Kiri Kiri Basara is pleased to present—in collaboration with, and as led by CINEPRESTO—an exciting new interview with Trina Nishimura, the voice actress behind the English dub voice of Steins;Gate’s Kurisu Makise!
Both the video interview and a full transcript are available below. Note that premise-level Steins;Gate spoilers are present.
TRANSCRIPT:
Trina Nishimura: Recording in progress. Oh god.
Both: (laugh)
CINEPRESTO: Off to a great start. All right. Welcome everyone. I am CINEPRESTO, and today… What’s that? We have a special guest on the show.
Introducing to our channel Trina Nishimura, whose career in acting and voice acting need no further elaboration to do them justice, but we’ll try anyways. Voice of Mari Makinami in Evangelion, Mikasa Ackerman in Attack on Titan, young Akito Soma in Fruits Basket, Kyoka Jiro in My Hero Academia, and of course, our favorite Assistant, KURISUTINA!
Thank you so much for coming on, we really appreciate it.
TN: Thanks for having me, Preston. I’m very excited.
C: All right, so I guess our first question for you is, it’s been a while since you’ve done Kurisu, but what was the process of being cast as the character like for you? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
TN: Sure. So I actually was cast without auditioning by the amazing director Colleen Clinkenbeard, who’s also a very good friend of mine and an incredibly talented person. I didn’t know anything about the project until I stepped into the booth, and then it was just a crazy, wild ride and one of my all-time favorite characters to voice. She’s just such a strong character, a meaty character. She has so many levels and things that it was just a really, really, REALLY fun project and I’m incredibly grateful that I got to be a part of it.
C: That’s so awesome! So, based on just the fact that she knew you pretty well and your prior work spoke for itself, she picked you, she thought you fit this character perfectly, and she was completely right, right?
TN: (laughs) Yeah, I mean I guess so. I never want to say that what I did was the only, or the apex for a character, but she and I had worked together on several projects before and it was just really special. Just an epic, epic show. And obviously there’s some people that like it! You like it! So that’s cool!
C: Clearly, clearly. It’s obviously been a while since you’ve gotten to do the role, but you got to come back recently for Phantom Breaker: Omnia! What was the process there like, and would you be open to doing even more as the character?
TN: So for Phantom Breaker: Omnia, I reprised the role which was really neat. The director Patrick Seitz—who also was one of the writers for season one of Steins;Gate—he told me about Kurisu coming back at a premiere in LA we were both at for My Hero, and he was like, “Oh, there’s this new game, and we can’t talk about it. I can’t tell you anything other than Kurisu is in it.” I was like, “Oh my god, that’s so cool, I love her so much.”
TN: It was really fun to be her in a fighting game, that was amazing, and the controller that the company sent me was so cool. It was just really fun to get back into her.
And they were kind enough, which was really special—my partner and I went through some health challenges during 2020, and we were in the hospital for a while. Luckily it wasn’t COVID, unfortunately it was leukemia, but he’s doing real well now. And they held the role for me and didn’t recast. So it was really special. That was the first video game I did after the hospital, coming back into the recording realm, and it was very special that I got into the game just because it was like revisiting a good old friend.
And yeah, of course, I’d be 100% open to anything Steins;Gate-related, beautiful show. And the cast is so amazing. I wish that they would do more, but how many times can you die, you know?
C: True, true that, spoiler alert. And I do think I can speak for the rest of the Science Adventure community when we say that we’re really thankful that he’s doing a lot better now, and we appreciate that update. A lot of us were very concerned about everything going on so we’re just glad that things are looking better for you guys now.
TN: Thank you.
C: So we do have a few questions, speaking of the Science Adventure community, sourced from a bunch of them all over the internet. As you know, they’re a community that just loves being around and being curious, but we don’t often get the chance to do a Q&A of this style, particularly related to a show that’s been around for such a long time such as Steins;Gate, so we’re going to go straight into that.
FreshTeaBagsByLipton on Reddit asks, “As someone working as part of and with the rest of the voice cast, how was the script for the English dub created?” (and we kind of talked a little about that just now). I’m aware it was a more particular process with J. Michael Tatum writing a lot of it, but was there room to be flexible with how you each developed the characters? Because with the references, it must have been a unique process.
TN: It was a really cool process. I am not as talented as J. Michael Tatum in the writing realm. I mean, I got my degree in writing, but I don’t think that I… He and Patrick Seitz writing that first season, I mean, that work really is what made everyone fall in love with the characters, and with all the Easter eggs and all the references to pop culture like, Doctor Who and Star Trek and like, everything else, it was just really, really cool, and it was really awesome. Tatum is very outspoken, and if he was here he’d have a better word for it but, um… (laughs) His knowledge and writing style are amazing, and Patrick is incredibly talented as well, and without those two, I don’t think Steins;Gate would be what it is!
C: It definitely shows, because that was my first introduction to the show. I remember when the dub was still available to watch on YouTube, and obviously I fell in love with it from there. And there’s a particular aspect to your character that really works for someone like me, who grew up between Asia and the States. Between Christina and Mikasa, you get to play a few characters who are Japanese-American in a sense, or in the latter’s case, multiethnic. As someone who identifies as that, do you think your own experiences have allowed you to bring more of a personal dimension to these characters?
TN: Being a third-generation American of Japanese descent, who’s half-white and half-Japanese, but very Texan, there are a lot of different elements to these characters that I relate to. I know I wasn’t cast as these characters in the roles specifically because of my ethnic background, but I do.
My family was interned during World War II. My grandparents actually met and married in the camp at Tule Lake, and my grandfather served in the war for America. There’s definitely an element to being half-Japanese and having that sort of generational history, and half-white, that makes for me, personally… The question of ethnicity and race and things is always really tricky because it’s kind of like, you’re literally split, right? Because the cultures are so different and the family dynamics are so different. But it’s certainly something that I enjoy. I enjoy the aspects of each side of my maternal and paternal family, and the traditions and the nuances within those cultures, but I don’t think I—I mean, at the very core of me, I am a proud American. I am a proud Texan, and I am fortunate to have had so many amazing experiences and people in my life, but I can definitely relate to the idea of being torn between two cultures, and associating with both, and finding that middle ground.
I grew up in Texas in a very small town. There were two Japanese families in the whole town. There was one guy and then our family, so that was a little strange for a long time because there wasn’t a whole lot of Japanese culture or things, and I think that, growing up in a place like that where I was never “white enough” or never “Asian enough,” it certainly influenced a lot of my early acting, and the idea of self-discovery within that and also figuring out… I mean everyone growing up gets bullied, and everyone growing up goes through stuff. But being bullied specifically for being Asian was really weird.
I hope—I mean I’m not a teenager now, but I hope that people are more accepting. I see that when I go to conventions and I see people that are different than what I grew up around, and they’re being celebrated for their differences, and that makes me very happy and hopeful and optimistic about that idea that in ten years from now, twenty years from now, some other actor is going to be sitting in this chair and be like, “Yeah, I was just a person!” So, I think being torn when I was a kid and having that duality of identity, and now playing those two characters who are from different places but put somewhere that is culturally and socially different, was really, really interesting to explore. So where did you grow up?
C: California, and then over in Asia. I spent a lot of summers over there in Hong Kong and traveled a lot of Japan too when I was younger.
TN: Wow! That’s awesome!
C: Thank you for answering that, though, that’s such a deeper question. I think you really broke it down, that it’s just like, especially when you grow up, that people start seeing past that and it’s really just about the person first as opposed to simply what’s on the outside, and it’s such a great aspect that I think you managed really to touch on, that people don’t always think about.
TN: Well, thank you. Yeah. It’s definitely strange. I didn’t seek out a partner that was obsessed with Japanese food. That’s how it happened. We had a Japanese restaurant. I do English dubbing for Japanese cartoons. It’s not something that I could have planned. It’s just kind of how it happened. (laugh)
C: Life works out that way sometimes, you know? And speaking of which, you do have a lot of sessions later today, naturally, so on that note, Ninj asks, “How do you warm up in the booth when you’re ready to do a character?” I know I have my way. I chug a lot of hot water and tea before I go do a session. How do you handle those sorts of scenarios?
TN: Yeah! I try to be incredibly hydrated. Hydration is important, as you know. Tea and hot water is awesome. I typically have ice water, room temp water, and hot water or tea in the booth with me, especially if it’s a screaming session, just because I want to be able to, oh—look at you!
C: (Has taken out a mug of water and sips) Immediately… (laughs) Triggered…
TN: Hydration’s very important. If I’m going to a studio, I usually do a lot of vocal warm-ups in the car. If I’m recording from home, I do a lot of vocal warm-ups in the shower. The humidity also helps. I have a little humidifier mask that I’ll use, especially if I’m traveling or something, or if I’ve been traveling, and yeah! It’s a lot of, you know, just common-sense stuff. If I’m recording a particularly sad session, like for Steins;Gate for example—when I was recording Steins;Gate, the night before I would always watch a really sad, sad, SAD love story or movie just to be really sad.
Both: (laugh)
TN: I think the warm-up and the come-down are always a little challenging. Steins;Gate in particular, after each session, I mean, it was so emotional and so heavy, and every session was just a lot, but my partner would, if I was recording Steins;Gate, he’d be like, “Are you recording the sad one today?” and I’d be like, “Yeah, I’m recording the sad one.” So when I’d come home, he’d be like, “I made tacos,” or, “I made pizza!” And I’d be like (fake cries) “That’s really nice.”
Both: (laugh)
TN: So it always helps me to have tangible things, like comfort food, to bring myself back into the world that we all exist in.
C: Oh my goodness. Texan tacos, too? You guys are doing it right. On top of that, has there been one role that you’ve felt has been most challenging technically or emotionally for you? Just to follow up on that question.
TN: There was a show called Monster Hunter, and in Monster Hunter I played (Trina imitates the voice) an Iru cat, and he sounded like this! And I could only do his voice for about two hours before I had to stop. But he was in every episode, so we would record in two-hour blocks, and then I wouldn’t talk for the rest of the day.
For Mari from Evangelion, in the very first scene that she’s in she has this incredible scream, and physically that scream in particular, I like, screamed and I looked out at the director and at the engineer, Mike and Steven respectively, and they were both really shocked. Steven, the engineer, was like, “You were one decibel away from bursting the diaphragm in your microphone.” So that’s my proudest moment. I couldn’t talk for a week afterwards. But that’s one of my proudest moments for sure—and physically most challenging.
C: Right. It’s like picking the voice, I mean you can do it on the audition, but then you regret picking it if you get picked for it, and you’re just like, “Why did I go so hard on the audition…”
Both: (laugh)
C: Relatable.
TN: I completely agree. ’Cause the two-minute audition is very different than a six-hour session.
C: (laughs) It’s just pure pain from that point on. Okay, continuing on to the next question, we have TheGoonerKid, a good friend of ours, who asked, “In regards to the Steins;Gate movie, during the commentary, you mentioned that it was a pretty emotionally involved role. Looking back, are there any moments that you remember that really stand out for you?” I know you talked just now about how you watched sad movies but, I guess if you want to add a little bit?
TN: Moments that stood out for me, I think, I don’t want to spoil it, but I guess most of your audience has already seen all of it (laughs), but I don’t want to spoil the movie. But to be kind of general, in the very last episode, there’s a very particular scene that was really a culmination of the whole show. It was a whole, whole, whole lot. And really, really sad, ’cause the show was ending and we were wrapping and I knew that was the last session. But also, just the choice that is made—vague, right?—that was a really emotional moment, and hard to record.
C: Gotcha. I think we all know, but (laughs)… That was perfect for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, so thank you, now I guess we don’t have to put a spoiler warning anymore… This is just, why does Gooner keep giving me these sorts of questions? This one’s just straight up a spoiler, “How do you compare voicing Amadeus Kurisu versus Makise Kurisu?”
Both: (laugh)
C: We went through all that effort, thanks Gooner! (laughs)
TN: Yeah, when we revisited Steins;Gate and the director explained Amadeus versus Kurisu to me, it was like rebuilding the character all over, because the Amadeus version had never been to Japan, she never met Okabe, she never went through all of the things, and so when we built her out—not we, not the royal “we,” just me, well, with the director, who at that point was Cris George, when he and I were talking about Amadeus versus Kurisu, it was just like rebuilding the core of who she was without a lot of trauma. So she was much lighter, and I kept her a little bit less pensive, because she was also AI, right? So Amadeus is very different in my mind than Kurisu, but I enjoyed playing both versions.
C: Yup. I mean, you can’t get enough of that character (laughs). Also very good, skipped around it just enough.
Both: (laugh)
C: We’re probably going to spoiler flag it anyway, it’s all good. Speed round! You can absolutely pass on these if you have no idea what on earth I’m talking about. Pulak Kumar on YouTube asks, “Are you an @channeler?”
TN: I don’t know what an @channeler is!
C: (laughs) It’s the little 4chan-type social media they use in Steins;Gate.
TN: Oh! I’m sorry. I thought it was like, I’ve recently discovered that there’s lots of new words that I don’t know, and so I think like people are, I never know what people are talking about. Somebody was like, “Oh my god, that was busted!” when I was in the booth the other day, and I was like, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll do it again,” and they were like, “No, that’s good,” and I was like, “Busted is good?” and they were like, “Oh yeah.” And then I came into another session later with that same engineer, and she was like, “Oh, wow, you really beat your face today,” and I was like, “I don’t…”
So like, now anytime it’s like, something that could be something else, I just have to ask, ’cause you guys are young and hip, and I’m old! And so I was like, “Is that something new? Like, do I not know what it is?” But in reference to the show, of course, in reference to the show, ’cause that’s what we’re doing here (laughs). Sorry, that was not speedy! I just, I just wanna be cool! So I’m just gonna say pass? Pass. I’ll pass. That wasn’t speed.
C: (laughs) That was a good speed, that was pretty good. Westaufel on Reddit asks, “Is it possible to make a time machine?”
TN: Yes. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet, I just go into little rooms and scream into magic cans. But I believe it’s possible, and when that happens, I think it’s going to be really neat. Do you think it’s possible?
C: I’d like to think it’s possible, but no one has shown up to Stephen Hawking’s birthday party yet, which he told time travelers to show up to, so. But of course we have to believe that does happen here. We’re legally obligated to believe in time travel on this channel, so. LightofLife227, or Notadangsucker64 on Reddit had similar questions, so I’m going to let you pick one. Explain wormholes or explain Kerr black holes in, maybe three sentences.
TN: Okay…
Both: (laugh)
TN: I’ll go with wormholes. In three sentences… Holes in the ground that worms make. Wormholes are holes in the ground that worms make.
Both: (laugh)
C: Okay, I mean, yeah, she did it, she did it, guys. If you’re at home, clap (laughs). And then the final speed round question, NoahNovels on YouTube asks, “If Kurisu had a Quirk, like in My Hero Academia (since you play Jirou), what would it be?”
TN: (laughs) Her Quirk would be that she could get help at any time from a mental health professional.
Both: (laugh)
C: That’s pretty good.
TN: I mean, she needs it! You know? She’s been through some stuff, and she’s just a kid. And then she falls in love, and then, you know. If she could just be like, “Gimme one second, I’m just gonna, y’know, figure out why I’m so mad that you keep calling me ‘Christina,’ and before I scream at you I’m just gonna take a beat,” and then she’s like at a therapist’s office and says like, “He called me Christina again, again he called me Christina,” and they can work through it, she can come back and be like, “It’s fine… It’s fine…” y’know.”
C: It’s so weird to play characters sometimes that you’re just like, “Oh I know how I can help this character, but I still have to play the version of the character that needs help.”
TN: She needs so much help, you know? She’s just a little… I’m sorry. Yeah. Yeah.
C: Lana on YouTube asks, “As someone who has played one of the lab mems, what do you envision their future to be?” She also says that she loves you to bits and that you seem super sweet. Can we confirm that right now for the audience that you are super sweet?
TN: I don’t know about that.
Both: (laugh)
TN: I try. I definitely try to be kind, and I think that’s the goal, right? Just to treat people how you want to be treated. I aspire to be sweet, I appreciate that, and that’s very sweet of you! But yeah, I guess we can confirm that I try.
But yeah, I think for the lab members, they’re going to continue to be dear friends, and they’re going to continue to grow together, and be a family of misfits that are also all brilliant scientists or hackers, and I think it’s going to be really good for them. I hope that at some point, everyone’s happy and alive and together, and nothing bad happens to them. Because I feel like they’ve had their share of bad, and like, they can just, chill out now, like that’s enough now.
C: Well, there is Steins;??? coming. Literally, three question marks.
TN: …WHAT? I didn’t know that!
C: You didn’t know that?
TN: No! I didn’t know that at all!
C: It’s in development, allegedly.
TN: Stop it! (gasps) Oh my god, that’s so cool. I’m going to text Tatum right now. No, I’m sorry. No, right here, I’m right here. But I’m going to text Tatum like, the second we get off this and tell him, ’cause he’s gonna freak out.
C: Someday in the future. They had a working announcement, this was announced a few years ago now over on the Japan side, roughly the end of 2020, they said that they are planning on bringing folks back for Steins;???, so characters from the original are going to show up, including our favorite assistant!
TN: (gasps) Stop it.
C: Go figure. That’s so great that you didn’t know and… (laughs)
TN: That’s so cool… I didn’t know! Yeah, they don’t tell us things like that! And the things that they do tell us, we have to sign NDAs for! (laughs)
C: Was it just acting? Was it just acting the whole time? That we have to figure out for ourselves…
TN: (laughs)
C: All right, to segue into our final question, this is from @ChrisGLink on Twitter, who is also a great friend of the show, too. “Have you ever been interested in playing Steins;Gate’s visual novel or any of the games/shows in the rest of the Science Adventure series beyond Steins;Gate?” And looks like if you just heard this news, you might have to now, right?
TN: I might have to. I think that’s all I’m saying. (laughs)
C: (laughs) That was the perfect way to cap it off.
TN: Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for having me on, Preston, you’re so sweet.
C: Yeah, thank you for coming on, Trina, really appreciate it. This has been CINEPRESTO, next time on CINEPRESTO, we take Trina to Akiba where the show is set, and… (laughs) Can’t even finish the bit.
TN: (laughs) We should do that! That would be fun!
C: Actually—actually…
Both: (laugh)
C: We’ll do that off-camera, though. Thank you guys for watching and for asking your questions, this has been so awesome. As you know, as always, what do we say? El. Psy. Kongroo.
TN: That was amazing, that was so good! Bye, thank you!
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