Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.3 - Chapter SS4

Ascendance of a Bookworm

Drama CD 4 Post-Recording Report

By Miya Kazuki

During a certain month in 2019, we started recording the fourth drama CD. I met up with the usual suspects, and together we headed to the studio.

“Whew. We finally made it.”

We’d organized the session so long ago that I was relieved to actually be there. Our plans for the third and fourth drama CDs had started at the same time, shortly after we’d completed the second one—in other words, over a year ago.

“We should take this opportunity to plan our next drama CDs,” the project manager had said to me back then. “Do you know how many volumes Part 4 will end up being?”

“Nine, I think? Maybe eight, though I’d probably need to trim a lot.”

I opened the web novel version, told them my subtitle for Part 4, and started thinking things through. Cutting out some of the more casual interactions toward the end was always an option, but I worried it would make the overall mood of the part a little too heavy. Mm...

“Uncertain elements are dangerous for long-term plans, so let’s play it safe. And if we divide Part 4 into nine volumes, we can squeeze in an extra drama CD.”

“Yes, assuming we start planning now, but what about Kunisawa-san? I’m not sure she has the time to write two scripts at such short notice.”

Kunisawa-san was working on not just the drama CDs but the anime as well. Scripting for the latter was already underway behind the scenes, so I think she was deathly busy. My memories of those days are somewhat vague, but I was busy as well.

And so, we’d scheduled the third and fourth drama CDs in one fell swoop. Our plan had always been for the fourth CD to coincide with the end of the part, but choosing what to put in the third one required more thought.

Now, back to the studio!

We had just arrived, and one of the first things we did was check out the cast list. As one can imagine, it covered all the roles our voice actors were due to play—even generic nobles and scholars—and who would need to stay later to record solo. Hondo Kaede (Charlotte), Uchida Yuuma (Hartmut), and Morikawa Toshiyuki (Karstedt) weren’t scheduled to join us until the afternoon, while Inoue Kazuhiko (Sylvester) would perform his lines another day. As I mentioned in the previous fanbook, getting the guardian trio in the same place at the same time was no easy feat. It was too bad.

“If you would sign these, please.”

Suzuka-san and I were asked to sign books and autograph cards as commemorative goods for the anime, so we worked our way through them in our free time. I was used to signing autograph cards from when we’d recorded the other drama CDs, but the books meant we had more on our plates than usual. Still, it was nothing compared to signing new volume releases. (Hahaha.)

Once we’d discussed the day’s schedule, Suzuka-san got straight to work drawing on her autograph cards. I just sat and watched as she quickly drew one cute Myne after another. How blessed am I, right?

To my disappointment, I couldn’t just sit and watch Suzuka-san all day—I needed to sign things too! But when I tried to get started, I realized that the pen I’d been given had a square tip that messed up my handwriting. We didn’t have spare books or autograph cards, so the thought of messing them up terrified me.

“Do we have any of the pens from TO Books?” I asked the project manager.

“Sure. I’ll prepare some for you.”

“Oh, wait! I’ve got some here!”

“That’s Suzuka-san for you! A woman you can count on!”

As it turned out, business cards weren’t the only thing I needed to bring on my work trips; I would also need pens I could use when signing autographs! The more you know.

Everyone gathered, and we exchanged the usual greetings. It didn’t take us long—most of the cast had participated in the third drama CD—so I got straight to answering the voice actors’ questions. For the most part, those who had recorded with me before already understood what they needed to do, but I still received questions from Uchida-san (Hartmut) and our first-time participant Kobayashi Yuusuke (Eckhart).

Seki Toshihiko, who was voicing Raublut, asked me for a summary of the character and his relationship with Immanuel.

“Raublut is a knight commander serving as the king’s guard, while Immanuel is the High Priest of the Sovereign temple, which claims the king doesn’t deserve to be on the throne. In other words, they don’t get along. This line here is mocking the Sovereign temple, and in general, his tone is meant to be scornful. He’s basically like, ‘You lot are always so smug, and this is the best you’ve got?’”

Kobayashi-san asked about Eckhart. He thought the character seemed to be on bad terms with Rozemyne, especially compared to her interactions with Cornelius.

“They’re not on bad terms,” I said. “It’s just that Eckhart values Ferdinand above all else. He’s looking out for Rozemyne only because his lord told him to. He would praise her if she did something to help Ferdinand, and so on...”

Kobayashi-san said, “I see,” seeming taken aback. I suppose Eckhart and Rozemyne’s relationship as siblings is a little strange. (Haha.)

Then there was Iguchi Yuka, who was playing Myne. She told me she thought the incorrect first-person pronoun was being used when our protagonist was in her hidden room.

“Oh, no, that pronoun is correct. It’s meant to indicate her tone while she’s emotional.”

Every now and again, I wonder whose great idea it was to write a confusing story where people’s first-person pronouns change all over the place. Oh, right... It was mine. Sometimes I regret it when it causes all these problems with the other adaptations. There’s value in simplifying certain parts of your world-building to make them easier for everyone to intuitively understand. Do take care when you write your own books that might one day end up in a media mix.

Question time came to an end, and we started testing the characters’ voices. Our script for this CD focused on Ferdinand as we tried to generate excitement for the end of Part 4, meaning a lot of the dialogue belonged to him and Rozemyne. Hayami Shou and Iguchi-san had already mastered their voices from the previous CD, and their scenes went so smoothly that I didn’t have anything to say. Good work all around.

Initial testing concluded, and the staff spoke among themselves. Before anything else, we had to decide on a voice for Raublut.

Me: “That was amazing! Wow! I wouldn’t change a thing!”

Suzuka-san: “It really was something.”

Raublut was voiced by Seki-san, who was as excellent as one would expect a veteran to be. His performance matched my mental image of the knight commander perfectly.

Me: “Rauffen sounds a little too cheery. He needs to be more macho.”

Suzuka-san: “More macho? (Hahaha.)”

Me: “I mean more passionate.”

Suzuka-san: “Yeah, he could do with some more enthusiasm.”

I’m not sure what the sound director said to Yamashita Seiichirou, Rauffen’s voice actor, but his next take was just as macho as I wanted.

Kunisawa-san: “In this section, having all these names in sequence is a bit hard on the ears. We might want to rearrange them.”

Me: “How about we add their titles to their names? Raublut the knight commander, Relichion the High Bishop, Immanuel the High Priest, and so on.”

As it turned out, some of the text that was fine on paper didn’t sound right when it was spoken aloud. Kunisawa-san usually notices these things; my ears aren’t quite as perceptive, it would seem.

Sound director: “Sensei, how big are these ‘taunadels’?”

Me: “As large as soccer balls. I suppose each one’s about... this big.”

Sound director: “That’s surprisingly large.”

Me: “And you set them on the floor, not a table. Just smack ’em down.”

Sometimes I went beyond directing the voice actors and answered questions about the sound design. Everything else comprised really precise instructions.

“On page X, it seems that ‘Shall we go?’ ended up becoming ‘Let us go.’”

“On page Y, there needs to be a heavy sigh after ‘It’s just so delicious, I...’ Be sure to include it.”

The second round of tests progressed without issue, so we moved on to the actual recording. Terasaki Yuka made Wilfried just as cute as last time. It was nice hearing the tension in her voice after her character was summoned.

We rerecorded a few sections with ambient noise, then pressed on. Georgine needed to be perfected next, so we turned to Sanpei Yuuko, who was also playing Gil. Her voice befitted the first wife of a greater duchy, but her interpretation of Georgine as an aloof beauty didn’t quite suit the character.

Suzuka-san: “Shouldn’t she sound older than that?”

Kunisawa-san: “That’s right. Let’s add another five years to her voice. And try to add a sense of veiled disgust.”

Me: “It’s not really Georgine unless she’s giving backhanded compliments.”

It amazed me how quickly Sanpei-san incorporated our proposals into her work. She’s just that good. I’m always in awe of the talent our voice actors display.

From there, we started tweaking the other performances.

“Can you make Cornelius’s battle cry sound a bit younger? It’s so heavy at the moment that he might be mistaken for Rauffen.”

“On page X, add a bit more weight to ‘It disappeared...’”

“On page Y, don’t pause before she mentions ‘the seed of Adal-something.’ She didn’t forget the term; she’s trying to keep its meaning hidden from the others.”

Usually, it took only a single wave of corrections for us to clear up any of our concerns. Everything progressed smoothly as a result.

Again, Miyazawa Kiyoko did an excellent job as Solange; her gentle voice was perfect for the kindly old librarian. It was cute to see her embarrassed about mixing up the words “through” and “thorough.” It happens to the best of us.

Philine didn’t have any lines this time around, so Iwami Manaka focused on her roles as Brunhilde and Weiss instead. She performed both during the previous drama CD and delivered each piece of dialogue with aplomb. Let’s all applaud her adorable voice!

We completed the last of our work for the morning and then took a break for lunch. The voice actors ate, then signed some autograph cards. Suzuka-san and I were in another booth, but we were doing the same thing.

“Kazuki-sensei, Suzuka-sensei, what would you like to eat?”

“A sandwich, please.”

Suzuka-san chose a sandwich. I’d already eaten one for breakfast, so I sought out my favorite of the onigiri options.

“I’ll have the salted rice balls.”

“How plain...”

I strongly disagreed; the balance of salt was to die for. I think the staff were uneasy about serving me rice balls with nothing in them because they also gave me a side portion of chikuwa. I munched my way through them while signing more autographs.

After lunch, we needed voices for Justus, Fran, and Zahm. Seki-san had mastered Raublut in a single take, but Justus gave him some trouble; his interpretation sounded too much like a normal scholar. As I tried to come up with a description of how the character should sound, I realized that I couldn’t find the words.

Suzuka-san: “He doesn’t seem breezy enough.”

Me: “Yeah. He just needs a bit more... panache.”

Kunisawa-san: “As it stands, he barely feels like an eccentric.”

We gave our feedback, and the tests resumed.

Suzuka-san: “Now he’s too breezy.”

Me: “Right? He sounds kind of like an idiot.”

Kunisawa-san: “He might be eccentric, but he’s still a noble.”

Justus was an enigma. We really had to put our heads together to provide an adequate description of his nature.

Kunisawa-san: “Didn’t we have this same problem with the last CD? What did we say then?”

Me: “Umm, I probably included it in my report...”

Suzuka-san: “We need a manual to explain Justus’s personality and atmosphere.”

It took a lot of back-and-forth, but we finally ironed out the details. The sound director passed along the rest of our instructions and, upon his return, informed us that Seki-san had thought Raublut was the more important character and devoted more attention to him as a result. I never knew voice actors focused on that kind of thing.

In any case, Seki-san did just fine once he had clear instructions to work from. The hard part had been creating those instructions in the first place.

Karino Shou voiced Fran. His performance was a little rough at the start, as he gave the character too many sudden swings of emotion, but a quick correction sorted that out in an instant.

Suzuka-san: “Oh, this is good.”

Me: “He sounds both stiff and serious. No complaints from me.”

Okai Katsunori played Zahm. He accommodated our request to make his character sound a bit softer than Fran.

Me: “He passes. No problems age-wise.”

Suzuka-san: “Same here.”

Once we were satisfied with the voices, we started reviewing the script.

“The exchange on page X needs to be quick. Try to minimize the pauses between lines.”

“Should page Y begin with Rozemyne crying?”

“I think some of the voicing marks on page Z are messed up.”

“Rozemyne needs to be calm but peeved during her line on page X.”

“I want Rihyarda to sound a bit more sad for this scene.”

“Fran, try to keep your emotions under control.”

For previous drama CDs, this part of the process had consisted mainly of warnings and requests for the voice actors, but the script needed more corrections this time around. It was my own fault for not reviewing it thoroughly enough. I’d checked it during one of my busiest periods, so I’d overlooked some details and allowed a few errors to escape my notice. Kunisawa-san and I worked together to get everything up to scratch.

“Page X should say ‘several generations,’ not ‘several years.’”

“This should say ‘boy,’ not ‘prince.’ He hasn’t been baptized yet, so he doesn’t hold the title.”

“In this section, the characters say ‘Ferdinand’ too many times in quick succession.”

“This part here says ‘Aub Ahrensbach of Ahrensbach.’ That can’t be right. Can we not just shorten it to ‘the aub of Ahrensbach’ or something?”

“Oh! On page X, it says ‘the Gilberta Company’ when it should say ‘the Plantin Company’!”

“Director, this is unrelated to the performance, but this charm doesn’t jingle. It’s just... one thing.”

Oh, speaking of the sound director—we had a funny exchange while going over the script.

“Sensei, it says here that the consommé is ‘beautiful.’ Shouldn’t it be delicious?”

“Oh, that’s not a mistake; Ferdinand praised it as beautiful when he tried it for the first time back in Part 3. It’s a Bookworm thing.”

“A Bookworm thing... I see...”

I thought it was interesting that, from an outside perspective, consommé being described as beautiful came across as an error. It felt like I’d made a discovery of some sort.

From there, we ran a few more tests.

“Finally! I can say something other than ‘Yes, my lord’!”

We all smiled at that declaration from Kobayashi-san, our voice actor for Eckhart. Most of his lines had needed to be cut to save time, and while it was inevitable for a man so devoted to his lord, he and Cornelius had done little more than respond to orders and provide battle cries. Now that he had something more meaningful to say, we refocused on developing his voice.

Suzuka-san: “Hmm... Doesn’t he sound a little too young?”

Me: “He’s a guard knight, so yes, he should exude more gravity.”

Kunisawa-san: “I agree; Eckhart could use a bit of an older voice. He’s with Hayami-san’s Ferdinand and Seki-san’s Justus, so he should match them, at the very least.”

I thought that was a tall order, but Kobayashi-san incorporated our requests in an instant. Eckhart’s voice was as cool as we’d wanted, so we moved on to yet another conversation.

“Hm? There’s a line from Fran even though he isn’t in the scene.”

“Let’s say Eckhart said it, then.”

“Kazuki-san, should Ferdinand come across as more emotional during these parts? It certainly seems that way.”

“Yes, I want him to open up a little. This is a rare case of him actually venting his emotions.”

“And when he says ‘very good’?”

“Add a heavy dollop of kindness.”

It always amazed me how easily the voice actors accommodated us.

Truthfully, this drama CD really tugs at your heartstrings. Getting to hear Ferdinand’s and Rozemyne’s voices adds so much depth to the already moving climax of Part 4. Listen to it. I’m serious. If you’re anything like me, then you’ll find yourself at a complete loss for words, overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of that scene as tears stream down your cheeks.

Once we’d recorded the main content, we took the opportunity to do a few group takes. These included the chattering of retainers and the audience’s reaction to a certain attack. Most notable of all was the joint blessing Ferdinand received from his attendants in the High Priest’s chambers.

“Sensei, how many attendants are in the chambers? And what’s the gender ratio?”

“Five attendants, all male.”

“Alright, we need five men.”

The voice actors all exchanged looks before five men stepped forward. It was hard enough getting two people to speak in unison; expecting five people to manage it while reciting the complicated names of Bookworm’s gods seemed completely unreasonable.

First, the men went over how to pronounce the names and which syllables they needed to stress. Iguchi-san and Hayami-san took the lead in teaching them, since they’d spoken the names before. Our five attendants practiced speaking together at the same tempo, then got ready for the real thing.

Tension filled the booth... And they nailed it on their first try! Wow! The staff actually started clapping for them, only for one of the voice actors to throw his hands up and shout, “Sorry! I made a mistake! I said ‘Ewiliebe’ instead of ‘Ewigeliebe’!”

“Nobody would have known if you hadn’t said anything... Well, let’s try again.”

The sound director seemed bemused, but they tried again nonetheless. Voice actors sure are critical of their own mistakes. We also recorded some crowd reactions to the omni-elemental blessing. There were cries of “Omni-elemental...?” and “I’ve never seen anything like this before!” to give a sense of presence that was somewhat lacking in the original script.

“We should also have Hartmut going nuts in the background.”

“We can record him later.”

Uchida-san, Hartmut’s voice actor, was booked for a later session. We settled on recording his lines separately, and with that, we were done.

“Good work, everyone.”

The voice actors who had arrived that morning started to disperse. I spoke to them all as they took their leave and exchanged a few pleasantries with the new actors. “I look forward to working with you again” and all that. My most memorable exchange was with Yamashita-san, who also voiced Cornelius.

“Sensei,” he said, “please have Cornelius show up in the anime as well.”

Yamashita-san even waved his hands around as he made his plea. It was adorable, but Cornelius wasn’t due to appear for quite some time. I could always give him more attention in the books, but the anime was outside of my control.

“You’ll just need to be patient, I’m afraid. I’ll call for you when his time comes.”

Indeed, may the anime continue long enough for Cornelius to appear.

The studio was empty for a short while until our three later arrivals... arrived. Morikawa Toshiyuki portrayed Karstedt, Immanuel, and the king of Yurgenschmidt, known henceforth as the Zent. Uchida-san was our Hartmut, while Hondo-san played Charlotte, Schwartz, and Hildebrand. We got straight to perfecting the voices for Morikawa-san’s Immanuel and the Zent and Hondo-san’s Hildebrand.

Me: “Immanuel needs to sound more... slimy.”

Suzuka-san: “Right? He needs to make your skin crawl.”

Kunisawa-san: “Like Hartmut?”

Suzuka-san: “No, not quite. They don’t share the same obsessions, and they’re passionate in their own unique ways. You can’t really lump them together.”

Me: “Right. Hartmut is a Rozemyne supremacist, while Immanuel would only use her as a tool for the sake of the Sovereign temple.”

Putting aside what makes Hartmut stand out from Immanuel, we ended up with the perfect voice for our slimy Sovereign High Priest.

Suzuka-san: “Doesn’t the Zent sound a bit too much like a grandpa?”

Me: “He should be about Karstedt’s age.”

Kunisawa-san: “But if we don’t distinguish them, listeners might get them mixed up. What should we do?”

Fear not, Kunisawa-san—voice actors are capable of all sorts of nuance! Thus, a more dignified, authoritative Zent was born!

Me: “Hildebrand sounds a-okay to me.”

Suzuka-san: “Hondo-san’s younger voice is so cute.”

We didn’t have a single note for her. She really was good.

As soon as we finalized the voices, we moved on to even more testing. The sound director instructed our three actors to start with pages X and Y. They thumbed through their scripts to get a feel for their scenes, and Uchida-san smirked.

“These lines are all for Morikawa-san.”

“Wait, what? They’re all mine?”

In the sections Uchida-san had pointed to, the other characters had already recorded their lines. Morikawa-san was playing single-player. (Haha.)

The performance that followed was astounding. Morikawa-san started as a very frustrated Immanuel, transformed into Karstedt praising the students in a knightly voice, and then switched to the Zent giving a formal greeting. I was in awe that he didn’t get all mixed up.

“Next, pages Y and Z.”

Because so much of the script had already been recorded, we were jumping all over the place. Morikawa-san’s voice changed again and again as though he were three people in one, stopping only when Hondo-san let out a small “Ah...”

“Hold on, Morikawa-san. Charlotte’s line comes first.”

“Sorry. I forgot she even existed.”

Her lines were so sparse that you couldn’t really blame him.

“That’s all for Hondo-san and Morikawa-san. Good work.”

Both voice actors were preparing to leave when the sound director told Morikawa-san to wait.

“Sorry, but we might need you to record some background voices.”

Hondo-san went on her way. At long last, Uchida-san (Hartmut) could step in front of the mic.

Suzuka-san: “I don’t think he sounds Hartmut enough. Do you?”

Me: “He needs an extra dose of grossness.”

We conveyed our thoughts to the sound director, who passed them along to the voice actor. Uchida-san seemed troubled when he heard our notes.

“But, wait...” he said. “Isn’t he only like that in front of Lady Rozemyne? I thought he was serious with the High Priest.”

Uchida-san was overwhelmingly correct. He really did understand the character, and the way he said “Lady Rozemyne” made it seem like the most natural thing in the world to him. One standing ovation, please.

Kunisawa-san: “Still, we need to be able to recognize him from the start...”

Suzuka-san: “There needs to be some of that signature grossness to make people think, ‘Yep, that’s Hartmut.’”

Me: “Just a tad more Hartmut, please.”

Uchida-san followed up on our request.

Me: “There he is!”

Suzuka-san: “The one and only Hartmut!”

He also raved about Rozemyne’s omni-elemental blessing—in character, of course. His grossness was on full display. If you listen to the CD, then I’m sure you’ll notice his voice among the crowd. Classic Hartmut...

“Good work, everyone. That’s a wrap.”

Once again, Hartmut had stolen the show. Or so I thought. Morikawa-san gave one last mutter.

“So... was there any point in me staying?”

A quick check confirmed that we didn’t actually need him to record anything else. Morikawa-san had waited around just to listen to Hartmut raving... (Haha.) My sympathies.

And with that, another drama CD concluded without incident. Thank you, everyone.