Yuichi Nakamura Struggles with Portraying Satoru Gojo in "Jujutsu Kaisen": Calms Voice Tone from "Hidden Inventory / Premature Death" to "Shibuya Incident"
In celebration of the airing of Episode 9 (33rd in total) of the second season of the TV anime "Jujutsu Kaisen," an official interview with Yuichi Nakamura, the voice actor for Satoru Gojo, has been released.
Q: Please share your thoughts on portraying Satoru Gojo in the modern day again for the 'Shibuya Incident'.
Nakamura: Transitioning from portraying Gojo's high school days in "Hidden Inventory / Premature Death" to the present day in "Shibuya Incident," I pondered whether to clearly depict the passage of time in my performance or to maintain consistency. In reality, people's voices don't change much over about ten years. Ultimately, I chose not to alter my voice too drastically, but for certain scenes, I did calm the tone more than during "Hidden Inventory / Premature Death" to leave a distinct impression on the audience.
Q: How was it performing in the scene where Gojo fights against Jogo, Hanami, and Choso in Episode 8 (32nd episode 'Shibuya Incident')?
Nakamura: One of the charms of the "Jujutsu Kaisen" anime series is how it expands expressions from a few manga frames into more elaborate scenes, especially in combat. The use of flashy direction and camera work makes these battles even more engaging. The battle depicted in this particular episode showcases a clash of strong characters, making these enhancements more pronounced.
During dubbing, without the final visuals, we rely on the director and storyboard artist's vision, testing and adjusting to match their envisioned final product. Recording felt like putting together puzzle pieces, making it an intriguing process.
Q: What do you find to be the highlights of the 'Shibuya Incident' as a whole?
Nakamura: Previously, the story focused on one battle at a time, but 'Shibuya Incident' portrays multiple battles happening simultaneously in different locations. This rapid pace is a highlight. We are all eagerly awaiting the broadcast of the completed episodes. 'Shibuya Incident' contains some harsh developments, but it's packed with points of interest, and I hope viewers will stay with us until the end.
"Jujutsu Kaisen" is a dark fantasy based on the manga of the same name serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" since March 2018, revolving around high school student Yuji Itadori who enters a world of battle centered around curses after a powerful "cursed object" is unsealed.
The manga has surpassed 80 million copies in circulation, with the anime adaptation airing from October 2020 to March 2021 and gaining popularity, leading to a movie adaptation in December 2021 and the ongoing second season since July 2023.
Episode 33 (Season 2 Episode 9) "Shibuya Incident: Opening the Gate"
At Shibuya station's underground platform, Gojo overwhelms and corners Jogo, Hanami, and Choso, even as they use civilians as shields. However, their goal was to buy time to seal Gojo using Prison Realm.
With a large number of modified humans, Mahito also joins the battle. As Jogo and the others attempt to whittle down Gojo using civilians as shields, Gojo resorts to a secret strategy.