However, during the dubbing, the Free Planets Alliance Army and the Galactic Empire Army were recorded separately, so I had no idea what the Empire side was doing. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s common to record separately, but at the time, it was normal for everyone to gather together to record, so in a sense, it was ahead of its time.
I think that the 4K remaster will bring back memories for fans who have been following the series for a long time, and that they will also enjoy the wonderful images and sound that have been reborn. I also hope that those who have never heard of the series before will become hooked on it.
PROFILE
Inoue Kazuhiko, Born March 26th. His major animation roles include Candy Candy (Anthony Brown), Oishinbo (Shirō Yamaoka), Cyborg 009 (Joe Shimamura), Touch (Akio Nitta), Blue Comet SPT Layzner (Eiji), Natsume’s Book of Friends (Nyanko-sensei/Madara), NARUTO (Kakashi Hatake), and Osomatsu-san (Father), among many others.
Translator Notes
- The joke here is アニメ [anime] is combined with 目 [me], the word for eye, to give アニ目 [ani-me].