ORICON NEWS
posted an interview with
Kazuya Nakai who plays
Colza on May 3rd, 2024 and the official Japanese Anime PR Twitter account
retweeted their post.
Colza, a Gym Leader from the Paldea region, will be making an appearance in the popular anime Pocket Monsters (airs on the TV Tokyo Network every Friday at 6:55pm, officially abbreviated "Anipoke") in episode 48 (airing on the 3rd). To celebrate this, Oricon News has interviewed his voice actor Kazuya Nakai about what makes Colza such an appealing character.
In episode 48, "Shine! The Glimmer of Fire and Art", Roy's opponent for his Terastal training assessment test is Colza. Roy is eager to battle him, but Colza has to postpone the training due to being busy preparing the art festival that's going to be held in Bowl Town. Just then, Nemo happens to pass by and asks Roy for a battle, which he agrees to. But when Colza watches their battle, it seems he has some thoughts about Roy's battle style...
Q: What was it like to play Colza again for the first time since episode 10?
Nakai: In that episode, Colza was in pretty poor shape both physically and mentally, and while it was fun to play him as he'd suddenly make a bizarre switch from being super excited to super depressed, he was decidedly a lot easier to play in this new episode, where he actually acts like an adult, so to speak.
Q: Have your impressions of Colza changed now that you've played him as he "acts like an adult"?
Nakai: I've realized that he's not just a character that speaks from the heart when talking to children, but that he also makes an effort to show them "how things are". The last time I played him it was clear to me that everyone loved the man even though I didn't quite understand why, but this time around I finally got why. This changed my perception of the character as well.
Q: Colza also battles Roy this episode, what kind of direction did you receive for that scene?
Nakai: I played Colza as being happy to see Roy again and hoping that Roy would come to a realization during the battle. I think that over-eagerness resulted in him coming across as getting a bit too worked up during the battle despite facing a child (laughs). I was directed to sort out which lines were Colza expressing his personal emotions and which lines were him telling someone else something, and also to never lose sight of Colza's position as a person giving Roy guidance.
Q: The episode also has a scene where Colza talks to Hassaku, one of the Elite Four members from the video games, doesn't it?
Nakai: Yes, he has a line in the episode where he introduces Hassaku to Liko and the others, and because I was somewhat aware of the fact that the two of them go way back and that Hassaku is not just Colza's former teacher but also his best friend, I intially overemphasized how happy Colza was to get to talk to Hassaku so much that the sound director had to tell me "I don't care how happy you are, just get to the point and give Liko and the others your explanation"... (laughs). This was the first time I played Colza talking to another adult, and while the were parts of the conversation that got quite friendly, I worked with the sound director during the dubbing session to make sure he didn't talk too passionately in the parts where he wasn't supposed to, making adjustments as needed.
Q: Colza's catchphrase "Avant garde!" is really striking, but is there anything about Colza you personally find to be avant garde?
Nakai: You know how he always jumps off a windmill while yelling "Toh!" before battling? That's the kind of thing the super heroes I watched as a kid would've done, but when I hear it again all these years later, I feel like it's gone full circle and become avant garde. There's a lot of scenes in this episode I feel are more grounded than avant garde, though.
Q: What scenes are these?
Nakai: Scenes like the one where he thanks his Pokémon for doing a good job after the battle, for instance. Colza may be quite the eccentric, but he's a decent human being at heart and never goes out of line in that respect. In fact, I think that it's precisely because he feels these very ordinary emotions that he wants to break new ground as much as he does. When I think about how that might be the reason he's going around shouting "Avant garde!" all the time, the character starts feeling a lot cuter.
Q: Finally, do you have something you want to tell to those who are looking forward to Colza's appearance in episode 48, which airs today, Friday May 3rd, or any highlights of the episode you want to emphasize?
Nakai: While it makes me really happy that people have been waiting for Colza's return appearance after his lengthy absence, I guarantee nobody's been waiting for it more than I have. I had actually resigned myself to thinking he just wasn't going to ever appear again (laughs). The last time we saw Colza I'd say he came across as the kind of person you feel worried about, but this time around he has it all together. I did try to show how he's still kind of an oddball at the end of the day though, so I hope you'll find that aspect of him entertaining.
『ポケモン』コルサは「かわいい」 中井和哉「アヴァンギャルド!」な魅力分析
人気アニメ『ポケットモンスター』（テレビ東京系 毎週金曜 後6：55～ ※放送日時・内容は地域によって異なる）の第48話（3日放送）にパルデア地方のジムリーダー・コルサが登場する。これを記念してORICON NEWSはコルサ役の中井和哉にインタビューを実施し、コルサの魅力を聞いてみた。
第48話「輝け！炎とアートのきらめき」は、ロイのテラスタル研修・基礎テストの対戦相手がコルサになった。早くバトルしたいと意気込むロイだったが、ボウルタウンでは芸術祭が開かれており、準備で忙しいコルサに研修を後回しにされてしまう。そこに偶然通りかかったネモに誘われ、バトルをすることになったロイ。2人のバトルを見たコルサは、ロイの戦い方に思うことがあるようで…。
――第10話以来、久しぶりのコルサを演じられていかがでしたか？
【中井】 前回のコルサは心身ともにコンディションが悪い状態だったので、変にテンションが高かったり、ドーンと落ち込んだりする様子が演じていて楽しかったですが、今回は登場したときからいわゆる”大人”として仕事をする人だったので、違いが明らかで演じやすかったです。
――“大人”としてのコルサを演じて、キャラクターの印象は変わりましたか？
【中井】 子どもたちに対しては自分の感情だけで話すのではなく、ちゃんと”これはこうだ”と示してあげる人なのだと気づきました。前回演じた時は、なぜか知らないけどみんなから慕われているという印象でしたが、今回はその慕われている理由が端々に見え、コルサというキャラクターの捉え方も変わりました。
――ロイとのバトルシーンもありますが、どのようなディレクションがありましたか？
【中井】 コルサは、ロイとの再会を嬉しく思い、バトルすることで新たな気づきが生まれることを期待していたのではと考え、演じていました。その前のめりな感情を前面に出しすぎた結果、子どもに対してムキになりすぎる感じがバトル中に出てしまったようで（笑）。自分の感情として発する言葉と相手に伝えるための言葉を整理し、あくまでロイを指導する人間という立場を見失わないよう、ディレクションを受けました。
――ゲームにも登場する四天王の一人・ハッサクと会話するシーンもありましたね。
【中井】 リコたちにハッサクを紹介するセリフがあるのですが、ハッサクと話せた嬉しさを出しすぎたあまり、「あなたが嬉しいのはいいから、リコたちに説明してあげてください。」と言われてしまい…（笑）。ハッサクとコルサが旧知の仲で、彼にとっては恩師でもあり大の親友でもある、という知識をうっすら持っていたために、そのようなディレクションを受けてしまいました。対等な大人と話す演技も初めてだったので親しみを込めた部分もあったのですが、何でも熱くなるのではなく、抑えるところは抑えるよう現場の音響監督と調整しながら収録しました。
――コルサと言えば「アヴァンギャルド！」というセリフが印象的ですが、コルサの「アヴァンギャルド！」だと思うところはありますか？
【中井】 バトル前、必ず「とうっ！」と言いながら風車から飛び降りるところですね。僕が子どものころに見ていたヒーローが言うようなセリフですが、何十年も経って改めて聞くと、一周回ってアヴァンギャルドだと感じます。ただ、アヴァンギャルドというより、むしろ地に足がついていると思う場面も多くあります。
――“地に足がついている”というのは、どういった場面で感じますか？
【中井】 バトルの後は一生懸命頑張ってくれたポケモンに「よくやった」と声をかけるなど、変わった人ではありますが、人としての基本を踏み外していないところです。
そういったありきたりなものを自分の中に感じるからこそ、突き抜けてみたくなる部分もあるのかなと。ことさら「アヴァンギャルド！」と叫んでみたりする理由もそこにあるのかな、などと考えるとどんどんかわいいキャラクターに感じてきます。
――本日5月3日（金）放送の第48話の見どころや、コルサの登場を楽しみにしている皆様へのメッセージをお願いします。
【中井】 久々のコルサの登場を待ってくださった人がいると嬉しく思いますし、何より僕自身が相当待っていました。あれ、もう出ないのかな？と思っていたところだったので（笑）。前回のコルサは見ていて心配になるような人だったと思いますが、今回はしっかりした姿、でもその中にやっぱりちょっと変だなという面も滲ませてみましたので、そのあたりを楽しんでいただけたらと思います。
Funkeln! Das Glühen von Flamme und Kunst!
Étincelle ! La lueur des flammes et de l'art !
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