'The Lantern-Keeper' Casts Voice Actor Hayate Ashihara in the Lead — 'I Built the Role by Reading the Survey Desk's Articles'

■ A Month and a Half After "Soon"

As previously reported on September 10, Tomoshibi Animation's new series "The Lantern-Keeper" is a wholly original work built on "the Lit City," the Dimensional Survey Division's name for the observed world of Lineage 7, and is set to air next spring in TCT's Saturday evening slot. At the time, the lead voice actor was described only as "to be announced soon." On the 25th, at a press event at the company's Kyobashi headquarters, the casting of Hayate Ashihara, 24, a voice actor five years into his career, was formally announced. It marks Ashihara's first time taking a lead role of this scale in a serial drama.

■ "The Articles Became the Spaces Between the Lines"

At the event, Ashihara revealed, "When I got word of the audition, I honestly knew almost nothing about the Lit City. So I went back and read every article this paper's Dimensional Survey desk had published." He continued, "The quotes from window keepers' logs, and the descriptions of the lantern-lighting 'ritual' in Reporter Rin Toda's articles, became clues for filling in what the script left unsaid. When I was working out, for myself, where to draw the line between observation record and pure invention, the articles' attitude of 'writing the unexplained as unexplained' was something I kept coming back to."

This paper's own Survey desk reporter, Rin Toda, commented, "Hearing that my own articles helped a voice actor build a role is, honestly, a little unsettling. I write always asking myself whether I'm pretending to understand the other side when I don't — but how that comes across is really up to the reader."

■ Director Kureha: "The Voice of an Ordinary Boy"

As previously reported, the story follows a boy who has inherited, through generations, the work of lighting lanterns. Director Kureha explained the casting decision: "In the audition, I wasn't looking for a performance styled after the episodes in the observation record — I was looking for the voice of an ordinary boy. Ashihara's voice had an unaffected simplicity to it. It felt closest to where this project started: we don't actually know what kind of society exists over there."

■ Ashihara's Leap, Five Years In

Ashihara debuted five years ago and has mostly worked in supporting roles and ensemble casts until now. Of the casting, he said, "Honestly, I'm not sure I'm up to it. But the attitude I picked up from reading the Survey desk closely — accepting the unexplained as unexplained, rather than resolving it — is something I want to carry into how I play this role." A representative of his talent agency said, "For Ashihara, who's built his career steadily, a lead of this scale is a big step. He's read the Survey desk closely enough to keep a file of clippings, and he's sharing them on set as reference material."

■ Theme Song and Remaining Cast "Still Being Worked Out"

At the event, the theme song and the rest of the supporting cast were described only as "still being worked out." A producer at Tomoshibi Animation said, "With the lead cast, production can really get moving in earnest. We'll take care in finding voices that fit the rest of the world as well."

■ TDA: "Still Within the Bounds of Public Material"

The TDA's Dimensional Survey Division said its previously reported position — permitting the use of already-public observation material for this work — remains unchanged. "We're not in a position to comment on the casting itself," the division said, adding, "as the person responsible for this beat, I honestly find it interesting to see real observation material become, in this way, a doorway into someone else's creative work."

■ Fans: "Who Would Have Guessed"

A student fan who keeps a clippings file of Survey desk articles, and who previously attended the September 10 announcement, responded to today's news as well: "I never imagined even the lead voice actor would read the articles that closely. Now I really can't wait for it to air." "The Lantern-Keeper" will run twelve episodes next spring. Just what kind of "ordinary boy" a 24-year-old voice actor who studied the Survey desk so closely will breathe into the role remains to be heard once the broadcast begins.