With his unmistakably deep voice, Akio Otsuka has brought countless fan-favorite characters to life, including Daisuke Jigen in Lupin the Third and Batou in Ghost in the Shell. But one of his most iconic roles worldwide remains Snake from the METAL GEAR SOLID series.
In a recent interview with Japanese outlet Bunshun Online, Otsuka opened up about Snake, the hero of METAL GEAR SOLID, and the deep bond he shares with the series’ creator, director Hideo Kojima. He also discussed one of his personal favorite roles: Rider from Fate/Zero.
The following excerpts are presented in a question-and-answer format.
Q: Let’s talk about Snake, your character in the METAL GEAR SOLID series. Is it true that his now-iconic line, “Kept you waiting, huh?” was originally improvised?
Akio Otsuka: I improvised it during the actual game, and they later used it in commercials as well. As for whether I was allowed to improvise during recording, director Hideo Kojima was standing right there in front of me. He could decide which lines to keep and which ones to cut.
You can’t really do that when you’re dubbing an overseas game into Japanese. Back then, though, games were made by recording the dialogue first and adding the visuals afterward.
Q: One of the most celebrated scenes in the METAL GEAR SOLID series comes from METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS, when your Snake appears opposite Big Boss, voiced by your father, Chikao Otsuka.
Akio Otsuka: I’m truly grateful that people still remember it so fondly. I also performed the motion capture for Naked Snake, or Big Boss, while my father recorded the dialogue to match my performance. When he arrived and saw me standing there in a motion-capture suit, his eyes went wide. He said, “Wait, I’m dubbing over you?” He found the whole thing pretty amusing.
Q: You’ve voiced an enormous number of characters, but it sounds like Snake holds a particularly special place for you.
Akio Otsuka: Of course. No matter what ultimately happened between director Kojima and Konami, to the fans, Snake is still the character played by Akio Otsuka. When I think about those fans, I realize I’m still caught in the middle.
Q: Speaking of your relationship with Hideo Kojima, many people remember seeing you overcome with emotion at the 2019 launch event for DEATH STRANDING, Kojima’s first game after leaving Konami.
Akio Otsuka: After Kojima left Konami, he must have felt completely lost. There were still unfinished projects at the time. He eventually founded a small company called Kojima Productions and set out again, almost like launching a little boat. There were all kinds of twists and turns along the way. Sony reached out to support him, and after everything, he finally managed to complete DEATH STRANDING.
He went through so much after leaving the company, yet he still managed to finish a major game. Thinking about all of that brought me to tears. After all, we had traveled that entire road together.
Q: At the event, you said you could see “the solitary part of solitude” on Kojima’s back. Did you sense a kind of grim determination from him at the time?
Akio Otsuka: Hideo Kojima is the same age as my younger brother, so he’s only slightly younger than I am. We lived and grew up through the same era, so the mindsets that shaped us are actually very similar. He was also responsible for leading his staff forward, yet after leaving the company and becoming independent, he had no money behind him. I’m sure he was wrestling with the fear of, “What happens if DEATH STRANDING fails?”
If it failed, he could easily have ended up with a debt he would never be able to repay, even after working for the rest of his life. Of course that would be terrifying. So when the game was finally complete and they officially announced, “It’s coming out,” I cried.
Q: It’s clear that you feel a very deep connection with director Hideo Kojima.
Akio Otsuka: As voice actors, our job is generally to perform whenever someone hires us. But the METAL GEAR SOLID series was created by director Hideo Kojima, and I take pride in feeling that I helped create it alongside him. That’s why I said, “I don’t want to make METAL GEAR SOLID without director Hideo Kojima.” But once I said it publicly, there was no backing down from it. (Laughs)
Q: When you appeared as a guest on Showtaro Morikubo and Kohei Amasaki’s YouTube program, you also said that you thought the series should get “one more game.”
Akio Otsuka: That’s genuinely how I feel. It would be for METAL GEAR SOLID fans around the world, because they’re still waiting for it.So for those fans, let’s make one more METAL GEAR SOLID. Director Hideo Kojima is now creating his own work through DEATH STRANDING, so I can’t help thinking, “Would it really hurt to make one more?”
Q: Have you actually told director Kojima himself that you want to make another METAL GEAR SOLID?
Akio Otsuka: I’ll leave that to your imagination. (Laughs)
Q: Of all the characters you’ve voiced, it’s a little surprising that you consider Rider from Fate/Zero one of your favorites.
Akio Otsuka: Before the Fate/Zero anime was produced, they made a drama CD. The staff told me to read the original story beforehand, and then four very thick novels arrived. I remember thinking, “Wait, I have to read all of this just to record a drama CD!?”
But once I started reading, I found it incredibly entertaining. The further I got, the more I thought, “Rider is a fantastic character.” The story is full of heavy, emotionally draining developments, but whenever Rider appears, it feels like a gust of fresh air blows through the scene. I immediately thought, “I can really do something with this character.” (Laughs)
Q: Many of your best-known characters—Black Jack from Black Jack, Batou from Ghost in the Shell, and Snake—carry a certain darkness inside them. Rider, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have that darkness, or at least never shows it.
Akio Otsuka: Playing Rider was incredibly exhilarating. How should I describe it? It felt like the raw, heavy torque of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, rumbling forward without stopping. You rarely get to experience anything like that in a role. I remember thinking, “This character is seriously fascinating.”
Q: Rider is bold and larger than life, but he isn’t some thoughtless character who simply charges straight ahead.
Akio Otsuka: That’s another great part of him. Fate/Zero has an episode called “Discussing the Grail.” Rider spends that scene laying out his beliefs at length, but his argument is extremely clear. You listen to him and think, “That actually makes sense.” It’s also a perspective that most people would never come up with themselves.
When you think about it, scenes like that are rare in anime. Saber, Archer, and Rider are literally just sitting there talking the entire time. (Laughs) When Rider’s Noble Phantasm, Ionioi Hetairoi, appears, the visuals alone are enough to make you think, “That’s incredible.”But “Discussing the Grail” really is nothing but conversation.
That made me realize the actors’ performances would determine whether the scene could hold the audience’s attention. So I poured everything I had into playing it.
The interview offers a revealing look at the bond between Akio Otsuka and Hideo Kojima. To both men, METAL GEAR SOLID is something they built together through years of hard work, and Otsuka makes no secret of wanting to return for one more game someday. Just as surprising is his choice of Rider from Fate/Zero as one of his favorite roles—a character far removed from the darker figures he is best known for playing.
via： 文春オンライン