Disclaimer: The following article is a non-profit fan translation, all .hack title series are owned by CyberConnect 2 and Bandai Namco Entertainment, please buy .hack//20th Anniversary Book and support the official release!!!. You can buy it on Amazon or any online store.
.hack//20th Anniversary Book -Interview- Translation
(P.158-161)
Special Interview Project #4
Listen to President Matsuyama
The voice actor Atsuko Enomoto with .hack and CyberConnect 2
We asked the voice actress Atsuko Enomoto, who has been in contact with President Matsuyama over the years since the .hack series, about her memories of the series.
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Atsuko Enomoto
She’s responsible for voicing Mistral (.hack), A-20 (.hack//SIGN), Puchiguso (.hack//SIGN), Aina (.hack//G.U.), Michiru Tajima (.hack//G.U.), B Set (.hack//Roots), and Michiru Tajima (.hack//Last/Online Jack). She is also the host/personality for “.hack//G.U. RADIO Haseo Set”.
Matsuyama: For our .hack 20th-anniversary interview, I’d like to talk with Atsuko Enomoto, the voice actress who plays Mistral and many other characters, and we can also call her Aachan. In this day and age, we don’t get to meet her very often, but I’ve been following her activities on social networking sites (SNS/Media Social).
Enomoto: Thank you very much, but it’s been 20 years already. That’s amazing. In .hack, I played so many roles including Mistral, Aina, B-set, A-20, and Puchiguso (Grunty).
Matsuyama: I’m sorry to call you “Petit Guso” (laughs). The game itself was released 20 years ago, but the voice recording was done much earlier, more than a year before the release, so it’s been a long time. With the .hack series expanding beyond games, you also became the host for the radio show.
Enomoto: I worked on .hack//G.U. RADIO Haseo set with Takahiro Sakurai. Before that, we did .hack Radio Show called “Sumisumi Night” with Masumi Asano and Ayako Kawasumi.
Matsuyama: Yes, that’s right. You have had a lot of support for .hack, but do you remember the first time we met?
Enomoto: I think it was during recording voice for Mistral, but it was at a studio in Asakusabashi. Matsuyama-san was in a small studio. It was unusual for the president himself to come to the recording session, and I think he told us that it was a new company.
Matsuyama: Wow, I remember it well. At that time, the company had only been in existence for about four years, and unlike today, we didn’t have a Tokyo studio. So I would travel to Tokyo to meet the recording work and schedule with the engineers to record various voice actors. I can say this now, but during the long recording sessions with many veterans and young voice actors, when Aacchan came in, the engineer said, “A very cute girl just came in!” (Laughs).
Enomoto: I didn’t know that. I’m happy about that (laughs). What a surprise.
Matsuyama: “What are you talking about at work?” I was doing a lot of talking (laugh). Do you remember what you thought of it at that time?
Enomoto: I was about 20 years old at the time, and I had been working for about two years. There was a .hack story, and I was really into online games with Phantasy Star Online at that time. I thought, “Online games are so interesting” when I got the job, so I could relate to them. I remember being moved by the fact that the story was created based on the online game and thought it had a good viewpoint.
Matsuyama: You were very particular about your lines.
Enomoto: Yes. There was an on-off transition, with lines that were completely on and off lines that seemed to show through the person. I think I was paying attention to these parts of the recording because I had a clear image of what I wanted to say.
♪Honyarakarin♪
Matsuyama: Mistral is a housewife in real life, but in the game, she has the appearance of a young girl, which gives her an air of innocence, so we added lines like “Honyarakarin” to give her more character. I was wondering what it would be like to actually say the lines while working on the script, but when they were voiced in the recording, I was surprised to hear how the melody would turn out.
Enomoto: As I recall, I created the melody for “Honyarakarin” myself. There can be many patterns, but in online games, players often say the same lines when they log in or give their own greetings, so I was very happy to have something like “My Greetings” in the game. I was very happy to see that. At that time, there was no post chat and we used text messages.
Matsuyama: In .hack, there is a clear distinction between serious characters and role-playing peaks, and Mistral has such a strong presence in the game that having her voice brought her to life.
Enomoto: At the time, I hadn’t played many characters, but I think I had a great affinity with them. Also, .hack has a parody mode, right? At that time, I asked, if it was like the “Pink Bookmark” in “Kamaitachi no Yoru”.
Matsuyama: Yes, yes. That’s true. I was surprised to see pink bookmarks coming out (laughs).
Enomoto: If you had told me it was a pink bookmark, I would have understood the meaning of parody mode, so I think I would have been satisfied with the performance. The parody mode showed how much he loves games, and I was impressed that he could create such a large-volume game for a new company.
A novel written by Hiroshi Matsuyama
Matsuyama: Thank you very much. As I wrote in the book “A Delivery from a Game Creator to a Boy Who is Losing His Vision.”, a boy who had surgery to blind his eyes wanted to play .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 (Redemption) for the last time before he lost his sight, and I gave him the game as a gift. I also had her record a special radio show for me at that time, so I have a lot of lasting impressions of you from work, but you’ve also been a great help to me in other ways.
Enomoto: Outside of work, we sometimes see each other at parties, and sometimes it feels like we share our lives.
Matsuyama: Yes, that’s right. I have the impression that we have been together for a long time. I was asked, “How are you doing these days?”.
Enomoto: I think it’s a lot of work, but I would like to try an online game created by CyberConnect2. I wonder how it will turn out.
Matsuyama: It would be great if you could spin your own story.
Enomoto: Also, when the VR came out, I thought, “This is .hack! I would like to see a VR game or something like that.” .hack was so far ahead of its time.
Matsuyama: Users often tell me that most of the news about the future that was broadcast in .hack has come true. I think that the future that we imagine is always coming true, and if I am going to create something new, I would like to do it with an image of future technology that is a little further into the future.
I’m so happy to see CC2 grow!
Enomoto: At the time, both CyberConnect2 and I were newcomers, so we didn’t become famous together, but recently I’ve been really moved by it. Whenever a famous work is made into a game, it’s CyberConnect2. When Famitsu introduces a game on their program, there are so many times when I think of a well-made game and it turns out to be CyberConnect2. It makes me very proud and happy to see how a small company has gained the trust and become entrusted with big content.
Matsuyama: Well, thank you very much. When we were making .hack, there were only 18 of us.
Enomoto: Yes, that’s right. We had a very limited number of people coming to Tokyo. But now that we’ve grown, we have a (CyberConnect2) Tokyo branch office, and we have studios overseas (in Montreal, Canada), right? That’s amazing. Is it because of your management skills?
Matsuyama: I really hope you bolded that part. Thanks to the support of our nearly 300 employees, we are now a company with three development centers in Fukuoka, Tokyo, and Montreal, and we have been able to work on titles for Weekly Shonen Jump such as Naruto, Jojo Bizzare Adventure, Dragon Ball, and Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba-. But I think the reason I was able to gain such trust was that I worked hard on .hack at that time. I am really glad that I put all of my efforts into making it at that time.
Enomoto: That’s amazing. I would love to visit a Canada Branch Studio (CC2 Montreal) someday.
Matsuyama: You really should avoid winter. It gets down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. That’s why I don’t really want to go in the winter either.
Enomoto: Will you be adding more studios in the future?
Matsuyama: No, we are concentrating on making games while working closely with our three branch offices. We plan to increase the number of employees by another 30 or so to 330.
Enomoto: What kind of jobs are you going to increase?
Matsuyama: For now, we are looking at all types of jobs. We want to increase the number of programmers, artists, game designers, 2D artists, and mangaka since we also do manga. We want to balance what we want to do with what we need to do.
Enomoto: I’d be willing to work for CyberConnect2 too.
Matsuyama: If you were to work, what would you do?
Enomoto: Maybe promotion. I don’t know about “Creative”, but maybe “Progress Management” would be good.
Matsuyama: I’m sure everyone will stick to the schedule. They are going to come up ahead of schedule (laughs).
The good points of CC2
Enomoto: But I really think CyberConnect2 is the best. Since I became a freelancer, I have been e-mailing directly with clients, and CyberConnect2 is the most reliable. Seriously. Their writing has a lot of heart, and their response time is good, which makes me want to cooperate with them. There are so many companies that can’t do that.
Matsuyama: Is it not limited to game companies?
Enomoto: All of them. Even at CyberConnect2, I often communicate with people I have never met before, but they send me letters and I can communicate with them, so there is no stress at all. Even though I get along well with Matsuyama-san, if things are messy downstairs, I don’t think my work will go well, but there is no such thing at all. I always feel that you are able to properly nurture your employees.
Matsuyama: I only have words I want to bold.
Enomoto: I think it shows in the emails whether or not, they value the content and don’t think of the actors or performers as a tool. CyberConnect2 appreciates the contribution they have made to the work and asks if they can help us again, which makes us feel very good about the offer. They never say anything unreasonable. There are many talented presidents, but it is really difficult to hire and train people, and many of them cannot handle difficulties in finding the right job. Among them, however, it is thanks to Matsuyama-san’s skill and personality that we have been able to grow to this scale and properly train people. Everything up to this point is in bold (Laughs).
serialization manga “Chaser Game”
which depicts the real-time story of the
game industry.
(from the editor: Please pick up a copy
of Chaser Game and read it!)
Matsuyama: On the contrary, the fine print is so noticeable (laughs).
Difficulty in human resource development
Enomoto: But actually, I think it’s great that you can do such a good job of nurturing. Were you good at that?
Matsuyama: No, no, not at all. We are still struggling, and we are creating new rules and mechanisms. However, this is necessary because the current situation is not good enough. We are always consulting with our staff to create an environment in which it is easy for them to exercise their creativity, and we are doing our best to be creative every day.
Enomoto: While he does these things, his input is not abnormal. He watches a lot of movies and manga and is very powerful.
Matsuyama: I’m already watching them because I like them (laughs).
Enomoto: What do you do when you feel depressed? Do you get depressed in the first place?
Matsuyama: I don’t get depressed. It may be that I am not so damaged by the trouble in the first place, but things will not be solved if I am depressed. If you have time to do that, you should be more positive and offer your opinions and ideas.
Enomoto: A company needs to train people, create content, and raise money. It’s becoming a reverse interview (laughs).
Matsuyama: That’s true. As far as the first two are concerned, I am at the forefront, but I rely heavily on other board members and staff members for financial matters.
Enomoto: So you can meet excellent people and build trusting relationships with them. What do you value in human resource development?
Matsuyama: Of course, everyone does not grow automatically, so I think it is important to have communication. In a company, people tend to do what they are instructed to do because they have to, without considering the reasons or meaning. But if there is something that bothers you, you should tell us. We’ll be happy to explain it to you. I also use the internal chat tool to share my thoughts, thoughts on news on Famitsu.com, and weekly posts for all staff to share their thoughts.
Enomoto: You are doing a good job of sending out information.
Matsuyama: We can’t get together in a large room to discuss things like we used to, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do something, so we continue to send out texts and videos, and we use social networking sites (Social Media). I am constantly aware of the fact that my work is being watched by the world and by my staff on social networking sites.
Enomoto: Wow, you are a good fit to be president. I am very happy to know that the companies I had the pleasure of working with in the past are still around and doing well.
Matsuyama: In the game industry, 10 years is the turning point, and many companies quit after 10 years. I don’t know what will happen next year, but we are working hard toward our 30th anniversary. Since your debut was early, your career is about the same as mine.
Enomoto: That’s right. I’m in my 25th year, so we’re about the same age. I made my debut at 18, did Mistral when I turned 20, and have continued to work with the .hack series since then. It was a very enjoyable experience for me as a performer to play so many different characters in the same series. CyberConnect2 has grown so big that we can take on major content, but I still want to work on original titles as well.
I remember having a hard time with Aina’s German Accent.
Matsuyama: We haven’t talked about .hack//G.U. since the reverse interview, but do you have any memories of it?
Enomoto: I was happy that .hack//G.U. had another appearance in the sequel, and the radio show was also great. If we were only recording the game, we wouldn’t know when the game would be released, but with the radio show, we were able to share our passion with the users, so it was a lot of fun.
Matsuyama: We did the radio show for a year.
Enomoto: At first, I was only in the TV Anime .hack//Roots as a B-set, but since .hack//G.U. Vol.2, I have been able to play Aina, Ovan’s sister, which has brought me closer to work. I was grateful for the opportunity to play such a good role, and since I had already played different characters, I remember thinking that I wanted to bring something new to the role.
Matsuyama: In .hack alone, the characters were played by quite a few different actors. It’s hard to believe that they are all played by the same person when you only hear their voices.
Enomoto: It was all very different. There was a scene where Aina spoke in German, but that was the only time she spoke German in her whole life (laugh). (Tetsuya Kakihara, who was at the same office at the time) Since Kakki was from Germany, he was our German-speaking guide.
Matsuyama: Yes, yes. I remember asking for help.
Enomoto: I memorized and imitated the sound of the kakkee, but I remember being told, “It’s weird to be so slow,” while trying my best. I was thinking, “What am I going to do now?” (Laughs)
Matsuyama: We were also talking about whether it would be okay to speak German (laughs).
Enomoto: But I was relieved when the test showed that I could do it, that I would be fine. I thought I could do well in English, but not in German, but I thought of Asuka Soryu Langley (from the Evangelion series), and I thought that since Asuka was doing her best, I should do my best, too (laughs).
Matsuyama: What was the most memorable moment outside of the game?
Enomoto: .hack//LiVE. I was a host at that event and still remember how wonderful it was. That was five years ago. We also did a reading play. It was the first time for me to do a reading for .hack and it was a lot of fun. How about doing something like that again? I just want to meet everyone.
Matsuyama: We indeed have opportunities to meet separately, but it is not easy to get together as a group.
Enomoto: That’s why I want you to create opportunities like that. I learned a lot from the veterans in .hack who I wouldn’t normally have the chance to meet, and even if they weren’t veterans, they would give roles to younger characters who were no longer given roles because the real-life players were adults. I like that. There aren’t many other works that allow older people to play younger characters to give them more depth.
Matsuyama: Usually we cast actors who are close to the age of the characters, but in the case of .hack, the age of the characters changes between the real world and the Internet. I think it would have been difficult to cast the characters because the real players are on the other side of the characters on the Internet.
Enomoto: That’s true. I enjoyed the feeling of opening up a different perspective on the real-life players, even if they are working adults. Everyone became more and more accustomed to acting based on reality, and I loved adjusting the dialogue so that it felt realistic here and forgetting that for the more cartoonish parts.
Matsuyama: .hack//G.U. has expanded beyond games with the release of the anime film .hack//G.U. TRILOGY.
Enomoto: I saw the Nintendo Switch commercial for the game (.hack//G.U. Last Recode) recently. When I saw the commercial, I wondered if Sakurai had recorded his voice and how much fun it must have been for him to play Haseo for the first time in a long time. I’m sure everyone is checking the information with various things in mind. Also, .hack is very well known even among people overseas. I am very happy that I can tell people who know more about games that I am in .hack.
Matsuyama: That makes me happy. The American one?
Enomoto: Last time I met an American girl. The pronunciation of “dothack” (ドット ハック) was too good to be true (laughs). But I’m thrilled to see characters and works that convey the message to the audience and are original.
Message from Enomoto-san to President Matsuyama
Matsuyama: Thank you very much. But I didn’t expect this to happen this time (laughs). I am not here at the end, so if there is anything you would like to say to Matsuyama-san, please let me know.
Enomoto: I always feel as if I am watching over you with parental love, thinking how big a company you have become. I am also a frequent movie watcher, but you watch so many movies and at such an extraordinary speed that I wonder how you manage to find the time to watch them all.
Matsuyama: I see about 300 films a year. I see about 100 at the theater and the other 200 or so on DVD.
Enomoto: I don’t think I have the body to be here (laughs). I also watch 2 or 30 movies at the theater, but they are really amazing. Let’s go to the cinema together next time.
Matsuyama: Sure. I’ll be there.
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