Voice 07

Episode 07 Hamburg-san ハンバーグさん
Sexy Voice and Robo episode
Writer	Yamaoka Shinsuke
Original air date	Unaired
Viewership	Never aired
Forum Thread	Thread
Episode chronology
← Previous Voice 06 Next → Voice 08

Sexy Voice and Robo
< Voice 06	Hamburg-san ハンバーグさん	Voice 08 >

Plot

Robo, Niko, and her family are among the hostages of a knife-wielding man at a restaurant.

Guests

Main Guest

Hamburg-san - Moro Morooka → ハンバーグさん - モロ師岡

Recurring Characters

Muu-chan - Kajiwara Hikari → むーちゃん - 梶原ひかり

Minor Guests

Bullied student - Tochihara Shouki → - 栩原笑生

Foreigner / Binoche - Mia Dambron → ビノシュ -

Waitress #1 - Itou Shuuko → - 伊藤修子

Waitress #2 - Watanabe Anri → - 渡邊安理

Restaurant Manager - Murakami Hiroki → 店長 - 村上大樹

Cook #1 - Takahashi Issei → コック #1 - 高橋一生

Cook #2 - Ono Mitsutoshi → コック #2 - 小野光俊

Cook #3 - Koiso Tatsuya → コック #3 - 小磯龍哉

Teleclub lady - Okada Kaoru → - 岡田薫

Reporter - Eguchi Noriko → リポーター - 江口のりこ

Trivia

• Niko's dad confesses to dancing after work. A similar thing happens in the 1996 movie Shall We Dance? in which a businessman learns to dance in secret.
• Niko's dad buys her a Daruma mask for her birthday. It is considered a talisman for good luck in Buddhism.

Episode motifs:

• Communication
  • The episode deals with people's inability to say what they really feel.
    • Niko is unable to communicate with the French lady and ends up having to go with her. She laments her inability to communicate and feels empathy for Hamburg-san because of it.
    • Hamburg-san's inability to communicate has led him to become isolated and rely heavily on Mika, a woman he's never physically met.
    • Even for a woman like Niko's mother, who seems to unashamedly speak her mind, wearing the mask and revealing her secrets is incredibly liberating. Even the most outgoing have things they can't say out loud.
    • Although everyone reveals secrets wearing the mask, only Robo is willing to do it unmasked. Later on he yells out one of his Max phrases, embarrassing himself in front of Niko's family. So unlike the other hostages, Robo's problem/gift is that he is very open with his feelings.

Series motifs:

• Kazumi-chan's part-time jobs. Kazumi is just starting as a waitress at the restaurant Hamburg-san takes hostage.
• Yocchan's professional song. Yocchan sings it as he enters the kitchen.

Uses of Niko's Power

• After Hamburg-san is arrested, a phone call arrives. Niko picks it up and talks into it using his voice, but no response is ever heard.

Continuity

• They mention Niko's father being on a "business trip" in Voice 06, which he took after getting in a fight with Niko's mother.
• Robo is again frequenting a teleclub despite being tricked by Niko in Voice 01.

Notable Quotes

• Robo - "It's like someone's words gently filling the holes in one's heart."
• Niko's dad - "So you fill the holes in your heart with teleclub. So disappointing."
• Niko - "These carrots are all black."

Yocchan - "The boss made those. Everything she makes turns all black. But it's good."

Robo's Max phrases:

• "Itadakimax!"
• "Max...da!"

Comparisons to the Manga

• This story is probably a more fleshed out version of the one from Voice 7 Touch the Blue Sky. Half of these story elements were used in Voice 2 of the TV drama.
• The motorcyclist in the manga was texting a woman named Miyu in the way Hamburg texted Mika. The motorcyclist was fired, but Miyu's texts gave him hope.
• The motorcyclist borrowed a bike and stole money to meet Miyu in the same way Hamburg stole money and planned to run off with Mika.
• Neither Miyu or Mika show up to their agreed upon meetings.

Episode Controversy

The episode was supposed to air on Robo and Niko's birthday (May 22). However, it was not broadcast on television because of a similar real-life incident a week earlier.

Last Thursday, a former gangster named Hisato Obayashi shot his two children in his home during a domestic quarrel with his former wife. The situation escalated into a standoff when police arrived. The children were taken to a hospital, but Obayashi continued to hold his wife hostage for 29 hours, during which he wounded another officer and fatally shot another.

A rebroadcast of episode 2 was aired in its place. Voice 7 was included on the series' DVD release.