Takato Tokio (CV Yashiro Taku)

First of all, please give us your thoughts after the recording.

When I was asked to take part in Paradigm Paradox, I thought it would be very interesting to see certain aspects of the work like how the worldbuilding is set up and how a setting where men are actually women? would even happen.

And of course, more than anything else, I’m very happy to create this franchise with co-stars who I’m emotionally attached to.

I did the actual recording on my own, but I felt so happy while I was recording, it was such a fun time.

Meanwhile, for the story, as I acted for the various scenes and the endings, it made me feel things all over again, so I have a bunch of emotions going through my mind right now…I feel a sense of accomplishment and all I can think of is that it’d be nice if I can share this story with everyone soon.

Please tell us the charms of your character, and if there was anything you had to keep in mind while portraying him.

Starting from the catchiest part, he’s a genius, as you can see from his character introduction. The ideas that come out of his head play important parts in the story itself, so I think his brain is a charming point of his.

If you look at Paradigm Paradox in general, when Tokio-kun first shows up, every feeling that isn’t related to his research is completely brand new to him. I felt that one of his charms is the fact that he’s starting from square one like this.

In the common route, it seems like he has zero emotions…no, wait, he likes some things, so it can’t be zero.

He’s way in too deep in his research, but he isn’t interested in anything else other than that. I think his biggest character development is how he begins showing interest in other people.

One of the things I paid attention to while portraying him is that when he meets the heroine and feels, learns emotions that he didn’t know he had, his purity and innocence really make him stand out.

As we gradually follow along with his story, there’s a sense of distance as well as a connection growing between them, but more than that, you can see how his feelings begin to shift.

In terms of emotional distance from the heroine, I think he’s starting from the furthest point?

This magnitude of his is his charm, I think, so I consciously portrayed him this way, thinking it’d be nice if I could convey them to the audience.

Please tell us what you think are the story’s highlights, or if there are any specific favorite situations or scenes that left a strong impression on you.

All of Tokio’s individual routes left a strong impression on me, partly because they’re all about the character I’m portraying.

Also, we recorded stories for each characters, but before we can get to that point, there are some surprising things happening around the heroine that shocked me, making me think “oh, so that’s what happened to that person?” There are also some scenes that changed depending on the route, scenes that became turning points, and they really impressed me.

I think that these scenes would surely be memorable for those playing the game.

Saibara Kamui (CV Kousaka Atsushi)

First of all, please give us your thoughts after the recording.

This is most probably the first time I’ve portrayed a capturable character in a consumer game*, so it was a very fresh and fun experience.

Up until now, I hadn’t gotten to portray such a charismatic character like [Kamui], so it was really fun for me to try out something new.

Also, I was really curious about how everyone in 8P sounds like. I had my chances to listen to some of their voices, but I couldn’t guess what would happen if all 8 of us got together; there were quite a few things I couldn’t understand from the script alone, so I’m looking forward to playing the finished game.

*Consumer game = A computer game designed to be played on a commercially available home game console.

Please tell us the charms of your character, and if there was anything you had to keep in mind while portraying him.

I wonder if he’s actually really older than [the heroine], but I felt that was one of his charming points, and it’s something I’ve been conscious of.

There’s a lot of characters who are older [than the heroine] in this game, but on the heroes’ team, Kamui is the oldest.

I was always thinking about how he would act with his fellow heroes – how he would lead everyone as the eldest, how he would read the room, and conversely, how he would try to avoid reading the room.

I also thought that when it comes to the heroine, he looks after her like a big brother would, and I thought that was a charming point of his and it’s something I paid attention to.

Please tell us what you think are the story’s highlights, or if there are any specific favorite situations or scenes that left a strong impression on you.

[Kamui’s] interactions with his grandfather left a great impression on me.

I felt that the Kamui interacting with the heroine and the Kamui interacting with his grandfather are two completely separate people, so it was fun to see how I could express that.

There’s a part of him that’s looking for the love of a family, so in his scenes with his grandfather, I was very careful about how I could bring out that sense of his family ties. In the middle of all this worldbuilding, that’s probably the part where I decided to pursue a more natural way of acting.

Also, there’s a difference as to how he talks to the heroine and how he talks with his fellow members [of the heroes’ team].

During recording for the bonus drama CD, I was thinking that Kamui would be different there from how he is in-game.

The drama CD is more focused on showing the guys having a good time, so the flow and vibe of their conversations must be completely different.

I think Kamui is especially aware of when he’s talking to girls, and it’s like he flips a switch inside him, making himself a bit more cool.

And I felt like his “switch” wasn’t so “turned on” when he was talking to men, which was so fun for me to do.

Araki Mihaya (CV Enoki Junya)

First of all, please give us your thoughts after the recording.

It has a unique worldview that I hadn’t seen anywhere else before, which was why I enjoyed recording it.

Mihaya is a rather cool guy, but he also has a big of a tsundere side to him, and he has a cute side to his personality that he sometimes shows to people he gets along with.

Please tell us the charms of your character, and if there was anything you had to keep in mind while portraying him.

I think some of his charming points are the difference between him acting cool and chill and him actually speaking his mind, and which parts of himself he chooses to keep up appearances for and which parts he doesn’t.

I was conscious while I was acting that even in the sweeter scenes, I didn’t want to completely erase his coolness – I wanted to make the sweet parts even sweeter by keeping that side of him in, by thinking about things like how he modulates his voice.

Please tell us what you think are the story’s highlights, or if there are any specific favorite situations or scenes that left a strong impression on you.

I think the most important part of Paradigm Paradox would probably be that the characters can transform.

I don’t think there are any other otome games that have this kind of setting.

One of the interesting points [of this game] is that the characters change genders, and when they do, so do their voice actors. I think you can have some fun with it.

One of the parts that stuck with me was when he confesses in the second half of the story.

That showed a different side to Mihaya that he hadn’t shown up to that point.

The scenes where he talks about the heavy moments in his past and how he really feels are impressive.

Mamiya Ayumu (CV Chiba Shouya)

First of all, please give us your thoughts after the recording.

We got to record a lot of bonus CDs in addition to the lengthy main game, and in the end, I felt like I was able to end up liking Ayumu.

I liked my first impression of him, and enjoyed portraying him more, came to like him more as the story progressed. It was really fun.

On a subjective and a personal level, I found the story very interesting, so I’m thinking I wanna know the other guys’ stories as soon as I can.

Please tell us the charms of your character, and if there was anything you had to keep in mind while portraying him.

At first glance, Ayumu is the popular student council president who everyone admired, but deep inside him, he has a lot of thoughts that are very relevant to the story. When I learned that, I got to understand him in a way that made things fall into place for me.

The more I get to know him, the more human of a guy he becomes. I think that’s part of his charm.

He’s insanely kind, even kinder than he thinks he is, so maybe the people around Ayumu like him better than Ayumu likes himself? I’m one of them.

What I was conscious of when I was portraying him was how he deals with his feelings towards the heroine – since they met, he was always the kind of guy who knew which of the words he says catch her attention, and which kinds of words he says would sting. Those kinds of turning points are the things I pay attention to.

Also, I want to show the proper student council president part of him. He seems to be smart, calm, and cool, but that’s just one side of him. I thought that there was a gap between his inside and his outside, and I wanted to make them coexist well.

Please tell us what you think are the story’s highlights, or if there are any specific favorite situations or scenes that left a strong impression on you.

When he’s interacting with the heroine, there are moments when Ayumu’s “public” personality almost peeled off completely. Most high school student characters in various franchises tend to be on the mature side, so they tend to be very gentle, with kind manners of speech. In contrast to that, Ayumu’s manner of speech is very realistic, if a bit on the extreme side, so I could really sympathize with him.

Ayumu has a side to him that somehow goes way too far, so I think everyone’s hands would get all sweaty as they look forward to how the heroine gets involved with that part of him.

At first, he seemed to be the most unreachable person, so I found it interesting when he acts more like his actual age.

Also, Ayumu has his little sister Ritsu. Everything about Ritsu’s looks and the way she talks are very attractive, and as I considered her I begun understanding “this kind of big brother exists because Ritsu is here.”

The part that stuck with me was when Ritsu met the heroine. Ayumu’s reaction when he found out about it was really interesting.

Him having a sister complex isn’t a gag…well, it’s portrayed as a gag, but there are some lines that don’t make it seem like a gag at all. I think this is my first time meeting a siscon like Ayumu (lol)