Voice Actors Shōgo Sakata and Miharu Hanai Talk About Their Love for The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows
by Richard Eisenbeis,At the recent world premiere for upcoming spring anime The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows here in Tokyo, ANN sat down with voice actors Shōgo Sakata and Miharu Hanai. Together, they talked about their respective characters (Zenos and Lily), what drew them to this particular story, and how they get into character for their roles.
“I read [both the manga and novels] to prepare for the audition, too. It was such an interesting story that I just wanted to keep reading—so I ended up buying the whole thing,” Hanai added. “I thought the fight scenes were super cool—and all the characters that appeared were cute. All the antagonists cause a lot of trouble, but that doesn't mean they're evil. Rather, they each have a solid backstory, and you can't really hate them.”
As for the respective characters they play, each feels their characters stand out from the crowd in important ways. “My first impression of Zenos was that he was cool and unfazed. But Zenos is really kind at his core. He's really compassionate; he's loyal; he can't leave people in trouble alone,” Sakata told me. “What I think is particularly unique about him is that he doesn't brag about what he's done or what he's achieved—and he sometimes acts a little tough, like a ‘heel’ character. I think that's what's the most appealing.” Meanwhile, Hanai feels that her character's continued development sets her apart: “The character I play, Lily, is a very kind-hearted, cheerful, and innocent girl—and after Zenos helps her, she begins to have feelings for him. I think she starts to become an adult a little bit—and I love those scenes that show Lily growing up more and more.”
Sakata also enjoys Lily as a character. “All of the characters are fascinating in their own way, but I love Lily the most,” Sakata said. “I guess she's not exactly a 'little sister,' but I think Lily is the one who supports Zenos the most in one way or another. It's comforting to watch. I really like Lily in that way.” While Hanai also likes Zenos as a character, she more enjoys the combined trio of Lily, Zenos, and their Wraith roommate, Carmilla: “The story begins with these three—I think of them as the start of it all. When Carmilla finds out that Lily is in love with Zenos and gives her advice, she acts kind of like an older sister—and the three of them really feel like a family. So, I love the two of them.”
Both voice actors put nuance into their roles. “As Zenos is a cool character, I thought that if I read his lines normally, I might not find him very interesting personally. So I tweaked the little sarcastic nuances, the warmth of his retorts, and conversely, the passion he puts into his serious lines,” Sakata explained. “I prepared by adjusting those little things to convey to the viewers that he is a warm-hearted person inside.” On the other hand, Hanai found Lily's voice by going with the flow: “Lily, the character I play, is a very honest girl. So rather than overthinking it and doing things this way and that, I just had her interact [naturally] with the other characters. I think that whatever came out of that is probably the right answer, so I tried not to get too tied down or think too much about it.” It also helped that the directorial staff allowed for a lot of freedom during recording. “There were quite a lot of scenes where I had the chance to play around, so I tried things out there,” Hanai said. “And we got the okay to use those scenes, so I hope everyone will pay attention to all the little ad-libs here and there.”
In what might be a twist of fate, Zenos is not the first fantasy world healer character that Sakata has portrayed. (He recently had the lead role of Usato in The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.) So I asked him if he thought this was a coincidence or if he was being typecast. “I think it's a total coincidence,” Sakata laughed. “The work and the characters are completely different, though I was a bit surprised... I don't know if there was some kind of connection that I never knew about, but I think it was a total coincidence.” In a similar vein, Lily is far from the first young or cute girl Hanai has portrayed in anime, so I asked her how she works to make each character feel unique. “It's not that I'm consciously changing anything in particular, but rather that each child [I play] is different,” Hanai told me. “Even if they are cute, their personality, age, and life experiences are different, so it's inevitable that they will be different characters... but as I read various works, I find points in key places where I think ‘I want to do something like this’ or 'this is a hint!' I feel like this adds another layer to each child's unique charm—so I try to look at even the smallest details in the work.”
The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows is not the first “protagonist being unfairly kicked out of an adventuring party” anime out there. The voice acting pair shared their thoughts about this sub-genre's recent spike in popularity. “I wonder why? It's not like revenge is a must [in these kinds of stories] after all…” Sakata began. “I wonder if it's also that everyone today has the desire to meet better friends than they have now... that that's the winning theme.”
“I think that ‘overcoming adversity’ is what's so interesting about it,” Hanai added. “It's kind of refreshing.” Sakata and Hanai also talked a bit about their acting methods in general, like how they get into character. “What I usually try to be conscious of is to think exactly from the character's point of view, in other words, to imagine the character's field of vision—what the character is looking at, how it feels when they cut something [with a sword], what it smells like…” Sakata told me. “I feel like I try to imagine those kinds of things quite often.”
“I'm that way too.” Hanai agreed. “After all, with anime, the visuals don't exist initially, so I think it's important to imagine and fill in the gaps. So just like Sakata said, I do think a little about how things smell at that moment, where they're looking, what they're saying—as well as the hidden meaning behind their words and things like that.” The pair also talked a bit about what kind of special care they do for their voices. For both, it was all about hydration—though in different ways. “I feel like I've started drinking water a lot more frequently,” Sakata said. “Instead of drinking a lot at one time, I feel like I'm drinking a little bit of water or tea about once every 10 minutes.”
“During the dry season, I am especially cautious to keep my throat from getting too dry,” Hanai mentioned. “So I suck on a bit of candy before going outside, wear a mask, and also use a wet mask when I go to bed—and I try to keep my throat moisturized in every way possible.”
To wrap things up, I asked Sakata and Hanai why they would recommend that people watch The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows. For Sakata, there are seemingly too many things to list: “The appeal of this anime is that, of course, all the characters are fascinating. I've also always thought that I really love how the story is structured—with the plot twists being properly set up and then resolved at the end.” Sakata continued, “Within that, I think that each character's pasts and inner feelings are conveyed gently. Also, I think that even in isolation, the contents of the conversations between the characters are also very fascinating. I hope you'll be able to feel the same as you watch."
“I think the appeal of this work is that Zenos heals with a magical scalpel,” Hanai said in conclusion. “So rather than fighting like crazy, I think he can show everyone something a little different—that he fights to protect. Also, all the characters are cute, and the villains have their own charms—especially in the parts that depict their backgrounds. I truly enjoyed performing in this role, so I hope everyone will enjoy it.”
The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows is scheduled to begin airing in April 2025.
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