Interview by Stephanie H., staff writer, Inside AX- Anime Expo
Transcribed by Samantha H., staff writer, Inside AX- Anime Expo
Translated by Naveen

During the press junket on day 0, Inside AX had the chance to sit down with seiyuu Toshiyuki Morikawa.  Known as the voice of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Morikawa’s visit marked his second time at Anime Expo since 2009. We were very excited to be able to interview this prolific seiyuu.

Please introduce yourself for those who don’t know who you are or what you do.
I’m a seiyuu, Toshiyuki Morikawa, from Tokyo.

How did you become a seiyuu?
When I was small I liked to watch foreign dramas. I would think about the voices of the characters and what they did when dubbing over the characters. I wanted to try doing that.

I have also heard that you dubbed for English voice actors like Tom Cruise. How do you feel about doing such work?
I’ve been able to dub for many of Tom Cruise’s movies such as the Mission Impossible series. I’ve done it so much that Tom Cruise has specifically asked me to do the dubbing for the Japanese releases. So I think it’s a type of work worth doing.

I know you are well known as the voice of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. Did you ever think that this particular role would be so popular?
I never imagined that the character would be so popular because Sephiroth is the villain of the series. He seems like the type of character you’d really hate because he’s really dark compared to Cloud and all the others. So it was a big surprise to me when Sephiroth become so popular.

What is your favorite role so far? Is there a character that you can identify with?
I’ve done voice acting for 25 years. There are so many characters that to put them in a kind of ranking is hard. They’re all number one for me.  I do have a special affection for Sephiroth though.

Do you have any comments for fans of your work or attendees of Anime Expo?
In 2009 I came for Anime Expo and was greeted by the warm affection of the fans. I am very happy to come back after two years and hope to be able to communicate more with my fans. I’m really excited.

Tags: AX 2011, interview, Toshiyuki Morikawa