Kitaeri is being managed by Satrina! Interview with Rina Sato and Eri Kitamura on the cute summer anime "The Caretaker of Sunoharasou"!

Interview with Rina Sato and Eri Kitamura, the main cast members of the highly anticipated summer anime "Sunoharasou no janitor-san," which will begin airing in July!

Sunoharasou no janitor-san" is an anime adaptation of the four-frame manga of the same title serialized by Neko Ume in "Manga 4koma Pallette" (Ichijinsha). The main character, Aki Shiina, who has entered a student dormitory, Sunoharasou, is taken care of by the natural and mischievous caretaker, Ayaka Haruhara, as well as by Ayaka's younger sister, Nana Haruhara, and other older women. The general director is "Prisma☆Prisma☆Prisma☆Prisma". The general director is Shin Onuma of "Prisma Illya," the director is Mirai Minato of "Masamune-kun no Revenge," the series composition is by Fumihiko Shimo, the character design is by Kazuya Hirata, the music is by Ruka Kawada, and the animation production is by SILVER LINK.

For this interview, we asked Rina Sato, who plays Ayaka Haruhara, the caretaker, and Eri Kitamura, who plays Aki Shiina, about the appeal of this work and the atmosphere at the postrecording studio!

Enjoy the interview conducted in a friendly mood!

Ayaka's sense of Maria is amazing!

--Please tell us about the work "The Caretaker of Sunoharasou" and your impression of the original work.

Rina Sato (Sato): "The Caretaker of Sunoharasou" is a story about the cute people who gather at Sunoharasou. （Everyone is cute, including Aki (the main character).

My first impression is that it is a very relaxing work with a reassuring caretaker who makes you feel soft and comfortable, without anything amazing happening. In my image, the entire work has soft pastel colors.

Some of them have a slightly different point of view, but they are all fluffy and cute. They are like sugar craft sweets.

So I think women will enjoy it too. The manager, Ayaka, has very large breasts (laughs). But why don't you feel that much sexier ......?

Eri Kitamura (Kitamura): I think it's Ms. Neko Ume's drawing ability. There is a good balance between the soft pastel atmosphere.

There is a spice to the story that is not only gentle, with surrealism and black comedy interspersed, and the story has interesting highs and lows. But there is also the touch of Neko Ume-sensei's drawings and the angelic expressions on the faces of the female characters, including Ayaka!　As a woman, I got the impression that the work is cute, easy to look at, and classy.

Sato: I thought this is what "class" means.

Kitamura We were talking during the recording of the first episode about how it would be in a slightly different genre than the so-called "harem" stories.

My character, Aki, is the only male character in the show, and he is an adolescent boy who says, "I want to be a man! I want to be a man! So it's definitely a harem, ......, but when I first read the original story, I thought, "Seriously, ......!　Aki, you're not a boy, you're a girl! He's so cute! (laughs).

(Laughs.) That's how pastel the work is. I felt the same way when I read the original work, and when I saw the animated version, the cute dialogue between the characters and the edgy but not too sharp direction made the work more rounded, which I thought was great. That's why it's healing. It is an aromatic work.

Sato It's like a cat's stomach (laughs), or the soft, sweet smell of the caretaker's chest or the work, soft and warm. So I would be happy if you could watch it on weekends or when you are tired.

Kitamura: I think this work will be a gentle spice in a good way in this season.

--Please tell us about the characters Ayaka Haruhara, played by Rina Sato, and Aki Shiina, played by Eri Kitamura.

Sato Ayaka is the caretaker of a dormitory called Sunohara-so and is the kind of person that everyone wants to have in the family. Is she a person any longer ......?

Kitamura She is a holy mother.

Sato Yes, she has a great sense of Mary. When I play the role, I fantasize and think about the character's upbringing and personality, but I can't keep up with that for Ayaka-san. I haven't had a chance to talk with Ms. Neko Ume about Ayaka yet, so I've been inventing episodes with her grandmother on my own (laughs). Specifically, I think Ayaka-san must be a very grandmotherly person.

Kitamura: There is a scene where Ayaka talks about her grandmother in a very important way.

Sato: At Sunohara-so (which Ayaka inherited from her grandmother), many people come and go, and I think she has experienced many encounters and partings with her grandmother there. But what about Ayaka's parents? And I think Ayaka is rather lonely, don't you think?　I wonder if Ayaka was the type of person who could look around and move around from a young age. I think Ayaka might have been the type of person who could see and move around since she was a child. I don't know if that's right or not. ......

But even though he is still young, he has a calmness about him that makes me think he is a mysterious person.

Kitamura: He is so enthusiastic about everything that he always puts on a costume (laughs).

Sato: Seeing him like that, I think he must be a little rusty. In my mind, he is a superhero, but I also see him as a woman or a girl.

Kitamura: Aki worked hard to come to Tokyo from Shizuoka, and she was a bit reserved about Tokyo. But I am glad that I met the manager.

The girls around Aki are all very skilled (laugh). They all love Aki as if she were their own little brother or sister. So, although he doesn't realize it, I think he is somehow relieved to be a part of the group, even though he is being swept along by everyone. He gets small joys from the caretakers and others, and he says, "I'll do my best next time! I'm going to do my best next time!

Aki's clumsiness is cute to everyone, and I think it makes her bubbly (laughs). (Laughs) She really is very cute. I think that is one of Aki's good points. I think that is what I like about Aki, and I try to face her character and act her out.

Actually, Satrina is managing Kitaeri. ......?

--Is it difficult to play the character of Aki?

Kitamura It is difficult!　Whenever I do a postrecording test, I always have to say, "Janitor!" but as a fan of the work, my feelings get too strong and I end up saying "Ayaka~! (laughs).

Sato: My boyish feelings were too strong (laughs).

Kitamura: But I feel so comfortable that Satrina (Rina Sato's nickname) is managing my play.

When Aki and the caretaker are talking to each other, Satrina doesn't just handle her own lines and what she has to do, but she gives me a little push to make the play, like "I'll make this pause," or "I'll make him laugh.

I would get all excited and say, "Ayaka! I think that's not right (laughs).

Sato: Aki has the most to do because he is a character who is on the receiving end of everyone. But I can't come on too strong as a character, so I have to .......

Kitamura: Aki's dialogue and monologue are all intermingled, so he's busy in his own way. He also makes a comment, but I have to make sure that he doesn't go too far. This is a very sensitive and difficult part.

I feel that the staff members are trying to find the right balance between the two in order to make Aki not just a comical, clumsy, and disappointing boy in a harem, but also a somewhat elegant and gentle character. I get that feeling from the way the other characters are tossed around, and from the way the anime is cut and paced, while still following the original story.

--You just said, "Mr. Sato is managing me," but are you aware of that?

Sato: I don't feel that way at all. I just think, "Everyone is so cute," and then the recording is over (laughs).

（In the drama CD (included in the special edition of the second volume of the original work), it was just Ayaka and Aki, but in the anime, the other members of the Sunoharasou team also appear. Aki is the newest one and I care about him the most, but Ayaka-san likes all of them and loves them equally. I like that very much.

Kitamura There is no strange favoritism. She manages everyone equally.

Sato That is my sense of Maria. However, if I play the role as my true self, something strong comes out, so I am careful to leave out the strong parts and play it softly.

Kitamura: Satrina's self-reported retakes are very sensitive!

I may think, "That was perfect! I may think, "It was perfect!" but in Satrina's mind, I have to think about the consistency of Ayaka's performance and say, "Please let me retake this scene just one more time. I was so occupied with the recording, but Satrina was sincerely pursuing the image of Ayaka, down to the smallest detail.

Sato Ayaka is an ideal person, so I try to approach her with love. However, during recording, I get distracted by many things, so there are parts where I can't fully express that love. ...... I am going into the recording with the sole intention of protecting Ayaka's motherly love.

Do the two of you resemble your characters......?

--What do the characters you play have in common with yourselves, or what aspects of yourselves are different?

Sato Hmmm, what do we have in common ......?

Kitamura I have always worked with the image of Satrina as a craftsman in everything I do.

So, whether the character is similar to mine or not, I do it perfectly!　Even when we are on set together, I completely surrender the character I play to myself. There are some characters that have a totally different tension from Ayaka's. ...... I think they all look alike already, don't they?

Sato No, no.

Kitamura I'm sure there are some plays that you have to see, know, and experience to be able to produce them.

Also, the similarity between Ayaka and Satrina is that they are both ...... delicate and careful!　I say that as a bad word, fine (laughs).

I see how you capture the world, the space, the characters, and all of it, and how you work so meticulously at each site, not just in terms of your glibness and timing. As a third party, I feel that you choose your words very gently and carefully for everyone.

In other words, she responds to Yuri-chan (a character in the show) in a Yuri-chan way, to the chairman in a chairman way, and she responds in a fun way so as not to hurt various people, considering her own position and being polite.

Sato: Kitaeri-chan (Ms. Kitamura's nickname) is similar to Aki in the sense that "things don't start without her.

Kitamura Really?　I say out loud, "Oh, !!!!"? I say out loud, "Oh, "?　We don't look alike at all, are you okay?

Sato...... I guess so (laughs). (Laughs) But Aki has a little bit of that in him too. （He is quite a boy.

Kitamura Well, he doesn't say it out loud, but he has fantasies about the janitor (laughs).

Sato Also, Kitaeri-chan is a bit of a doyenne! But in reality, she is the type of person who thinks things through delicately and carefully. I think we are similar in that way.

...... I mean, she's cute!

Kitamura Oh, I'm being managed by Satrina right now (laughs).

Sato I really don't think the show would be able to run without Kitaeri-chan on site. Aki is the key person. Aki is the one who gets in everyone's way, but Kitaeri is like the mood maker who makes everyone have fun.

Kitamura: Everyone around me is mostly adults who want to do things quietly, but among them, I think I am the most childish (laughs).

Sato But so do you, Aki.

Kitamura I think we are similar only in that position (laughs). I am helped by everyone's kindness on set.

When something psychic happened, I said, "I'm sure it's the spirits' fault! I would say, "That might be so. They clap their hands and say, "Exorcism, exorcism, exorcism. No one would go out with me like that! Everyone is so kind, and someone always picks up the ball I throw out.

Sato But if you don't throw the ball, no one can pick it up. So, the fact that the story would not start without him is very Aki-like. So he fits perfectly in terms of position.

Kitamura Please put what you just said in bold!

--By the way, the psychic phenomenon is ......?

Kitamura: There is a rapping sound at the recording studio.

There is a character named Yuri Kazami, played by Yume Miyamoto, who has a black and surreal quality. When we were recording Yuri-chan's scene, we were recording her lines in the middle of the scene, and when no one was around, we would hear a "bang! sound when no one is around. That's when the real retakes happen. ...... Before the show, I always say, "Let's do that! I would say, "Let's do that!

And then we would say, "Let's do that! (clapping oak hands)

Sato That spirit probably likes Yuri-chan. Yuri-chan is a two-faced character, so maybe it is attracting her.

But Sunohara-so seems to be haunted too.

Kitamura: From there, "There's a murder at Sunoharasou: ......!" and you're talking about a drama CD or a spin-off in your imagination (laughs).

Sato We all love this work, so all we do is talk about it.

Kitamura Since we have an all-female cast, we talk about scenes that men might like and ask, "What do men think of that scene? And so on. We also talk about the middle of the story, such as, "When you get to the middle of the story, there are more water scenes," or "The third episode is important.

Sato: I sometimes think, "I see," when anime experts talk about it (laughs).

Satrina & Kitaeri talk about younger boys

-It looks like you are having fun at the recording site with all women.

Kitamura: This site is a haven for gifts.

Sato: The staff always give us the cutest gifts, and we get so excited about them.

Kitamura "Which one do you want? (laughs). (Laughs.) The sweets are always very feminine!

Sato: They bring us sweets that match the atmosphere of "the caretaker of Sunoharasou. We record the show in such an exciting atmosphere. It's a friendly atmosphere with Kitaeri-chan at the center.

--The main character, Aki, is at the mercy of a group of older women in this romantic comedy. By the way, what do younger men mean to you two?

Sato: I have a younger brother who is two years younger than me, and all younger men are like my younger brother.

Kitamura: Do you feel the difference of two years is quite big?

Sato When I was little, I felt it and we had fights, but now that I'm an adult, I feel like we're more or less equal. But now that I am an adult, I feel like we are on equal footing. But since I am the older sister, I do buy her dinner.

So until they are two years younger than me, I tend to look at them as if they are all my younger brothers.

Kitamura: But there are people who dote on their older siblings. It's like the relationship between Ayaka and Aki.

Sato It is true that if they were as far apart in age as Ayaka and Aki are, they would be doting on each other. I would say, "I'll buy you anything you want," which is not good (laughs).

How do you see younger men, Kitaeri?　I don't really have an image of them.

Kitamura: I am an only child, so I always thought that the relationships I saw in comic books between close siblings were "nice. Many of the people around me were not close, even among siblings, probably because they were in their adolescent years. Is that the difference between two dimensional and three dimensional ......?

In the third dimension, when it comes to men younger than oneself, there is a sense of tension that one must not be lenient and must be firm. I have to be firm. Before, I used to see younger men as "cute" in a two-dimensional way. ...... But now I have a more tragic sense of "I don't want the younger guys to think I'm an old woman! I have a stronger sense of sadness now.

Sato What do you mean? (Laughs)

Kitamura: I have a lot of opportunities to play roles of gals who are much younger than I am. At those times, when I am asked to "improvise, please! I would be asked to improvise, but sometimes I couldn't come up with ad-libs for the "current generation of gals. If that happens, I get very depressed. ......

So, when people ask me, "Which character do you prefer, older or younger? I used to answer, "I like shota characters, so I prefer younger characters because they are cuter! But when it comes to three-dimensional characters, I tend to think negatively (laughs).

--(laughs). Once again, please tell us about the highlights of the "Sunoharasou no janitor-san" anime.

Sato: The highlight is that everyone is cute! Aki and all the other characters have a different kind of cuteness.

The work itself is also cute, and Ayaka and the other characters are soft in many ways (laughs). I want people to experience that softness. But it is a work that we are all working on together in an elegant way.

Kitamura: The characters are catchy and kitschy, but it is not a naughty harem.

I think the highlight of the work, including the character I play, Aki, is that it is not rough and ready, and is beautifully and delicately made.

The animation is spun in a way that makes you giggle and grin, just like in the original story by Neko Ume-sensei, so I hope you can look forward to it.

--Lastly, do you have a message for our readers?

Sato: Please come and visit Sunohara-so at .......

Kitamura (overhearing Mr. Sato) To be managed, right?

Sato (laughs). Not only Ayaka-san, but all the characters in Sunoharasou have various ways of managing things, so please come to Sunoharasou to be managed!　I will manage your week (laughs).

Kitamura That's wonderful!

--Thank you very much for your time today!