#ko interviews

mofu note: they were speaking fast, laughing and overlapping all the time i couldn't get everything. this is like ~85% of the long TTFC ver. The Gira/mie is strong in this one.

Kaku-san is hosting this time (thank them for letting Taisei off the hook)

Aoto/Yanma can't join because of schedule conflicts. He wrote a detailed memo with timestamps that Yuzuki will read out for him

[ep27 Recap]

So praised the narration and Masashi the bgm.

Erica noted the tonal shift between ep27's desolation and ep28's shenanigans.

They were all impressed by Dugded's CG universe in ep27. The visuals are more than anything they can imagine just from the script alone.

Erica asked if wire work was hard for Taisei. He said he was hung up for a whole day and his waist hurt.

Everyone calling for Aoto when Yanma shows up on screen.

Everyone going "ara" when Himeno shows up.

Everyone clapping for Kaguragi.

Masashi: *claps table* Objection! Why am I the only one injured here?! Everyone is so cool but I'm all beat up!

So: So you want to complain? Please, face the camera.

Masashi: *looks to front* I have a complaint!

Taisei: Even if you're beat up, it's a beautiful sight. (lit. idiom: beautiful like a painting)

Everyone: Ara!

Masashi: Ara... Thank you. How nice of you. ;D

Erica: Kamihori-san said so too :) (in the roundtable with Takamina and ⚙🕸)

[Dugded's room]

So: That was when the Five Jesters only had four members.

Erica: I kept wondering what that transparent sphere is.

Masashi: Balance ball.

Erica: But it's transparent?

Taisei: *loading* Yeah, it is.

(mofu note: KOPN28 said the transparent effect is achieved by incomplete composition from the green props. They are wrapped in plastic for a different reflection rate with the green background so a semi-transparent effect can be achieved.)

Taisei: What's everyone's favourite jester?

So, Taisei, Yuzuki: Goma.

Masashi: Minnogan

Erica: Glodi

[Sleeping Angel]

🦋🕸⚙🏵 STOP!!!

🐝: What?!!!

Aoto Memo #1: Kaku-san's first cut as Himeno: an angel's sleeping face (寝顔天使)

So: He's praising me? *waves around* Thank you, Aoto! Thank you, Aoto! *finger heart*

Masashi: Wait, does Himeno smile in her sleep too?

So: Well, it's not written but they told me to do what I like so that's my image of her.

Erica: It's like she had a nice dream.

[Honeybee stretch] caption: んっ❤

Taisei: *wake-up stretch* I also like your wake-up stretch.

Masashi: How did you come up with that?

So: Image. She looks like she will say something like that.

Erica: *wake-up stretch* So not a "hnnnnnnnnn" but just "hn"? 

Masashi: the "hn" comes after the stretch? *Masashi & Yuzuki mimics*

Aoto Memo #2: Kaku-san's Himeno, first time we see her first breath in the morning. Fishy but too cute, I forgive him. (初発生初吐息 / あざといけど可愛いすぎて / 許しちゃう自分がいる)

Masashi: He loves this scene!

Yuzuki: He gave me the memo but it's pretty much all Kaku-san XD

So: Thank you, Aoto! *does Aoto's favourite pose and Yuzuki follows*

So noted it's the first time we see Kaguragi's sleepwear.

[高飛車娘]

The cast didn't understand the Chikyu script on Kaguragi's phone for Himeno as well. Erica heard from Mizuma-san (head maid) what it means when they went for a meal together.

So: Isn't it awesome the fans can decode that?

Taisei: What does it actually mean...?

Erica & So: *villainess evil laugh hand* Someone who looks down on others.

(mofu note: 高飛車 [たかびしゃ] is a Japanese Chess [shogi] technical term that lends into describing a domineering person.)

Yuzuki: the maids jumped when you stomp on the floor

Erica: Sebas got rounder too.

So: When did I ever slap my thighs??

Erica: That was Kamihori-san's idea.

[Rita's first Skapon Tanuki]

So noted Rita was barefoot in the first scene.

Yuzuki: Yanma said I did a nice Skapon Tanuki

So: Did he write it down? It's your own part, you need to pause it and read it properly.

Yuzuki: I thought we don't have to pause for this. He just said "Rita's first Skapon Tanuki. Nice Skapon Tanuki."

[Yanma's Rita scream]

Yuzuki: (paused anyway) OK, this pause is just right. He overdid it. I don't roll my eyes or tremble. XD

[GiraJera]

They all said GiraJera is super similar, esp. the voices.

The "Tyrant King! King of In-betweens!" exchange is not in the script according to Taisei.

So mentioned Jera-in-Gira checks out his right arm and Taisei laughed embarrassingly, looking over to Yuzuki and said he practised Jeramie's hand movements.

Yuzuki: Wait wait wait. This happened that morning at the entrance of the studio. When I was coming back to the studio, Taisei was coming the other way. He keeps doing Jeramie's hand. *mimics Taisei mimics Jeramie's tosa hand*.

Taisei: I was practising this scene. "'This means...' Ah it's Yuzuyan."

[OP]

They noticed the OP narration changed from 5 to 6 countries and "man who would become king" became "rebel warriors".

[Rita sitting down]

So: Rita's new pose sitting down is a big surprise too. It's quite different from what we've seen so far.

Yuzuki: I was waiting for the cameras to get ready. Because the sword is so heavy, I put it down and leaned on it to wait. They told me it's alright to sit down for a bit, and that ended up in the OP.

Masashi: That pose is cool.

So: It fits Rita's character.

[Jeramie's throne]

Masashi: What do you guys think of the throne? Is it cool? 

Team: Cool! Congrats! *claps*

But I have another complaint.

Yuzuki: You only have complaints? >v<

So: It's alright, let's hear it.

Masashi: My throne is just a green box* and a green screen, and then I have to pretend sitting on it all majestically. You all have an actual throne.

So: Aoto is not here right now, but he even has a PC desk! XD

(*箱馬 Hakouma = standardized wooden boxes for blocking in theatre, english term: apple box)

Aoto memo #3: "After the opening during sponsor intros, the stacking shugods are cute, I like it."

Masashi: *leans in closer* God Kamakirki's claws are cute like this. *mimics kamakiri claws*

Erica: It always does that, behind the throne too. *mimics kamakiri claws*

Taisei: Aoto is detail-oriented to see that.

Erica: The shugods look like they get along.

[Dumbbell]

So: Kaguragi and Himeno are arguing about the dumbbell in this scene, but over here (Yanma & Rita) something's happening too. This scene is always fun to watch and rewatch every time.

Yuzuki: Gira and Jeramie's reaction is fun to watch too. *confused about how to call Jera-in-Gira, Masashi corrects her* Gira-in-Jera is always *mimics Gira's wide-eyed confusion* and behind him is like *mimics Jeramie's open arms*

Taisei: We filmed more footage than usually needed for this scene.

So: The director let us act freely in this scene so it came out fun.

Taisei: Yes, everyone got to show their personality.

Erica: Right. We were like playing around.

Masashi: We were enjoying ourselves too much, weren't we?

Erica: It was very chaotic at first, during table read.

So: Right, Kamihori-san told us to act freely. He instructed us one-by-one what mannerisms to pay attention to as another character.

Erica: The dumbbell wasn't in the script at first. 

Masashi: Was Kaguragi ever a bodybuilder?

So: No, but he's a power-type character and we want to show that. We thought of slicing the throne in half, but that's impossible of course. Takada Masashi-san (Spider Kumonos SA) suggested the dumbbell.

Erica: Tera-san (Teramoto Shugo, Hachi Ohger SA) said it should fly away.

16:51 Masashi/Yuzuki ???

So: Does Rita do the Moffun chirps themself?

Yuzuki: Rita does, but here was Aoto's improvisation on set. 

(mofu note: Yuzuki keeps using 勝手に to describe Aoto. a little bit accusing that he's doing all these by himself (light-hearted of course), as she later revealed that Aoto didn't discuss with her at all how to portray Rita. It fits with Aoto's style that he prefers the on-set chemistry and doesn't discuss much with the N'kosopa team as well.)

So: Why does Himeno have a second dumbbell when the first one is swept away?!

17:27 Yuzuki & So: *mimics Ootono-sama arm in sync*

[🤔Kaguragi vs. Himeno]

Erica: I don't quite understand (the nuance of) Kaku-san's chin-touching gesture so I asked the director. He said that was touching his beard. But Himeno sometimes touches the tip of her chin when thinking too, so I need to open my thumb and forefinger wider (to grab my whole chin).

Yuzuki: *laughing under her breath*

Erica: What?

Masashi: Don't just laugh sneakily.

Yuzuki: No! XD Taisei is saying in a small voice, "it feels nice to rub the stubs" XD Only I heard him. He keeps muttering something like "じょりじょり" right next to my ear! XD

Taisei: I just resonated with the scene.

So: Right, when the beard grows back a little.

[Erica's ad-lib: "Muscles to protect the people!"]

Masashi: The legendary line is here.

So: Mari is awesome for reacting to my ad-lib so quickly. She asked me if there are more exercises than just the bicep curl, and I said the side raise. She asked, "Then what muscles does this train?" "I'm not sure..."

Then filming started... no, that was during the test, she answered "Muscles to protect the people!"

Erica: The truth is I forgot the names of the arm muscles.

Taisei: I was next to Kamihori-san. He said, "Genius."

Erica: Well, this is the fruit of everyone's hard work.

Yuzuki: this shot when everyone switched to serious mode when the enemy shows up is cool.

Erica too focused in playing Kaguragi her elbow was scratched by the shugoddom chair's handle.

Aoto memo #4: "Rita's line "Been waiting for you" is super cool I want to say it. Jealousy Brasieri."

Yuzuki: *faces camera* Um. Aoto. Can you not do a silly pun in a letter? I am the one who has to read it out.

Taisei: Somehow I can see and hear that in Aoto's voice and his expression.

That line is added on set by Kamihori. Yanma had beef with Goma because he attacked N'kosopa in ep27.

cap: no naming sense.

Erica: I love this line, it's very Himeno-like.

So praised Masashi's hensin is very Gira-like.

cap: kaku henshin

They love Kaku-san's As-Himeno henshin they go back and watch it again.

So: Actually I wanted to click the Kamikiri switch, but only the Hachi works so my face is "whatever 😠"

Yzy: Your gesture is like a praying mantis leg too.

Mss: I want this as a Line stamp.

22:24 🏵🕸🦋 mimics "もう!"

[Moffun pat]

So: What's up with patting Moffun and the pon pon sound?

Yuzuki: Usually I'll do the pon pon sound too, but this is all Aoto's idea here. "I can't always just hold Moffun in my hand." So he asked the prop master to pin it onto him. There isn't a pocket on his jacket. "Will it stay if I pat it?" He didn't do the Moffun pat in the test though, just the actual take.

cap: mari henshin

Erica: This is me trying my best to bring about that physique after the director told me to observe Kaku-san. My inner thighs ended up hurting a lot because of the squats. But that was good exercise for blood circulation so any swelling is gone now.

[J!Gira's shiso kourai]

Taisei added an "Ahh~ ああ~っ❤" in post-recording, Masahi said if it was him, it would've been "Uhn~"

Taisei: But you can barely hear it in the final product thought. It got covered up by the sound effects. *holds imaginary crown above head* /kachaan! Ahh~

Kaku: (when Spider Kumonos hugs Gira from behind) Your voices here are too similar!

Aoto memo #5: これYanmaであり平川結月 いいね (This is Hirakawa Yuzuki with Yanma mixed in. Good.)

Aoto memo #6

そうね仕方ないね やつは

だめだ我慢できない言わしてくれ

可愛い... ♡

Right... There's no other way... He is....

No, I can't keep it in anymore, let me say it:

Kawaii... ♡

So: He was holding it in the whole time?? Was he? Thank you, Aoto. *finger heart*

[The boys' love gossips]

Masashi: I'm feeling kinda jealous... I was the first one to call Kaku-san kawaii! AOTO!!!

Taisei, Yuzuki, Erica: It has started...

Masashi: It's too much of an inside joke. >D<

So: The love triangle?

Taisei: a real tug of war... (ガチガチ)

Masashi: Aoto and I both like So-chan.

So: And that Taisei and Masashi are dating?

Taisei & Masashi: *nods* Yes.

Masashi: We're clear now?

So: It seems so. Either way, we can always cut out this part.

[ohsama walk]

So: look at Rita's radiant smile!

Masashi: Yeah, it's Yanma.

Yuzuki: Right, because he's plotting something. Look, look, he's up to no good.

Masashi: The set was filled with laughter here. This scene is too interesting.

Erica: (Kaku-san is) skipping too.

So: Does Himeno skip when walking?

Masashi: No, right?

Erica: demo sebas ha two step de skip suru kara...  [??? no idea what she's talking about]

So: So it's not impossible?

Erica: Maybe once rarely. She is also a good dancer.

So: Maybe if she is too happy.

[H!Kagu in Toufu]

Erica: Kamakiri is kawaii with Scorpi.

Erica loves Kaku-san copying Himeno's habitual hand gestures.

a section mute for spoilers (week filming ep38)

The fan is actually (already) broken in half for this scene

[Y!Rita releases Nkosopa prisoners]

Taisei: That's like Yanma.

So & Masashi: That's like Hirakawa Yuzuki.

Yuzuki: Yeah, the high-five is not in the script.

Yuzuki: Here it comes. He overdid the scream.

[Jera-Gira square scene]

Yuzuki pointed out it's a nice distinction that Gira-in-Jera turns back first hearing his name is called. Taisei replied that it's Kamihori's instruction. They loved the scene of the two's back.

(J!Gira says thank you when the woman clarified she is worried for instead of about the bugnarok)

Masashi: a good expression. a good expression.

[Staff: How do Taisei & Masshi achieve such good acting?]

Masashi: "What would Gira do?" "What would Jeramie do?"...

Taisei: We discussed it in length until the actual filming day.

Masashi: And we did the voice tuning together too!

Taisei: I asked him to repeat his lines for me...

Masashi: And he would mimic it from there on.

Taisei: Maybe we actually switched.

(Staff: Even the angles of head tilt are similar)

Taise: Yes. We incorporated each other's unique features.

(mofu note: they are literally finishing each other's sentences)

Masashi: Because we're close! 

Taisei: That's the reason?

So: Because you two are dating?

Masashi: Yes, because we're dating!

Taisei: *picks up Masashi's hand* Right. It's out of frame, but we're actually holding hands.

*cast wheeze* *Masashi tried to hit Taisei on the head but he blocked it*

Masashi: That's right. Because we're dating!

Taisei: Apologies. *bows*

Masashi: Because we became good friends with each other, we can give that performance without talking. It's like we actually switched. That's the story.

So: Next time when you're asked what you like about your fellow cast, you can just mimic it.

Taisei & Masashi: Yes.

Masashi: Even the little details.

Taisei: Even the tiny details? Every nook and cranny?

Masashi: That's enough for now!

Yuzuki: okay, okay, let's move on ^o^"

[Honeybee 2]

Masashi, So like that Himeno had to get hands-on and improved Toufu's medical care.

The wasabi used is a high-class one, worth 2,000yen each. Three were prepared. Yoshimitsu-san (Sebas) told them at the end of the day not to waste it and it was distributed among the crew.

Taisei squeezed his eyes to figure out if the river background is composite. It's LED wall.

Good wasabi only grows in good water so the crop is suitable for Ishabana where water is an important design element.

(Putting down the wasabi root on Sebastian's tray) Erica: It's important to inject that power into my movements.

So: I like the "sore ha nani yori" line after here.

[Yanma & Rita's prisoner hamster wheel]

Yuzuki: No really, everyone is having such a touching scene, what ARE we doing?! Gira and Jeramie moved forward peace between humans and bugnaroks. Himeno and Kaguragi understood each other better and with a touching piano bgm too. What ARE we doing? It's meaningless to just send prisoners back and forth. Why did our relationship become worse?

Erica: For the two of you, arguing is proof that you are friends with each other. 

Yuzuki: These two synced on the wrong channel. "What ARE we doing?!" Yanma said so too.

Aoto memo #6: "What are we doing?!"

They all laughed at Yanma's exasperated sigh picking up the phone.

[Baka Ninja]

They like the "idiot ninja" line and Yuzuki said it's actually corrected in dubbing. The original line is something like "It's back". Since Rita has their mouth covered, it's easy to correct their lines in post.

(mofu note: I remember Yuzuki said something similar but I forgot the source. Sometimes her lines are cut for the same reason too, just because the director thinks it's cooler if Rita doesn't speak there.)

[Final fight]

Erica's second Kaguragi henshin is her second take. She kinda overdid it the first time, it looked a bit silly.

They can't distinguish who yelled "お待だせ" for Gira and Jeramie.

Masashi: (when they switch back) Gira's laughter here is cute. "A ha ha".

Finisher: cool

[BAAN vs. Bang!]

Masashi: That BAAN is not me at all! I'm certain! This is Tai-pi's Baang.

So: How do you usually say it then?

Masashi: Just Bang! (shorter, less blunt)

Taisei: No, I said it in an earlier take!

Masashi: You did. The one you couldn't quite get right.

Taisei: When I'm doing the "Bang!", it doesn't quite sound like Jeramie. But in the end, I went with the version that gives it his all for the "Bang"

(mofu note: i rmb seeing the same comment on jp twitter. they say Gira's is バーン (katakana) and Jeramie's is Bang! (english))

[Assassination]

Masashi: The madness in Morfo's expression is incredible.

Masashi: Mari, how many times did you get hit?

Erica: At first I was supposed to get hit four times, but to sync with the others' timing, it got cut down to two times.

Aoto memo #7: "23:04 The kings have fallen?! What will happen next?!"

They filmed this scene multiple times so everyone falls at the same time.

Yuzuki: Shiokara's bat is too fast and I only have one eye, it's hard to give reaction to that.

[AFTERTALK]

Erica is surprised to find out everyone agrees on what they find interesting.

Masashi mentioned they had doubts and worries when they first received the script, but they enjoyed it a lot. The director told them that it's going to be a hard episode to film, especially for Erica, all mysteriously before handing them the script, so she felt a bit of pressure there. During table read, Kamihori was the most tense. They mixed up who speak which lines that led to lots of laughs. That in turn gave them a bit of confidence, because they were worried the comedic bits were not gonna hit.They also learn to understand a character different from their own better.