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12-12-2018, 06:33 AM | #1 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,526
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Kouhei Takeda, the actor behind Otoya Kurenai from Kamen Rider Kiva and Kazumi Sawatari from Kamen Rider Build was interviewed by Tamashii Nations regarding his career and of course the recent Kamen Rider Build and Kiva Figuarts. I was curious, had way too much time on my hands and translated some interesting bits as best as I could. I’m terribly sorry for butchering it in advance; I hope the points come across well enough.
It sure is amazing to read what these people have to say about their own merchandise and their role in creating the characters that are made into figures. Have fun reading, I had a blast writing this. Needless to say, mild spoilers for both Kiva and Build are in here; take care if you haven't seen either show yet. https://tamashii.jp/t_kokkaku/109/ - Takeda grew up in a time where Kamen Rider wasn’t airing, his father liked Showa Riders and showed them to him, Stronger is his favorite. - He was glad to star in Build as actors rarely get picked twice in the franchise. - Otoya Kurenai as a character was created due to Takeda’s inexperience in acting and thus pushing beyond what the script asked and over-interpreting many traits to prove himself, the staff liked it so much that they not only allowed him to continue but supported his decisions in acting out the character. Thus he thinks that the character was created by the entire staff, not just him. - He practiced playing the violin so much it blistered his hands. Even though he didn’t need to play it as the sound was dubbed, he needed to pretend playing it well enough for it to look convincing. - His most "impressive" memory of filming Kiva stems from a scene in the movie "Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World" where he and Kiva Emperor form run through an explosion. The initial tests of the scene were done without the actual explosion, the director complained that they weren’t running fast enough and that artificially speeding them up in post would look silly. Once they did the actual scene the noise from the explosion was much louder than expected, so Takeda became startled and ran much faster. He urges fans to watch the scene again as he describes his facial expression as being actually scared, it wasn’t acted. - Takeda had to wear the IXA suit on a few occasions and the first instructions given to him were "Just walk around for a while. Do nothing else, just walk." - He himself is a fan of S.H. Figuarts. He owns Grease, Build, Cross-Z and Rogue to name a few. He enjoys how they make him feel like a kid at heart again, what impresses him the most is how tiny details like the crank on the Build Driver or the barrels and drill on the Twin Breaker are fully functional even in this tiny scale. - Describing Shinkocchou Seihou Kiva, he says that his first impression upon seeing the figure was that he felt like it was the real thing. He explains that past figures didn’t quite have the "power" of Kiva. He says they weren’t bad, but he views this figure as a genuine reproduction of the suit which he saw in action many times. He also gets a fuzzy feeling because the figure reminds him of transforming into Kiva as the character Masao during Kiva’s ending scene. - Above all else, he was surprised to see that the figure captured Kiva’s "expression". Being asked what he means by that, Takeda explains that while the mask cannot portray facial expressions, the actor gives the suit a soul through his movements and presence, creating the character "Kiva". He really feels that this figure has muscles and flesh underneath it, making it all come together to fully reproduce the feeling of a real being. - The interviewer explains to Takeda that the sculptors really do sculpt a human body first and then the suit over it for the prototypes of the Shinkocchou Seihou series of figures, which impresses him and reminds him of the work with the suit actors in Kiva. - He likes how well the figure can reproduce the poses from the show. Takeda feels that Kiva’s large compound eyes make him look downwards so it’s important to raise his head a bit. Even the suit actors did so, it was a subtle thing but he explains that suit actors are always aware of the angles necessary to make the suit look best. - Moving on to Kamen Rider Build: He was offered a role by a producer of Kiva who also worked on the then upcoming Build. - Kazumi Sawatari’s Henshin pose was inspired by the Showa Riders. He wanted to make something that wasn’t as simple as IXA’s pose, sticking his left hand out while slowly turning it was inspired by Rider 1, while the snarky "Come on" finger gesture was added to make him look tough. They came up with the pose only one day before shooting the scene. - Takeda is proud about the number of different Riders he portrayed over the years, he liked the variety of belts he could work with, which is different from form changes which use the same belt with varying components. - He wanted the same producer that he worked with on Kiva to work on his final Build episode, and added a few notes of the IXA Knuckle into working with the Blizzard Knuckle, he decided against flipping the handle over on the Blizzard Knuckle to make the motion of inserting it into the Driver more fluid and IXA-like. The phrase "Damn right I am" after the Driver asks "Are you ready?" was also added by Takeda, he saw it fitting for the character but also had personal feelings about his role ending flow into it so he talked to the producers to have him say this line instead of "Henshin". - His favorite Rider to portray is Grease. For the challenge of completely overwriting his past performance in the series and he felt that the suit actor’s acrobatic performance was excellent. He also liked being his own Rider instead of a character who "borrows" the power to transform from others. Design-wise his favorite Rider that he portrayed is IXA, he really likes the cross on the helmet that opens up to reveal a more Rider-like face underneath. But he likes all the Riders from Kiva and Build. - Takeda wanted for Grease to have a form change but thought early on that it wouldn’t happen. But he knew from his work on Kiva that scripts change over the course of a year so he never stopped hoping. He was told that it would ultimately depend on the characters popularity so Takeda gave his best to make Grease popular. - Seeing the Double Twin Breaker from episode 39 treated as a "power-up" in a childrens magazine made him afraid that Grease ultimately wouldn’t get a new form. - During a costume fitting he was comforted by the cast, they tried to cheer him up by saying how cool it was that he got two Twin Breakers but he thought "Don’t be silly". He wasn’t sad though because at that time Grease Blizzard was green-lit to appear on the show. - The Blizzard Knuckle appeared before the form, it was first treated like a one-off item and no one among the cast was aware that Grease would use it to transform. The cast got the news between filming episodes 44 and 45, and they all enjoyed the idea. They were aware of the significance that a one-time appearance of a new suit meant. - Takeda thinks it’s destiny that he played two different characters that both used life-threatening transformations and died because of it. He also compares the Sclash Driver to the prototype IXA belt as both take a heavy toll on the user’s body. - He is very happy that the Grease Blizzard Figuart is being made; he didn’t think a one-off form would make it. He thinks it’s great that the figure can properly balance even with the robot arm; it must’ve been hard to properly balance the figure during development. He looks forward to seeing what people will do with the figure once it is released. - Commenting on the release of the Hokuto Three Crows, Takeda got to see the Castle Smash figure in advance and his initial response was an amazed "Are you serious?". He is glad that they’re making them as he knew the actors of the Crows wanted figures of them to be made, and Takeda himself looks forward to displaying them with his Grease figure. He really likes the dog tags being added as an accessory for Grease himself as well. - Further explaining his relationship with the three Crow actors, they often would meet up in advance before rehearsal for scenes began to make sure their performances would come out the best way. Seeing the figures makes Takeda appreciate these times as a group. - Takeda is asked what character he wants to see in the Figuarts series. His reply is that all the Riders he portrayed are made, and with the Three Crows he feels like now he has everything he wants. Upon being asked further, he expresses interest in a Shinkocchou Seihou version of IXA. - Ending the interview, Takeda urges fans to remember the characters and actors behind the suits when they look at their Figuarts. It is too easy to forget older shows and their characters, but through these figures the memories can be kept alive and the people who worked hard on both the show and the figures should be appreciated through them. Last edited by Kiwami; 12-12-2018 at 06:37 AM.. |
12-12-2018, 08:08 AM | #2 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,508
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My hats off to you.
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12-12-2018, 08:21 AM | #3 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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I had completely purged my memory of the final scene of Kiva until he brought it up!
Anyhow, I'm glad that the parallels between the Blizzard Knuckle and the IXA Knuckle was obvious to everyone including the actor. He should have known from experience that wishing for an upgrade for Grease would spell doom for Kazumi! |
12-12-2018, 10:02 AM | #4 |
Dr. Salt NEO
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 727
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Thank you for putting in the effort to translate all of that! I was hoping this would get translated, so I appreciate this. After watching both Kiva and Build recently I was a big fan of his performances in both shows, and it's interesting to hear his perspective on starring in each of them. I think my favorite thing from this interview is learning that he was the one who came up with the "damn right I am" line from Grease's last fight. That was such a great moment and a fantastic start to one of my favorite scenes in all of Build. Kouhei Takeda did an awesome job with his characters so I hope we get to see him in Kamen Rider again sometime.
Thanks again for the translation!
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12-12-2018, 11:29 AM | #5 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,533
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Quote:
Listen to the man, Bandai! That being said, awesome interview! Kouhei Takeda just has such a charisma and presence to him, and that translates into characters extremely well. And props to Kiwami for the translations!
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12-13-2018, 03:37 AM | #6 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,526
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Thanks guys, I'm glad you liked it.
And he is indeed the man, I also watched both Kiva and Build recently and he was fantastic in both. I really hope we can get him back a third time, he deserves it. Maybe one day when they need to re-cast Stronger, he would make a mighty fine Shigeru Jo! Also, if anyone is curious, I dug up the movie and found the scene: Quote:
- His most "impressive" memory of filming Kiva stems from a scene in the movie "Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World" where he and Kiva Emperor form run through an explosion. The initial tests of the scene were done without the actual explosion, the director complained that they weren’t running fast enough and that artificially speeding them up in post would look silly. Once they did the actual scene the noise from the explosion was much louder than expected, so Takeda became startled and ran much faster. He urges fans to watch the scene again as he describes his facial expression as being actually scared, it wasn’t acted.
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12-13-2018, 04:21 AM | #7 |
Henshin Heaven
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Inside a Hyper Battle Video, help.
Posts: 1,238
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He’s such a fanboy, I love it. I’m not surprised he was the one who came up with the “Damn right am” line, it like a personal touch.
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12-13-2018, 11:32 AM | #8 |
Most-hated user. Kill him
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Imaginationland
Posts: 1,813
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This guy is most likely going to appear in Kiva arc should Zi-O makes it.
It's really awesome that Grease is such a popular character, because Otoya despite being the best character in Kiva feels somewhat wasted because he 'borrows' other Rider powers.
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12-13-2018, 11:41 AM | #9 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,508
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If you shrink Kiva Emperor small enough it would look like he is chasing down Otoya as he bursts out of the explosive fire behind them.
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12-13-2018, 01:40 PM | #10 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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I love it when actors are fans as well~
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