#otocoto

*Kenta is referring to actors who work exclusively in theater, as opposed to himself, where he works mostly in dramas and movies and has comparatively less experience in just theater.

Just so everyone knows, this is for the official 2.5D stage and musical program, “What’s 2.5D?”, which streams for free on GYAO!.  For which you will now be the emcee.  

Yes. I never even dreamed that I could be the MC for that, so I’m honestly shocked.  (laughs)  Everyone serves on the program for one year, which airs once a month, on the 25th of every month, so it really is a major role to be the ambassador of that program.  It’s about to be my third year playing Hinata Shouyou in the 2.5D production, Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu, but I’ll be graduating from that in autumn this year. And since I’ve been appointed the new 2.5D ambassador with this timing, I’m going to get really fired up for both Engeki Haikyuu and for 2.5D in general.  

Is this your first time being an emcee?  

The first time I was an emcee, it was for a program that had a segment called “Kenta Lab.” I love talking with other people, but I still have to make sure I do my job conveying information and promotions to make the program run smoothly, and I hope that I’ll mature and grow as the program (What’s 2.5D) runs.  I was really nervous while they were editing the very first recording.  But the guest was Suzuki Hiroki-san, who is a truly extraordinary figure in 2.5D.  We’ve only been in one production together, and even then we were in separate groups despite being in the same show, but just having that shared experience was a huge help when recording that first episode.  When the guest came for that first meeting, I wanted to do my best in my own way to bring out his charm and appeal as well as to instantly pull out the highlights of the shows he’s been in.  

To touch back on an earlier comment, Suga-san, your next show, Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyu – The Start of the Giant, opens very soon on April 28th, will you be giving us all sorts of inside stories from rehearsals etc... that people will only be able to see on “What’s 2.5D?”

Well... In the first “No make-up cast” corner, my fellow Engeki Haikyuu actors, Kageyama Tatsuya-kun, Kosaka Ryoutarou-kun, and Miura Kairi-kun will be joining me.  I hope people will be able to see how close we are and get a nice close-up of our expressions.  Of course over time I’ll be introducing plenty of other productions in that segment other than Engeki Haikyuu, and I think the contents will be such that people might question, “How can this program be free to watch?”  When we finished filming, I wondered if maybe more and more people will be able to see the appeal in the growing world of 2.5D and get into it, if we present something that’s really high quality in that segment.  

Suga-san, for you, your first 2.5D production was the Live Spectacle Naruto show, correct?  

Yes. But I’ve had the opportunity to be in a lot of movies and dramas based on an original work before that.  And since the original manga for Naruto was something that was very familiar to me, even though Live Spectacle Naruto was my very first time being in a 2.5D play, I never felt particularly lost or confused. I think when it comes to movies or dramas, it’s very difficult to stay 100% faithful to the original work.  But in 2.5D productions, it’s very important for hair colors, costumes, and everything to be as close as possible to the original work, and that was astonishing to me and changed even how I thought about things.  

So Live Spectacle Naruto was your very first step into the world of 2.5D.  But Suga-san, you’ve had a long career in the entertainment industry since childhood, so what was a difference that you noticed because of your experience?

The excitement of the audience; I felt that there was a unique passion to them.  I think a lot of people come to the shows really looking forward to how the characters might be portrayed, and having to act while keeping that expectation in mind was a first for me when I was working on Naruto. When you receive the script, as an actor it’s your job to figure out how to flesh out the character on the page, that part doesn’t change.  But to follow the textbook of the original manga, and to try to turn that into one cohesive show, to make them into flesh-and-blood people, there’s a unique difficulty there. You want to do it by the book, but I also thought there’d be no meaning in my acting if that’s all I did.  There’s meaning in how I act it, how I play that character, and no matter the production, that’s something I try to keep in mind.  

How do you handle that balance of knowing just how much of yourself to breathe into that character?

It’s trial-and-error every time, but I think I’m gradually improving how to handle that balance, how to show what I want to show.  On top of that, in very 2.5D fashion, I’ve now grown very accustomed to looking at a drawing, figuring out how to present the awesomeness of what I feel looking at it, and then learning how to pose to turn that single moment into something that can look like a cool photograph.  Until then, in the 3D productions I’ve been in, the situation has mostly been that a third-party perspective then conveys the thoughts and feelings of the actors to the audience.  But in 2.5D productions, it’s so important to draw in the audience into the world of that particular show, and the approach is different, and I think I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can accomplish that.

When you consider that you’ve been playing Hinata Shouyou for 3 years, it really is a considerably long time to spend with a character.  

Absolutely. And Engeki Haikyuu has gone at a pace of one show about every six months, so when you throw in rehearsals, it’s basically all-year round, and my time as Hinata has become overwhelmingly long. In my life right now, I can honestly say that Engeki Haikyuu is at the center of everything.  Of course it’s our job to flesh out the moments that are drawn in the panels of the manga, but lately it feels like my instincts as Hinata and my instincts as Suga Kenta are blending together and it’s showing in how I move and in the lines I speak.  Now I barely have to think really, I just immediately understand how Hinata would do things.  

Suga-san, what sort of person is Hinata Shouyou to you?  

What I’ve thought from the very first show is, he’s a person that shines like the sun. And as the manga has continued, some of his underlying insanity has surfaced too, but as my experience with him has accumulated over the years since that first show, it’s become easier to do his expressions.  What made me really happy was that the manga-ka, Furudate Haruichi-sensei came to see the show, and he said that he took inspiration from my portrayal of Hinata, and that it has influenced the manga at times.  

I think there are many people for whom their first experience with the world of 2.5D started with this show, Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu.  Can you tell us something about the show that we should really pay attention to?  

Engeki Haikyuu is pretty unique even among 2.5D productions, and it has a documentary-type nature*.  The actors are really giving it their all in the movements, we’re sweating, and precisely because of that honesty, there are no lies, and we can genuinely cry on-stage. Even when you read the manga, it makes you wonder if there are other mangas that can convey such meaning with their words.  The words are often quite simple but they’re so powerful.  And because we’re drawing from an amazing original source, the actors can put the same amount of passion into the lines.  Otherwise, without that, I think the lines would become quite hollow and meaningless.  But we go at it single-mindedly, move and work up a sweat, and on top of that we deliver these powerful lines, so I think the audience can feel that energy too. Of course for the actors, it’s really rough and exhausting.  (laughs)

*In the sense that it’s quite realistic.  

Watching it live, the amount of exercise really is incredible.  But acting in that show for 3 years, it seems as though your body would get used to that level of activity...?

Actually, with every new show, it becomes harder than the last.  (laughs)  But in the past several years, stage techniques and engineering have evolved so much that we’ve become able to do more and more things, and we’re constantly thinking of how best we could make use of those new technologies that sometimes we create hurdles for ourselves.  Even for me, when I rewatch the first play, I feel like there were so many ways to have improved that performance-wise, but when it comes to our enthusiasm, that was the maximum we could give at that time.  So I just think, well from here on, we just have to keep getting better.  

I know it’s been announced that you’ll graduate from Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu with the autumn show, but I am looking forward to seeing everything you’ll do as Hinata Shouyou before then.  

This is my first experience playing a single character continuously like this at this level in a short period.  I do think that there’s no meaning in my continuing to play Hinata if I’m not growing and maturing from it.*  And of course, as a show, we’re making it of such quality that audiences will look forward to the curtain rising.  And the cast as a whole, as one, will fight the muscle soreness as we progress through our rehearsal days.  

*Which is why he’s always working hard to improve what he can for himself and for the show  

After this, is there a 2.5D role you’d like to try?  

My Hero Academia and Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou.  I basically look exactly like Agetarou, so I think it would be a perfect fit.  Or I’ve also been told that I look a lot like Shima Tetsuo from Akira.  I also love that production, and I hear rumors that it’s getting a Hollywood remake, so it would be the best if I could play him for that.  I think it would also be easy to recreate the vibe of the world of Akira on stage too.  

It would be wonderful if those dreams could come true during your tenure as 2.5D ambassador. Lastly, here at otoCoto we always ask what your favorite book is, or what book has left a lasting impression on your heart.  What would that be for you, Suga-san?

I don’t mean this to sound like an ad or anything, but it’s Haikyuu.  I have loved that manga from well before I was cast for the play, and I had even considered writing a fan letter to Furudate sensei. Even now in my iPhone memos, I have the rough draft for that letter. (laughs)  Back when I learned the news that Haikyuu was being turned into a stage play, I even wondered on Twitter who would play Hinata.  So that series is very important to me personally.  

The series is currently ongoing, and are you presently checking it every week?

Yes. I’ve always bought the Weekly Shounen Jump every week so Jump is basically my bible.  I’ll say it again, but it really is like a dream that I could play a protagonist from that publication.  

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Interviewer: Katou Hotaru Photography: Mitsuhashi Yumiko Hair & make-up: Kano Noriko Stylist: Tateyama Kou

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Translated by @nimbus-cloud Please do not repost my translations!!!