Signed checkee present! The three main characters complement each other" - Interview with Aoi Morikawa, Reina Matsui, and Natsunako Momota, who star in the Ojamajo Doremi 20th anniversary production "Witch Apprentice wo Sagashite"!

The main characters of "Witch Apprentice wo Sagashite", a movie commemorating the 20th anniversary of "Ojamajo Doremi", are 22-year-old Sora Nagase, 27-year-old Mire Yoshizuki, and 20-year-old Reika Kawatani.

The three share the common trait of having grown up watching "Ojamajo Doremi" when they were small, and they are played by Aoi Morikawa, Reina Matsui, and Natsunako Momota, who are from the Tokai region, are in their late 20s, and also share the common trait of having watched "Doremi". These women, who faced the roles that synchronize with their own, will connect the movie with reality and revive the world of "Doremi" in 2020.

Three Complementary People Helping Each Other to Face Themselves

--How did you, who played the main characters, perceive your partner characters?　First of all, from the perspective of Ms. Morikawa, who played Sora, please tell us what kind of women Mire and Reika were.

Morikawa: Mire is a beautiful and wonderful woman with a very strong core. However, there is a scene where Sora chides her, saying that she thinks she can say whatever she feels. She is insensitive to love and all kinds of things, and she is also a bit outgoing, so she has a cute side. Reika is just so cheerful. But as we get to know each other, she tells me a lot about her complicated upbringing. Listening to her, I felt as if I might be inclined to think negatively about her, but Reika didn't make me feel that way, which made me feel a little sad.

Aoi Morikawa as Sora Nagase

--Matsui: What do you think of Sora and Reika from your point of view?

Matsui: Sora is a very shy girl who is not very good at expressing her thoughts to others, but when she meets Mire and Reika in the story, I could see the door to her closed heart gradually opening. In addition, I felt that she has a strong sense of justice and a strong desire to help others. I got the impression that Reika is young, energetic, and energetic. However, the hardships she has experienced in her life and other aspects of her life have become commonplace in her mind, and sometimes these aspects come out jokingly in our conversations. I felt that she was suffering from something she had not yet accepted, as she cheerfully expressed the dark side of herself, or something that she does not talk about to others. But both Sora and Reika are able to move forward by confronting their pasts in this film.

Reina Matsui as Mire Yoshizuki

--How was it from your point of view?

Momota: Sora-san is a very kind person. She looks kind, but in fact, she is able to treat everyone with care and consideration. If it weren't for Ms. Sora, I don't think Reika and Mire would have gotten along with each other.

Matsui: Yes (laughs).

Momota: I think Sora-san and Reika and Sora-san and Mire would have become good friends. The first time they asked me, "Would you like to go to Gifu for GW, where your grandfather's house used to be?" It was Sora who first said, "Let's go to Gifu for GW, where Dorimichan's grandfather's house used to be," and I felt that because Sora was the one who created such opportunities and brought everyone together, Reika and Mire were able to follow along without any worries. Mire is a very straightforward and cool woman. She can be a bit difficult to approach, but she also has a cute side. Reika eventually becomes quite sweet and jokes around, but she is big enough to accept such things and is also good at her job. Mire-san pulls me along when Sora-san and Reika can't make the right decision, and we have this kind of complementary relationship between the three of us.

Natsunako Momota as Reika Kawatani

A valuable experience of not acting alone

--Even though this was not my first time as a voice actress, it was the first time for me to play a role that required so many lines and so much expressive power. What did you find particularly difficult about the role?

Morikawa: Of course, there are pictures attached to the role, so I don't think my voice is everything, but it is difficult to express my emotions with just my voice. In a normal play, when I have a line that is a bit difficult to say, I can take a pause and organize my feelings, but I can't do that because I have a fixed timing for saying the line. It was very difficult for me to find a way to hold my feelings in a certain pause, and then to make it seem as if I could say it. There were pictures, the director's plan, and many other people involved, so it wasn't just me expressing myself. I felt that playing the role of Sora was different from my usual visual performance.

--I guess you must have had different impressions when you saw the finished film.

Morikawa: That's right. I was very happy to think that I had done the dubbing myself. But when I listened to it myself, I was even more bothered by the "rough edges," or the parts I wasn't satisfied with. I realized that I still have a long way to go.

--So, I hope you will make the most of it for the next time.

Morikawa: Yes. Next time (laughs).

--Matsui: What did you find difficult?

Matsui: I felt the same way. When Mire goes to Reika's house, Sora tells her over the phone, "I'm sure everything will be fine," to which Mire replies with a simple "yes. But I actually had to redo that "yes" a number of times. The director taught me a lot of things, and I digested them in my mind, and I thought I said "yes" just as I was told. I think it might have been a cut that would have been immediately accepted in a TV drama, but because the words were short and easy to understand, I was only able to express the fine nuances in the way he breathed and so on. I was surprised at how many takes I had to go through to get a single "yes," and I realized how deep it was. With voice actors, even a single nod can be very moving. I think it was a valuable experience for me to be able to experience that.

--I hope you will pay attention to the "yes" in the "yes" part.

Matsui: No, I want you to listen to it without hesitation. If people think, "Is that it?" then the hurdle will be raised. It's already so easy (laughs).

--(laughs). How was it for you, Mr. Momota?

Momota: No, everything is difficult. There is so much to do. （I had to look at the script, follow the images, look at the facial expressions, and track the number of seconds, all while conversing with the other person, so it was hard to keep up. That was one of the basics that made it difficult. There were also times when I could not see their facial expressions, such as when only their shoulders were shown or when they were talking with their backs turned to the camera. I tried to imagine what it would be like, but it was still difficult. It was also difficult to follow the moment when she opened her mouth a little, and when she was far away, I almost missed the timing of her speech. I felt it was very difficult to do so.

--I was very difficult.

Morikawa: In the scene where the three of them meet a man named Ryuichi Omiya, Sora says to Mire and Reika, "Yes, there were many DVDs of good-looking idol groups. At that moment, Sora wants to deny it to them, but she can't speak loudly because she is on the train. It's a whisper, but it's like I'm yelling. I want you to listen to this part because I tried to make it a little more creative.

Matsui: I want you to look at ....... I don't know how to do it. But there is a scene where Mire and Reika-chan fight, and Mire says everything out loud, so she takes out her thoughts on Reika-chan. It came out naturally during the play with Mr. Momota, but when I saw the finished version, I felt that the way he said it was too harsh.

Morikawa/Momota (laughs).

Matsui: But I am sure that Mire-san's strength came out naturally, and I hope you will see the strong, slightly irritating side of Mire-san.

Momota: I was thinking of the Hida beef sushi scene.

Morikawa Ah (laughs).

Matsui Cute, cute.

Momota: I put all of my feelings into the line that comes out when I see the Hida beef sushi, so I hope you will be happy with me.

A movie where you can find yourself while reliving "Doremi

--Morikawa: This movie is about a woman who loves "Doremi" and travels to places related to her.

Morikawa: If I could really go there, I would like to go to MAHO-do.

Matsui/Momota I want to go there!

Matsui: Also, that is exactly what I would like to do in Hida. I heard that the staff went to Hida for location scouting and came back with delicious food, which is why they were able to express the quality of the food. If the food is that good, I want to go there and eat a full meal.

Momota: Is that going to be a MAHO-do too?　I love scenery, so I couldn't resist the view I saw when I opened the door. So I want to go there, or rather, I want to savor that moment when I open the door.

--Lastly, from the perspective of those of you who grew up watching "Doremi" as well as the characters, what did you feel this movie was like?

Morikawa: I think it is a film that pushes people's backs. Nowadays, I think we live in an age where we can share our feelings with many people through SNS, but because of that, I feel that it has become very difficult to be oneself. ...... I feel like I have to share the same things with others. But in this film, the three main characters are completely different, and they find good things in each other, and it becomes a kind of "everyone is different, but everyone is good. So when I saw this film, I felt that just because we are together doesn't mean we have to match up to anyone else, and that we can live more freely, happily, and the way we want to live our lives.

Matsui: I thought this movie made us feel as if we were in the anime, as if we were watching "Ojamajo Doremi" ourselves. All three characters have their own problems, but they all love "Doromi". When they go on a pilgrimage to places that have a connection to the characters, I am sure that the viewer will think, "Oh, I understand," and relive the world of "Ojamajo Doremi" in this film.

Momota: For those who watched "Ojamajo Doremi" as we did, I think this work will remind them of how they felt back then, and will allow them to return to their own selves from that time. So, I think that while remembering how you felt when you were a little girl, you can reflect on what you want to do now, and you can have a time to face yourself. That's what this film is about.

(Reporting and writing by Koji Shimizu; Photography by Yohei Tokuda)

Outline of Present Campaign

<Prize
Presents: Aoi Morikawa, Reina Matsui, and Natsunako Momota autographed cheki (photograph) from "Witch Apprentice wo Sagase" (Searching for a Witch Apprentice)

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