Anime Manga Explosion Anime Sound Special
The ANIME MANGA EXPLOSION documentary series (NHK World TV) dives deep into the artistry of the creators behind Japanese manga and anime that electrify audiences worldwide.
On November 30th 2025, ANIME MANGA EXPLOSION will air a special episode about the craft of anime sound. Voice actors convey character emotions and personalities entirely through scripted dialogue, and composers use music to portray the story world beyond anime visuals. This episode delves into the mastery of these creators of anime sound.
Otsuka Akio shares his approach honed through 37 years as a voice actor. He has brought his acting skills and resonant voice to over 400 roles, and he talks about his performances as the demon lord All For One in My Hero Academia and Kyoraku Shunsui in BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War. He reenacts the recording of a famous scene to demonstrate the impact of line delivery on the overall work and talks about how his performance is shaped based on his conception of each character.
We also visit the soundtrack recording for the new anime Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 “The Duel: Payback,” which is part of the series that depicts Star Wars through the unique perspectives of Japanese animation studios. “Duel: Payback” blends Star Wars with elements of Kurosawa Akira's samurai films. The film score is by composer Inai Keiji, who has composed music for over 30 works. For this project he used the film score to bring together the worlds of Star Wars and traditional Japanese samurai battles. Our cameras captured the film score recording session for “The Duel: Payback,” including the moments created with orchestra and Japanese traditional music performances. Inai shows how he builds drama through the film score.
Don't miss this chance to see rare interviews, voice actor performances and film score production.
On air: November 30, 2025 (Sun) NHK World TV
28-minute episode broadcast from 12:10, 18:10, 23:10, and next day 5:10 (Japan time)
Free VOD streaming on the NHK World Japan website from the following day. See the viewing guide for details: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/ja/tv/howto_watch_in_japan/
Featuring: Otsuka Akio, Yamadera Koichi, Koyama Rikiya, Mizuno Takanobu, Inai Keiji Narrator: Michael Turpin
Official website: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/anime_manga/
