Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon’s Landon McDonald Talks Hoshina’s Day Off
ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Kaiju No. 8 voice actor Landon McDonald about his fan-favorite role of Soshiro Hoshina in the hit anime. Fans will be able to get to see the character on the big screen in the new omnibus movie Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon, which includes a new episode focusing on Hoshina. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will release the film for three days in theatres in the United States & Canada on April 13, 14, and 16.
“The omnibus film Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon features an action-packed recap of season one and a new original episode, ‘Hoshina’s Day Off,'” explains the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Congrats on Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon. It’s so cool that this is getting a theatrical release, which is a recap of the first 10 episodes, and then you get to be the star of a little bonus feature at the end. You play Soshiro Hoshina, and he’s been such a standout character in Kaiju No. 8. He’s so funny from a personal standpoint, but then he also can really kick some ass when needed. What do you like most about that dynamic? Because there’s a lot of range there.
Landon McDonald: You’re right. Yeah. One of the things I really love about playing him is his duality because he has this kind of fun, sly goofball persona at first, but then when you get him on the battlefield, suddenly he’s all business, and he’s pretty deadly with those two little swords of his.
So yeah, it’s really fun to play with that. Because yeah, as a character, he contains multitudes, and those are always the most fun to play when they’re not one-note, when they’re not static, but when they’re dynamic and always interesting, always shifting and evolving.
As an actor, how is it when you are playing a character with those multitudes? Because he still has the same personality, but he can really be serious. How’s it finding that side of keeping the character core to who he is but being so different depending on the situation?
Well, what’s interesting about him is that he gives Kafka a hard time. You know, he kind of trolls him at the beginning, but you understand as the series progresses that they have something in common. You know, they were both kind of overlooked and underestimated early in their careers.
And so I think it’s funny ’cause Hoen is younger than Kafka, but I think he sees himself in Kafka a little bit, you know, and almost sees him as, “oh, this is someone who I could kind of mentor and help out on his way.” So despite what he says about him being the court jester or we need comedy duos in the team, I think he really does care about Kafka because he sees a bit of himself in him and wants to help him along.
So whether he’s playfully ribbing him or, in Kafka’s kaiju form, coming after him with swords, you know, swords and intending to kill him. Yeah, you wanna just make sure that you’re staying true to the core of the character at all times. And that’s the challenge and the fun of playing someone like the vice captain.
When you’re doing a big popular series like Kaiju No. 8, do you check out the manga, or do you stay strictly to the anime? How do you balance that as an actor?
It’s kind of on a case-by-case basis. And I know that sometimes, you know, actors, it’s like, “Oh, my character doesn’t know what’s gonna happen to them, so I shouldn’t read ahead so that I can actually react in the moment.” Because some of what acting is reacting. I understand that.
I guess I’m just a nerd at heart, though, and I love doing my homework [laughs], so whenever possible you know, especially if it’s a nice big meaty role like KN8, I try to prepare ahead of time, and I was actually a fan of the manga way before I got cast. So I kind of knew it was up from the get-go.
But yeah, I try to prepare. I try my very best to prepare as much ahead of time without telegraphing things too much.
’cause you do have to keep in mind that there are some characters that are clairvoyant to some extent, and they do know what’s coming. Usually though, yeah, your character is reacting in the moment and you wanna try to stay true to that. But it’s nice to know from a narrative standpoint though, where things are heading as much as possible.
Although what I do like though about this movie is that I feel like manga readers will get a lot out of it. But also though, newcomers and newer fans and folks who only watch the show will also get a ton out of it. And the special that is after the omnibus, that’s totally new material. So even if you’ve read the Manga, even if you’re fully caught up, this will be brand new to you. And that’s part of the fun.
Hoshina’s Day Off is so much fun to watch, especially because your character’s kind of mysterious, and even his students are like, “What is this guy up to?” And just the idea of seeing what he gets up to on his day off just drives them all to tell him [laughs]. What did you like most about getting to share some of his personal life and a different side than what we normally see?
Well, it’s fun because we’ve only seen him really at work before. We know he likes to work out. We know he likes to slay Kaiju, and we know that he likes to troll people [laughs]. So now it’s, yeah, fun to see him though, what he’s like off the clock in his personal life. And that’s kind of the core mystery of the film, frankly, is what he’s up to, you know?
It’s one of my favorite parts of it, frankly. The comedy, speaking of comedy duos — Adam McArthur and Ben Stegmair’s characters are so funny together, and Abigail Blythe as well, who plays Kikoru. They’re kind of the ones who are trying to figure out what he’s doing, what he’s up to, and their interactions are just really, really funny. The three of them are so good, so good together. Yeah.
That had me laughing the entire time. That’s real fun that you were a fan of the manga before you got this. So when you did book this role, was that even extra exciting because you just had to know that it was gonna become a fan favorite character, and the fan response has been so positive?
Landon McDonald: Oh, yeah. He was my favorite reading it, so I was like, “Oh, if there’s ever a chance to read for him, I would jump at that chance.” And thankfully, the chance came, and it worked out. Usually, the best you can hope for is to maybe be a part of your favorite franchise, but you’re probably not gonna get to play your favorite character in that franchise, but every so often, it works out.
This really worked out. Yeah, he’s been one of my very favorites. I just love the cast that we’ve assembled. Nazeeh is so phenomenal as Kafka. I mentioned Adam McArthur, and there are just so many great people. Our bad guy, our Kaiju No. 9, Alejandro, nails it as he has wont to do. He usually does. He always does, actually.
Our director, of course, our captain, Shawn Gann is so much fun. This show plays to all of his strengths, I think, as a director. We worked together on other shows. We did a Shakespeare adaptation together called Requiem of the Rose King, [and] a really fun underrated show called Buddy Daddies that if you guys haven’t seen, I would recommend checking out. But yeah, this kind of this is, like I said, it’s just a great showcase for his talents and for the collective talents that we’ve assembled.
You actually joined the cast of my favorite show, Dragon Ball, recently, which was so cool. Congrats on that. You had an antagonist role. What did it mean for you to join that franchise in a very fun way? Because it doesn’t get much bigger than Dragon Ball in terms of anime.
No, it was it was an honor. What’s fun is when I was a kid, the Buu saga was kind of my saga. That was the one that I actually grew up with, and I remember watching it on Toonami back in the day, and Daima is a direct sequel to that. So, I knew exactly what was going on. I was fully locked in. And I really love getting to work with Tom Laughlin, who plays King Gomah. The dynamic [between us] is really fun. It’s very reminiscent of Mr. Burns and Smithers.
Yeah, I can definitely see that. And you know, there’s a spin-off manga that stars Hoshina called Kaiju No. 8: B-Side. Would you like to see that adapted at some point? Maybe as an OVA? I think that’d be really fun.
Oh, I would jump at the chance. That’d be awesome. Absolutely. yeah, ’cause I’ve, I’ve read that myself and yeah, there’s a lot of really great material in there, so there would be a lot to draw from. Yeah, I would that would be wonderful.
Fingers crossed.
Knock on wood.
You’ve had such a breakout these past few years; you’re in all these iconic franchises. Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, Jojo, Jujutsu Kaisen… it goes on and on. How’s it been just having all these one after another? I’m sure there have been some “pinch me” moments, and you just keep joining all these great fandoms.
Oh, absolutely. You know seeing Mugen Train in theaters right when theaters reopened after Covid, that was really magical and amazing. And that’s one of the reasons I’m looking forward really to Mission Recon so much is because frankly, I’m a big proponent of the theatrical experience and watching movies in the big screen.
So yeah, to see our hard work, you know, up there in lights, I mean… speaking of pinch me moments, it’s like the ultimate pinch me moment to see that stuff. So yeah, I cannot wait. April 13th, 14th, and 16th. Not Tax Day. Forget about Tax Day.
Are there any moments from the first season that you’re particularly excited to see on the big screen? Because there’s some great stuff, especially Hoshina’s battle sequence, which was a real highlight for me.
Absolutely. Yeah, that’s gonna be probably my favorite part of watching The Omnibus is gonna be able to being able to revisit the big fight between him and number 10. I cannot wait to see that on the big screen with a nice, world-class sound system. It’s gonna be great. It cleans out your sinuses a little bit because it’s just it’s gonna really hit hard. Should be a lot of fun.
Thanks to Landon McDonald for taking the time to talk about Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon.
Source: Comingsoon.net