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The 4-panel manga by Kikuchi Yuuki called “The Crocodile Who Dies in 100 Days”, which had an impact on the entire society, was adapted into an animation movie as “The Crocodile Who Lived for 100 Days”. It was released from Friday, July 9, 2021, after being postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The movie is based on the 4-panel manga of the daily life of Crocodile, which was posted on Kikuchi Yuuki’s Twitter from December 12, 2019 to March 20, 2020. It will be directed by Ueda Shinichirou from “One Cut of the Dead”, and will show 100 days of Crocodile and 100 days of the his friends after losing Crocodile.

Kamiki Ryuunosuke will play the protagonist, Crocodile. In addition to his activity as an actor, he has dubbed characters in Ghibli movies and Shinkai Makoto’s movies, and he recently appeared in “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time”.

Now being offered for the protagonist in “The Crocodile Who Dies in 100 Days”. Why the famous directors were charmed by Kamiki-san’s “voice” so much? Let’s us review Kamiki-san’s previous works and his roles.

■Kamiki Ryunosuke’s “voice,” which even allows him to change his voice to express his character.

Kamiki-san made his debut when he was 2 in 1995 as a child actor. He first appeared in the Ghibli movie, “Spirited Away” Bou as a voice actor playing Bou. He played the role of spoiled, selfish baby with innocent acting. He expressed his growth through the interaction with Chihiro and by learning about the world outside the hotel at the young age of 8.

Later, he played Markel in “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004), P-suke in “Doraemon: Nobita’s Dinosaur 2006” (2006), and Amamiya Shuuhei in “The Piano Forest” (2007). He contained all emotions, from happiness, anger and sadness, into his simple line to say “pyui” and moved the audience’s heart.

Moreover, the author thinks “the role that improved Kamiki-san’s career as a voice actor” is Oiso Kenji from “Summer Wars” in 2009. He experienced his voice change at this point. His unstable high-pitched voice matched perfectly for the role of the 2nd year high school student . In particular, his voice was full of adolescent boyishness, especially when he tried to produce a high pitch.
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He also expressed a change in personality, from an unfriendly characteristic to improvement in mental toughness, giving us the impression that he had a strong core in his voice and acting.

■ Finding the frontier at “The Secret World of Arrietty”! Playing the boy that both owns the kindness and brutality

Kamiki-san kept his innocent voice even after he experienced a voice change. Later, he played Shou from “The Secret World of Arrietty”, the role of the boy with calmness and maturity.

His kind and gentle voice representing that personality is mature, and somehow he hides the emotion. The boy expresses both sadness and happiness with the least reaction, and he even made hard words at some point, but Kamiki-san played him well.

■Made certain improvement in “Your Name”, and then played Ikari Shinji in “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time”

Another point of change for Kamiki-san is “Your Name” in 2016 (Shinkai Makoto’s movie).
Kamiki-san was chosen for the role through an offer from the director Shinkai Makoto, not from an audition. The director Shinkai explained, “Considering his intersex-like charm and his high ability of acting, I had no other choice other than Kamiki-san”. Kamiki-san acted, following the setting of “a boy and a girl exchanging bodies”, and played two roles. He really showed his abilities.

Moreover, Kamiki-san’s growth could be found also from his “breath”. He expressed the work itself with his “breath”, together with characters’ personalities. His skill to make the audience focus on the screen made me think, “what delicate acting it is…” back at the time.

After building up a career as a voice actor, he finally played the grow-up version of Ikari Shinji in “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time”, which had been postponed twice from the original schedule. The fans were surprised about the casting since there was no announcement. Why did Ogata Emi not continue playing him? There are many ideas about the mystery, but it has not been solved yet.
But when thinking about “Shinji growing up in another world”, Kamiki-san’s voice in the middle to low pitch matched nicely with the mature face of Shinji.

■Kamiki Ryuunosuke charms the best anime directors in Japan
Kamiki-san charms Miyazaki Hayao, Hosoda Mamoru, Shinkai Makoto, and others, who are the best anime movie directors in Japan.

The director Ueda explained why he chose Kamiki-san for the protagonist in “The Crocodile Who Lived for 100 Days” to be “I think he matches perfectly with Crocodile’s innocence, honesty and energy”.

I believe he is absolutely correct. Kamiki-san’s uniqueness to be honest and stable acting performance, the innocent voice, and they way he is able to express himself in a way that is true to the role without going over the top.

“Crocodile Who Lived for 100 Days” will be a wonderful movie to watch, as the original manga delivered emotional moments to the readers. Please check the movie out to find out what kind of character Crocodile will be.

“Spirited Away” © 2001 Studio Ghibli, NDDTM
“Summer Wars” © 2009 SUMMERWARS FILM PARTNERS
“The Secret World of Arrietty” © 2010 Studio Ghibli, NDHDMTW
“Your Name” © 2016 “Your Name” Production Committee
“Crocodile Who Lived for 100 Days” © 2021 “Crocodile Who Lived for 100 Days” Production Committee