To commemorate the release of Jujutsu Kaisen the Movie: Shibuya Incident Special Compilation × The Culling Game Advance Screening, an official interview with Kenjiro Tsuda, the voice of Kento Nanami, and Takahiro Sakurai, the voice of Suguru Geto, has been published.

Kenjiro Tsuda as Kento Nanami

Q: How do you feel about the passion of the fans? Have you had any memorable encounters with them?

■Kenjiro Tsuda

Even before I joined the anime as Nanami, the original manga was already experiencing remarkable momentum, which left a strong impression on me. When it was announced over the weekend that I would be playing Nanami, fans reacted with incredible excitement. But the following Monday, the new issue of Jump came out and in the original manga Nanami died. The emotional whiplash during those few days was intense.

That experience made me realize how much energy the series had even before I became involved. When the anime began, the synergy with the manga pushed the series even further and its influence and popularity were undeniable. Since the episodes were released simultaneously worldwide, I could feel how the series was spreading globally, not just in Japan.

When I traveled overseas, people of many nationalities approached me. When I asked how they even knew who I was, almost all of them said they watched Jujutsu Kaisen.

Q: How did you approach Nanami’s final monologue and fight scenes in the Shibuya Incident arc?

■Kenjiro Tsuda
I already knew how his story would end before we started recording the arc. When the time came to begin the Shibuya Incident sessions, I felt a mix of excitement at being able to perform it and sadness knowing that this meant I would be graduating from the role.

When performing, I put everything I had into Nanami so that there would be no regrets. After finishing all the recordings, it felt almost as if Jujutsu Kaisen had ended for me personally.

I am grateful that Nanami’s final moments were portrayed with great care. While recording, I sensed the affection the director and the anime staff had for Nanami. Everyone put their heart and determination into sending him off through their respective roles in the production. That is the impression I have of how those scenes were created.

Takahiro Sakurai as Suguru Geto

Q: When Geto, whose body is being used by another, appears before Gojo for the first time, it becomes a reunion with the friend Gojo believed he had killed. What did you focus on when performing this scene?

■Takahiro Sakurai
I wanted Gojo to sense that something was wrong. My aim was to express subtle wrongness, suspicion and unease, creating a moment that would make him question what he was seeing. Their goal was to seal Gojo in the Prison Realm and they had spent an enormous amount of time preparing for that plan.

From the impostor Geto’s perspective, he was confident that the sealing would succeed, which allows him to speak with that slightly malicious tone. As a performer, I actually enjoyed that dynamic both in terms of the character and the acting challenge.

Q: You have portrayed Geto across multiple stages of his life including his time at Jujutsu High, his period as a curse user, and as Noritoshi Kamo. What does Geto represent to you?

■Takahiro Sakurai
Up through his time at Jujutsu High and as a curse user, the timing of the anime adaptation allowed me to follow him closely which made me feel that I understood his emotions. Even so, I always wondered whether there truly were no other paths he could have taken and whether possibilities existed that he never explored.

The line he tells Gojo when they part ways, “I have already decided how I will live,” remains with me. It is not about resolve since he had made that decision long before. What he meant was that the life he chose was clearly different from what Gojo believed in. If that meant Gojo felt he had to kill him, then so be it, because there would be meaning in that too. I never wanted the feelings behind that statement to be portrayed as something purely negative.

Once we reached the Noritoshi Kamo elements, things became more difficult. It is hard to explain, but I approached it by analyzing the character in a mechanical way almost like a mathematical or musical process. It felt like manipulating the voice as sound rather than acting in the traditional sense. As a performer, that brings a different type of enjoyment but it is a challenging method.

Geto in the Hidden Inventory and Premature Death arc was especially enjoyable to portray. Through this single character, I have been able to explore the fine distinctions between something that is enjoyable and something that is interesting.

Source : ORICON NEWS