anon · 3mo
i suppose i'm intrigued by the symbolism of it all, though i admit i might be reading too much into the work of a young voice actor (not trying to diss hashimoto-san, but osaka-san has appeared in a lot more works that i can find).
by choosing to portray his childhood and adult voices consistently, it's as though they're showing that yuzuru has always been /grown up/. even as a rough soldier who uses 'ore' rather than 'watakushi', he isn't shown speaking with the boyish inflections that ibara has.
or perhaps, they're showing that he hasn't "grown up" even after the military. perhaps he hasn't been hiding behind a single mask, but instead layering them carefully on himself, in a way that he isn't sure where the idol starts and the soldier ends. after all, a mask can muffle one's voice, but not stifle it completely.
again, all of this is wild speculation, and working off what we have from the few voicelines we have from child yuzuru... do let me know what you think though!
i was actually thinking just about the same thing that you said here!!
yes--i also believe that it could serve really well as symbolism for the fact that yuzuru was never allowed to be a child. as in, he was always expected to act grown despite his very young age. he had been training to become toris butler since... Day One.
when yuzuru was born, he was not JUST a baby. he was seen as someone who would inevitably work under the himemiya family as a butler. once he reached the age old enough to learn, he would be put under rigorous butler training. his fate had been sealed from the very beginning--or, just like rei had told him, even [before] he was born.
when it comes to everyone elses voices, past yuzurus is. damningly similar to present yuzurus. and thats strange, considering the fact that these seiyuu castings, the voice direction--all of it is. meant to be [intentional], no? its all planned years before? if happyelements felt that hashimoto koutarou could not adequately and satisfactorily portray a younger version of yuzuru, then isnt it well within their capability to... cast someone else?
and, see--the thing about hashimoto koutarou is that he CAN do other voices; ive listened to his work as Tsurugi in King of Prism, and it is VASTLY different from how he plays yuzuru. the range that he has with his voice, i feel like, is not as thin as youd think... so its not as though koutarou couldnt pull it off. i dont doubt his skill at all; i think that he is very good at what he does despite his lack of roles/experience.
so maaaybe... possibly, the two of us could actually be on to something...!!! (hopeful)
i considered putting these thoughts into my previous answer, but i honestly also thought that i was also looking too deep into it (but of course, i couldnt help but slightly hint towards it when i posted a copy of my answer and captioned it, "he was never allowed to be child-like, though. for the record.") and i assumed that you were only looking for a "do i like it or do i not" answer! thank you so much for reaching back to me!!
