Special interview with Koki Uchiyama, who plays the role of Mamoru Shigaraki in the upcoming third season of "My Hero Academia" is now available!

A special interview with Koki Uchiyama, who plays the role of Mamoru Shigaraki, from "My Hero Academia," which is currently in production for its third season, is now available.

My Hero Academia" is a TV anime based on the manga series by Kohei Horikoshi, serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha). The first TV anime series aired from April to June 2016, and the second series aired from March 2017. The series is directed by Kenji Nagasaki. Directed by Kenji Nagasaki, series composition by Yosuke Kuroda, character design by Yoshihiko Umakoshi, and animation production by Bones.
⇒2017 Summer Anime

The second season of"My Hero Academia" aired from March 2017 and reached its final episode on Saturday, September 30. The interview with him has arrived.

Uchiyama, who has played the difficult role of the mysterious enemy from the first season to the second season, talked about his thoughts on playing the role of Shigaraki, secret recording sessions, and his enthusiasm for the third season.

Official Interview

─ How did you feel when you were cast to play the role of Gariki?

I was surprised when I first saw the character design. The visual impact was so strong that I wondered how I would be able to voice the character. My first impression was that it would be difficult to play the role. The "hand" hides the face, so you can't see the expression of the character. In the past, I had used facial expressions as a reference when playing characters in other works, but in the case of Shigaraki, I could hardly see his facial expressions. So I couldn't read his emotions, and in that sense I felt it was difficult at first.

─ ─ There are still a lot of mysteries about Shigaraki, but what kind of person do you think he is?

As All Might said, I also have in mind "child-adult" as a key word. His way of thinking is like that of a junior high school student. He is driven by the urge to destroy what is considered "good" in the world, and he is unstable, but that is why he is untouchable. That's the impression I got."

-What was memorable about the direction during the recording?

I often use the method of "not trying to establish a conversation too much. In a conversation, you are usually conscious of the distance between you and the person you are conversing with, and you "speak" to them, but in the case of Shigaraki, he often asks me to stop doing that. In the case of Shigaraki, however, he often asks me to stop doing that. I imagine that I am speaking to his inner world, even if it is at a low, inaudible level. When I try to play it that way, it comes out more like Emaki, somewhat crazy, and I can do it myself, riding the wave."

───The interaction with Stein in the second cool of the second season was also impressive.

He said, "Stein came to me, and inspired, I let Brainless attack the city, thinking that I would destroy it rather than Stein. But after the incident, the world took only Stein, and I was angry about it.... At that time, he told me, "Shigaraki doesn't feel defeated. Not feeling inferior or defeated, but just not convinced. He was like, "Huh? Why not me?" That is an honest question. I'm pissed off because I really don't understand why. That's how I felt."

-You were looking for that reason and talked about it with Deku in the last episode of the second season. How was the recording?

There were a lot of lines, so it was tough (laughs). (Laughs.) Each of his lines is long, and he speaks rather slowly and puts black emotions into it, so it was difficult from that point of view as well. As for Shigaraki himself, he came to the simple conclusion that "it's all All Might," that it's all his fault, and his doubts were cleared up in his mind. It was easy to see because he didn't have his hands on his face, but he looked refreshed, as if he had gotten rid of his possessions."

─ ─ And now we are moving on to the third season. Do you know about the future development?

I read the original story a little bit further when it comes time for him to appear in the story. It is a trial and error process every time, but depending on the work, there are cases where it is better to know everything ahead of time and other cases where it is not. If I try to foreshadow a certain development in the future, I may overdo it. Of course, the staff will tell me the important points for the characters, so I think my current stance is just right. So I'm looking forward to the third season of Hiroaka, since I don't know that much about the development."

───What is your enthusiasm for the third season?

I'm looking forward to seeing how new faces such as Kudarabi and Toga joined the Villain Alliance in the last episode of the second season, and I'm also looking forward to seeing what kind of moves they will make and how they will confront the growing heroes such as Deku.

─ You have a new friend.

I don't know what will happen, but it will be interesting to see what happens to the characters. I don't know what will happen, but he seems like an interesting character, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they interact with each other.

─ ─ Do you have a message for the viewers?

In the last episode of the second season, Shigaraki came to a conclusion in his mind, and at the same time a new member appeared, so we have a new structure... I don't know if we are going to join forces yet (laughs). I think most people watch Heroaca from the perspective of rooting for the heroes like Deku, but the enemy (villain) side is also changing, so I hope you will pay attention to that as well. Please look forward to it.