Shibuya, Tokyo.
ArtsVision Inc.
Today is the final day of recording for Pokeni's new game, CL, for Mitsuishi Kotono and Hayashibara Megumi.
After finishing, the two of them looked completely devastated, hiding in the break room and weeping into each other's arms.
They were crying terribly.
After they finished crying, the two of them calmed down a little and wiped their tears with tissues.
"So, this is the work of Kogahara Tsubakiaki?" Hayashibara Megumi clutched her chest, her brows knitted together.
Even now, thinking back to the final ending of the game, especially the true ending of the AFTER STORY, made her heart ache.
That kind of pain was indescribable.
It felt as if someone had viciously stabbed a knife into her heart, leaving it bleeding profusely.
But just when you thought the wound was about to heal and you were slowly forgetting it over time, you would suddenly realize that the wound actually couldn't heal; it was just that the pain was too intense, causing your brain to temporarily forget it.
To forget the existence of the heart.
But once you remembered it, it would start bleeding again.
"Is this a work that a human can actually write?" Hayashibara Megumi expressed great shock at P Corporation's game.
Since she began working as a voice actress, she had never encountered a script this heartbreaking.
"Mmh-hmm," Mitsuishi Kotono nodded sympathetically at her side, signaling, "Hayashibara-senpai, you understand now, right? It was much the same when I voiced games for P Corporation before."
"Especially when voicing The Entropic Man, that feeling... it was as if the entire world had been cast in a haze, stripped of every ounce of color."
Hayashibara Megumi was slightly taken aback, recalling that this girl really had gone through such a slump.
Or maybe it wasn't a slump, per se.
It's just that sometimes, as a voice actress, it's inevitable to project oneself into the character. Once you get too deeply immersed, it's easy to get trapped—especially with the script she had encountered today.
Hayashibara Megumi wasn't even confident she could pull herself out of it quickly.
Actually, she had it relatively easy, because the character Hayashibara Megumi was voicing was Fuko Ibuki.
While that storyline was moving, it didn't reach the same level of soul-crushing intensity.
But Mitsuishi Kotono was different; this girl was voicing Nagisa Furukawa.
The earlier side branches were fine, but what was most exasperating and heart-wrenching was the content in After Story.
Thinking of this, Hayashibara Megumi couldn't help but feel sympathy for the girl, wanting nothing more than to embrace her and offer some strength for comfort.
Mitsuishi Kotono recalled her previous experience voice acting for Pokeni and felt nothing but heartache, never expecting that her senior would one day be in the same boat as her.
This time, Hayashibara-senpai could finally understand her pain.
She was no longer the only lonely, helpless voice actress who had been tortured to death by Pokeni.
"Damn it... Why!" Mitsuishi Kotono felt extremely puzzled.
Why was it that whenever it was her turn, she would receive such terrifying scripts?
"Yeah," Hayashibara Megumi blinked, also looking puzzled. "When I voiced Blanket Man last time, it felt fine. How could it be that with the same scriptwriter, things have completely changed now?"
She had once praised that scriptwriter named Jun Maeda for his kindness.
Looking back on it now, she felt deeply regretful.
"No, no, the script you received last time was really just an accident," Mitsuishi Kotono picked up a tissue, blew her nose, and said with a choked voice, "The truly terrifying one is that person, Kogahara Tsubakiaki. Any game he produces is heartbreaking.
That kid named Jun Maeda was probably also influenced by that Old Thief Kogahara."
"Eh? Is that so?"
In any case, this time, Hayashibara Megumi truly felt the tear-jerking magic within the game.
***
"No.
'Compared to LL, CL is simply too healing.'
A week later, after finishing the recording sessions for LL, Megumi Hayashibara was a tearful mess.
She had almost choked on her tears at the recording studio, so much so that she nearly hyperventilated, forcing the game's recording work to be interrupted.
It was only then that Megumi Hayashibara realized—
The producer, Tsubakiaki Kogahara, is truly a devil.
How did such a kind child as Jun Maeda transform into what he is now?
How could he write such heartbreaking storylines?
This time, unlike with CL, Megumi Hayashibara was voicing the role of the protagonist's daughter in LL.
She could be called the veritable heroine of the LL game.
And Kotono Mitsuishi was just one of the female characters with a romantic connection to the male protagonist.
It was equivalent to the importance of the two roles being swapped in the game.
If voicing Fuko Ibuki last time was like being stabbed in the chest with a knife, then this time was like Tsubakiaki Kogahara blasting a hole in her with a cannon."
After a tortuous dubbing session, Megumi Hayashibara returned to the company feeling as though her soul had been completely drained away.
This time, she couldn't cry at all.
To be precise, she had already shed all her tears in the recording booth. When one reaches the absolute depths of sorrow, the ability to cry vanishes.
Kotono Mitsuishi looked at her hollow-eyed senior and felt a pang of heartache.
"Senior, are you okay?"
"How should I even put this?"
Megumi Hayashibara snapped out of her trance and reached out to hug her tightly.
"I thought I had empathized enough before, but when it was finally my turn, I realized just how terrifying the sorrow you bore must have been."
It was like falling into an bottomless abyss.
Unless you experience it yourself, you would never know that this pain is hundreds or thousands of times worse than what came before.
"No," Kotono Mitsuishi said, tears of relief streaming down her face. "Now that I have Hayashibara-senpai, having you share this sorrow with me only makes me feel warmth."
Sob...
***
In short, Megumi Hayashibara's reaction now was the same as Kotono Mitsuishi's back then.
After this, she never wanted to voice act for a Pokeni game again.
Of course, this thought arose quickly, but the next morning, when she woke up and recalled the story in the game, she was deeply moved once again.
Ah~
How should she put it?
Although being a voice actor for a P-company game was an exhausting experience, she had to admit one thing—
Whether it was CL or LL, they were both excellent works, enough to move people and leave a deep impression.
It was like having lived through an entire lifetime.
If you were to ask if she regretted voice acting for this game, she certainly did.
Because she didn't know how long it would take to recover from this gloom afterward.
But if you were to ask if she would continue to serve as a voice actor for P-company games in the future.
Megumi Hayashibara's first reaction was actually—
Yes!
It was truly lucky to be able to voice act for such a touching story in such an excellent game.
"Eh? Yabai, yabai!"
Just then, suddenly realizing something, Megumi Hayashibara covered her cheeks with her hands, feeling completely overwhelmed.
It's over, it's over.
Have I also, like Kotono, developed Stockholm syndrome?
How terrifying!
Does Kogahara Tsubakiaki possess magic?!
How did I fall for it in just one try?
***
Have I, like Kotono, also developed Stockholm syndrome?
Terrifying!
Is Kuhara Tsubaki magic or something?!
How did I fall for it on the first try?
***
It's not just Megumi Hayashibara and Kotono Mitsuishi.
Many voice actors have suffered some sort of aftereffects after finishing recording for Pokeni.
Either they fall into a gloom, unable to recover for a long time, or they feel so awful that they curl up in bed and fall fast asleep as soon as they get home.
"It's really painful, this feeling is even more painful than being beaten up."
When faced with a media interview, Kentaro Ito, the voice actor for the male lead Tomoya Okazaki, said with a pained expression:
"As a man, I cried even more miserably than Hayashibara in the recording studio, so you can imagine what kind of work this is."
It really is quite miserable. Kentaro Ito is not only the male lead in CL, but also the male lead in LL.
Of the two games, he is the only one who has persisted through all the routes.
No one understands the plot and the endings better than him.
And precisely because of this, the impact he received was many times stronger than anyone else's.
He even spoke frankly in front of the media, saying he cried his eyes out, even more miserably than Hayashibara.
However, as soon as the words left his mouth, remembering the non-disclosure agreement he signed with Pokeni, Kentaro Ito immediately changed his tune, "I was talking about the process. The process is full of many moving and healing plot points and elements."
So it's able to make people weep.
However, there are actually many specific endings, so players can rest assured.
These two games are definitely excellent works that are healing enough to comfort people's hearts."
That is why it can move people to tears.
However, there are actually many specific endings, so players can rest assured.
These two games are definitely excellent works that are healing enough to the heart."
Although it sounded a bit like "the thief shouting 'I am not a thief'," the players didn't seem to care that much, and even wishfully believed in Kentaro Ito's words about them being "healing and warm."
After all, that's just how galgames are; there are many different routes and endings, and it's normal to encounter a Bad Ending or two occasionally.
As long as P-Company has a little bit of conscience and not every route is a Bad Ending, it's fine.
Players' expectations for Pokeni are very low.
Low to an appalling degree.
They are even still very grateful that Jun Maeda didn't kill off the male and female leads in Blanket Man.
What do setbacks during the process matter?
After all, this is a work by the old villain Kohara.
But if Kentaro Ito had come right out and said, "Everyone can rest assured, these two games have no knives; they are primarily warm and healing," then that would be a situation that requires sufficient attention and vigilance.
Players expressed one after another that when they heard the words "move to tears," they actually felt much more at ease.
***
So, a good work will influence people.
Japan has many famous writers, such as Yasunari Kawabata, Osamu Dazai... After reading their books, one falls into a kind of suicidal despair.
To some extent, it's normal for the voice actors to have this kind of reaction.
At the very least, it shows that they truly immersed themselves in their roles and developed genuine feelings.
Aoki Haruhi also expressed his admiration for the dedication of these voice actors and paid his highest respects.
The voice recording process went quite smoothly.
After all, there are so many famous voice actors in Japan, so there is no need to worry about voice actors at all. Moreover, some of the powerful ones are simply monsters, capable of having multiple different voice lines at the same time, as long as one of the voice lines meets the expectations.
It has to be said that this industry is quite competitive.
The only thing that made Aoki Haruhi feel uncomfortable was that he couldn't find a good candidate to sing the theme song, "Dango Daikazoku".
He needed that kind of lively and sweet voice, sometimes a little cute type.
Perhaps the influence of the CL anime from his previous life was too deep; whenever Aoki Haruhi recalled this song, he always felt that it had to be that voice.
When others sang it, he always felt it lacked something.
Chata.
What was her real name again?
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