Anime NYC Interview: MOB PSYCHO 100 Voice Actor Ito Setsuo on the Anime's Long-Awaited Second Season

Splashing onto the anime scene like a bolt of psychedelic lightning, Mob Psycho 100 captivated audiences in Japan and around the world with its sensational visuals by the legendary Studio Bones, its story by One Punch Man mangaka, One, and excellent voice acting.

 

Moments before Anime NYC world premiered the first two episodes of Mob Psycho 100’s long-awaited second season, Mob himself, Ito Setsuo, chatted with LMD about portraying the deceptively simple, supernatural beast of Mob both behind the mic and live on stage, and eking out secrets from One-sensei.

 

 

Ito Setsuo:  I received the role through auditioning.  My agent arranged the audition for me. 

 

 

IS:  The first thing about Mob is that he very innocent and straightforward.  I guess I didn’t think about it, but I think I play to that quality of his innocence and straightforwardness.  

 

 

IS:  Within Mob, he obviously loves his brother, Ritsu, but that is something special in Mob.  But, other than that, he is quite neutral to his family and his friends, and even to his enemies.  He is always innocent and neutral and straightforward.  Maybe his love for his brother, but everything else is neutral.

 

 

IS:  {Laughs} If Mob was to grow up, I think he’s going to turn into ONE-sensei. {Laughs}

 

 

IS:  I didn’t really have a chance to ask him any questions.  I was caught up in the performance, so I didn’t have any leeway to do other things, like ask questions.

 

When I finished recording the first season -- when I was all done with it, there was only one question I wanted to ask ONE-sensei, and that was, what is the ending going to be like?

 

 

IS:  He didn’t tell me exactly how it was going to end, but he told me which episode it was going to end in; what number was the final episode.

 

 

IS:  Mob Psycho 100 was the first thing I did, and since then, I have done other voice acting.  And so, I also have grown; I have learned other things, and heard from other people. 

 

So, when I decided to put in all the other elements that I’ve learnt since I started acting for Mob, I was actually told, “Please remember how you were acting in season one, and put your mind back to that moment.”  So, I had to strip away everything, and be the first season Mob again, which was quite hard for me.

 

 

IS:  When I was given the role of Mob in the play, I thought I was cast because I had acted as Mob in the anime, which was true.  But I decided I wanted to do something that was kind of similar to the anime, but in the end, through stage, I kind of built up a Mob for stage, which is different from anime Mob.  Everything, all the movements became bigger and overreacting on the stage, but I thought that it was necessary to create Mob for stage to interact with the audience.

 

 

IS:  I felt if I had the chance, I would want to do stage acting while I was voice acting, as well.  But I did like watching stage plays before I started acting.

 

 

IS:  I like Pokemon.  That is kind of the reason that I wanted to get into voice acting.  I really admire Matsumoto Rica, who plays Ash, or Satoshi, in the Japanese version.

 

The actor that I have really learnt from is Irino Miyu, the voice of Ritsu.  I studied film with him, and I have taken a lot from his acting, because Irino has been acting for very long time, since he was a kid.  So, I have taken a lot from his other works, and what he has done before, and studied them.

 

 

IS:  I am still recording Mob.  I can’t say much about my next project, but I’m going to be singing in a small live house.  It has nothing to do with voice acting, but I am going to be singing in a live house. {Laughs}

 

 

IS:  I think there aren’t any goals, because all the veteran voice actors are trying to find their goals in every role.  They are always thinking about how to act.  So, I can’t say that I can set a goal to it.  But, if I was to strive for something, I want to lose my childishness and grow up.

 

 

IS:  I am so very happy that there’s been so much support for Japanese anime, and that you have invited me here, and I’ve had such a good time.  I also want to continue to receive support, and be thankful for Japanese animation, and animation, in general.