All The Announcements from Anime NYC 2024

Voice Actor Chiwa Saito Shares the Importance of a Supporting Role

ANN's coverage of Anime NYC 2024 sponsored by Yen Press and Ize Press!

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Legendary voice actor Chiwa Saitō stepped out to cheers and applause on Friday afternoon to a crowd eagerly waiting in line to hear her chat about her life and experiences. She's played several notable roles, including the titular Yona from Yona of the Dawn, Hitagi Senjougahara from the Monogatari series, Tamamo-no-Mae from Fate/Grand Order, and of course Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. She had skipped a Madoka event in Japan to attend Anime NYC instead.

A mother of three, she frequently travels with her children and brought her seven-year-old son to New York. She later joked that her husband would tell her, "I can't handle three kids on my own! You need to take one of them with you!" Asked how she'd enjoyed her trip to New York so far, she wryly commented that they'd tried to sightsee yesterday but only made it about three minutes out of their hotel before her son demanded to return for a bathroom break. She added that they had plans to visit more sights later during the weekend and hoped to eat some quintessential "New York" food. "Last night, we just ordered gyudon on Uber Eats," she laughed, saying that her son loves Japanese food.

With all of Saito's stories about her kids, it's fitting that she plays so many motherly roles these days. When asked about it, she revealed that actually in Japan, many lead roles tend to go towards younger, more junior actors, not only because they tend to have the physical energy and vitality needed for a main character, but also because it allows more seasoned veterans to mentor the younger actors. "People who have a lot of experience will play supporting roles so that we can support each other and the younger actors. Now that I'm older, I'm happy I can play these roles and support others."

Another way that more experienced actors help out their protégés is by showing them the ropes for mic work, which Saito described as the part of the recording process where characters must know when to reach for a shared mic. Unlike voice acting in the U.S., which is largely recorded individually, actors in Japan tend to record in groups to interact with each other. This practice was disrupted during COVID when recording sessions shifted to individual actors. Things have since mostly changed back to how they were before. Still, Saito says the transition has been difficult for newer actors who debuted during COVID and whose only recording experience had been doing lines alone.

"Some people weren't familiar with sharing the mic, so it was hard at first, but now it's better. When I was starting, I learned mic work from my senpai. I looked at how they positioned themselves and how they took action. That's how I learned to share the mic." She laughed as she recalled being scolded. "If I made a mistake and used someone else's mic, one of the meaner senpai would do a tongue click." Here, she made a "tsk" sound. "I'd get scared, but everyone is nicer now. People aren't as strict anymore."

As for tips on how younger actors could use mic work to their advantage, Saito said she likes to use microphone placement. "If there are multiple microphones in front of us when I have a role where I'm conversing with someone on my right, I'll hold my script to the right so I can look at the person next to me and make eye contact. This way, I can have a real conversation with them. Same with the person on the left. This is my secret tip, but it's important to me that I share it with those who've just started their voice-acting careers. I can see their acting change. Usually, there's a screen in front where the animation is. But when I'm making eye contact with the person next to me, we can all see the acting change. It becomes more real. I learned this from my senpai. It makes for a better product." Saito added that while there were voice acting schools, she thought the most important lesson was just experience. "Getting the job, doing the work, being aware of your surroundings. You're working with people, so communication is important."

When asked how she prepares for new roles, Saito said that she reads manga or source material to get an idea of who the character would be. She revealed that she hadn't always done this, though. When she first started acting, she went into roles blind because she didn't want to spoil herself on the story, especially if it was a long production with many lines. "Let's say a character were to die at the end. If I knew that from the start, it would give me a sense that maybe I needed to play the role more carefully," she explained. "It would change how I acted." Now that she's playing more support roles, she feels more confident reading the source material for inspiration.

Saito was also asked to share some of her favorite anime or manga series. She said that when she started her career, she didn't watch much anime or read manga, but one of her favorite memories was meeting the voice actor for Dragon Ball's Goku, Masako Nozawa. "I told her Goku was my first love," Saito laughed. "Once she heard that, she was so warm. She said—." Here, Saito stood up and gathered a deep breath of air. “—kaaaamehaaaameha! That was the most memorable thing." She laughed again and said, "I also have a two-year-old son. The anime I watch right now is Paw Patrol."

Talking more about her family, she said that her kids have no idea what she does for a living, even though they've watched series she's acted in. She said their current favorite show is Transformers: Earthspark, but they have no idea she plays the character Twitch in the Japanese dub. "I once asked them, 'Hey, what do you think of Twitch?' only for them to say, "Eh, Twitch is too noisy. I don't like her." She joked that she had gotten her hopes up when they each asked for a toy from Transformers: Earthspark for Christmas. "I thought, 'Yeah! They're going to ask for Twitch!' They all asked for Bumblebee." She laughed and said their home now has three Bumblebees and only one Twitch, which she'd bought for herself. "Now, when they play at home, all three Bumblebees attack Twitch."

Saito read a few lines from some of her most iconic roles to close out the panel. She started with Yona from Yona of the Dawn, followed by Boudica from Fate/Grand Order, but her next character elicited the most whoops from the audience—Tamamo-no-mae from Fate/Grand Order. That line-reading was followed by Hitagi Senjougahara from the Monogatari series, ending with Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. She even did multiple versions for some of the characters, showing her impressive range. Hearing Saito bring these characters to life in front of everyone's eyes was surreal. Judging from the massive applause and cheering from the audience, it seemed the whole audience felt the same.