Interest

Quintessential Quintuplets Voice Actors Compete For Cash at AnimeJapan Stage Event

AnimeJapan 2022 hosted a fun talk show featuring The Quintessential Quintuplets voice actors Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Fuutaro Uesugi), Ayana Taketatsu (Nino Nakano), and Ayane Sakura (Yotsuba Nakano) ahead of the film's opening in May. But this was no ordinary talk show. The three were competing for a 10,000 yen (approximately 81.15 USD) gift certificate for Bic Camera, one of Japan's largest electronic stores.

The premise of the game was quite simple: Matsuoka, Taketatsu, and Sakura would have to answer three questions. The twist was Taketatsu and Sakura would only get points if their answer matched Matsuoka's. This meant Matsuoka could mess around with his answers if he wanted to hog the prize. There was, of course, a bit of time before the voice actors had to write their answers down, which meant Taketatsu and Sakura could grill Matsuoka to figure out his answer. On top of this, Taketatsu and Sakura impressed upon Matsuoka that they were at AnimeJapan to promote the upcoming movie, so he should answer truthfully—to whatever extent Matsuoka thought was the truth.

The games began with the simple question “What's on May 20?” Both Taketatsu and Sakura made sure Matsuoka knew the date and how important it was. Unrelenting, Matsuoka ensured the two women he knew what was on May 20. When the answers were revealed, each voice actor had the same answer: the movie's release day. However, Matsuoka threw in a little twist by changing up the kanji used for the word “release day,” kōkaibi (公開日), to the phrase “regretful day,” kōkaibi (後悔日). A fun little word play by Matsuoka, but clearly not the same answer as Taketatsu or Sakura—though they tried to argue in the spirit of the words being phonetically the same. Alas, Taketatsu and Sakura's plea's fell on deaf ears and Matsuoka was awarded the point.

The second question became a little personal for Matsuoka with the question, “What kind of dish would you want someone you're interested in to make?” Matsuoka insisted that the two women probably wouldn't want to know the answer, but Sakura was gunning for the prize. Thus, she showed great interest in Matsuoka's answer. Or so the audience was lead to believe as it was actually Taketatsu who lead the questioning so far as to ask if the dish was curry or hayashi rice. This clearly put Matsuoka in a tough spot as it looked as if he wanted to answer truthfully, but then again, prize. In the end, though, Matsuoka relented and when the answers were revealed, Taketatsu and Sakura's answers both matched Matsuoka's hayashi rice.

With the score tied up 1-1-1, the final question was the tiebreaker. Another personal question for Matsuoka: “What kind of date spot would you go to?” He mentioned it was somewhat outdoors, but not really a place where you can feel the change of seasons. A difficult hint for Taketatsu and Sakura, the two woman bent the rules a bit and asked a few more questions after their time had run out. All for the prize. And again, the three had the same answer: aquarium. Thus, giving the actresses the victory. Or so everyone thought until Sakura asked to see Taketatsu's answer once again. Upon further review it turned out Taketatsu had missed one stroke in the kanji kan (館) giving Sakura a distinct advantage over Taketatsu. Still, in the spirit of sportsmanship, they both had the same answer as Matsuoka. So, the tiebreaker went to the audience, with the clear and decisive winner being Sakura for the correct writing of the kanji.

This was a fun little game for the audience at AnimeJapan 2022 and those watching at home. We got to learn a bit about Matsuoka and the competitive, but in good fun, nature of Taketatsu and Sakura. It was also a good look into the harem race in The Quintessential Quintuplets, to be concluded in May. May the best girl win.