The highly anticipated yuri anime "NTR" depicts forbidden love! Interview with Ai Kakuma and Hiromi Igarashi & Gravure!

───What were your impressions when you first read the original manga?

Igarashi: I thought it was unusual for a yuri manga in that it had more physical descriptions than psychological ones. I thought it had a little bit of the thrill of a men's magazine. Of course, there is a lot of the yuri manga's typical emotional interaction, but I wondered if it was okay to touch such parts of the body!　Even though it's a general-interest magazine!　I was surprised that they would allow such touching, even though it was a general-purpose paper.

Kakuma: The illustrations were so cute that I thought, "Oh, I like that picture," and opened the book to find that it suddenly started with an extreme scene. I was surprised at first. As I read on, I could not understand what Hotaru was thinking. But I got the impression that she had her own ideas, that she had a wish that people around her did not approve of, and that she knew she shouldn't do it, but she was troubled because she had a feeling of ....... I have a different impression of you now. I felt sympathy for her inability to have an honest love life, and I began to want to support Hotaru's tragic love.

─ ─ Hotaru's naughty scenes have a certain sadness to them, don't they?

Igarashi That's right. I wonder if I'm getting desperate.　I wonder if she's going at it like she wants to leave her mark on Yuma so that he won't forget her.

Kakuma: Hotaru's behavior is inconsistent, but that is what makes her so human.

Yuma is a normal high school girl" (Kakuma) and "Hotaru is more mockingly devilish ......" (Igarashi)

─ What do you keep in mind when playing the characters you play?

Kakuma: Yuma is a very passive girl who says, "This is all messed up because you are not firm enough! She is an indecisive girl who says, "You're making such a mess because you're not firm! From Yuma's point of view, she thinks "Hotaru is the reason I'm in this mess," but she can't detach herself from Hotaru, and she is unsure of her feelings. and sometimes I don't know how I feel. Originally, I am not disliked or particularly liked by people; I am just an ordinary high school girl, and I play my role with that in mind.

Igarashi: I personally find it difficult to play the character of Hotaru, who is more mocking and devilish ......, and her actions don't always match up with me, as if to say, "I can somehow understand how she feels, but I wonder why she acts that way. So, when I play such scenes, I act as if Hotaru is also creating and acting herself. In the scene where she is talking with Yuma, it is easy to understand how she is feeling, so it is easy for me to play the role. ......I have the impression that Hotaru must be lonely. She has no parents, and Yuma is the only person she can open up to, but Yuma himself immediately goes off to someone else. I think that's why even a guy like Fujiwara feels safe with her.

───Although this is a yuri anime, Yuma has Takeda and Hotaru has Fujiwara as her boyfriends, but how do you feel about each other's boyfriends?

Igarashi: Personally, I don't feel that I am dating Fujiwara, and I don't treat him as my boyfriend. I think Fujiwara probably feels the same way.

Kakuma: I think Fujiwara is probably too popular, so it's easier for him to say that he is dating Hotaru. It's more like their interests are aligned.

Igarashi From Fujiwara's point of view, it's probably just a way to pass the time. That's why he has a bad personality!　It's the idea of a smart and rich (sort of) person.

─ ─ Takeda and Yuma, on the other hand, are really a normal couple.

Kakuma: If the relationship continues, I think they will become a normal couple. They have amusement park dates at Christmas and so on.

Igarashi And then they break up when they go to college (laughs).

Kakuma Yes, that's right!　And then they would say, "I'm glad our first relationship was with Takeda," and it would be a good memory. Personally, I think Takeda is a man of great potential. He doesn't have a bad face, and he is very good-natured. So I hope he doesn't bend because of what happened this time.

Yuma is like the main character in a novel.

─ Do you have any memorable episodes in the recording studio?

Igarashi: I think Yuma's honest reactions are cute. I was also impressed by Ryota Osaka, who plays Takeda, taking it out on Kakuma-san (laughs). (Laughs.) "You really are a terrible woman! (laughs).

Kakuma Yes, that's right (laughs). (Laughs.) In an anime based on a novel, there are many female cast members for one male cast member, and they are saying things like, "Who's the best? But this time, for the first time, it came back to me.

Igarashi That's right!

Kakuma Takeda is a heroine who has a straight heart and is genuinely interested in girls, but she gets hurt badly. Yuma, on the other hand, is like the heroine in a novel, but she is a wandering, indecisive character. So, the heroes of the novels I've seen up until now have felt this way! I'm doing it while thinking, "I've never seen a protagonist like that before! It's a rare experience, isn't it?

Igarashi It is Osaka-san who confronts Kakuma-san with things that Takeda thinks but can't say, and he says, "That's right, that's right! It's not my fault!" It's just that Yuma got carried away on her own!" I'm the one saying that (laughs).

Kakuma You really are a bad girl (laughs). The other day, during a rather long wait, Osaka-san did a skit about how Takeda would talk about how he felt a few years later at a drinking party or something, saying, "Actually, my first girlfriend was cuckolded by a woman. I was sure that Takeda would tell about this experience in a funny way a few years later.

Igarashi Yes, yes. And we would reply like friends at a drinking party, "Takeda must have had a tough time, too" (laughs). (Laughs.) Book production is a big deal for children, but when they become adults, they can see many things, and I think they will be able to sublimate their own experiences at that time. Anyway, Takeda shouldn't be hanging out with Fujiwara!

Kakuma But when he is with Takeda, Fujiwara is just a normal boy.

─ ─ It would be worthwhile to follow the drama of the boys from a girl's point of view.

The point is when the highlights disappear from Hotaru and Takeda's eyes" (Igarashi)

─ ─ What is the point that you would like viewers to pay attention to?

Igarashi: The gradual lowering of the tone of Hotaru's voice. As Hotaru gets sicker and sicker, her tone becomes closer and closer to what I had imagined for her. I am pleasantly surprised by the change, as the front comes out with the feeling that she does not have to hide her feelings for Yuma. The other part is the gradual disappearance of the highlights from Hotaru and Takeda's eyes.

Kakuma The moment when the highlight disappears from Takeda's eyes is the moment when the last conscience disappears from this work. The part I would like to draw your attention to is Hotaru's line that girls would be thrilled to be told. When a girl as fair-skinned as Hotaru and who likes you says to you at such close range, "You're so thrilled," you think, "That's great! I would say, "That's awesome!

Igarashi It is exciting, isn't it?　I would be thrilled too if Kanna Hashimoto said something like that to me. Hotaru is such a beautiful girl, isn't she?

─ By the way, have you ever been thrilled by a woman yourself?

Igarashi: I remember when I appeared on a Nico Live event, Aisaka (Yuuka) gave me a wall-bonk. At that time, I thought to myself, "I wonder if I would feel nervous if a girl did that to me from this distance.

Kakuma: Because this is this kind of work, I often hold hands with Igarashi-san or bring my face close to hers, and the thrill I feel when I do so is unbearable (laughs). (Laughs) I felt that Yuma would certainly fall if he was approached at such a close distance, which is something he cannot usually experience. So, through this work, I was able to experience the thrill of being close to Yuma.

Igarashi: It's true that you can't experience the thrill of a normal shoot. And Yuma and Hotaru are naked and in such close proximity to each other, right? I'm like, "Oh, my God, do whatever you want! Do whatever you want! I would say to myself (laughs).

─ ─ Finally, do you have a message for the readers?

Igarashi: "Naked Trap" is not a yuri anime where the girls are just having fun, but rather a work with many naughty scenes. I hope you will enjoy it. I would be happy if you could get a sense of how complicated and troublesome the female mind can be.

Kakuma: There are many extreme scenes, so it may be easy to be biased in your viewpoint, but if you look for another way to look at it, you may notice various feelings. This is not a film that tells us that taking things that belong to others is fun, but that we can lose something or suffer because of our excessive behavior. I would like you to watch this film while thinking about it. Perhaps it will expand your world.

(Photo by Yohei Tokuda)

Ai Kakuma

Voice actor. In addition to Yuma Okazaki in "Naked Trap," she is also known for her roles in "Tsudzure Children" Chiyo Kurihara, "18if" Aili Kojima, "Clockwork Planet" Rues, "sin the seven deadly sins" Belphegor, "Handshaker" Mayumi, "Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blood Orphens" Almiria Bourdain, " Brave Witches" and Hikari Ganbuchi. She belongs to Mouse Promotion. Born on September 9 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Her hobbies and special skills are catching kappa, typing on a computer, swimming, and table tennis.

Hiromi Igarashi

Voice actress. In addition to her role as Hotaru Mizushina in "Kakuzou Trap," she has voiced the roles of Teirisara in "Piache - My Italian," Kiantaro in "Kai Taro Shonen no Yokai E Nikki," Edita Rothman in "Brave Witches," Niigaki Aoi in "Ronnibyou Daasu," Wilhelmina in "High School Fleet," and Kiyoji in "The Last Airbender," and Kiyoji in "The Last Airbender. She is known for her roles in "Braunschweig Ingenol Friedeburg" and "THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS" as Anzu Futaba. She belongs to Mouse Promotion. Birthday December 13, born in Hokkaido, Japan. Hobbies and special skills are skiing, swimming, and bowling.