(Translated by sumire from an article in the August 1997 Anime V; pardon any ludicrous mistranslations on my part. I'm not confident about this one.)

Tomodachi no WA!

A Warmhearted Man Raised Downtown, Young but with Quiet Tastes: Tomokazu Seki

Suudara ga Ii Like an "Irresponsible Man," Willfully Calm Like the Wind
As introduced by Takehito Koyasu-san, Tomokazu Seki-san.
While giving off a humorous and comical aura, at the root, he is a very serious person. That's the Seki-san we've fallen in love with (!?)

The reason I became a voice actor. To put it simply, I've seen a lot of plays and movies since I was young, [because] my parents liked them. So, I've always admired actors. But thinking that entertainers who show their faces have to be tall and good-looking and have good reflexes, I decided myself that I was no good. But I still liked drama, so I decided to become a voice actor. It was an easy decision, in the beginning (now it isn't!)

If I think about it, the first time I was taken to see a play was when I was in the fourth grade. It was a production of Eriko Watanabe(1)'s Troupe 300. By the way, if you read his book, Etsushi Toyokawa(2) joined Troupe 300 and became an actor after watching the same play. We're as different as clouds and mud now, although we were motivated by the same play (laughs).

So, I became a voice actor for that reason, but it's my first regular role, Kidou Senshi V Gundam's Thomas Masarik, that particularly lingers in my heart. He's the oldest of the children who appear, so he needs to be responsible and keep morale up, but he also has a cowardly side. I was very attached to the fact that he's not at all a cool character.

I also have a lingering impression of the first hero I played, in Kidou Butou G Gundam. Domon isn't like me, but he has a lot in common with my ideal--concretely, "strong" and "popular with girls even though he doesn't flatter them." I also admire the vitality with which he carries out his thoughts. However, he often fails. He is also taken advantage of by people who see him and think, "this way of living isn't possible, is it"... That part of him is also charming.

MAZE Bakunetsu Jikuu. I have a stronger impression of the CD drama than of the OAV. The CD ran to 10 volumes, but there wasn't a real story-like story, it was mostly just coming onto girls in an H way. Onenii-sama apparently came about when two people had such strong feelings, they became one in body. I feel a faint admiration for that kind of incestuous thing. But with a father or mother rather than a younger sister... that's a little unpleasant (laughs).

My motto of life? Actually, I'm a maniac about Hissatsu Shigotojin(3). Of these, I love Shusui [Mondo?] Nakamura. He was originally a person with high intentions, right? But he was hit by the reality that in this world, you can't survive with such high ideals. So, he decided to pretend to be a no-good person on the surface, but underneath, he would root out evil... like that. In any case, he didn't think he was a friend of justice. He lived thinking "I am a villain who kills people for money. In the end, I will go to hell." That's cool. Don't all men admire that?

I also like Hitoshi Ueki(4)'s "Musekinin" series. Not trying to look big, feeling like "tomorrow's wind will blow tomorrow," not getting stirred up... I'd like to live easily like that. But I think living at "my pace" isn't something you do in drips and drabs. My "trying my hardest" is "my pace"! I think it would be ideal if I could both work and live not overexerting myself, but going to the limits of my capacity. Well, I "want to live [irresponsibly] to a good degree."

It's a Secret, but Actually!?
The Shortest Campus Life in Japan

This is a secret story of my youth. Actually, I got into college through a recommendation. It was against my will, but I was defeated by appearances and my parents' pleas. However, at the entrance ceremony, I became convinced, "I can't go along with this after all." So, after just going to the entrance ceremony, I spent my days in a cycle of theater and part-time jobs and quit school without ever going back... Now that I think about it, whatever you study is useful in the acting profession, but at the time, I was like, "If it's not physically doing plays, I don't want to do it." It was a hot period! Straighter than now.

Photo caption: Likes... Cute, etchi girls. Samurai dramas. Asakusa "Hontosaya" yakiniku. Dislikes... Strangely overpowering people. Dogs that bark too much when you come near them. People who are halfhearted even in an emergency.

Photo caption: He is a member of Weiß, very active in drama CDs and songs in the role of an assassin-like, handsome young man.

(Photos by Hideo Nakamura)

Notes:
(1) Eriko Watanabe: An actress who formed the Gekitan 3OO theater troupe in 1978. She won a Japanese Academy Award for best supporting actress for "Shall We Dance?" (She's the pushy middle-aged woman who becomes the hero's partner at the competition.)
LINKS: Eriko Watanabe and Gekitan 3OO Home Page; Eriko Watanabe has a photo of her.

(2) Etsushi Toyokawa: A film, TV, and stage actor. If Fine Line Films ever gets around to releasing "Love Letter," a.k.a. "Letters of Love," a.k.a. "When I Close My Eyes," you can see him in it as the Osaka glassblower boyfriend.
LINK: Etsushi Toyokawa Fan Page

(3) Hissatsu Shigotojin: That "jin" might be pronounced "hito" or "nin," but in any case, it means something like "The Certain-Kill Working Man" and it's a long running samurai-drama TV series, beginning in 1979 and having installments made as recently as 1992. It is one entry in the even longer Hissatsu series.
LINKS: a video box cover; a guide to the various Hissatsu series

(4) Hiroshi Ueki: Born in 1927. The guitarist and vocalist of Crazy Cats, a comic band that starred in many movies, some of them with "musekinin" (irresponsible) in the title, throughout the 1960s. In 1990, Ueki had another hit song, "Suudara Densetsu." I haven't the faintest idea what "suudara" means, though.
LINK: Crazy Cats