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( interview kento & hiroki for fate grand order the stage - newtype 2nd march 2018 )
To commemorate the sale of the Blu-ray and DVD of Fate/Grand Order THE STAGE, we're bringing you an interview with Sana Hiroki-san, who plays Bedivere, and Ono Kento-san, who plays Lancelot.
Although you co-starred for the first time during this production, please tell us about your first impression of each other.
Sana: We met for the first time at the workshop. Since the director, Sakurako-san, is so committed, all of the cast had acting lessons together before we even read the script. That system was really good. Relationships are incredibly important when creating a stage company, and because of the workshop I was already comfortable with the whole cast once we started on practice, and I was able to tackle the role with all I had. At the end of the first day of the workshop we all had to talk about our thoughts, and while we were all waiting and seeing since we didn't quite grasp the atmosphere yet, Kento-kun immediately started talking. "My acting was no good at all until now. Everything I knew until now was turned around." So perfectly honest..! When he did that, I thought it was amazing. And with that everyone realised, "ah, so it's like that," and everyone's approach changed the next day. I thought he was cool since he spoke so honestly.
Ono: Ah, that happened... Although I don't remember all the details. But I remember the feeling from that time for sure, I thought, "Wow... what an amazingly good workshop."
Sana: Wasn't it amazing? I was surprised since I thought that people with long acting experience wouldn't be able to say that they were no good.
Ono: But no matter how long you've been an actor, just one day of experience can turn around everything. Something like, "Eh, this day, this one day, what?!" It was such a good experience.
Sana: It's amazing that you could reveal that feeling so honestly. I'm sure that I could talk about it now that we've finished the performances, but I especially thought you were an amazing person since you were able to say it on the first day without fear.
How about Ono-san?
Ono: At first I thought he had an amazingly good voice. And I felt like he was quick-witted while talking about his opinions during the workshop. For example, if you suddenly say something, then it takes some time to understand. Sakurano-san's workshop especially had a lot of technical terms that we didn't know about, but he reacted quickly to them anyway.
Sana: That's since more than anything I didn't want to say that I couldn't do it. I've chosen to keep in mind to not use words that put myself down like "difficult", "bad at", or "sorry."
Ono: He seemed like the type who enjoyed everything, like an amazingly obedient child. For example, even if you couldn't understand the lines he was saying, you could understand through watching him. But I was surprised that the sound of his lines were always very clear.
Sana: It was a lot of fun. I often got instructions from directors like "in this way" or "with this feeling". But there were a lot of things that I couldn't grasp since I hadn't properly learned how to act, so Sakurano-san taught me everything using technical terms. "What you've been calling "like this" until now is actually so and so," he explained that to all of us individually. Furthermore, Sakurano-san handed out answers to questions we were facing on paper every day, and I looked forward to reading them. Every night I was writing down everything that was on my mind in my notebook... So the notebook I wrote in and the script are now lifelong treasure for me.
I'll ask you something about the role you played. Although Lancelot is a subordinate to the lion king, Arthur Pendragon, you can look at him in very extreme ways, and there's been various judgements about him.
Ono: I'm really glad that you understand that. Although I didn't have a whole lot to draw from when I looked into his relationship with the knights of the Round Table, I still wanted to take their relationships and origins into account. I wanted to show him as someone whose true feelings don't waver, but who doesn't show that.
The complete reversal he shows when Mash Kyrielight's secret is revealed is very charming and funny.
Ono: I also don't know very well how it turned out that way. (laughs) But since it was such a heavy story, I thought it'd be nice to have a bit of laughter in there too.
How did you shape Bedivere?
Sana: It wasn't that difficult to play him, since I think that he is rather similar to me. Of course I can't match up to his experience of having wandered around for months and years, but our feelings are the same in a lot of ways. For example, one time Sakurano-san asked me if there was anyone I wanted to apologize to. I answered that there is someone, and then he asked if I could go see that person now. So I told him that I couldn't since that person wasn't here anymore, and he told me that I should search for that person as Sana Hiroki and go home. I really looked as I went home. I wandered around various places, seriously considering getting on a train, and by the time I got home it was already 3 o' clock at night. But I think I was able to be such a Bedivere since I was able to get that close to the character.
You had a good experience. By the way, both of you quite got into the smartphone RPG "Fate/Grand Order".
Ono: I started playing it when it was announced that I'd be performing in the play, but it was the first time that I was this hooked on an app. Since I don't play games a lot, I didn't imagine that I would keep going like this. At first I wanted to finish up the part the game is based on, the "Sixty Singularity Holy Round Table Domain Camelot", but once I finished that, I thought that the Servants that were being released were cool and the story was interesting, so I still play it now.
Sana: I actually still hadn't started yet once we were at the workshop. But I started since everyone kept noisily talking about stuff like "Ishtar appeared!" and had fun, and I ended up arriving at the Sixty Singularity before anyone else. (laughs) I ended up being #1 at the Halloween 2017 event during the autumn shows as well!
Ono: He finished it quicker than anyone else. I was defeated... (laughs)
Sana: It's since I wanted to know about the Round Table knights that showed up in it, even if it would be just a little bit. If I knew more, I could incorporate that in my role, and so I'd play it every single time right before the performance, and I'd say "gotcha!"
It's amazing how your love is overflowing. Please give us some final comments.
Ono: Both the female and male Master performances are included. I'd like for you to be able to see how despite having the same script, they are different because of the way we change our acting.
Sana: I hope you can watch it over and over without getting tired of it. Everyone really paid close attention to making this stage play. It's filled with the real intentions of Lancelot and the hidden thoughts of many characters, and all people put meaning into it, down to even the facial expressions of the ensemble. So please watch it while thinking about what meaning is hidden where.