Casting Process

The casting process in the REM swap-in is based on a group of 20 stock characters as demonstrated in alphabetical order:

Isao Amano Kaori Funai Yutaka Furutani Takeo Hamasaki Midori Harada Renjiro Hatanaka Annaisha Hattori Ronia Kimura Yukise "Matsunaga" Osamu Morioka Komako Noguchi Izanagi Nonaka Joben Oshiro Isamu "Shimada" Akira Tajima Tsutomu Wada Kishou Yamaoka Mikihiro Yasutake Shieri Yasude Ryujirou Yoshioka

Credit Casting
The cast members are assorted into their roles based on where they appear in the opening credits. The order is as follows.

Kaori Midori Mori Matsunaga Takeo Eri Yutaka Shimada Komako Izanagi Nasha Tsutomu Isao Hiro Ronia Joben Ryuji Renjiro Akira Kishou

This runs into problems concerning seasons with returning contestants. This is why the "reverse casting technique" is put in play. What this means is that the most recent season with returning players is cast before the seasons with newcomers, starting with, then moving back until everyone's cast consistently.

Casting Priority
Obviously, not every season has the same number of participants, so certain contestants are prioritised in the casting process.

First Priority: Confirmed returning contestants
If a contestant has already been cast in a role in an "all-stars" season, they will automatically fill that role. Roles are only filled if they do not clash with another predetermined role. If this happens, the most recently released returnee season is prioritised (i.e. has absolute priority).

Second Priority: The Priority Scale
Because the minimum number of contestants in a season is 16, and the maximum is 20, the first 12 in the list are guaranteed to be cast. Here is the list:

1. Kaori Funai (Being first in the credits, and a Canon Survivor) 2. Kishou Yamaoka (Being last in the credits, and a Canon Survivor) 3. Renjiro Hatanaka (Canon Survivor) 4. Isao Amano (Canon Survivor) 5. Shieri Yasude (Canon Survivor, and part of the "Core Four") 6. Isamu "Shimada" ("Core Four", second to last standing) 7. Ryujirou Yoshioka ("Core Four", and third to last standing) 8. Osamu Morioka ("Core Four", though first one axed) 9. Yutaka Furutani (Major character to Kaori) 10. Mikihiro Yasutake (Major character to Kishou) 11. Ronia Kimura (Major character to Renjiro) 12. Midori Harada (Major character to Isao) 13. Takeo Hamasaki (Major character to Shimada) 14. Tsutomu Wada (Major character to Takeo) 15. Komako Noguchi (Minor, but still relevant character) 16. Annaisha Hattori (Minor, but still relevant character) 17. Joben Oshiro (Major character, but typically off-screen) 18. Yukise "Matsunaga" (A past version of Eri) 19. Akira Tajima (A past version of Isao, but less relevant) 20. Izanagi Nonaka (Hardly mentioned)