Turn A Gundam Episode 8 Audio Commentary

Turn A Gundam episode 08 audio commentary

The Turn A Gundam BD BOX 1&2 include select episode commentaries by various voice actors & actresses. This ep's features Paku Romi (Loran Cehack), Kumiko Watanabe (Fran Doll), and Jun Fukuyama (Keith Laijie).

- Feez

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00:00

Romi: Welcome to the audio commentary for Turn A Gundam Episode 8: Laura's Cow!

[clapping]

Romi: I'm Paku Romi, the voice of Loran Cehack.

Kumiko: I'm Kumiko Watanabe, the voice of Fran Doll.

Jun: I'm Jun Fukuyama, the voice of Keith Laijie.

Ryota: And I'm the moderator, Fujitsu Ryota. The four of us are going to be doing commentary on episode 8.

Kumiko: You know it's very rare for the three of us to get together.

Jun: We’ve never gathered to talk on media before, have we?

Kumiko: Yes, it may be the first time. It's been a long while since we last met up, so it feels a little awkward. And we have to do a commentary.

Romi: You know, I recorded the audio commentary for the first episode earlier today and it was like a school reunion.

Kumiko: It must have been nostalgic!

Romi: Yeah, so we were thinking of setting a girl's meeting with Turn A Gundam's cast and eating some tasty Buta-shabu hot pot together.

Jun: In a girl's meeting huh?

Romi: You can join us if you wear girls attire.

Jun: Oh really? Let me join you then!

Romi: Please wear ribbons.

Kumiko: He can wear it like a mustache.

Romi: Like Gundam with a mustache?

Kumiko: Yes, exactly.

01:20

Ryota: Now I would like to ask some questions. First, Kumiko, what was the story behind voicing Fran Doll? You have continuously been voicing in Tomino works since Victory Gundam.

Kumiko: Yes, this was my third time voice acting in his work. I don't recall all the details but the final castings were fixed very close to the deadline.

Ryota: It has been said on commentary that the casting was fixed 5 days before the recording.

Romi: What I heard from you was like a day before?

Kumiko: It was like two days before.

Jun: I heard in the studio it was fixed a day before the recording.

02:09

Kumiko: So anyways, I wasn't too familiar with the character beforehand but I tried to do my best. But my first line in the first episode was a song so I was tensed!

Romi: Me too!

Jun: Same with me for "one little, two little". Tomino was impressed I could pronounce it as "L" and not "R".

Romi: Tomino said that?

Jun: Yes, in the first episode.

Romi: I don't remember that!

Kumiko: I remember singing with a shivering voice but he liked it.

Jun: Same here. I was quite nervous as well but he seemed satisfied with the result.

Romi: He accepted my first time acting the part and I felt "that was it?"

Kumiko: But you were doing your best.

Romi: I was!

Kumiko: You know, I rewatched the episode again and felt I was putting so much effort in the scene.

Jun: You always do!

Kumiko: I still do! Although, in comparison to today, at the time I was young and immature and still managed to do quite well.

*laughs*

Kumiko: And I think I've gotten worse now.

Romi: I feel you. I felt very embarrassed rewatching the first episode and wanted to crawl into a hole! But in my previous role in Brain Powerd, I was never asked to ad-lib. Such as drowning or running... so when I was asked to ad-lib for running, I ran in front of the mic and that atmosphere felt very real to me.

Jun: You know, Ryota can't join the conversation!

04:00

Ryota: Don't worry, it's okay.

Kumiko: Jun also felt the same kind of inexperience, right?

Jun: You know, it was actually my first time playing a human character in an anime.

Kumiko: Really?

Jun: Before that, I only played characters like a chalkboard eraser, an entrance door, and a creature.

Kumiko: What do you mean by chalkboard eraser?

Jun: The chalkboard eraser is a...

Kumiko: Say some lines!

Jun: Kishya!

*laughs*
(He's talking about a role he had in Mamotte Shugogetten http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=502)

Romi: Was it for educational purpose?

Jun: No, not that kind.

Ryota: Did you have any explanation about Keith?

Jun: Well, I actually auditioned for Loran.

Romi: Oh, you did?

Jun: But I was fixed to play as Keith. So, I had no explanation about Keith at the audition and read handouts about the character afterward.

04:45

Kumiko: But it was like that for everyone, right?

Romi: Yeah.

Jun: Come to think of it, I think Keith might have been the only character who had no changes in his role in the entire story from the first draft.

Kumiko: Oh, is that so?

Jun: Other characters had small detail changes.

Kumiko: What about Dianna?

Jun: As the script got modified from the original, most of the character details changed at least a tiny bit. But not Keith's; he becomes a baker and has a family and that was essentially his life. And there were some characters whose details changed drastically.

Romi: Like who?

Jun: Well, there was a character who wasn't supposed to die but did in the final script.

Romi: Who is it? Gavane had died.

Jun: Yes he did.

Kumiko: How do you remember that? (She's asking Romi Park)

Romi: We've been repeating his line "I'm Gavane Gooney!"

Kumiko: Now I remember!

Jun: Fran is another example. In the original script, she was supposed to become a war photographer and lose her fiance, and would then go on to marry a wood cutter.

06:00

Romi: Who was it again?

Jun: Fran.

Romi: Really? How did you know that?

Jun: That's because I had a handout of character details at the audition.

Romi: Are you sure? You remember everything.

Jun: Because it was my first time auditioning for this kind of thing.

Romi: What do you mean by that?

Jun: I mean the audition!

Romi: As a human character...

Jun: Yes yes. Also there was a lot of drama at the audition, but it'd take time to tell, so shall we move on?

*laughs*

Romi: Let's get back on track.

Ryota: As written in the booklet, Tomino wrote each episode using rough storylines. So the lives of each of the characters were constantly changing.

Kumiko: Speaking of the script, since I started my career with Tomino's work, his style always felt familiar to me. But it's only when I look back on it that I truly begin to understand him.

07:00

Romi: Good thing you started with Tomino then.

Kumiko: Ye...Yeah.

*laughs*

Romi: It's an easy road after that.

Kumiko: Ye...Yeah that is true.

Ryota: She is starting to persuade us now.

Romi: Really? Pardon me!

Ryota: You have been acting for three continuous series.

Kumiko: I'm accustomed to his works but Turn A felt very humanistic and understandable... Uh, I don't know what else to say!

*laughs*

Kumiko: I'm afraid I might say something rude!

Romi: Don't worry!

Kumiko: At the time I had little time to think about it, but years later I started to appreciate Tomino's approach. It's very interesting!

Jun: It sure is.

08:00

Romi: It's very interesting.

Kumiko: I want to watch it again.

Romi: I would be so disappointed in my voice acting.

Kumiko: You did your best!

Romi: I know I did! Everyone did!

Jun: We are all different from back then!

*laughs*

Jun: Even I could never do the same kind of acting again.

Romi: It was very a genuine and honest story.

Kumiko: Hey, listen to his line!

[Kieth: "They seems to want meat, egg, and some chickens."]

Kumiko: What an honest voice!

Jun: It's very embarrassing! I can never go back!

*laughs*

Kumiko: Let's go back!

Romi: We could! I like this scene.

Jun: Wow, I never thought we would watch the episode again together. Everyone sounds so young and fresh!

Romi: Mm. Fresh.

09:00

[Listening to more of Keith's lines]

Kumiko: How honest!

Jun: Hahaha, I haven't felt this embarrassed in years!

Romi: Oh?

[Listening to Sochie's line]

Romi: Sochie is the best. Akino's voice doesn't change throughout the series.

[Listening to more of Sochie's lines]

Kumiko: We can't take our eyes off of it!

Jun: This episode had the most Keith lines and at the time I was very nervous. Tsuruoka used to tell me to be wary lines that are over three sentences long.

Kumiko: Yeah, he said that.

Romi: What did you say?

Jun: He told me that my lines over three sentences are risky.

*laughs*

Jun: With Turn A, they'd send us home with scripts for the next few episodes. If they were only short lines, Tsuruoka wouldn't say anything. But if there were over three sentences long, he'd come up to me and say "you have over three sentences next week, be careful!"

Romi: I think I remember him saying that!

(Likely that they're talking about Yota Tsuruoka, the sound director http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=254)

10:00

Kumiko: But we were all risky with long lines!

Romi: Come to think of it, this show isn't the kind to usually have more than three sentences at a time. Although... as it became longer and the story progressed the conversations did get longer and longer.

Kumiko: I like the voice actors gathered here.

Romi: Me too. It's like after school club.

Kumiko: We are all friends from childhood.

Jun: I was only 20 years-old at that time.

Kumiko: Uh, you want a fight? I was in my 20's too you know.

Jun: Yes, yes, I know...

Kumiko: Let's stop here.

Romi: Is this Poe?

Kumiko: Poe!

Jun: It's Koyama-san.

Kumiko: It's Tsuyoshi!

(Koyama Tsuyoshi, the voice of Phil Ackman)

10:55

Jun: He was an entertainer at the time. If he does a commentary, someone please tell him that every time he said a line, we'd have to keep our abs hard so that we wouldn't laugh!

Romi: We went to his house often.

Jun: And went for drinks and Karaoke after the recordings.

Kumiko: Did we?

Romi: We often went to Karaoke in Shinkoiwa area.

Kumiko: Ah yes, I remember that!

Jun: You know, the recording studio for episodes 1-3 was in a different place, but the rest of the episodes were recorded in the first floor of the building we're currently in.

Romi: Where was the studio for the first to third episode? Echo?

Jun: Yes, it was Studio Echo.

Kumiko: You remember it well.

Jun: I remember every detail of the time. Um, where were we now?

Ryota: No problem, you can keep talking.

Kumiko: You are standing in relief. (she's talking about Loran on-screen)

Romi: It's embarrassing!

Jun: We gotta change the subject otherwise we'll keep talking like this.

Kumiko: I think you are good, Romi.

Jun: You are really cute, Romi.

12:00

Romi: Shut up, shut up!

Kumiko: It's okay, everyone thinks of themselves as cute.

Romi: Anyways, y'know, Tomino made a comment once saying he'd like to remake Turn A Gundam 20 years later.

Kumiko: Really?

Romi: So, we have 5 years left.

Jun: This is bad! Do I have to play Keith again!?

Kumiko: You can't be that honest again. You've became too dirty.

Romi: No, we can go back again anytime.

Jun: Yeah! Voice actors can go back over time.

Romi: It's a world of fantasy.

Kumiko: I think I am slowly regaining my old self.

Romi: What do you mean? Are you okay?

Jun: Are you becoming more childish?

Kumiko: I mean I'm becoming more simple. At the time, I was thinking too many unnecessary things.

Romi: I understand that.

13:00

Kumiko: Now the atmosphere is much different.

Jun: Thinking about it, the time between break and recording was so different. In the beginning I had a lot of lines, but when Keith became a full-fledged baker, he started to have less importance to the story. So, I was watching everyone's recording from the back of the room. I remember feeling tense in the recording booth but I could feel that everyone else was too.

Romi: I was definitely nervous.

Kumiko: Everyone was not used to after recording.  We just had to grope around and find a way.

Romi: It was a hard situation for me but I couldn't give up and cry or it would be the end, y'know? So I had to keep my head up and that was hard.

Kumiko: Really? But you were very bright, energetic, and hard working.

Romi: I did work hard.

Kumiko: You are delicate as well.

Romi: Don't pick on me anymore! Stop it!

14:00

Jun: I just recalled something interesting during the recording of the last lines in the first episode. The recording booth and directing room are divided by soundproof glass doors, but Tomino and Romi were shouting loudly through it anyway. Even before Tsuroaka could press the talkback button, Romi was shouting her line when looking at the moon "THIS IS A GREAT PLACE!". And Tomino was shouting back "LIKE THIS!" and Romi would respond "LIKE THIS!?" with her hands wide open. And after a couple loud conversations Tsuroaka finally pressed the button.

*laughs*

Romi: What a strange situation that was!

Kumiko: It's like a theatre.

Jun: He was very intense.

14:50

Kumiko: Tomino always expresses his idea with his body and we wanted to react to that but it was hard.

Romi: I think he was very sensitive, but he also tried to get to know us personally and that made me feel comfortable. It was like, even if I made mistakes I could still approach him without fear. He was a special director.

Jun: We couldn't see ourselves when we were inside the booth. While I was watching from the back, when actors did something that Tomino couldn't imagine, he looked extremely happy.

Kumuko: He would hold up his fist saying "Yes! Yes!". (In English!)

15:50

Jun: When characters/actors like Fran, Loran, and Sochie did something unexpected, he would talk to his staff and tell them "This is the thing we have do for the scene!", or "Remember this!", or "This is the life!". That was certainly something.

Kumiko: When we redo the recording 5 years later, I'm afraid he might say "Your acting is so... so strange!" Voicing for this show was a one time thing!

Romi: I often get asked about Tomino's high temper but I never really saw him get that angry. Although, I do recall in the final episode he got really upset.

Jun: I remember that. I always mention it when I talk about Tomino. Wasn't it Miashei's line?

Romi: It wasn't Miashei, it was Merrybell.

Jun: Oh, was it?

Romi: He didn't get much angry at me.

Jun: It wasn't towards the actors.

Romi: It was about the line of Merrybell.

Jun: I remember one particle was wrong in the script.

17:00

Romi: Yeah. It was a change from "I won't shoot the missile" to "I will shoot the missile" in a scene. Before Tomino arrived, we had been discussing it and the staff changed the line. When we were on the test shoot, Tomino suddenly barged into the booth and shouted "I don't write this kind of lowbrow dialogue!"

Kumiko: I can't recall what he actually said but I definitely remember the incident.

Jun: So it wasn't Miashei, eh? I was in the direction room at that time.

Kumiko: After we explained that it wasn't our decision, he turned back and started shouting at the staff.

18:00

Romi: It was very shocking to hear him shouting "I don't write this kind of lowbrow dialogue!". I mean lowbrow! lowbrow! What a choice of words. I was amazed!

Jun: I was just watching Tomino going ballistic and didn't know what was going on!

*laughs*

Ryota: Jun was like a viewer from the director's room.

Kumiko: You must have have been so nervous.

Jun: I was nervous during the recordings but it was great to hear his impressions and details about the scenes and characters. I had little information back then so it felt normal to me, but looking back on it now it was special.

Romi: It was special indeed.

19:00

Kumiko: I haven't met Tomino for while but I'd like to talk to him again and chat about old times.

Jun: Speaking of such, I haven't been able to talk with Tomino in a long time. As you mentioned earlier, my acting felt "honest" but it was really the only thing I could do at the time. I never questioned what was expected of me. If there were requests other than that, I tried hard to find things out on my own. Everyone else was more aware of their acting abilities and didn't feel intimidated by Tomino. As a Freshman who wanted to keep his acting career, I was never able to bring myself to discuss with Tomino about acting and that is my biggest regret.

20:00

Kumiko: But you were able to say long lines!

*laughs*

Kumiko: You also wore strange clothes at the time.

Jun: I was not strange!

Romi: Did you become strange after that?

Kumiko: You looked like a honeybee.

Jun: What was I wearing?

Kumiko: You were wearing a T-shirt with a yellow border and definitely looked like a honeybee.

Jun: Because of the yellow border lines?

Kumiko: That was a honeybee.

Jun: So, I was strange back then even?

Kumiko: You wore "tricky" clothes.

Romi: Did he? I remember he looked rather normal during Turn A Gundam. But later when I saw him in Shinjuku, he looked very tricky.

Kumiko: He is tricky by origin. I mean, the three of us are all very tricky. Not only Jun. You know that well.

Jun: Yeah, I know that.

Ryota: I'm sorry to interrupt but we are coming to the end of the episode.

Romi: Stop it! It's embarrassing!

Jun: Wait a minute, is it time already?

21:00

Romi: Oh, Yanaka's breast lines are already finished.
(Talking about this character http://myanimelist.net/character/103313/Khuen_Morad)

Kumiko: Already? Come on! Why didn't you say anything!

Romi: We were talking throughout the episode.

Jun: This scene was tough.

[Watching Keith and Loran's lines and then the BGM fades in]

Kumiko: And here comes the music.

[Loran shouting at the end]

Kumiko: I got chills.

Romi: Stop! It's embarrassing! I'm bad!

Kumiko: You did good.

Jun: It seems becoming good means losing something else.

Kumiko: I understand that. That's why I am becoming simple.

Romi: For me it's only recently.

Kumiko: Recently?

Romi: Recently I'm thinking I can get back to that point again.

Jun: Good to hear that.

Kumiko: Do you mean by tension or feeling?

Romi: It's like I'm feeling different and can return to those times again.

22:00

Kumiko: Everyone gets washed away one time and then... Oh sorry, I was listening to my lines.

*laughs*

Kumiko: It's cool you know. Don't do it!

*laughs*

Romi: Kumiko, you are tricky!

Kumiko: I am.

Romi: Aw, I couldn't hear the breast line.

Kumiko: We missed it. We should do commentary for all fifty episodes.

Romi: Yeah, I want to talk more.

Ryota: We are reaching the end. I'd like to ask each of you of your impressions after watching the episode. Kumiko, how do you feel about Fran looking back at it now?


22:40

Kumiko: Hmm, how do I say it. She was neither ally nor enemy and presented a birds eye point of view to the story. Everyone was looking through their own lens, but she was viewing it all from the top. In the past Tomino works, I often played characters who had a lot of emotional power but it was rather different for Turn A.

Ryota: There was a comment wondering what Fran though about the humans living on Earth. It seems you think she was rather indifferent towards them.

Kumiko: I think so. She didn't have special views for or against them.

Romi: Hurry!

Ryota: How about Jun?

Jun: Keith was a boy who came from the moon and decides to live as a baker on earth. So, I tried to act like an ordinary boy. Uh oh, we have no time!

Kumiko: I wasted your time, sorry!

Romi: Me? I think Turn A Gundam was a piece that allowed me to dance in Tomino's large field and let me play with a variety of emotions.

Kumiko: Banzai!

Jun: We finished it!

Ryota: Thank you very much.

Romi: Thank you!