Leah Clark has worked on the dubs of some anime renditions of visual novels, playing Akane Suzumiya in Rumbling Hearts/Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Kirsten Kaira in BALDR FORCE EXE Resolution, and directing ADR for Shuffle!. Because of her involvement in various aspects of the North American industry, we asked for her opinions on the visual novel game format.

When asked about Shuffle!, Ms. Clark knew it was based on an adult game, but was not familiar with the format, so we gave her a brief introduction. The gameplay style was a bit of a surprise to her at first, but when shown the beginning of the Shuffle! game, she thought it was a nice format. Being able to relax and read the story rather than interact with it like most games was something she liked, mentioning that she had not played a videogame for a quite a while. When asked whether or not she thought visual novels would be good in the US, she told us that it might sell, but that’s a decision for the business side of the localization companies.

The other guest we spoke to, Kappei Yamaguchi, is probably best known for his mainstream anime roles such as Inu Yasha from the show of the same name and Usopp from One Piece, but also does voices for visual novels. His most recent works include Son Goku in the Japanese version of the movie Dragonball: Evolution, and of more interest to us, Minatosoft’s visual novel Majikoi (Maji de Watashi ni Koi shinasai / 真剣で私に恋しなさい！). His character in Majikoi happens to be very monkey-like, just like his personal mascot character – his blog is called “Monkey Kingdom” (さるの王国) – as well as many of his other roles.

We were interested in why Mr. Yamaguchi does not use a pseudonym for adult works, even when playing a lead role like in BL game Kannnagi no Tori (神無ノ鳥). Most voice actors and actresses do not use their real names for these jobs, whether for personal or contractual reasons, and quite a few even use multiple pseudonyms. When asked about this, he told us that he does not want to discriminate between his works; all of his jobs are at the same level.

We would like to thank the guests for ther time and Sakura-Con for arranging the press conferences and helping to bring the guests to the convention.

Ms. Kagesaki started drawing game CGs for Himeya-soft (姫屋ソフト) in 1993, but since 2001 has been focusing on manga. The game companies she has worked for include KID, CIRCUS/Kadokawa Books (角川書店), JANIS, May-Be Soft, and BELL-DA. The previously mentioned series Karin began serialization in May 2003 and ended in April 2008. She also has a more recent doujinshi circle, Tsubuan Doumei (つぶあん同盟), which does parody works.

We would like to thank Ms. Kagesaki for letting us interview her and the Sakura-Con staff for their assistance in arranging and facilitating the interview.

encubed: How did you start working on game CGs?
Yuna: Job searching. As long as the job was drawing, anything would work. At first, I wanted to become a manga artist, but I wasn’t good enough yet so I looked for a different job.

e: Which game’s work do you feel the best about?
Y: Which game… infinity? Like Never7 (ed: Never7 -the end of infinity-).

e: What made you start to create manga?
Y: I was scouted at a doujinshi event.

e: When you make your own manga, you have complete freedom in the drawings, since you are writing the story. How much freedom do you have with game CGs? How much input do you have to the character designing process?
Y: It’s hard to fit the characters into the dimensions of the window. It’s probably the same as with anime.

e: How is it drawing for the Da Capo series, where the characters are already well
known?
Y: I was an outsider for that job (ed: did not have any influence). It was my first time having to be careful to draw like the original images, so it was interesting. But in the end, people could still tell they were my drawings.

e: Do you prefer working on game CGs yourself, or collaborating with other artists?
Y: There are times where I drew all the images, but now that I think about it, it’s probably better to draw with other people.

e: How large and detailed do you draw game CGs?
Y: I draw according to the maker’s decision. I usually only draw the character line art, not the details.

e: The graphics up to now have been mostly 640×480, what has changed as the resolution has increased?
Y: Honestly, I don’t know. My latest work hasn’t really been much other than Da Capo. Most of my work as a game illustrator was in the golden age of the NEC-9801. When the age of full color came, I was pretty busy with manga. And with Da Capo I was only doing character design and line art, so I wasn’t really involved.

e: Were you an outsider for other games as well?
Y: Yes, it was mostly like that. The makers pretty much just gave me drawings and told me to do what I like.

e: Are there differences between drawing game CGs and manga?
Y: The screen size and the work schedule. Also, with manga I create the story so I can decide on the frame size I want.

e: Are there any artists that you look up to?
Y: There are so many illustrators, I can’t think of any names. For manga artists, Rin Okamoto (岡本倫), Kazuhiro Fujita (藤田和日郎), and many others. I read a lot of manga.

e: Do you have any recommendations for someone interested in drawing professionally?
Y: Draw a lot. Also keep in mind that other people will look your work.

e: What do you think of translations of the games you work on, both official and unofficial?
Y: With manga, I think, “Oh, this is how the words fit in.”

e: Would Tsubuan Doumei ever consider working on doujin games?
Y: I draw jacket art for voice actor drama CDs from Tsubuan Doumei’s partner circle LIPS. I’ve thought about doing doujin games, but I can’t do anything really high level.

Links:
Personal Website: “Garakuta Ichiban” (Japanese)
Sakura-Con

Mr. Kikuta started his professional career composing for some minor TV anime series, and sound effects for Romancing SaGa (ロマンシング サ・ガ) in 1992. After leaving Square in 1997, he founded Sacnoth and produced Soukaigi. However, due to internal conflict, he left the company and later founded Nostrilia Corporation, a game design and music company.

We would like to thank Mr. Kikuta for taking time to speak with us and answer our questions about his work in depth, even past the end of the scheduled time. Also, we would like to thank the Sakura-Con staff for arranging this interview.

encubed: Your music uses a lot of familiar synthesized sounds. Why do you still prefer this versus more real-sounding samples?
Hiroki: I do use synthesizers, but I really like to use samples from real instruments. However, I believe that using real instruments, synthesizers, and samples are all ways of performing. The form that works best should be chosen when expressing through music.

e: How has the transition from 8-bit synthesizers to the programs available today changed the way you make music?
H: It has, in terms of being simplified. Playing instruments and singing are forms of expression. Singing is a very simple form of expression. Hitting something, like drumming, is also a form of expression, playing a guitar is another form of expression — using whatever tool you choose is its own form of expression.

The important thing is that each instrument has its own structure. A piano has its own structure and limits, and so does a guitar. Just like those, oscillators have their own unique forms of expression because of their construction. Even 8-bit synthesizers have their own sound. Famicom (ed: Family Computer / NES) has its own ‘atmosphere’, and you can make good music with it. If you use an SNES, you can make fitting music with it too.

e: Are you restricted to a certain timbres of sounds or styles of music for a given game?
H: Using a SNES’s ADPCM, 8 sounds can be used at once. Managing that is quite difficult. For example, to create band sound, first there is a bass drum. There is a snare drum. There is a cymbal. There is a bass. How many are left? Adding do-mi-so, you’re done. You can’t combine the bass and snare drums. If you want to combine the data from two tracks, you have to do it by hand, which is quite difficult.

e: How much influence do you have on the rest of the game production and vice versa?
H: It’s more about how much you want to be involved. If you don’t try to be involved, even if the game is successful, it won’t make you as happy, because you weren’t involved. Whether it succeeds or fails, it’s about how much you put yourself into the game. Just trying to make the best use of your time, trying to make yourself involved in the game, is interesting.

e: What did you think of the Soukaigi soundtrack, since that was recorded using live instruments?
H: That time, we had money. I probably mentioned it somewhere before, but the sound director said, “I got the budget!” When I asked how much we had, he said 30,000,000 yen, so we could do anything. Having that freedom, and that good work was so valued, meant that everybody shared the passion. I think it was just the timing of working with Square (ed: now Square Enix).

e: Would you like to use real instruments with other games?
H: First, can they be used? Second, is it right to use them? If I have both of those reasons, then I would use real instruments. With humans playing instruments, you have a certain massiveness or heaviness. But if the game’s world and graphics are simple, but the music is heavy, it’s bad. If the image is light, the music should be light too. For example, cheap is not necessarily bad. If the design is cheap, the music should be cheap too. Depending on the feeling the entire game is aiming for, like cheap or pop, there are factors to consider. If to achieve that, real instruments are needed, then they should be used.

e: What did you think about writing vocal songs, like Soramizu (ed: theme song of Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro) and Lovely Strains.
H: Soramizu is a visual novel, so there was a lot of freedom. The game has its own world, so first I had to try to express that through music. I have my own personal style, and it was difficult to combine the feelings. Also, I like to make music that can be sung, but if you don’t have experience it won’t turn out quite how you want. I think I could have done more a interesting job, so I would like to write more vocal songs.

e: How did you come to compose music for visual novels?
H: I do music composition, but I also do production and scenario writing. Through those jobs, I meet other people. Those people may let me know about available jobs, and ask if I would like to write music for them. I tell them I don’t care what genre it is, it just matters that I find the job interesting, and how much freedom I will have. And most importantly, whether or not the person requesting the work will appreciate my music. Considering all of those, I will decide to do it. Even if it is a visual novel, it doesn’t matter.

Within visual novels, there are different people that make music. Of course, I have heard wonderful songs they have written, so I think they enjoy writing music for visual novels. You probably like groups like I’ve, composers like Orito-san (ed: Shinji Orito / 折戸伸治). Listening to those, I like the music, and I think, “Genre doesn’t matter. They can make interesting music for it.” If the circumstances are right, the genre doesn’t matter. You can create good music wherever the place. In a market for visual novels like in Japan, by buying the work you are praising the project. If the players feel moved by emotion, I think that the passion of the creators is real.

e: What differences are there between composing music for RPGs and galge?
H: They are different. Their goals are different. With RPGs, there is a certain playing style. For example, the characters walk all over the field. The field music is heard for 20-30 hours by the player. So that music can’t be ordinary music. But if you go to Tower Records and buy the CD, are find out you have to listen for 20 hours, that’s no good. You would give up. So RPG background music isn’t ordinary music. You have to make something that achieves its goal. With galge, there is music that fits the genre. Thinking about the type of music that best fits the style is most interesting for me. Meeting the goal is most important. There are times where you don’t know the goal though.

e: Do you often play the games you work on?
H: In general, I play the games when debugging, but when it’s completed I usually don’t like the game anymore. When the job is complete, it isn’t as interesting as before. I listen to my music for many hours when composing it, so I’m tired of it at the end.

e: Might you compose for other visual novels in the future?
H: As long as I’m interested in it. What are you looking for in galge? I think if someone can truly accept and even cry for the expression in the game, then I would put all of my effort into it. Whatever field, whatever expression, I think that it’s a wonderful job. For that goal, I would consider many ideas to pick the best way to express with music. Even with galge, there is very good music. If you don’t have that result, expressing the feelings isn’t very interesting. How the music can influence the entire work is very important. Working for that result is the best job.

e: Do you have any suggestions for someone starting out creating music for games?
H: First of all, discover your best way of expression so that whoever listens to it can recognize that you wrote it. Games’ background music is a mechanism to reach the final goal, so it can easily become something that doesn’t have individuality. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t matter who makes it. Always keep in mind that losing individuality is dangerous. That intent is very important. It’s not good to think that anybody can do the work. Starting out thinking that you are the only one who can do it is absolutely necessary. Your style may not be understood at first, but if you throw that away, you won’t become anything. So what I want to say is keep working using your own style.

e: Finally, what do you think of translations of the games you work, both official and unofficial?
H: Nothing in particular, though one time I insensitively wrote many hard to translate parts for an RPG. When I read the translated version of the script, it was ‘fixed’ and made completely different. I wanted to say it in one way in Japanese, but in the English was completely different. When I noticed the translation was strange, I asked why that was so. Of course, there was conflict in deciding the best way to express it in English. Without that it’s not a complete work. If a game that I wrote was translated into English, I would need to understand the translation, even though I can’t speak English. But if I can read it, I can understand it. This is accepting the translated version, and taking responsibility for it.

Links:
Official Website: “Angel’s Fear” (Japanese)
Personal blog: “kiss twice” (Japanese)
Sakura-Con