MixxZine 1999 Interview with Yuko Miyamura (English, yes)

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MixxZine 1999 Interview with Yuko Miyamura (English, yes)

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Postby NAveryW » Sat Jul 03, 2010 5:55 pm

A year or two ago, my father, who works at Half Price Books, brought home some anime magazines that the store was going to throw away. I shelved them and completely forgot about them until I found out Manga Max 14 has an English-language interview with Hideaki Anno "about the end of life, the universe and everything" (so the ad says). I looked through the old magazines on the off chance I had Manga Max 14. I didn't, but I had MixxZine Issue 2-5, which interviewed Yuko Miyamura. The interview contains some interesting information, though not much of it is about Eva in particular. I don't think it's been transcribed online, so here it is. All formatting has been left exactly as in the magazine.

MIXX: Did you choose to have the interview here [at the TV Asahi Roppongi Center] because you have a show to do later? Yuko Miyamura: Actually, I just came from a job.

Oh? What was it? Do you know the group, Puffy? I do a voice for the character named Muffy on their TV show.

What was the first work you ever did as a voice actress? For animation, it was in 1994, for Ninja Keisatsu. Before doing anime, I did games. I did the voice for the Mogura Tataki ("Smack the Mole") game inside the Street Fighter II game.

Out of all the characters you've done so far, which has been your favorite? I like them all, so I can't decide which is the best.

Well, then which character do you think has been closest to your own personality? When I'm doing a voice, no matter what the character, I always put part of myself in it, but I've never felt that any of my characters have been very similar to me.

Are there any voice actors or actresses that you've worked with that you particularly respect or admire? Many, many. Hmmm... There are many "sempai" [people who've been in the business longer] who are doing great work, but if I say their names, then it sounds like I'm aiming to surpass what they can do. But I don't feel like I could ever reach their level, so I always try to avoid giving names.

You always read about film actors who do intense study of their characters before filming. As a voice actress, what kind of research or preparation do you do for a role? There's a lot of preparation involved. For example, for the role of Asuka in Evangelion there are some lines in German, so the director told me I had to take German lessons. Off I went to Nova [a major language school in Japan] to study.

So how's your German now? Well, at the time I was doing the role I could hold an ordinary, everyday conversation, but my German lines in Evangelion were all military jargon. So my lessons were basically worthless.

In America, the voice actors record their lines before the animation is created, but in Japan, it's usually the reverse: the voice actors read their lines as they watch the already-created animation. Do you have a preference? Well, I've done it both ways. As a voice actress, I wouldn't say one is better than the other. Whichever way, I just try to create the voice and emotion that the director is looking for.

It seems to me that it would be easier for the voice actor to read the lines while he or she actually watches the animation... But that way can also be limiting. For example, if the facial expressions in the animation are different from what you had imagined when preparing for the role, then you're kind of stuck with adjusting your voice to fit the animation. On the other hand, sometimes the animator has drawn emotions that I hadn't picked up on when reading the script. That helps me to more fully develop the character.

You're a very successful voice actress now. Do you still have to audition for roles? Always, always. We audition to see if we fit the anime or the character. Then the cast gets decided.

Do you ever get passed up for roles? It definitely happens.

I would think that many directors would look at a characer and say, "Ah Miyamoo is perfect for this role." That does happen sometimes. You know, I get selected because the director has a certain image of me. When that happens I always try, in a good way, to not do exactly what the director expected when he hired me. If I can do that, and still have the director say, "You know, I'm really glad I used Miyamura," then I'm satisfied.

Tell us about the actual recording process. How many takes do you get? Things like that. It usually takes four hours of studio time to record an episode of a thirty-minute TV show. Since TV shows have commercials, the recording is broken up into the segments between commercials. We do two rehearsals and then do the taping.

Let's delve into your private life... What are your hobbies? Hobbies? Hmmm. What are my hobbies recently? (Laughs) Taking long, aimless walks, I guess. And reading manga.

What kind of manga do you read? There's a manga writer named Noboyuki Fukumoto who writes about Mahjong. I read that and [she takes hold of the MixxZine® in front of her, pointing to the Parasyte pages] I really liked Parasyte. The person who wrote it is currently writing a work called Hanabata no Kuni, and I'm reading that too.

I read an article that you wrote in Animage [February, 1999]. You talked about the US's recent bombing of Iraq. Do you follow politics and international affairs. Actually, I don't read newspapers and I never watch TV, so politics seems very far removed from me. But when I heard about the attack on Iraq, it just really bothered me, and that's why I mentioned it in the article.

Especially with the popularity of Evangelion, you now have a large group of fans in the US... Really?! It really makes me happy to hear that I have fans in other countries. As an actress, it's satisfying to think that there are people outside of Japan who see my work, and while they may not be able to understand the words, I hope that the emotion is something that they can relate to. So, thanks for all your support and please keep watching! ★
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

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Postby The Fourth Evangelion » Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:18 am

So, she puts a piece of herself in all her chracters eh???

Oh God...
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Postby ran1 » Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:03 am

Awesome material as always, NAW. I really think that looking at the various motivations of the producers, actors, and directors is one of the most important parts of understanding a particular work of cinema. If I have the time today, I'll move it over to the Wiki's interview section.
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Postby Defectron » Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:41 pm

parasytes one of my favorites, I'll have to look around for Hanabata no Kuni too.
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Postby MisatoRitsukoFan » Thu Jul 15, 2010 9:30 am

NOOO! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GET GRAVES DISEASE!!!...ugh. sad now

seeing her popup in battle royale was a treat though

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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:30 pm

View Original PostMisatoRitsukoFan wrote:NOOO! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GET GRAVES DISEASE!!!...ugh. sad now


Uhh...she's fine.

She performed as Asuka in 2.0 and the added scenes in 2.22 with no problems.
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Re: MixxZine 1999 Interview with Yuko Miyamura (English, yes

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Postby Maka » Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:23 am

Miyamura is so cool.

:asuka_thumbsup:
FFFFFFFFFFFF

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Postby gwern » Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:48 am

View Original Postran1 wrote:Awesome material as always, NAW. I really think that looking at the various motivations of the producers, actors, and directors is one of the most important parts of understanding a particular work of cinema. If I have the time today, I'll move it over to the Wiki's interview section.


What do you see in it that I missed? The bit about German was kind of interesting in a trivia way (I'd always assumed that she was winging it), but beyond that the interview seems the epitome of fluff.

NAW: some quick googling and Worldcat searching tells me that Manga Max 1-20 are held in the Michigan State University library's collection (and there are also some issues somewhere in London...).

Since I donated 6 issues of _Protoculture Addicts_ to them, hopefully I can ask MSU's Randy Scott for a favor and get a photocopy or scan of the interview. (How long could it possibly be?)

EDIT: I found a Wikipedia editor who used MM14 in an article. They're retired, but I'll try emailing them before I cash in my chips.

EDITEDIT:

Fowler recently replied to me, saying:

I finally dug up Manga Max #14 and I am sorry to say, I can't find an interview Hideaki Anno. Are you sure you don't have it confused with Manga Mania #14? When they changed the name, they also started counting from one again.

I have several other issues, but not Manga Mania #14. If you are looking for any of the others, let me know.


NAveryW, I hope you didn't send me off on a wild goose chase.... -_-

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Postby NAveryW » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:32 pm

Rats. No, it definitely says Manga Max. How disappointing.

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Postby gwern » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:39 pm

I quoted from that .txt link and asked "Was Manga Mania #14 released in '99? Maybe that interview was under another title or not mentioned in the table of contents."

Fowler said in reply:

It was released in Jan 2000. And it's contents doesn't fit that description. Star Fleet, for example, was covered in a later issue #17 See here: http://www.starfleetxbomber.com/merchandise/articles/index.htm

I have also checked it cover to cover, just to be double sure.


So I think this is a dead-end - either the interview was never published, or your citation was wrong (which Fowler's response suggests).

EDIT:

I recently checked on eBay in the progress of purchasing the Animeland and 2 Animerica issues, and I found a bunch have been dumped recently by http://myworld.ebay.com/xxxthemagazinekingdomxxx/

The covers are included; #14 is not listed, but I noticed #16 has an interview with Kotono Mitsuishi! http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANGA-MAX-MAGAZINE-16-KOTONO-MITSUISHI-POKEMON-/310321957171

#12 is listed but if you look at the cover, the interview is not with Hideaki Anno: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANGA-MAX-MAGAZINE-12-CALL-CTHULU-THUNDERCHILD-/160595463268

(#1 is described on Amazon as involving Anno in some way (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-December-Role-Playing-Japanese-Interview/dp/B003MK2Y86) but the cover doesn't mention him or Eva so it can't be anything important: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANGA-MAX-MAGAZINE-1-FIRST-ISSUE-MASAMUNE-SHIROW-/310322284733 )

I think I'm going to just email Clements and ask him whether there was ever any interview or whether maybe it fell through and Manga Max got an interview with Kotono as a consolation prize?

EDITEDIT:

Finally got in touch with Clements: http://schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com/blog/?p=2853

Well, I wrote the Next Issue page in issue #13 myself, and it said: “We punch and kick our way through a history of anime martial arts. A spotlight on the new Godzilla film. A look back at ten years of dedicated anime distributors. Keeping it in the family in Metal Angel Marie. The rise and rise of A Chinese Ghost Story. Martial arts in anime. Boy-racers and the wacky world of Initital D. A critical look at Princess Mononoke, and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire manga!”

So why was Previews promising an Anno interview…? I honestly don’t know. When I get a chance I will look through my old emails and see if something was on the cards and then suspended. But I certainly don’t remember one.

Kotono Mitsuishi in issue #16 was not a consolation prize. She was a great interviewee, and said some quite controversial things that caused a bit of a stir back in Japan. Then we had Yoshiaki Kawajiri in #17, Hiroki Hayashi in #18, Shinji Mikami and Tatsuo Sato in #19, and Kenji Kawai in #20, before the magazine was cancelled… I mean, “put on hiatus”. What a run!


Looking back on my hard-drive, I discover that I have a relatively full record of the often sarcastic emails between myself and the marketing department at Titan Magazines, but only from the time of issue 16 onwards. Before that point, I didn’t have a home email address so it was harder to archive correspondence.


Anyone interested in the Mitsuishi piece?

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Postby robersora » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:55 am

so the director told me I had to take German lessons.

I think, she ditched them.

So how's your German now? Well, at the time I was doing the role I could hold an ordinary, everyday conversation, but my German lines in Evangelion were all military jargon.

Yeah. "Anfang der Bewegung" is sooo military!

So my lessons were basically worthless.


Yes, they were. If you have ears, at least.


Is it just me, or do the answers to the question sound rather... pretentious?
Oh, and the porn thing. Did that happen afterwards?



Anyone interested in the Mitsuishi piece?


Me, Me! And if we can't get our hands on it, it would be just nice to know, what was so controversial.
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Postby Final Messenger » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:59 pm

^
I take it your not a big fan of Ms. Miyamura
Avatar:super high school level ???? Kyouko Kirigiri
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Postby robersora » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:50 pm

^
I take it your not a big fan of Ms. Miyamura


To be honest, I never thought about the seiyuu. So I neither like nor dislike them. But the answers to the question about the german part were rather... false?
Also, I had the impression, she answered in a very distant way. I don't know, how to describe it. But it felt... pretentious.
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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Mon Dec 19, 2011 12:11 am

Blame Mixx/Tokyopop if it felt pretentious. While they did a lot of good by bringing different manga over here, they dropped the ball on a lot of things too (including not treating their fans so nicely).

Oh, and if that Mitsuishi interview could be acquired, I'd also love to read it.
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