In episode 4, Annette and Tama are controlled by Suzuki, a teleporter who is trying to rule the town, and his gifted “Absolute Obedience (Pet)”. Sensei appears in a predicament when Suzuki’s monsters attack the town, and repels the monsters’ attacks with the armor that Annette gave him in episode 3 and his own poison.
Suzuki tries to use Annette as a trump card, but at that moment, the teacher asks, “You’re not a bird in a cage, right? Annette.” To break free from his control, Annette stabs herself in the thigh with a knife and regains her senses. Driven into a corner, Suzuki tries to commit suicide, but the teacher stops her, saying, “Suicide is wrong.” Suzuki then begins to talk about his past.
He was bullied by his classmates and called “Pochi.” When they started picking fights with him on the street, he didn’t have the courage to fight back, and just like Sensei, he was hit by a truck and transported to another world. Suzuki was gifted as a hero, but he thought he would remain a small fry in the end. After hearing his story, Sensei said, “I’ve finally finished a novel based on you — it’s called ‘Disqualified Hero’… no, ‘Disqualified from Another World’,” and the book Sensei had written began to shine.
However, the moment he threw it away, saying “it can’t be called a masterpiece,” the pages of the book lit up and a magic circle appeared. Sensei’s gifted ability, “Storyteller,” was activated, and Suzuki was sent back to his original world. After learning about Sensei’s role in the other world, Isha sees him and Annette off as they continue their journey.
Animate Times is currently running a series of interviews with voice actors. The fourth installment features Kino Hina, who plays Melos, Annette’s familiar and the mascot-like figure for Sensei and his group.
They shared their impressions of the series, looked back on the just-aired fourth episode, and what to look forward to in the future. They also introduced some recommended works for Makoto Koichi, who will be appearing in the next episode as Near.
–Please tell us your impressions and appeals of the work after reading the original work and performing in it.
Kino Hina (hereinafter Kino), who plays Melos: When I first read the original work, I thought, “I’ve never seen a protagonist like this before!?” The protagonist, Sensei, doesn’t try hard, doesn’t fight, and takes sleeping pills himself, so he’s always in a state of poison (laughs). I was drawn more and more into this teacher.
–It’s certainly unusual for the protagonist of an alternate world story to try and kill himself at any opportunity.
Kino: If you take your eyes off him for a second, he’ll be munching on sleeping pills or marching forward in front of a strong enemy. Even though he doesn’t have the ability to fight (laughs).
–Also, Annette has attended to many transferred patients, but there are so many who are bad at it that she eventually loses motivation.
Kino: That setting is also something that you won’t find in other “other world stories.” Generally, people who are summoned to another world use the abilities they get for the benefit of the people in that world, but in this work, people who are transferred there and get “gifted” abilities abuse them for their own selfish gain.
Rather, they are seen as a nuisance, which was a shock to me because I had never imagined it to this extent in “other world stories.” If you think about it, most people who are transferred to other worlds are people who didn’t do well in their original world, so it may be natural for them to think about living the way they want in the other world.
–Please tell us your impression of the character Meros and what similarities and charms you have with him.
Kino: Melos is Annette’s familiar, and is very attached to Sensei. He often bites Sensei’s head as a sign of affection, but maybe a little too hard, as Sensei often bleeds (laughs). But Sensei doesn’t care at all. Because he’s trying to die (laughs). I hope that by adding Melos to the comical exchanges between Sensei and Annette, viewers can feel a healing effect. What are his similarities to Melos?
――むしろ似ていたら……。
木野：何とかひねり出しました（笑）。それは単純なところです。センセーにメロスという名前を付けてもらって、「キ～ッ」と喜んだり、落ち込むことがあったらどっぷり落ち込んだりしたり、センセーが変なことを言ったら思い切りドン引いたりして（笑）。その時の気持ちが表情に現れやすいところは私もそうで、嬉しい時は「嬉しい！」とすごく喜ぶし、悲しい時にはすごく悲しくなるので、そこは似ているかなと思います。
――主人公はセンセーと呼ばれていますが、アネットの使い魔に「メロス」と名付けたところで既にヒントになっているような？
木野：そうですよね～！（笑） まあ、そこはファンタジーなので気にしないでください。
――あとメロスはよくセンセーをかじっていますが、毒は回らないんですよね。
木野：私もそれが不思議で。メロスはコウモリみたいなビジュアルじゃないですか。コウモリはファンタジー作品では悪魔側だったり、闇属性を持っていることが多いので、もしかしたらメロスも毒性を持っているからセンセーの毒を中和できてしまうのかも？なんて考えたりしました。
――演じる際に意識された点やディレクションで印象的だったものをお聞かせください。
木野：台本を見ると、メロスのセリフはほぼ全部「キーッ」と書かれています。表情が豊かなこともあって、違う言葉も話したくなるんですけど、「キ」という文字だけを使って演じてほしいというディレクションをいただいたので、「キ」の言い方にバリエーションを付けて演じています。ただ、今後は、これまでに見せていない男の子らしいメロスが見られるエピソードがあって。その時のディレクションはものすごく変わっていました。まだ詳しくは言えないけど（笑）。とても楽しかったです。
――アネット役の大久保瑠美さんが「もっと汚く」というディレクションを受けたとおっしゃっていたので、皆さん特殊なディレクションを受けているのかなと。
木野：私はそのシーンくらいです（笑）。でもただただかわいいだけじゃなくて、違った一面を見せることになるので、メロスの魅力が広がる気がします。
――でも「キ」だけで、喜怒哀楽を表現するのは難しそうですね。
木野：シーンごとに感じたまま演じて、ディレクションをもらったらその通りに修正していました。
――もしかしたらそのうち、メロスの「キ」だけを集めた動画が出回ったりして。
木野：そうしたら違いがわかってしまうかも（笑）。だけどこの作品で私は何回、「キ」って言ったのかな？ 今度台本で数えてみようかな？（笑） あとメロスはセンセーたちに危険を知らせるためによく叫んでいますが、最初はどのくらい叫んだらいいのかわからなくて。「キ」って音は耳に直接響くので、人によっては不快な音に聞こえるかもしれないし。とりあえず全力でやってみたので、オンエアを見て、大丈夫だったのか確かめるつもりです（笑）。
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