Youth - bet on your own qiē and run towards your dreams. Set in a high school baseball powerhouse school, it tells the story of a baseball player who tries hard to chase his dreams. This is the popular "Diamond Ace"! This time, we invited three voice actors who starred in this anime: Ryota Osaka (as Eijun Sawamura), Nobunaga Shimazaki (as Akira Shibuyani), and Natsuki Hanae (as Haruichi Kominato) to share their thoughts on the work.

■ "Diamond Ace" story introduction and character introduction

Seido High School, one of Tokyo's leading baseball schools in western Japan, has been unable to get admission to Koshien in recent years, but a first-year student named Eijun Sawamura chose to attend such a Seido High School, and although he was only a first-year student, he was able to earn a place as a regular member of the baseball club. So, Sawamura began his journey with elite baseball teammates gathered from all over the country. However, at the Koshien qualifiers in the summer, something unexpected happened......

Sawamura Eijun character introduction (from Ryota Osaka): Eijun's ball skills were not learned from famous teachers, he came from the junior high school of the baseball weak team, and basically threw the ball as he wanted every time, and he also had his own pitching skills. Although he doesn't have a lot of speed and doesn't control the ball very well, he uses his natural body softness to make it difficult for the batsman to tell where he's going to throw the ball. Tong Guò has a special pitching stance in which he plays with the batsman between the palms of his hand on the field.

Character introduction of Akira Shibuyani (from Nobunaga Shimazaki): Shibuyani's pitching feature is to use his body advantage of more than 180cm to throw a fast ball. His speed and power are his greatest charms, and he himself thinks that throwing a quick ball is very suitable for him. As a pitcher, even when he is mentally disadvantaged, he will turn that pressure into strength, throw faster and stronger balls, and be a thorough and honest baseball player.

Kominato Haruichi Character Introduction (from Hanae Natsuki): Haruichi and his brother Ryosuke are both second basemen. Now because his brother Ryosuke is a regular player, he doesn't participate in the game directly, but he actually has better baseball talent than his brother. Because he hits so well, he always plays as a substitute whenever it comes time to decide the winner. Whether it's a losing crisis or a chance to win, as long as he picks up the bat and goes on the court, even if it's not a reversal, it will definitely greatly change the shape of the game.

■"The impression is different from the beginning"

Each character is a really good boy

Q: When Eijun Sawamura, Akira Shibuyani, and Haruichi Kominato, when they played these three roles, what was your initial impression? As the story progresses, how does the impression of them change?

Shimazaki: I think everyone thinks that this is how Eijun and Shibuya are both royal characters, one is a very energetic and hot-blooded protagonist, and the other is a very cool character who exists as a competitor. So, the question is what about the spring market.

Hirosaka: Huh? Is it enough to describe Ei-chun and Tsunaya in just one sentence (laughs)?

Hanae: When I first auditioned for the role of Haruichi, I thought it was a girl at first glance. His eyes are hidden under his hair, and his hair is still pink, although he is not as annoying as Cheng Dù, but he gives me the impression of having a quirky personality and loving to be unconventional. Later, when I saw the lines, I realized that it was not the case at all.

Osaka: At first, I thought Haruichi was a poisonous character.

Hanae: By the way, at that time, I thought he wasn't very good at baseball.

Shimazaki: But the character of Haruichi is like a hanger at the moment.

Osaka: Even though he's only a substitute player, he has a 100% hit rate, and as long as he stands on the mat, he's sure to hit the ball.

Hanae: I can't help but think, "This person is so powerful, why isn't he the right choice?" "Therefore, the impression that the spring market gives me now is a 180-degree reversal compared to the first impression.

Ashaka: Since the beginning of the recording, each character has slowly shown a new side, and the impression is constantly changing. Therefore, the first impression is actually almost forgotten. I think the characters are in the best state now, and playing them for a long time, sometimes I can't tell whether it's the character itself or my own personality.

Hanae: But, didn't you say at the beginning, "It's really hard to act as a young man?"

Hirosaka: I've been reading the original work myself, but my eyes were completely focused on Eijun after the animation was confirmed and I got the opportunity to audition for the character, which was about a year ago. When I read manga, my eyes are focused on the whole work, not on a single character, so that's probably one of the reasons why I almost forgot my first impression of him.

Shimazaki: Basically, everyone is a good boy. Although at first I thought that he was a cool person, and it could even be said that he was a little pretending, but after actually playing it, I found that he was actually more natural and straightforward than I thought. Well, he's a 100% good boy.

Hanae: No matter what the character is, he loves baseball from the bottom of his heart.

Shimazaki: So the members didn't worry too much about interpersonal relationships, so it made me realize once again that this work is really a work where all the members have the same goal and are moving towards baseball.

■"The initial state of mind of the character will change accordingly, and it will be impossible to show the same feelings as at the time again"

Only by adjusting the mentality according to the work can you do the acting

Q: If you were to start voicing the characters all over again, would your interpretation or mood change?

Shimazaki: It's definitely going to be very different from the original state of mind, and even if you want to express the same feelings, it's probably impossible. No matter which work it is, I don't think it will change.

Hanae: Most of the works are officially broadcast after five or six episodes have been included, and whenever I watch the premiere of the anime, "It turns out that I still showed this kind of acting at that time!" I'm always amazed by my acting skills.

Osaka: It's not uncommon for the image to be unfinished at the time of recording, or the sound has not yet been recorded, so it's not uncommon for you to feel completely different when you interpret it and when you watch it later. Many times after watching the broadcast, I will have a feeling of "it turned out to be such a work" in my heart.

Shimazaki: All the voice acting work is very intense at the beginning, and it takes a little bit to get used to it later, and finally it unites with all my colleagues and becomes a real team. As the story develops, our mentality will adjust accordingly, which will have an impact on our acting skills and the atmosphere of the scene. These details created our acting skills at that time, so our acting skills are acting skills that can only be done at that time and on the spot. Then again, wouldn't the two of you want to do it again?

Hanae: It's hard for me to answer you if you ask that question (laughs). I have the idea of reimagining the character in my mind, and I also have the idea that it is not bad to keep it as it is.

Osaka: If you don't really ask me to do it again, I don't know what I think. However, there are some places where I really want to improve my acting skills, but even so, there is no guarantee that I will be satisfied with the performance again.

Hanae: Even if I had a chance to do it all over again, I might think too much about it, and I would end up acting even worse.

Feng Ban: Also, acting skills need to have a partner to play, otherwise what is a rival play? So if the people who originally co-starred together were different, the acting skills would probably be different.

Hanae: In that case, the role of a first-year student is probably the easiest to play. Because in the anime, the first-year students are all getting to know each other for the first time.

Osaka: That's right, the seniors had to play that kind of team feeling from the beginning, so it must be difficult.

■ "For the first time, I understood what baseball is all about"

Tong Guò participated in the production of the work zuò and deepened his understanding of high school baseball

Q: Before you participated in this work, what was your impression of high school baseball? Now, has there been any change?

Hirosaka: I've been playing baseball for a long time, but I personally prefer to watch high school baseball to professional baseball. Professional baseball is ranked based on the comprehensive results of one year, so professional players focus on the whole year, but high school baseball is different, losing once, the baseball journey will be announced immediately, so the determination of high school students to treat each matchup is very different from that of professional players. Because of this, every time I watch a Koshien game, I always have a special feeling in my heart. Since I had the privilege of working on this production, I feel that I now have a more realistic understanding of how the players feel when watching baseball, and I can watch the game with a deeper perspective.

Hanae: When I heard about high school baseball, I used to think of "Koshien games during the summer vacation", but until now, my understanding has stayed at this stage. However, since I was exposed to this work, I became interested in baseball, started watching baseball games on TV, started playing catch-and-roll, etc. "Ace of Diamonds" is not only a work about a baseball game, but also a detailed description of the mood of the players at that time. I used to think that catchers could just sit there all the time, but when I came back to Koshien after I realized that catchers were thinking about a lot of strategies, I would think about "this athlete might be thinking about something like this right now" and how to make the game play favorably, and it was the first time I understood what baseball is all about! Also, I couldn't help but cry when I watched "Hot Fight Koshien" (laughs).

Shimazaki: I've always been a big fan of baseball manga and baseball anime, and I especially liked Ace of Diamonds, because I felt something different from other works about it. Generally speaking, the work will incorporate some other elements such as love for a long time, but "Diamond Ace" always revolves around baseball and continues to go deeper. I think that's the real charm of this work!

■"I can feel the commonality between baseball and voice actors in many ways"

Q: Is there anything in the story of "Ace of Diamonds" that makes you feel that you are related to the work of a voice actor?

Hirosaka: Of course there will be.

Hua Jiang: Most sports require continuous effort to reap the results. Not only is the training very hard, but there is also a kind of anxiety in my heart, thinking about how hard it is every day, is it really useful? However, it wasn't until the moment we won the game that we felt that we didn't give up easily, and it was really good to be able to persist until today! I think that even as a voice actor, I can get empathy from it.

Shimazaki: That's right, mundane, inconspicuous effort, I don't think it's just a voice actor, maybe all professions are needed.

Amisaka: Another thing is that everyone works together to make a difference. Everyone is united and working towards a certain goal. Not only the regular players who participated in the game in person, but also the reserve players sitting on the bench, the baseball manager, and the cheering classmates all gathered here to win the game for their schools. Their efforts are in line with the concerted efforts of the voice actors and staff to complete the work. No matter what kind of work I participate in, every time I finish an episode, I feel like I'm relieved from the pressure, and it's a very comfortable feeling of fatigue. In the future, I will keep this feeling in mind and cherish it.

Shimazaki: Unity to achieve results means that you can't achieve it with just one person who is particularly good. To use baseball as an analogy, it's like no matter how good a fighter is, if there is no catcher of the same level, there is no game at all; No matter how good a catcher is, if his teammates can't score points, they can't win the game at all. If we don't work together, we will only be scattered and nothing can be done. It's the same with animation.,If you only have a voice actor.,There's never going to be a complete work.。 Only when many staff, voice actors, and fans are complete, will the anime come out one day. Therefore, I always remember that I am able to live in this world because of the many people who support me.

Q: Since the broadcast, what scenes have left them memorable?

Osaka: There are a lot of them, but the most recent one is the scene where Eijun was hit a home run by Thunder City. After he returned to the bench, the sense of loss of "failing to respond to everyone's expectations" may be the first obstacle Rong Chun encountered. Rong Chun has always been rushing forward, but here, he began to discover the weak side of his heart. In the future, this will definitely be an opportunity for him to continue to grow. In this sense, this is a very important scene.

Shimazaki: I'm also related to Thunder City. The original author, Yuji Terashima, once used Raichi as the protagonist of the Gaiden, and Raichi is like a thug's version of Sawamura and Eijun, who is a very charismatic character. Shibuyani and Eijun are both catchers in the same team, so it's impossible to have a direct duel, but the duel between Thunder City and Shizuya looks like Shibuya and Eishun are in a duel, and I feel very excited when I play this scene!

Hanae: I still vividly remember the scene of Haruichi's first appearance, which was a practice match between the first grade and the second and third grades, and when everyone thought they would definitely not win, Haruichi appeared as a substitute fighter! It was the first time I played the scene of Haruichi, and I was quite nervous, but when I saw Haruichi score beautifully, I suddenly admired him very much, because he was still able to complete his task perfectly in the face of crisis, and I felt that this character was really handsome!

■"Continuous growth through competition with competitors"

Q: There are a lot of competitors in this game, so who do you think are the best competitors to compete with?

Ashaka: Of course, all the young voice actors! Female voices are the first to be mentioned for the time being, after all, the young voice actors are each other's biggest competitors during the audition. Also, we have a good relationship, and if I see someone else playing the role I originally applied for, I always think: if it were me, I would play it like this, because we know each other well, so I don't want to lose to each other. I want everyone to compete actively.

Hanae: When someone else plays the role I originally applied for, I will be a little unwilling. However, when I actually saw the anime air, I thought that "his acting skills are very suitable for this role" and "I really am not the best candidate" (laughs). So if you ask me who my competitors are, I'll answer myself. I want to absorb more, learn from the people around me, and surpass myself today. Let's use a game as an analogy, and it is as if a spirit of not admitting defeat suddenly ignites in my heart and challenges powerful players (laughs).

Shimazaki: I think the so-called competitors should be everyone, including myself. And, we don't really need to care too much about comparisons with others. Because, as long as we can grow in the end, it's already a great result. It's okay to care about the people around us in order to improve our motivation, but we can't deliberately drag ourselves back or use various means to exclude each other. It's the right thing to do to learn from the strengths of people you respect and those you think are great and make yourself better, so after listening to what you two think about your competitors, I think I can understand what you're saying. I don't think casting a voice actor is a stool game, and the more people I like and get close to, the more I want to fight with them.

■"Learn from the realistic acting skills of your predecessors and improve your own acting skills"

Q: Do you really admire the acting skills of some voice actors? Can you tell me some of the scenes that you were deeply moved by?

Osaka: In the battle of Yakushi High School, after Masuko's seniors skillfully achieved a double kill, Miyuki's line - "I fought so well just now!" The lion-edge shì is still on our side! "I remember it very well. Takahiro Sakurai, who plays Miyuki, has more powerful acting skills than I thought when I read the original work, and it was so powerful that I even got goosebumps after listening to it. Later, when I said Rong Chun's lines, I was already fully involved in the world of the work, so I felt that the acting skills of my predecessors were really good again. I was really impressed.

Shimazaki: If I say so, will you play Takigawa? Chris? Mr. Daisuke Nanikawa of the Excellent. Chris was a character with a very small voice in the original work, so when I read the script, I thought, "How should I play this role?" "The volume is low, so it's naturally difficult to have a tone and frustration, and it's hard to show something, but when I heard the acting skills of Nan Chuan's seniors, I suddenly had a feeling of enlightenment, "It turns out that you can still act like this!" "I was really moved at the time, but I still remember it vividly. The character I played is a silent character who rarely shows his inner feelings, but how to express rich feelings in a narrow range, Nanikawa's seniors gave me a lot of inspiration on how to play the role of Shibuyani in the future.

Hanajiang: There is a very common situation in sports works, that is, one person has multiple roles. In the work "Diamond Ace", many voice actors not only have to play the main role, but also need to play the role of another team. I think it's really amazing that when a voice actor plays a different role, his voice changes depending on the role. I don't have many other roles myself, so I really envy them (laughs). There are a lot of characters in the work, and every time I see the voice actors performing different acting skills depending on the role, I start to think about how I would play them if I were my own.

■"Positive energy in the work"

In order to have more fans to support us, we will do our best to play the role well!

Q: It's a work with a lot of passionate fans, what do you think attracted them?

Hirosaka: The so-called works that anyone can watch must be like "Diamond Ace". Most of the fans who participated in the event were women, but there were also elementary school students and young men who came with their fathers. My dad was very fond of baseball, and I was influenced by him, so I loved baseball, and even from a baseball fan's point of view, I would find it very interesting. My mother started watching the work after I came out, but now she's not just looking at me, she's completely fascinated by the charm of the work, and she's fascinated by it. So I think the charm of this work should be that it can make people of different ages and genders empathize. I hope that fans will continue to support this work in the future, and we will do our best to make it a good one.

Hanae: As I mentioned earlier, Diamond Ace tries to convey that all the characters in the work are pure lovers of baseball, which probably has something to do with the fact that the original author, Yuji Terasma, was a high school baseball player and that he really loves baseball. Each character has its own personality, and the teacher is not just a superficial description, but also portrays the weak parts of the character, which really makes me admire. What's more, Rongchun's school, Qingdao High School, is a baseball powerhouse school, although it is a strong team, or because it is a strong team, everyone will grit their teeth and continue to work hard. Everyone works together to win the competition, this is what the work wants to express, and it is also its charm.

Shimazaki: I think watching this work makes people feel better because it's full of positive energy. Although there will be scenes of losing the game and falling down, the characters will never give up, everyone will overcome it and move on, and each character will look very dazzling. I really like the sight of "watching and cheering up". I want to use my acting skills to show everyone's hard work towards a common goal as much as possible, and I also want to send everyone the motivation to work hard every day through this work. I hope that more fans will support this work in the future, and I will do my best to show the fans the unique charm of this work!