Hase-san (AKA Yurishii) and her departure from Yukiho--
--Honestly speaking, I was surprised not just as a columnist for Dengeki, but as a producer. Ishihara-san (Director 1), can you tell us the decisions behind changing Yukiho's VA?
D1: Before we started working on Im@s 2, we had to work out the setting and timeline. We started working on the basis after the development of SP, way before Dearly Stars was even announced.
We were always keen on releasing a second HD Im@s game, while also settling on the idea of starting anew... something that will replicate the feel of the original arcade. Starting from zero, as so to speak.
Im@s just celebrated its 5th anniversary, but on the flip side it also means 5 years of adding on new material to the point of becoming humdrum. So to "re"start Im@s 2, we needed potential for the game to last two, three years on its own and not just rely on short lived hype, but to have a solid foundation of fans.
--Starting from zero, including the VAs?
D1: Yes, you're right. Counting from the very start of development, some of the VAs have been involved seven, eight years with the series, and they've grown together with their characters. But at one point, I had to ask everyone whether they were OK about sticking with Im@s, as it was about to go through a new phase of evolution. It was rude for me to ask them since they are so involved in it already, but at this pace, Im@s will surely become a lifework for them, so I needed to recheck.
During this phase in development, I had a long discussion with Hase-san, about conflicts with our recording schedule and her schedule as a seiyuu. Hase-san said it herself, that she didn't want to be involved with Im@s if she couldn't give it her best, and that it was in the best interest for both of us if she left at this transition point from 1 to 2. It was a difficult choice, but in the end we both agreed to move on.
The decision behind Asakura-san as Yukiho--
--Asakura-san will be newly introduced to the cast, but was she chosen in an audition like the rest of the VAs?
D1: We held an audition in summer 2009, with no avail. We just couldn't find anyone that would fit Yukiho's role. And if we as developers didn't think a VA sounded like Yukiho, what would the fans think? At this point, I actually had ideas of shifting Yukiho to another role.
--But by the end of the audition, you found Asakura-san.
D1: Actually, interestingly, we didn't find her at the end of that particular audition. Because we couldn't find a fitting VA, we started to go through past audition recordings, and while looking through, I came across Asakura-san.
--Past auditions... do you mean the auditions for Miki, and the Hibiki-Takane pair?
D1: Exactly. We went through past data, and when we came across Asakura-san's singing, it just struck us as being Yukiho-like. So we contacted her agency, and asked her to come to an audition.
--So Asakura-san, you took Yukiho's audition after the call from Ishihara-san?
Asakura: Yes. Acting out Yukiho's part according to the script, and going through Im@s songs.
--Out of interest, what did you sing?
Asakura: "Kosmos, Cosmos" and "The Idolmaster." I'm not used to singing at auditions, so I was all nervous... I didn't know the microphone was on while it was being setup, and everyone in the studio could hear me saying things like "I'm always so nervous when it comes to Im@s auditions..." Everyone outside the booth heard me, and I was pretty certain I was going to mess up again.
--When playing Yukiho's part during the audition, did you have Hase-san's Yukiho in mind?
Asakura: During the audition, not so much. But after I got the role, I started working on a rendition of Yukiho that was like Hase-san's but different. Although I constantly had to confirm if I sounded OK with the studio staff and Ishihara-san.
D1: The sound staff and I, though, were not really worried. When we first had Asakura-san read Yukiho's lines, we knew straight away that she hit the right note, and from then on we weren't worried one bit. Even in Im@s 2, Yukiho is Yukiho, she retains an inner strength masked by her fragile exterior. Asakura-san brought to life this image of Yukiho, and she did it very naturally.
--How do you feel, being chosen to play Yukiho's role?
Asakura: Before the audition I was set on getting the role, and now that I have, I'm going to put everything I have in it, because I don't want people who like Yukiho to hate her because of a VA change. By the time I got this role, I was already in love with Yukiho's character, so I'm set on playing the role of the cute, strong Yukiho... an idol loved by many. In a sense, my number one feeling was that I was going to do my best, not just happiness from being able to be Yukiho's new VA.
