Toru Furuya Gives Insight on Voice Acting Career

Amuro Go! ToFu-san is at it again! Toru Furuya has just been interviewed about his book that he released two months ago called "A Hero's Voice". This was posted on Sankei MSN on Friday Night, and focused on general questions about his life, and lots of questions on his legendary role as Ray Amuro in the legendary Gundam series. He wasn't asked (nor did he mention) anything about that other legendary role of his (Tuxedo Mask).

Some Highlights:

☽ He considers Ray Amuro to be his greatest and best role, because it was his first major role and he was always fighting with himself to do a good job. That was the biggest source of pressure for him when he was recording at the time - not from the director or production staff! Often when he recorded, he had a hard time knowing how to "talk" like Amuro would. He would say lines in his normal voice, and then continue to practice to liken his character's voice to it! This is also how he figures out how he should breathe for a line.

☽ At the start he found it hard to play Amuro because he wasn't passionate about too much, just very naive about everything that he did.

☽ He takes supreme care of his throat wherever he is. The first thing he does when he wakes up, and the last thing he does before he goes to bed, are saltwater gargles for his throat. He always keeps throat medicines and lozenges handy with him when he goes to record. He doesn't think too much about "throat friendly" meals, however he cannot overcome his sweet tooth!

☽ In the beginning, he thought that a lot of anime roles were portrayed very carelessly by actors. The first role that he mentions in the article is that of Hoshi Hyuuma in the baseball anime Star of the Giants. At the time there were not very many voices who could do Male heroes, and child hero voices were often assigned to women because their voices were softer. He was a pioneer for male child hero voices back when this series aired! He expressed his gratitude for everyone's patience on that series. It took him a lot of trying to get his voice just right for a younger character!

☽ Now he feels that his career is booming, and he tries not to strain himself too much when he records.

☽ He speaks very fondly of Ray Amuro - and that it is the only role he would want to return to again and again since it has touched him so much! He remembers the death of Matilda, his character's dream girl, who died protecting him. It was such a powerful and sad scene, that now every time he has to perform a scene where a character is crying, he always says "Matilda, Matilda" a few times. If he is not crying by then, he does not consider this to be a good thing. To concentrate and have the feelings of his character is the most important thing he needs to portray Amuro.