On Sunday, June 16th, with only the final episode of the third season remaining to be broadcast, a collaborative event called “Blessings for this Aqua Park!” was held with Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa, an aquarium in Shinagawa, Tokyo.
In addition to a cast talk show with Fukushima Jun and Amamiya Sora, the event also featured a live performance by Machico, who sings the theme song for the series, and an original dolphin performance. We will be reporting on the event.
Please note that this article contains spoilers for KonoSuba 3.
Jun Fukushima (voice of Kazuma),
Sora Amamiya (voice of Aqua),
Machico,
Hyakka Ryoran (MC)
Although the two have appeared at various events for works including “KonoSuba” in the past, this was the first time for both of them to talk at an aquarium. Moreover, this time, with real dolphins swimming right in front of the stage, the two of them started off the talk with high energy.
The venue was named “Aqua Park” and background music from Alcanretia, the headquarters of the Axis religion, was played before the event, so the event was generally focused on Aqua, played by Amemiya, and some even suspected that there were a lot of Axis believers among the attendees.
During the talk about the aquarium, Fukushima said that she never imagined that she would be in a situation like this, as it was her first visit to the aquarium in 10 years. “I’m looking forward to coming to the aquarium as a performer, as if it were my first and last time,” she said enthusiastically.
On the other hand, Amemiya said, “I really love (aquariums). I really love the color blue, so an aquarium feels like it’s always lit up in blue,” a comment only Amemiya, who is famous for his love of the color blue, could make. He also spoke passionately about how aquariums are a “healing space” for him, including the presence of creatures in the water.
When the topic turned to Aqua, the character played by Amemiya, Fukushima listed one memorable scene after another involving Aqua, such as the scene where she eats potato chips, the scene where she wails before the commercial break, the scene where she screams “If you’re going to kill me, then kill me!”, the scene where she purifies the water with Purification, etc. In “Konosuba 3,” she chose the scene where she wails when Kazuma and the others try to take her on a quest for the Hydra as a particularly memorable scene.
On the other hand, Amemiya said that she put a lot of energy into acting out Aqua’s crying scene because she wanted Jun to acknowledge it, and because there are many Axis believers on the production staff (?!) and she often receives comments like “Aqua’s crying is cute.”
トークでは、第3期のアフレコの裏話についても言及され、ゼル帝の卵を温める際にアクアが子守唄を歌っているシーン（第8話）では、収録当日に雨宮さんがそれっぽい曲をノリで歌った後、後日正式な曲が作られ、改めて別日に収録したものが使われたのだそう。
そしてその曲は、雨宮さんが収録時にアドリブで入れた女神エリスの胸に言及する歌詞が採用された、収録時の雰囲気をしっかりと生かしたものになっていたのだそう。「改めて『このすば』のチームワークの良さを感じた」と語る雨宮さんに、福島さんも同シーンを「いつまで歌うんだろうと思ったら、めちゃくちゃ優しい声で急にエリスをディスり始めてた」と振り返っていて、二人にとって印象深いシーンになっていたようです。
さらにアイリスとカズマの中身が入れ替わる回（第5話）では、カズマに似せた演技をするにあたって、アイリス役の高尾奏音さんにトラウマを植え付けるわけにはいかないと考えた福島さんは、制作陣からの要望はなかったものの、高尾さんが参考にできるよう、台本を元にカズマの台詞を録音して送っていたのだとか。
一方の高尾さんも、福島さんのためにアイリスの台詞を録音して送り返したという、キャスト陣の本気っぷりが伝わるエピソードも語られることに。それを受けた雨宮さんが「入れ替わっているのに全然違和感がない」と映像を見た際の二人の演技を称えると、同意するように客席からも大きな拍手が上がっていました。
また、『このすば3』で一番気に入っているお互いのキャラクターのシーンは？というトークでは、福島さんが、ダクネスとの結婚式で「帰ってカズマの料理でキュッと一杯やりたい」と明かすアクア（第10話）を、雨宮さんが、バニルの仮面を被って大活躍するカズマ（第6話）をそれぞれチョイス。とくにカズマの活躍の数々については「かっこいいわけないのにカッコいい！（笑）」という雨宮さんの爆弾（？）発言も飛び出し、客席から爆笑が沸き起こります。
残す最終話の見どころについては、「アクアはちゃんと活躍しますし、『このすば』に情緒をぐちゃぐちゃにされる毎クールの楽しみを、今クールでも味わって欲しい」と語る雨宮さん。
一方の福島さんは「絶対に満足できる出来になっていると思いますし、シリーズを通してサプライズが今回もあるかも。『このすば』ってただのギャグアニメじゃなくて、深い伏線やアイディアが散りばめられているので、そこも楽しんでいただければ」とシリーズの魅力を熱弁しつつ、最終話に向けてのファンの期待をさらに高めていました。
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