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Kazuhiko Inoue Talks Industry, Acting, and Anime at Anime India Convention in Delhi

Kazuhiko Inoue made his first appearance in India at the Delhi Anime India convention on Saturday. Speaking to the co-founder of the convention in a panel called “Five Decades of Evolution: From the 70's to the 2020's,” he started by discussing the differences between the recording studio in the 70's as opposed to now. Sitting down with the co-founder, he gave fans several insights into the work life of voice actors back in the day.

According to Inoue, the biggest difference between a voice actor's job now and when he started his career in 1973 was that all the technology used back then was analog, whereas it is all digital now. He mentioned how the anime being voiced had to be screened in the studio back then. 

Inoue later spoke to ANN at a roundtable interview about his earlier experiences in the field, especially when voicing characters for video games. The first video game character he ever played was Klarth F. Lester in Tales of Phantasia for the Famicom (NES). Much like the dubbing process for anime, voice acting for games back in the day was also different. Inoue stated that when the systems were very old, games could only have a few lines of voiced dialogue, and that is something he very vividly remembers working on.

He spoke about his breakthrough role as Joe Shimamura in Cyborg 009 at the panel, stating how Shimamura wasn't a stereotypical hero but a more complex character. He also touched upon several other characters he had played in the beginning of his career. He played Anthony in Candy Candy 49 years ago when he was 23-years-old. The character of Anthony was a 14-year-old getting a love letter from a seven-year-old. Inoue said it made him very happy to play such a young character and to be able to see the character from the wholesome view of a seven-year-old. When ANN asked him about his most underrated character at the roundtable, he stated he would rather mention a character that he would like more Indian fans to know about. He suggested his fans here watch Natsume's Book of Friends where he plays the character Nyanko-sensei. He also mentioned Mr. Osomatsu where he plays Matsuzo Matsuno.

Having gotten his chef's license at 17 to 18 years of age, Inoue has put his many talents to good use. Roles like Shirō Yamaoka from Oishinbo utilized his knowledge of food, as did his narration work for food shows. Apart from anime, he has voiced actors like Matt Wilkinson and Matthew Fox in Japanese dubs of Western media. When asked about the differences between live-action dubbing and voice acting for anime, he said that the former is far more difficult. He elaborated that anime characters only convey six or seven expressions on their faces, but using his voice to emote the array of expressions an actor might have is far more challenging.

When asked about studying under the legendary Ichirō Nagai, Inoue shared some wisdom he gained from the actor. He described something akin to method acting, stating that Nagai always told him to "become the role you are playing" and feel the emotions of the character. He further elaborated on the subject as he spoke about his process of playing negative characters. While a villain might look like a bad guy to the audience, while taking up the role of a villain Inoue chooses to look at things based on the character's "idea of righteousness," understanding the motivations that drive said character.

When Inoue was asked about founding his voice acting school and agency, B-Box, he had nothing but praise for the young actors working and studying there. Being extremely encouraging, he noted how much more competitive the field of voice acting is now as opposed to when he started, commending the hard work of the young actors in the field today.

The most exciting stage presentation for fans arrived on Sunday when Inoue would voice lines of Kakashi Hatake from Naruto. Earlier, he had told ANN that playing Kakashi as a character is second nature to him. He stepped into the role as naturally as he would in the studio, even with a roaring crowd right in front of him. When he was initially cast as the character, Inoue had not expected Kakashi to have such an explosive popularity among anime viewers. He said that Naruto was not as popular a property back then, but expressed happiness over how the character has grown to be adored by fans. He discussed the character in further detail later in the day in his interview with the Hindi voice of Kakashi Mohit Sharma. After his initial performance, seven lucky fans got to go on stage and voice lines from Naruto opposite Inoue. Alongside taking home the unforgettable memory of getting to act with a legend on stage, the fans took home some mementos of their day as well.

Apart from his performance as Kakashi, one of the most emotionally impactful moments of Inoue's appearances at Anime India was when he spoke about his father, who was exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima nuclear bombing. Inoue said that he has inherited his father's will and will try to spread the message of peace wherever he can, especially through his work as a voice actor.

Source: Delhi Anime India