Bandai Namco held the usual monthly Super Robot Wars stream today, revealing the second trailer for Super Robot Wars T. Here’s a summary of the stream, with more information than the trailer had.
The stream had the same people as usual. The comedy duo Gattsikitaika, voice actor Kenji Akabane, Super Robot Wars producer Takanobu Terada, Super Robot Wars T producer Shouhei Mogami, Super Robot Wars X-Ω(Cross Omega)’s Producer Hiroaki Oochi, and “Red”, the producer of Super Robot Wars DD.
This was the first stream of 2019, so they started by goofing up a bit, wishing fans a happy new year, and announcing their New Year Resolutions with handwritten scrolls. Mogami wrote on his scroll “I’ll dedicate myself to T”, so Akabane joked saying it could mean he’s dedicating himself to Terada, shipping them together. Red wrote that he’d like people to start calling him “Producer Red”, as fans aren’t accustomed to his new position yet. Before being revealed as Super Robot Wars DD‘s producer during the game’s announcement, Red was always present during the final corner of streams, cracking up Super Robot Wars related jokes and trivia. Especially, he’d like Terada to start calling him “producer Red” instead of “Akai” which might be his (still unknown) real name.
Following that, the Super Robot Wars T new information corner began, with the reveal of the game’s second trailer. Akabane was really happy they showed Hikaru, Umi and Fuu, all three Rayearth girls in the trailer, and how Fuu’s Green Whirlwind attack looked great.
Just like with the two previous standalone games, Super Robot Wars T has a Premium Anime Song & Sound Edition in Japan, with more songs, and songs versions than in the base game. Just like with the previous games, this Limited Edition has a different cover than the base game, by popular mecha artist Naochika Morishita. This time, they asked Morishita to draw each robot as they’re unleashing one of their attacks, and decided to put Captain Harlock’s Arcadia in the foreground for more impact. The illustration is included in the gallery down below.
#生スパロボチャンネル をご覧いただきありがとうございました！オリジナル主人公を演じていただく、草尾さんと庄司さんに出演していただきました！
アーカイブはこちら→ https://t.co/FEAvi9iZsW 公式ＨＰ→https://t.co/Zjgfx1nGL8 #スパロボ #スパロボＴ pic.twitter.com/tBZd65IuXr— スーパーロボット大戦 (@srw_game) January 11, 2019
Next, Umeka Shouji, who voices Super Robot Wars T’s Original female protagonist Sagiri Sakurai, and Takeshi Kusao, who voices the Original male protagonist Saizou Tokitou, joined the stream as guests. Their self-introduction was quite funny as they both did it as if they’d just show up and leave right after. As per tradition now, the two of them took a photo with their characters, and it was tweeted once the stream ended.
They started by explaining the design of Tiraneld, Super Robot Wars T‘s Original mecha. The design was handled by Hidetaka Tenjin, a very talented illustrator who usually works on Macross anime series with Shoji Kawamori. There are multiple intricate specificities in Tiraneld’s design, which makes it look like a Salaryman. For example, Tiraneld’s torso and neck have been designed to look like a necktie, and overall it feels as if it’s wearing a suit. It reflects how the two protagonists you can choose from, Sagiri and Saizou, are both Salaryman of the VTX Union, a big company in Super Robot Wars T‘s setting.
The conversation then switched to NishiEda (the E is silent), the character designer for Super Robot Wars T‘s Original characters. NishiEda is an illustrator mostly known for adult works. In the past, he handled character designs and illustrations for Overflow’s series of visual novels related to School Days, like Pure Mail. This isn’t unusual and there are many illustrators or mangaka who started with adult work before switching to all-ages works, sometimes continuing to draw adult works. NishiEda was also one of the illustrators for the original Asobi ni Iku yo! novel, and currently handles illustrations for the Reincarnated into a Werewolf, the Demon Lord Servants novel, an Isekai light novel licensed in North America. Akabane is a fan of NishiEda, so he was quite happy about the announcement.
こわごわエゴサしてみたところそんなに…評判は…悪くない気がしたのだった… pic.twitter.com/HxFhXEsLJ0
— 西E田 31日 東 M-31b (@nisiedas) January 11, 2019
Soon after the stream, NishiEda tweeted that he looked up reactions to his participation to Super Robot Wars on various places of the net, and it seems he mostly only found positive feedback, so he was quite happy.
Next, the voice actors each spoke about their characters. Takeshi Kusao’s most famous roles include Trunks in Dragon Ball, Ky Kiske in Guilty Gear, Adol Christin in Ys and Hanamichi Sakuragi in Slam Dunk, As a veteran voice actor, who saw the Super Robot Wars franchise grow since its birth in 1991, he’s quite happy to be voicing a middle-aged, salaryman Super Robot Wars Original protagonist like Saizou Tokitou. His acting reflects how Saizou has a lot of life experience and tries to show off to younguns. Kusao also brings up the joke on how the T stands for Terada, and how he really couldn’t tarnish his name and thus voiced Saizou in the best well possible. For Saizou’s most important lines and scenes, Kusao would often record it once, listen to it, think on how to improve it and then ask to retake it even though it was okayed. He was really invested in it.
They also compared Saizou Tokitou to Crowe Broust, the Original protagonist of Super Robot Wars Z2. They seem similar at first glance but they’re different in many ways. Saizou is a stoic man, only thinks about work, and usually doesn’t show his emotions. If he saves the earth, it’s only because it’s his job, no gratitude needed.
Following that, Umeka Shouji commented on her character as well. Shouji’s most famous roles include Aya Gouzen and Hanbei Takenaka in the Samurai Warriors series, and Neko Musume in the 2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō anime. When she heard that Takeshi Kusao would handle the male protagonist, she was pretty intimidated at first, seeing his experience, but in turn, it motivated her to deliver a performance as great as his. While they didn’t record together, as it’s usually the case with Japanese games dubbing, she kept imagining he was right there in the studio and that she couldn’t afford to slack. Most of the time when voicing a game, each voice actor gets the whole script, an early artwork of their own characters, maybe early art for the others, and that’s it. Even in cases like here, where they do learn who is voicing the other characters, it’s not like they hear the others’ performance while recording, and only get to hear it when the game is out.
Both Shouji and Kusao also shared tidbits on how they get in their roles. Umeka Shouji often uses her clothes to get into her characters. She often voices young boys, and when she does so she tends to wear pants with heels. When voicing older female characters, she only wears skirts and heels. During today’s stream too, she was actually wearing a pink top with a white shirt, a style close to her character Sagiri. When asked what he usually does to get into his roles, Akabane said he’d rather not answer or he’ll drag his reputation into the mud, even more, seeing all the shameful acts he regularly does on stream.
Producer Terada also mentions how both Takeshi Kusao and Umeka Shouji already voiced Original characters in the Super Robot Wars series, but villains. Kusao voiced Vigagi, one of the Inspectors. Shouji voiced Jamie in Super Robot Wars V.
The discussion then turned back to Tiraneld. The unit is accompanied by a large aircraft which carries its weapons. Meril, the red-haired woman seen during Sagiri’s part of the trailer, is riding on that aircraft. Other Original characters are in that aircraft too, you’ll meet them as you play the game.
They also commented on how it’s weird Sagiri and Saizou both have their sleeves rolled up, as it’s not something you see Salaryman doing. It might be to give off the image that they don’t want to dirty their suits. According to Akabane, rolling your sleeves while wearing a white shirt is also a popular trend among Japanese women.
Next, both Shouji and Kusao talked about their expectations for the game. Shouji is part of the generation which grew up watching Magic Knight Rayearth, so she’s really looking forward to SRW T. Her favorite among the three girls is Umi, just like Akabane. She’s very happy to have been part of the cast, as it’s like she’ll be able to meet the characters herself. Akabane voiced Kouji Kabuto in Shin Mazinger, but not in Mazinger Infinity. He’s unhappy it’s Showtaro Morikubo’s Kouji who gets to meet and chat with the Rayearth girls instead of himself. As seen in the trailer, Hikaru, in particular, seems to be admiring Kouji.
After all these discussions, Terada shared more important precisions on Super Robot Wars T:
The protagonist you didn’t select will appear in the story as the pilot of the Gespenst. If you select Sagiri, Saizou will join you as the Gespenst’s pilot, and vice-versa.
Sirbine first appeared in a Dunbine novel by Yutaka Izubuchi called Aura Fhantasm, and then appeared in the New Story of Aura Battler Dunbine OVA, as protagonist Shion’s Aura Battler. However, at 04:00 in the second trailer, Shion isn’t shown piloting Sirbine but another Aura Battler. It is called the Bellvine. If Sirbine is basically another version of Dunbine, Bellvine is another version of Billbine. Bellvine first appeared in Aura Fhantasm. It is the first time Bellvine is animated and the first time it appears in Super Robot Wars. A Robot Damashii action figure of Bellvine was recently released. It was shown during the toys corner at the end of the stream along with other Aura Battler Dunbine toys. Terada also mentioned the recent release of the Bellvine toy is the reason why he decided to include it in Super Robot Wars T. They had a lot of trouble animating it, and Robot Damshii also had some trouble making the toy, because back illustrations of the unit doesn’t exist, and there are only a handful official illustrations of Bellvine existing in the first place.
Cowboy Bebop‘s Faye Valentine sadly isn’t a playable character and only appears in Spike’s Swordfish’s attack animations.
Shin Getter Dragon first appeared in Getter Robo Daikessen on PlayStation 1. When Super Robot Wars T‘s Premium Anime Song & Sound Edition limited edition was revealed, many Getter Robo fans thought Shin Getter Dragon could appear, as Can’t Stop, a Masaki Endoh song and the opening song of Getter Robo Daikessen!, was included. Turns out they were right, and Shin Getter Dragon is in Super Robot Wars T. As for how it appears in the story, you’ll have to play the game to find out.
The first TV commercial for Super Robot Wars T was also streamed, you can find it at 44:43 on the live stream. It doesn’t have any new footage, but is quite funny: The game’s slogan is “They fight with their lives on the line, to protect their home, Terra!”, and was purposely made to sound as if it says “to protect Terada!” in Japanese. While the game really isn’t named after him, Terada decided on that slogan to keep the joke going. Though, he didn’t think even the voice actors would constantly run with it live on stream.
With that, the stream moved to the Super Robot Wars X-Ω news corner. Last stream, it has been announced that Daimidaler and Vandread will be joining as limited time additions. A few days later, they announced Great Zeorymer and Mai-Hime as limited time additions as well. And today on stream, they revealed Galaxy Angel will be joining the game too, as a limited time addition.
新谷良子 公式ブログを更新しました。 『あっという間。』 #スパロボhttps://t.co/Z85lZGxSsA
— 新谷良子 (@vivo_pinkbambi) January 11, 2019
Galaxy Angel‘s Milfeulle Sakuraba was Ryoko Shintani’s debut role, in 2001. She already recorded Milfeulle’s new voices clips for Cross-Omega and was impatient about Galaxy Angel‘s inclusion being announced. On her blog, she wrote how happy she was to voice her debut role again, especially in Super Robot Wars.
Nothing else was announced for Cross-Omega, and the stream then moved on to the Super Robot Wars DD corner.
Youhei Azakami, the voice actor of Dido, Super Robot Wars DD’s Original protagonist, joined the stream during the corned. They talked quite a bit, but no major announcement was made, so this part of the stream will be covered soon in another article.
Last was the toys corner with multiple Aura Battler Dunbine toys, followed by the stream’s end with everyone’s goodbye messages.
Akabane sulked about how he’s not going to Taiwan to do an event for Cross Omega, how they should offer him a hot-spring trip as compensation, and how the game was only featured for like 15 minutes in this month’s stream. He also pointed out how naive Super Robot Wars T seems to be, with Salaryman protagonists saving the world or Terada. Surprisingly, Daiguard wasn’t mentioned once during the whole stream.
Takeshi Kusao jokingly said Super Robot Wars T is the game where Terada will save the earth. And he’s ready anytime for an hot-spring trip if the invitation ends up being on a workday for Akabane. He’s really happy to be voicing a new Original SRW character and hopes to come back again soon.
Umeka Shouji revealed that it was her first time appearing on a stream. After one hour had passed, she was kinda forgetting what they’d talk about next, but she’s happy everything went well. She also thinks Terada will be the one to save the planet.
Lastly, it was announced that Super Robot Wars T will be playable at Taipei Game Show from January 24 to 28. Producers Takanobu Terada, Mogami Shouhei, and voice actor Nobuyuki Hiyama will be present for an event on January 26, at 14:00 JST, revealing new information and gameplay. The stage event will be streamed so look forward to another article about it, and to next month’s Super Robot Wars series’ stream.
Super Robot Wars T will be available in English on March 20 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The Japanese version of Super Robot Taisen T‘s second trailer, together with profile translations for Tiraneld, Sagiri Sakurai, Saizou Tokitou and Lamii Amasaki, can be found here.
The gallery below includes the cover for the Limited Edition, a photo with everyone present on stream and high-resolution artworks for Tiraneld, Sagiri Sakurai, Saizou Tokitou and Lamii Amasaki.
The post Super Robot Wars T Producers, Voices Actors Share New Details on Original Characters, Units by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.