This is a translation of Animate Times’ event report of the October reading event by 8P (Eight Piece), a seiyuu project by  Hatanaka Tasuku, Nogami Sho, Yashiro Taku, Enoki Junya, Lounsbery Arthur, Kousaka Atsushi, Masuyama Takeaki, and Chiba Shouya. Full translation can be seen under the cut!

Hatanaka Tasuku, Nogami Sho, et al’s “8P (Eight Piece)” holds a reading event! This is a report of their reading drama and talk parts!

Last October 14, 2017, the young male seiyuu project 8P(Eight Piece) had its reading event in Tokyo Yomiuri Hall.

8P(Eight Piece) is a project comprised of Hatanaka Tasuku, Nogami Sho, Yashiro Taku, Enoki Junya, Lounsbery Arthur, Kousaka Atsushi, Masuyama Takeaki, and Chiba Shouya. In this event, the continuations of the four reading dramas that had been broadcast on Animate Channel as part of 8P Channel 2 - whose theme songs had been released, one pair at a time, starting June 7, 2017 - had been performed.

In the afternoon session, they had Hatanaka and Chiba’s Lament Song to the Moon and Enoki and Masuyama’s Hachigaku! On the other hand, this report is about the night session, which had Lounsbery and Kousaka’s The Rose Garden and Nogami and Yashiro’s Starlight Stage!

Lounsbery and Kousaka play the main characters in The Rose Garden - Meiji Chapter.

The curtain opens on the reading drama The Rose Garden - Meiji Chapter. At its very center are Kousaka’s young man Reese and Lounsbery’s vampire Ewan; the story spins a tale out of the painful bonds of Reese, who passes over from the Meiji era to the current age, and Ewan, who yearns for Reese’s blood. Kousaka was able to portray the fear and distress of someone being struck by a vampire through his gestures and expression. Lounsbery uses a dainty, fragile expression as he portrays Ewan, who had been rejected by Reese, who struggles with his own immortality. Playing the characters surrounding Reese and Ewan are the other six members, bringing the story to its climax.

As the story comes to its end, Lounsbery and Kousaka move to the front of the stage, their cloaks trailing behind them. Sweetly, heartrendingly, and from the bottom of their hearts, they sung the theme song of their drama, the duet fate ～A Forbidden Scent～. Illuminated by penlights in their associated colors blue and sky blue, the hall had a magical ambiance to it. With their singing voices and choreography, Kousaka and Lounsbery were able to portray the frustratingly close and yet way too far mutual distance between Reese and Ewan, once more bringing their audience to tears.

Illuminated by penlights in their associated colors blue and sky blue, the hall had a magical ambiance to it.

Sweetly, heartrendingly, and from the bottom of their hearts, Lounsbery and Kousaka sung their duet song fate ～A Forbidden Scent～

Replacing the two of them, Masuyama and Enoki step on the stage, as the MCs. They call the six other members back to the stage for the talk part! As everyone, wearing black suits and a necktie with their assigned color, greets the audience again, Chiba, in his black suit and white necktie, quips “I just came from a wedding,” leading the other members to jealously blurt out “That’s unfair!” as their laughter rolls off the stage. And then Lounsbery, when asked about the song he just finished singing, says “It’s because it’s a pop song, it’s not like the the usual ‘go! go!’ music we usually do…” pretending he didn’t use that kind of word before on 8P, only to burst into laughter as soon as he’d said it.

The night session’s MC were Masuyama and Enoki.

Everyone steps onto the stage in their matching black suits! In a complete 180° from the reading drama which brought the audience to tears, the eight of them made everyone laugh during the talk part.

Once more, the talk part works off of the theme decided upon. The theme shared with the afternoon session was “lines which left an impression,” leaving Kousaka and Lounsbery to both ask “what were you saying back there again!?” to each other. Also, they talked about “things we don’t wanna stop doing no matter what,” and the inside stories behind the production process of their event goods.

In the second half of the event, the story of hot-blooded young man Reo and cool Kai unfolds, as they become closer to their dream of being top idols. Yashiro portrays earnest, cheerful Reo with a strong confident voice. On the other hand, Nogami, who plays Kai - who had taken up idol work to settle the discord within his family - is generally cool, sometimes passionate. Aside from Reo and Kai, there are two other characters who gradually cause trouble for them. The other six play their stubborn rival (CV. Lounsbery) and Kai’s younger brother Shougo (CV. Chiba), as well as the other characters supporting Reo and Kai, headed by Masuyama, on the stage, further adding color to the drama.

And then, Nogami, in his pink cloak, and Yashiro, in his yellow cloak, jump into singing their duet song “Double Starlight”. As they fill the halls to full capacity with their pink and yellow penlights, you can feel being wrapped up in the fans’ enthusiasm. With the way they held eye contact and their flawless dance steps, just like the idols they portrayed, they were able to charm the audience.

The two, passionately, confidently singing the theme song to their reading drama, “Double Starlight”.

Once more the eight of them head to the stage, to talk about their thoughts about the reading drama and duet song. Yashiro says, “The yellow and pink lights were beautiful. I always wanted to see them, but…when I’m dancing with this cloak in the way, sometimes I see it, sometimes I don’t…”

Coming from the theme “I’m really curious about this thing!”, the talk came to be about the “senmu” (lit. ‘senior managing director’) character played by Kousaka. From the start, “Senmu” had been a pet name 8P has been using as they got closer to Kousaka, leading to the audience murmuring amongst themselves and giggling when it was also the name of the role he was playing. During the time they were taping the first part of (the drama) for broadcast, the members also talked about the shock they had when they found out “Senmu (Kousaka) is gonna play a ‘senmu’!?” Also, they said that, on the script, the parts said by the managing director were erroneously marked with “Kousaka”, leading then to imagine “So could it be the character is actually him?”

During the talk theme of “a goal you’ve accomplished recently,” to Hatanaka’s goal this year, “I don’t want to forget anything,” Enoki confessed, “To be honest, I forgot to wear my belt today…”, and the 8P members then talked about stuff they easily forget! After that, Masuyama sums it all up by saying “This is the goal of all 8P members, I guess.”

They say their final words to the audience one by one. Hatanaka spoke fervently: “It’s a reading stage, so we had lots of thoughts that we wouldn’t be able to fill up a small theatre. But to see this many people assemble and seriously watch (our show), makes me very happy, as an actor.”

Nogami: “I had fun playing roles we don’t normally play, singing together, and getting to challenge various things. And I think that it’s all thanks to all the members altogether, and to everyone who came to see us.” Kousaka expresses his utmost gratitude: “For this 8P event, we just have a serious drama, so I wondered if it’ll be okay since all we ever did up to this point was stupid things, so I became uneasy… And because of that, when it’s about 8P I always feel a feeling of accomplishment that’s a little bit different from what I usually feel as a seiyuu or as an actor, and I’m really grateful for it.”

Lounsbery: “There’s solos we haven’t done yet, like for example (the in-show project) "Road to the Circus” (lol) If it’s for 8P, I’d like to see it.“ Masuyama: "Today we’ve been bonded by the confidence we have as part of 8P, and I think we’ve found our own challenges. We don’t know what’s in store for us yet, but from here on out we’ll keep on challenging ourselves, so everyone, please wait for us with excitement." 

At the very end, the eight of them sung "FULL VOLUME!!”, and, in the middle of all the multicolored lights, it felt like they were united. As they jumped and linked arms with each other, the eight of them singing with their smiles conveyed feelings that were worth more than words.

Animate Channel airs 8P Channel every second and fourth Friday of the month. It is currently airing its third season. The first halves of the reading dramas included in this event had been included in the DVDs for 8P Channel 2, which had been released sequentially starting from Wednesday, July 26, 2017. On Saturday, December 2, 2017, an event commemorating the release of the DVDs will be held at Animate for those who bought all 3 volumes of the 8P Channel 2 DVDs, so for those who have never gone to any of their events, this is your chance to see the charm of 8P up close!

Coverage/Words/Photographs by Ozawa Megumi

• wordpress link!
• my translation index
  
• note to self: the paragraph for double starlight still needs my rechecking: taku is 玲央, nogamin is 櫂, chiba plays 祥吾…but are these really how these names are supposed to be read…
  
• please do not redistribute this translation! thanks for reading.
  

SK8 Love Masquerade Seiyuu Event – 07/04/2021 Afternoon

Seiyuu Cast:

• Hatanaka Tasuku - Reki
• Kobayashi Chiaki - Langa
• Nagatsuka Takuma - Miya
• Miyake Kenta - Shadow
• Midorikawa Hikaru - Cherry
• Matsumoto Yasunori - Joe
• Koyasu Takehito (VTR) - Adam
• Ono Kensho (VTR) - Tadashi

Report under the cut!

■ INTRODUCTION

• Reki and Langa did the intro (voice over only), where they issued guidelines before the start of the event like not being allowed to eat in the venue (which saddened Langa), and having to turn off their phones (Reki took care of turning off his phone and Langa’s). Langa also had a hard time reading some kanji in the guidelines and Reki helped him.
• The event of course starts with Adam, appearing in a VTR welcoming everyone to the masquerade. He calls “Langa-kun and the others” to enter the stage. Throughout the event, Adam appears through the VTR as the host of the masquerade.
• The seiyuus appeared with masks on (but eventually took them off when they spoke).

■ “OUR INFINITE TALK” CORNER

A “video message” from Koyasu appears as an introduction, though the only thing shown on the video is his mask on top of a table.

Question #1: Since Sk8 is an original anime, you did the acting without knowing how the story would go later on. What development particularly surprised you?

● Koyasu: I didn’t expect that Adam would be THIS amazing as a character. I really loved Adam. (VTR shows Adam in the last ep in his funeral outfit and skateboard)

● Nagatsuka: That Langa is TOO good. I thought it would be a story about Reki and Langa moving up the ladder together, but Reki was eventually left out.

● Hatanaka: I was surprised about what happened to Hiromi getting beaten up later on.

Kobayashi: I was surprised that he would end up getting along with everyone, like he’s gotten the Mom role now.

Midorikawa: He’s indeed gotten cuter towards the end.

Matsumoto: We were talking in the backstage earlier how there would be a spin-off where the Manager falls in love with Shadow (not Hiromi).

Hatanaka: But the Manager was shown with someone else in the last ep

Miyake: I’m sure that’s just one of their relatives!

● Kensho (appearing through a VTR where he’s in his Tadashi outfit): Didn’t expect that Adam and Kikuchi grew up and have lived together since they were little, and that Kikuchi is actually older than Adam. I never thought that I’d ever get to play a role who’s older than Koyasu’s (Note: irl Koyasu is 54, Kensho is 31 yrs old)

Question #2: What about SK8 shocked you the most?

● Matsumoto: I thought SK8 would be more about sports, but it turned out to be really crazy! I honestly thought like, “What the hell is the director thinking?”

● Nagatsuka: I was surprised that even getting off the skateboard is counted. Well, there’s Joe who rode using his hands, which in a way is still considered riding, but Adam got off and even hit someone with a skateboard.

● Hatanaka: And even when someone gets hit the people around were just calm about it like it’s something normal

● Midorikawa: But hitting others is bad! That’d hurt A LOT! Moreover, at first I was thinking that the exhibition moves like Love Hug is impossible irl, but Cherry sometimes would give explanations so that’s interesting and made me think that it might actually be possible.

● Matsumoto: But Joe’s style is really unbelievable! I tried it at home (“Rocket style” but with no skateboard) but it was impossible!

● Director Utsumi (answer is shown on-screen): When I received the first draft written by scriptwriter Ookouchi, I was surprised that Kikuchi answers Adam with “Wan!” in the last ep. (Note: Wan! is a dog sound in Jpn) In the end it was replaced with “Hai! (Yes)”.

*The seiyuu cast then rewatched the scene in the event.

Cast: Now the only thing we can hear is Kikuchi saying, “Wan!”

Question #3: If you can have Carla for a day, what would you ask her to do?

● Hatanaka: I want her to tell me to “Calm down, Hatanaka-san” whenever I get nervous. I want her to get mad or control me. (The cast laughs at his wordings because of the possible implied meanings)

● Kobayashi: I want Carla to guide me because I get lost easily.

Matsumoto: Just use your phone!

Midorikawa: That doesn’t have to be Carla, you know.

● Midorikawa: I want Carla to guide me during recordings, saying things like, “Your next line is coming in 3, 2, 1…” or “For the next line, you should put more emotions”.

Question#4: Which character unexpectedly got more/less screen time?

● Kobayashi: The glasses girl voiced by Hayami Saori. She appears in a few episodes and I thought she would have an important role to play later on, but nothing happened.

● Nagatsuka: I was curious to know more about Harry.

● Hatanaka: I was thinking that Reki actually didn’t skate that much throughout the anime.

● Matsumoto: Midorikawa and I were thinking that Reki doesn’t seem much like a protagonist.

■ LIVE VOICE ACTING CORNER

• Adam asks the seiyuus to reenact the scenes again,
• Reenacted eps:
• #2: Joe-Cherry bickering scene, Langa going to Reki’s garage scene
•  #6: Skating scene when they arrived in Okinawa, Reki-Langa “I will protect you” scene, “Papa” Joe scene
• #8 Shadow vs Snake scene
• #7 Reki-Langa “breakup” scene
• #10 Reki-Miya Hospital scene, Reki-Langa reconciliation scene
• Hatanaka and Kobayashi did the Infinity bump (with proper social distancing)
• The Palm trees aka ED was played/shown at the end of the corner
• Reki and Langa were having a talk after. Langa said that he also wanted to hear Adam’s scenes again. Reki then said that he also wanted to hear the “Love hotel guy” too.

Langa: Ah, Reki you never gave any explanation about the love hotel incident.

Reki: Okay! Let’s just go and impersonate Adam!

Langa: You’re dodging the question.

Reki (imitates Adam’s voice): Langa-kun! Love Hug!

Langa: No Reki, it’s “Love hug” (English accent)

Reki: That’s not the point!

Langa: Okay, I’ll go next (in impersonating Adam). Reki-kun! You’re lovelyyyy!!

Reki: That’s wrong! He’s not gonna say that!

■ LIVE PERFORMANCE CORNER

ASH DA HERO and Yuusuke perform the insert songs.

■ Announcements like Blu-ray and Goods promotion

• Host Club SK8 - Original Drama CD coming out
• Behind the Mask - Adam version coming out
• In the goods corner, Hatanaka took the Reki puppet, waved it and with a tiny voice , “Are you all having fun?”

■ Picture-taking with the audience

■ Farewell greetings

■ ENDING

Reki and Langa again did the voice over as guide at the end of the event. Langa is hungry after the event. When Reki asked him what he wants to eat,

Langa: Poutine, Ramen, Cake, Ice cream, Poutine…

Reki: That’s too much! You should have stopped at Poutine

Langa: Poutine isn’t enough.

In the Evening event, it was announced that sk8 will be having a

• Stage play adaptation
• New anime project

Details to follow!

Photos from Official Accounts

—–

Thanks for reading!

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Tasuku is just Kumon!