The Anime “The Vermilion Mask” Special Stage was held Sunday, September 20 at the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair (KYOMAF), western Japan’s largest manga, anime and game festival. Taihi Kimura (Peru), Yuuki Yamamoto (Sonarue) and Junya Enoki (Zent) took the stage, joined by T.N.T, the series’ promotional ambassadors.

The event also featured hand-made masks crafted by Kanako Kitaochi (@atelier.snack on Instagram), a special effects makeup artist who has worked extensively in live-action films and anime adaptations. The masks were shown on-stage and displayed for attendees at KYOMAF.

With the October premiere approaching, the cast talked through their characters and favorite scenes. The program also included a “Mask King Showdown” quiz segment and video messages from the artists behind the opening and ending themes.

Asked for his impression of the original manga, Kimura pointed to what drew him to Peru. “Peru starts out already carrying his sin. As you read it, that burning feeling — never giving up, standing up and resisting — comes through so powerfully.”

“The story begins with him committing a terrible sin and setting out on a journey carrying it, and because of his past he keeps limiting himself more and more. He’s locked into this mindset of ‘I’m a villain, I’m a sinner, so I have to destroy my master’s masks.’ That strong sense of responsibility is one of his good points, but also his flaw. The way he charges straight at everything is both a strength and a weakness.”

Enoki saw an overlap between actor and character: “At his core, the seriousness he brings to acting matches Peru’s earnestness.”

Yamamoto introduced her character, Sonarue: “She’s a former princess, but something happens that strips her of that position. The scene where she meets Peru in Episode 1 is shocking — she’s a girl who does some pretty bold things. But she isn’t attached to being royalty; she has her own firm sense of right and wrong. That backbone is what makes her such an appealing character, I think.”

Kimura agreed. “She’s not a decorative princess at all — she has a strong inner core, and she acts on it. She’s a wonderful character.” Enoki added that Yamamoto shares that quality: “You feel her inner strength and her intelligence. She really does know an incredible amount.”

On Zent, Enoki offered a revelation that visibly startled the hall: “He’s one of the senior disciples Peru killed. Zent is already dead.” Kimura described the character as “a good big brother figure in Peru’s growth as a person.”

Yamamoto said the relationship between the two is what draws her most. “I love the relationship between Zent and Peru more than I can put into a single word. Liking someone but also hating them, loving them but resenting them, wanting to forgive them but not being able to — that kind of complexity. It’s such a raw relationship. How these two finally settle things between them is one of the things to watch for.”

The cast also spoke about Kazuki Ura, who voices Mok, a wielder of The Mask of Smoke who joins Peru and Sonarue on their journey. Ura was not in attendance, but his castmates described his presence in the booth: “Even when you make a mistake, he cheers you on — ‘It’s fine, it’s fine, you’ve got this.’”

Enoki praised Kimura, Yamamoto and Ura, the young actors playing the lead roles. “They’re really impressive. The way they carry themselves on set — no nerves, no shrinking back. They walk right up to the veterans and talk to them with complete composure. I couldn’t have done that when I was a newcomer. It’s remarkable.”

Video messages from MAN WITH A MISSION and yutori, the theme song artists, screened next.

Kimura commented on the opening theme, “Firestarter,” expressing, “It’s a song that says, ‘The battle starts here.’ If you listen to it before things begin, it’s such a fired-up track that it makes you want to charge straight at the masks along with everyone else. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

On the ending theme, “Koe,” Yamamoto said, “Just as they described it — ‘emotions that can’t be put into words’ — they’ve written it faithfully to Peru’s feelings and to the world of ‘The Vermilion Mask.’ It has so much drive it could easily have been an opening theme.”

T.N.T, who serve as the series’ promotional ambassadors, appeared next to a louder wave of cheers, with Yuya Tegoshi and the three other members each introducing themselves.

Asked for his impressions of the manga, Tegoshi described a scramble for the volumes in the green room. “After we got the offer, they brought us volumes 1 through 9. I started reading first, and by the time I left the green room I’d gotten through about six volumes. The other three were fighting over them too — it’s the kind of work you can’t put down.”

The quiz segment pitted the voice actor team against Team T.N.T, with contestants identifying masks shown on screen and the team with the most correct answers crowned “Mask King.”

Tegoshi threw down the gauntlet: “If we win, we’re taking your roles!” Enoki fired back, “In that case, if we win, let us join T.N.T!”

Questions 1 and 2 featured masks from the anime itself and left the teams tied. The difficulty climbed from question 3, and Team T.N.T took the win and the inaugural “Mask King” title, along with an assortment of Kyoto sweets as a bonus prize.

Tegoshi and Kimura closed the event on behalf of their groups.

“I’m so happy to have been given the important role of helping spread the word about such a wonderful work, and it’s packed with so much appeal that we were fighting over the manga in the green room,” Tegoshi said. “Seeing the teaser, I could tell that so much of what’s great about the manga has carried through into the anime. And above all, the visuals were incredible. I was really excited. It’s a work full of charm — a story and battles that get under your skin — so I truly hope everyone loves it.”

He also joked, “We were given the title of Mask King in that segment. Who knows — partway through, we might see something unprecedented: the voice actors being replaced by T.N.T!”

Kimura closed with a message to the audience. “Today is the first event for ‘The Vermilion Mask,’ and so many people came out for it. A great many people are making this work in a happy, warm atmosphere — including those who couldn’t be here today, like Ura, Akio Otsuka and Kazuhiko Inoue. I’m going to work incredibly hard myself so that all of you come to love it more and more. Thank you so much for coming today.”

The cast was sent off with a round of applause.

Source: Press Release