Team Bucciarati Cast Symposium (Part 1).
Giorno actor Kensho Ono, Bucciarati actor Yuichi Nakamura, Abbacchio actor Junichi Suwabe, Mista actor Kosuke Toriumi, Narancia actor Daiki Yamashita, Fugo actor Junya Enoki, and Trish actor Sayaka Senbongi. Directly confronting Team Bucciarati, having finished dubbing up through the final episode. How do they, who came to journey with Giorno and co., now feel about the characters?
--First, I'd like to congratulate you all on having finished dubbing through to the final episode. I'd like to hear your current, candid feelings, please.
Ono (Below, O): It was close to a year of recording, but really it felt like no time at all. My impression is that are appealing, and so I went to desparate lengths to not lose that appeal.
Suwabe (Below, Su): Abbacchio was retired along the way in Italy, but I still kept up with the work as a viewer. Like in the original work, it was good I got to act for a short bit in the penultimate episode. My state of mind is now, as expected, extremely lonely. I'm filled with the desire to act more. If I could, I'd rewind time, back to the start. The "ariari" and "useless, useless" rushes, I saw them live, you know? If I could use Moody Blues' ability, I'd wanna "replay" it all right right here (laughs).
Senbongi (Below, Sen): (Laughs). It felt really short to me too, and the feeling of loneliness really is immense. The feeling that the desparate, reckless abandon was all over. I joined in Episode 9, so I truly am filled with the feeling that everything was quick.
Nakamura (Below, Naka): When I started, I thought "This has become quite the long series, huh", but having seen the end, it really is short, isn't it? I'd fall asleep during recordings, but even then, it really doesn't feel like we did it for close to a year, does it? There's this feeling that it all really passed by in a moment. Like Suwabe was saying, I feel like I wanna do more, but because of how the original work is, there's for sure no 2nd season. It's something lonesome, isn't it?
Yamashita (Below, Yama): It's this feeling that, every week of recording, I'd be thinking "This time, it's JoJo time", and every next week the loneliness would double. It truly was no time at all, and it being material so incredibly deep all the time, I think it's a work that'll stay in my memories. I don't know what comes after this, but I'd love if I could act again, that's what I believe.
Enoki (Below, E): I'd been thinking "This is gonna be over quickly, isn't it?" from the start (laughs). In total, Fugo only really appears for 1 cour, so he didn't get a lot of screentime. Even within that, my time submerged in JoJo's deep philosophy was pretty short. Fugo is still alive, so it's possible there's an "after all this" for him, I'd like to think.
Toriumi (Below, Tori): Truly, like everyone's been saying, it is a long time when thought about purely objectively; but when it was all completely over, the loneliness quickly and violently grew. Both during recording and after recording, there was this image of a Team within us all, so I think we'd be happy if something blessed us with the chance to come together again.
--Thank you very much. I'd like to hear about how you look back on this long journey up until now. Please tell me the lines and scenes that leave an impression on you, for each character.
O: Doing only famous lines is a bit hard, isn't it? In the end, the Ghiaccio fight's "This is resolve! It is to carve out your destined path through the darkened wastes!" line was my absolute favorite line when I read the original work, it left an impression. Despite completely entering into battle cry territory, I don't really remember anything from my time recording it (laughs).
--It's because the Ghiaccio fight was a considerably violent fight, wasn't it? In an interview in a previous magazine, Toriumi had talked about how recording for the Ghiaccio fight was difficult.
Tori: I guess it's 'cause I was saying that a lot during the fight too. It was a time with quite a lot of especially impactful phrases, you know? As is true with Giorno and Ghiaccio, there's a lot of people with lines that stick in my memory. It's nothing but recollections of moments with high tension, you know? There's not a lot I could say about minor details despite the harsh circumstances we'd gone through, kinda like the characters on-screen I guess.
--It's exactly that feeling of "We just have to get through this!", you know? It's true that Senbongi also liked the Ghiaccio fight, isn't it?
Sen: Yes, I, too, think that fight was another heart-pounding episode. Even though I didn't appear in it, I enjoyed watching it live as a fan. I thought we'd just started, but already, it was on a such a high level, like it was at its end!
Naka: In Giorno's lines leaving impacts on me, I still don't really understand what makes a line famous, except "useless, useless", I guess. The full length of the rush done to Cioccolata in Episode 31 is the longest, but I like the rush done to Diavolo more, since it's hard to make one so reserved.
O: I was able to take short breaths between cuts during the Cioccolata rush. Every 15 or 20 words, there was a short break about the length of one word. But the Diavolo fight's rush was about 45 words, wasn't it? It was without any breathing. That's my absolute weak point (laughs). I knew "This'll never happen again" at the end.
--I thought the Cioccolata fight one was the hardest, that's surprising.
O: That's right. I also had that carelessness of "I've overcome the one before, so this should be fine, right?". When the dubbing director said no more breathing, I thought "no way"....
Naka: Doing the same tone the whole time isn't very good, you know? It's also the tension, and how it ends.
Tori: The end needs to have the highest stakes, so there's that final push of power to make the breaths the strongest.
Naka: I think it was very considerably difficult.
Su: As one would expect, I didn't learn any special breathing techniques. I was wearing a dental correction mask (laughs).
--Did you guys learn breathing techniques?
O: I tried (laughs).
Everyone: (Laughs).
O: Anyways, Giorno happens to say "Is this guy invincible?" a lot, and that left quite the impression on me. Usually when he confronts enemies, he'd always initially believe that they're "invincible" (laughs).
Su: And then that turns into him beating the shit out of them.
O: It's hit-or-miss, Giorno's invincibility declaration (laughs).
--Even in the Ghiaccio fight he says "There's no weakness to his ice".
Tori: But Ghiaccio felt truly invincible, didn't he?
Sen: That's absolutely right (laughs).
Yama: He was really tough.
--Continuing on, what are Bucciarati's impactful scenes?
Naka: Having seen the whole thing, it's Episode 1 and Episode 2, isn't it? I'd say his character is a bit different there. Episode 38 and Episode 39 are drawn as a prequel to Episode 1, but I thought "...man, this isn't related to Episode 1 at all" (laughs).
Su: You bastard! What are you trying to say?!
Naka: No no, I had absolutely no intention to insult Araki-sensei (laughs)! Having seen the whole series, every character goes on to change within the story. That's true for even the whole cast of Parte 5, but I think Bucciarati's is especially remarkable.
Tori: I'm sure he knew about the organization's drugs just before meeting Giorno in Episode 1, shouldn't those be desparate circumstances (laughs)?
Naka: No yeah! Absolutely (laughs).
Tori: Speaking of Bucciarati's famous lines, there's Episode 20's "Evil makes me sick". Even in the 2nd OP, that Bucciarati scene is so good.
Su: Him sticking to his own justice even while being in a gang is so cool, isn't it?
Sen: Episode 21's boat platform's "I want to walk my own Believed Path!" line is also etched in my mind.
Tori: Episode 30's conversation in the car is cool as well. It felt like I finally understood. I (Mista) was sleeping (laughs).
Yama: Wasn't it because he'd bled a lot (laughs)?
Su: Regarding famous lines, there's also some in the Prosciutto & Pesci fight, aren't there?
Naka: Lines like "Are you ready? I certainly am." are smoothly said in these cool small-ish panels in the manga. But, as expected, everyone remembers it strongly, so the anime directs it into a short scene that stands out. It was different when it was done in the manga; the anime adapts it according to the current readers' interpretations, so the direction changes a bit, which I think is interesting, you know?
Abbachio takes jabs at everything?!
--Now, what did you guys think of Abbachio?
Su: When Abbachio debuts, he plans to make Giorno drink something awful; he started by making the viewers say things like "what's this guy up to?", but by the end, appreciation for him shot through the roof, didn't it? At least I hope so (laughs). His partner police officer that lost his life, completely betraying the sense of justice to protect that lay within his own heart. That left very deep wounds in me, that he came to decide that Finishing the Job is important. While finishing the orders he'd received, he brought only kindness to the children.... Midway, he meets a regretful end, however I felt like Abbachio's soul was saved. I think Episode 28, with its anime-original direction, was an incredibly spectacular episode.... That being said, does the partner even have any memorable lines?
Naka: (Laughs). It's because Abbacchio had stopped talking along the way.
Su: I also wanted to say good things about Abbacchio (laughs). Out of his few fights, his thug kicks in Pompeii are amazing, you know? After that, there's also the part in Episode 22 where he waits for the other members before punching and kicking.
Yama: That one leaves a great impression! You think he's just drinking wine, then in the next cut, he's already adding to the violence.
Tori: He seems like he's not gonna join in, but then he does.
Su: Him going about his business like a cool-headed adult, while thinking "You too?!" is funny.
Sen: He's just a rascal (laughs).
O: Me seeing Narancia pissing and saying "That's gross!" was shocking.
Yama: I also said "Has he become perverted?!".
O: When Giorno was receiving the "tea" treat from Abbacchio, I thought "so that's why I say that?" (laughs).
Su: That probably completely threw all the viewers for a loop too (laughs).
Yama: Abbacchio's got a lot of inconsistencies, doesn't he?
Su: There's all kinds of contradictions. He's only human.
O: That's what it means to move forward though, right?
Su: True, true (laughs).
O: Also, Moody Blues' shoulder section being grabbed and it stretching is memorable. I wanna try touching it a bit.
Su: That surprised me. It having a slippery texture and sexy form is Moody Blues' appeal, isn't it? I once thought, "It's plain compared to other Stands, huh", but this time I came to like it a lot due to the anime adaptation. Everyone, please don't pick on its weakness (laughs).
Tori: It's not weak. It wasn't overwhelmed when it came to Man in the Mirror, right?
Su: Man in the Mirror used almost all its energy dragging him into the Mirror World; its attack power is basically zero, so--. I hear that Abbacchio would be stronger fighting directly than Moody Blues (laughs).
O: Its sounds are also impactful, aren't they?
Su: It's designed a bit retro, right? Especially the colors it was given for the anime, I feel that Moody Blues' Stand Ability became deeply memorable.
--Next is about Mista.
Tori: Mista is someone who has a huge difference between first impressions and mid-battle, you know? Cool and calm, the difference between his ability to hold his spirit during a battle, and his normal form is insane; I think acting as him was also fun. Definitely a well-spoken person, but I don't know if he comes to leave much of an impression at all.... The Ghiaccio fight leaves an impression, but.... Ah, I'd say Giorno is full of greatness.
O: How many times did I shout "Mista"?
Su: They call out to each other a lot in the Ghiaccio fight. Mista came to appreciate Giorno quickly, didn't he?
Naka: Watching the anime adaptation again, his Ability's chemistry is good too, you know? The bullets are live rounds, so they're given life. That wasn't possible with an Ability like (Part 3's) Hol Horse.
Tori: Hol Horse's gun is a Stand though. Meaning it's gonna be all the characters trying to have a back-and-forth with each other in a very human way, you know? That kind of thing leaves an impression on me, you get me?
--In Episode 14, there's also a heart-pounding scene with Fugo and Trish.
Tori: I think it's an age-appropriate back-and-forth.
E: I forget, they're both teens, right? So-- (laughs).
Tori: They're both adolescents, right? That kind of gap is great for certain characters, it's extremely interesting.
Su: It's not just Mista, acting out all of Sex Pistols too seemed very difficult.
Naka: With that much dialogue, I had a thought for a second, like "wouldn't it be better with different cast members?" (laughs).
Tori: But if that were the case, there'd be about 2 episodes without any of my acting in it (laughs). After Mista's done-in, the Pistols keep going.
Naka: And that's important (laughs).
Tori: Until then, I think there weren't many Stands that could talk, so it was difficult, but it was fun. The Stand wasn't only talking with Mista, it also talks with other people.
Yama: The crybaby is No.5, right? It was so, so cute. I like that No.5 perseveres. Having that kind of will is cute, you know?
Sen: Begging for lunch, that's a bit odd of it, isn't it?
Tori: Mista and the Pistols are like parent and child (laughs).
What causes fluctuations in character popularity?!
--Continuing on with Narancia, please.
Yama: When talking to everyone normally, he's just a dumb kid who can't do basic math, but during battle he becomes this amazing genius who's quick-thinking, which is memorable. It's true for the Formaggio battle, but also I felt that he holds a certain potential to switch up his behavior in the Squalo & Tizzano fight. And as expected, more than anyone else, even Bucciarati, I feel that he's a kid who thinks greatly of his friends. He was able to discover that his own reason for living is just "To be here", and the scene where he swims by crawling through the canal was incredibly memorable. Narancia was able to take that first step towards making choices himself, but I don't think it started with that scene, you know? Saying "I want to decide myself" to Bucciarati, going from "I'll make the orders for you" to "I won't make the orders for you", that's incredibly intense, isn't it? I felt that too with the original work, but I greatly enjoy that scene.
--I felt that the power of that scene's art is also strong.
Yama: It was an anime adaptation, so there was also originality in the greatness of the acting, you know? Speaking of acting, the scene in the Formaggio fight when the colors change was incredibly moving. The fire becomes purple, and the music changes with it, it's so incredibly cool. I really love everyone on the "JoJo" staff, I feel it's the kind of acting where they put this incredible fighting spirit into it when making it.
Naka: I think Narancia's coolest scene is in the 1st OP.
Yama: (Spreading arms) this?
E: A self-runway!
Su: Narancia tends to fight alone.
Tori: He always goes into battle alone.
Naka: The times he takes the lead are long, aren't they?
Yama: That's right, always yelling, always battling while monologuing, he was truly restless. My mind never caught up with his (laughs).
--In the Squalo & Tizzano fight, when he's manipulated by Talking Head, and having trouble monologuing, was that recorded separately?
Yama: Within the flow of things, we recorded them just after. We did the beginning where he's being manipulated more such that it wouldn't give anything away, but the acting came out more like "I feel that I can easily tell he's lying". It turned into that kind of acting where it feels a bit robotic and like I'm being forced to say what I'm saying, so I think the viewers could easily tell. But, like you'd expect, it was difficult. And I myself came to not even understand what I was saying....
Su: Narancia was the saddest and most violent when Abbacchio died, which raised his likability.
Everyone: (Laughs).
O: You're just acting out the feelings of the other characters, right?
Tori: We're definitely sad too. And with Bucciarati, blood flowed when it shouldn't have, right (laughs)?
Naka: The leftover blood definitely left the body illogically. It's because there's people bawling their eyes out, isn't it? That's how he wanted to cry (laughs)!
Everyone: (Laughs).
Yama: After all, they go through a lot in a short amount of time, so I think it's easy for them to grow close to each other. Narancia died regretfully.... He wanted to go to school....
E: That phrase, that's his role exactly, isn't it?
Yama: I thought, "Don't speak"! The spirits had swapped, so Kensho said the line.
O: I also thought "I really don't wanna say this".
Yama: Through the Squalo & Tizzano fight, he'd finally become good friends with Giorno, and when he began to see all sorts of futures for himself... it was all so abrupt.... I thought "Araki-sensei...". Cruel, this world is....
--Continuing on, how about Fugo?
E: Fugo, in not having a lot of lines in the original work, was given some extra ones. Even the scene where he doesn't board the boat like anyone else, there's "You can't be a righteous fool". And from that line, "While I understand that going into battle for the sake of our own justice and everyone not forgiving The Boss is righteous, I can't go with you", the pain in that felt very human. I think I probably wouldn't go either. Everyone, rushing into battle thinking we're gonna die, I get the feeling I'd wanna go with them but I think I wouldn't wanna go. I think about things like Narancia being granted spaghetti to eat, and Fugo having that "my own righteousness" thing, but, expectedly, the idea that life is irreplaceable is my human weakness. But, Fugo breaks away, and if you thought "Man, in the next episodes, everyone's gonna be real sad", you'd be sorely mistaken (laughs).
Naka: They start eating food like normal.
Sen: It was like "They reaaaly lack guts", you know?
E: They do eat, don't theyyy! (Laughs). But then, in the original work's "The G in Guts" illustration, Fugo's casually just hangin' out. It made me a bit sad.
Tori: At the end of Episode 21, there's the lines "That bastard Fugo, he didn't come, did he?" and "Well, to each their own", so I guess it can't be helped (laughs).
E: It's not that "It can't be helped"! I wanted to dig a bit deeper into the "He's got a lot going on, huh...." aspect! Everyone's likability has sunk below mine (laughs).
Everyone (Laughs).
O: You're a bit like Fugo's ability, huh.
Yama: Maybe he doesn't die.
E: Also the snake blood, shouldn't they have used that in a lot of scenes? Then again, the reason Fugo's left out was written after the original work; I read that and thought "I guess it can't be helped".
--Everyone else, what about impactful Fugo scenes?
Yama: ...Violence?
Everyone: (Laughs).
Yama: He starts by stabbing straight through a cheek with a fork, so-.
Naka: That wound, it healed immediately, didn't it?
Yama: Narancia recovers from his wounds immediately.
Su: Because he's young (laughs).
Yama: Good metabolism (laughs).
Su: And so when he apologies, he's immediately forgiven (laughs).
Yama: It's because people who are given spaghetti to eat are good people I guess.
E: When Narancia died, he was in harmony with Fugo for a short shot. In the end, the two of them have a special bond, don't they?
O: In the end, it's him losing his temper that's memorable. It's things like his muttering in the car headed towards Pompeii in Episode 12.
E: I ad-libbed that.
Su: He seems like the one with the most common sense, but I feel the truth is he's the most dangerous.
Yama: I don't really get what sets him off.
Tori: Gone crazy even in his memories.
E: Beats the shit out of his teacher with a dictionary.
Naka: Fugo is... "pure gang" I guess (laughs).
Everyone: (Laughs).
Tori: I excuse it as self-defense.
Naka: Bucciarati also comes to kill in order to protect his father, so-. Fugo, he would've been fine if he ran away, but he faced him himself. Also the scene where he snaps was added and is anime original.
E: He's 100% gang, isn't he (laughs)?
Yama: The part where he's losing his shit over wiping Trish's hands with his clothes also sticks in memories.
E: That's another original shit-losing scene, isn't it? I'd like to thank everyone for pouring their great love into this.
Yama: On the other hand, he also partook in the dance.
E: It's good he went along with it.
Tori: It's because he's the oldest on the team, isn't he?
E: He's the oldest. But the part where he doesn't join them, that's good too, isn't it?
--Now, please end with Trish.
Sen: She has a lot of lines that leave an impact. Like Spice Girl's "It's harder to break than diamond". The Notorious B.I.G fight is a battle that really just goes through the motions. I put fighting spirit in, and then it felt like a switch had flipped. It was the time I had the Resolve to keep up with everyone. Trish brings out her Stand and fights the battle, but I truly only think the Stand comes out when she's in an emergency, right? I don't know how the Stand could ever appear after that when Trish is just living her life.
So, I get a strong sense that she lives in a bit of a different place than everyone else. I don't know what I should say.... Maybe that the sense that she's a "girl" is strong. And she worries about Narancia's wounds, really there's a lot of places where she "feels ordinary", you know? On the other hand, I think everyone's characters are unique, aren't they? The story itself takes place over a short amount of time, but since meeting them, she's able to form relationships with each and every person in such a short time, which was memorable.
--Trish in particular, I get the impression that she was drawn going through the process of growing sequentially.
Sen: That's right, isn't it? It doesn't show up much when she's in a fight, but I think she was politely drawn to be someone who changes little-by-little.
Naka: As expected, the part where Mista's spirit is swapped leaves an impression on me. More than any other swap, the one relating to those two had a "sex barrier" as a hurdle.
Tori: Trish's words, I was speaking them for her. During breaks, I was told by the Sound Director (Yoshikazu) Iwanami, "It's like you went to the wrong audition" (laughs).
Sen: You were told that, weren't you (laughs)? The feeling of "Oh we messed up bad". He absolutely does not accept it.
Tori: In the swapping scene, it wasn't just us two; everyone was having a back-and-forth on "How should we speak normally?". In practice, we showed each other how we were doing things so we had common grounds, you know?
Sen: Looking back on the broadcasted episodes, I compared the nuance in Toriumi's Mista lines to the lines I say as Mista. I think I adjusted according to those when I went in for dubbing.
Naka: Those turned into Mista episodes (laughs).
Sen: Ah, that's true, isn't it?! (laughs)
Su: Regarding Trish, as expected Spice Girl is something about her I just can't forget, you know?
Naka: Spice Girl's introduction is around the Notorious B.I.G fight, right?
Tori: After that, doesn't it only show up briefly in the Diavolo fight?
Sen: Actually, Toriumi says "Spice Girl" more than I do, doesn't he? (laughs) I only say it 1 time, when it's activated. Spice Girl comes out from me, so I should be saying its name myself.
Tori: I make it activate 2 times.
Sen: "That's fiiine", I thought while watching it (laughs).
O: Come to think of it, Mista talks the most, doesn't he? And Gold Experience also said "I'm speaking on Giorno's behalf".
Tori: Saying the human's name like it's a Stand's (laughs).
The rush in the Diavolo fight was about 45 words without breathing. (Ono)
I feel like Giorno said things filled with greatness (Toriumi)
I wanted to cry so much (during Abbachio's death)! (Nakamura)
There was a wondrous bond between Fugo and Narancia, wasn't there? (Enoki)
Toriumi said "Spice Girl" more than I did. (Senbongi)
Part 2 is on P88!