The popular spring anime "Jigokuraku" starts airing on 4/1 (Sat.)! Interview with Yumiri Hanamori as Sagiri Yamada Asaemon: "The way everyone lives and dies is very good in this work.

Jigokuraku" (written by Yuji Garai), which was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine application "Shonen Jump+" and gained popularity, will be adapted into an anime, which will begin broadcasting and distribution on April 1, 2023 (Saturday).

The story is about a dead criminal, Gabaimaru (CV: Chiaki Kobayashi), and a beheading executioner, Sagiri Yamada Asaemon (CV: Yumiri Hanamori), who are captured as escaped ninja, and head to an island rumored to be the paradise of immortality in search of a "elixir of immortality" that, if brought back, will free them of all charges. Gabaimaru and his friends are confronted with unknown creatures lurking there and the hermits who rule the island. ......

Yumiri Hanamori, who plays the role of "Sagiri," the woman who heads to the island to watch over Gabaimaru while struggling with the karma of killing people as an executioner, talked about the appeal of the work and the postrecording sessions.

A long depiction of regret and persistence

───This work looks very powerful from the PV footage, but what are your impressions of the actual footage?

Hanamori: From the cut of the prison cell that captures the eyebrow circle, to the depiction of the ship with the blooming flowers in extreme colors. The beauty and weirdness when the colors increase all at once from the restrained tone!　I thought that the charm of "Jigokuraku" - "opposites" - was packed into this short PV.

Also, there is a lot of emotional conflict in this work, but there are also a lot of battle scenes. The scenes of flowers and blood flying around are especially impressive, so I am sure that the finished film will be amazing.

─ What was your impression of the original comic book?

Hanamori: I first read it during the audition, and I was deeply moved by the beautiful drawings in the original comic. Because when you focus on the character you are playing, the deaths of characters close to her are often portrayed in a simple and cruel manner. It is common in this work that a character who may have had a story to tell disappears in an instant in the next panel, so in order to be prepared for this shock, I would read the story once again on the set before recording.

─ ─ In fact, I think "death" is such a simple thing.

Hanamori: The scenes in which characters die are not unnecessarily long. I felt that the work was particular about showing only that one moment, without making it pretty. That is why I was surprised at the balance between the two. I was surprised. I thought it would be a story about killing and being killed and who would be left, but it became a story about the weakness and strength of the heart, and I think it is an amazing work.

─ ─ Did you audition for Sagiri from the beginning?

Hanamori Yes. I was nominated and asked to take Sagiri. So I thought to myself, "Oh, it's Sakiri! I was surprised. I felt that Yuzuri-san or Nurugai-san would be more likely to take the job, so I thought, "Will I be okay? "Am I this serious? I thought, "Am I that serious? But on the contrary, it was probably a good thing that I was so worried about it.

─ ─ It is Sagiri who lives with her doubts and worries.

Hanamori: Sagiri is a righteous girl, so she grows up by worrying and confronting the right things. So I was thinking from the audition stage how I could play her in a way that would be true to her character.

She is cool and strong, but she is also weak, and I kept wondering how I could bring that into her voice. I couldn't find the answer to that question during the audition, so I knew it was a bad idea. But maybe that was a good thing (laughs).

─ ─ You won't know why you were chosen unless you ask the staff.


Hanamori: Among the many characters in the film, she is the one who is troubled and changes like a human being. That's why after she enters "Shinzenkyo," an island that is considered a paradise, she becomes more "scared," "uncomfortable," and "What should I do! emotions, so I think it is closer to the feeling of a living human being. Because these emotions are so close to ours, I had a lot of back-and-forth with the director and sound director during the postrecording sessions about where to start expressing her "strength. I didn't want her to be too scared.

─ So it was like you were talking with the director and sound director on the set about what you couldn't answer in the audition.

Hanamori: I took a test take of what I thought Sagiri should look like, received direction before the performance, and then performed the role in the middle of the test take, which was OK.

─ ─ In the PV and the first episode, I got the impression that you were speaking without much intonation.

Hanamori: In the beginning, she looks stronger when her heart is not visible, so I tried not to show that. As a beheading executioner, I was trying to cut down Ganbaimaru. But as the story progressed, he became mentally worn down, and you could see the wavering. In the monologue, she is very thoughtful, so I thought it would be better to have that gradation. I played the role while watching the range of her fluctuations.

The highlights are the strong characters and the battle scenes!

─ In the first episode, most of the dialogue was with Gabaimaru.

Hanamori: I was taking a report on Gabaimaru, who is a mortal criminal, and we never showed emotion to each other, so the scenes were very quiet. In the first episode, the fire gradually ignites in Gabaimaru. Once again, with the voice of Chiaki Kobayashi (who played the role of Gabaimaru), I could feel Gabaimaru's determination, and it was really cool.

─ Were the two of you able to record the episode together?

Hanamori: I was able to work with Kobayashi on the scenes with Gabaimaru and Sagiri. On the other hand, if the characters were separated, they would not be able to talk to each other at all, but basically they were able to work together. Kobayashi was very solid as the leader of the cast, which made me feel at ease and comfortable as Sagiri.

─ What did you think of Mr. Kobayashi's character, Gabaimaru?

Hanamori: I liked Gabaimaru during the test because he was sensitive and didn't say much, but now that he has direction, his voice is added, and he is able to be strong where he can be strong, and violent where he can be violent. I was amazed at how many different faces the eyebrow circle could make! I was so impressed with the variety of faces that Gachimaru can make in the first episode that I was able to get a real taste of him. Kobayashi's character was able to go through all kinds of emotions, so I was looking forward to seeing what kind of expressions he would be able to show us in the future. I also understood that Sagiri was very concerned about the presence of Gabaimaru.

─ Is there much that is brought out in the scenes where they interact with each other?

Hanamori: Eyebrow Maru has a core and speaks at his own pace, so no matter how much Sagiri tries to disrupt his pace, he always says, "I'm different. I could feel that. So I really feel at ease and have his back.

─ ─ I really liked what you said to Eyebrow Maru, "It will come true".

Hanamori: Thank you very much. I remember I practiced that scene a lot (laughs). (Laughs.) During the audition, I read the original story and thought, "This is the best part!　What should I do? So I practiced all the time in the bathroom before the recording. After "It will come true," there is a line, "This is an official letter of exemption issued by the shogunate (......)," and I kept practicing until I learned it.

─ ─ What kind of things are you practicing?　How do you say it?

Hanamori: How I say it changes when I hear the other person's voice on the set. Rather, there are many words that I am not familiar with, so I want them to come out naturally when I say them as Sagiri. So, it's like a practice run.

I thought about the intonation of "senyaku" and "shinsenkyo" and "gokuraku jodo," which I have heard of but don't say often, so I wondered how I should speak about them. I thought about how I should talk about them. Since Sagiri uses stiff phrases, I hope that I can "call" them even in such a way.

─ ─ So you are trying to make the words come out as naturally as if you were saying them on a regular basis. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Hanamori: Sagiri's voice changes depending on who she's talking to, so when she's talking to Gamemaru, she has a different tone than when she's talking to Yuzuri (CV: Takahashi Riyo) or Senta (CV: Yamashita Taiki). Also, when talking to the siblings, Sagiri speaks from the standpoint of the younger one, and I personally think that's a nice touch. I think you will see that in the second episode, so please look forward to it.

─ ─ There are many unique characters in this work, are there any particular points that you would like people to pay attention to?

Hanamori: The characters are all very strong, and the battle scenes are interesting because of their strong personalities. Each criminal has a different weapon, and Sagiri and the other members of Yamada Asaemon have different ways of swinging their swords when executing beheadings, so I would like people to see that.

─ ─ It looks like Eyebrow Maru is going to move around a lot, too.

Hanamori: Gebimaru is often engulfed in flames, so I think that will be depicted in a great way!

───At any rate, I would like to see the video and be shocked by the amazingness of it.

Hanamori The setting materials for this work are very detailed and extensive. That's why you can imagine how it works. I can imagine how it will move. I think that even those who have read the original work will be pleased with the cool images, and the way everyone lives and dies is very good, so even if this is your first experience with this work, please watch it until the end!



(Interview and text by Junichi Tsukagoshi)

Work Information
TV animation "Jigokuraku

＜Broadcast Information
From April 1: Every week (Sat.) from 23:00 on TV Tokyo affiliate and others
From April 4: Every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. on AT-X
(Repeat broadcasts: Every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. / Every Monday at 3:00 p.m.)
From April 13: Every Thursday at 24:05 on TV Wakayama
From April 20: on TV U Fukushima (TUF, TBS), every Thursday from 25:28

<Distribution information
Prime Video, NETFLIX, Hikari TV, and Lemino will distribute the program every Saturday from 24:00.
Lemino service will start on April 12, 2023. Hikari TV members can continue to watch on Lemino.

<Staff> Original story by Yuji Karai
Original Story: "Jigokuraku" by Yuji Garai (Shueisha Jump Comics)
Director : Kaori Makita
Series Composition : Kazuaki Kaneda
Character Design : Kohji Hisaki
Music: Yoshiaki Dewa
Animation Producer: Tsune Kawagoe
Production: MAPPA
Planning: Twin Engine
Original Cooperation: Shonen Jump + Editorial Department

Opening Theme: "W●RK" millennium parade × Sheena Ringo (Sony Music Labels)

<Cast

Gabaimaru: Chiaki Kobayashi
Yamada Asaemon Sagiri: Hanamori Yumiri
Asa Eulogyubei: Ryohei Kimura
Yamada Asaemon Kirima: Kensho Ono
Yuzuri Yuzuri: Riyo Takahashi
Yamada Asaemon Shien: Chikahiro Kobayashi
Yamada Asaemon Noritza: Yusuke Kobayashi
Nurgai: Makoto Koichi
Tamiya Gantensai: Toru Inada
Yamada Asamon Tsukechi: Ichikawa Aoi
Yamada Asaemon Sentaku: Yamashita Daiki
and others

＜Synopsis
The time is the end of the Edo period.
Gebaimaru, formerly the strongest Shinobi in Ishikakure, is taken prisoner as a loose Ninja and becomes a mortal criminal,
He is told that he will be exonerated if he brings back "the elixir of immortality" from an island rumored to be the paradise of the Pure Land.
In order to be reunited with his beloved wife, Gabaimaru heads for the island where the elixir is said to be located, together with the beheading executioner "Yamada Asaemon Sagiri".
When they land on the island, they are confronted by a group of dead criminals who are also in search of the elixir.
They are also confronted by unknown creatures lurking on the island, artificial and eerie stone statues, and the Immortals who rule the island. ......
On this mysterious island, will Gabaimaru be able to find the elixir and return home alive?

Original story information
Serialized in "JUMP+" since 2018, to be completed in January 2021.
Now on sale
Comics "Jigokuraku" 13 volumes
Official fan book "Jigokuraku: Daitai Shinsho
Official novelization "Jigokuraku Uta-kata no Yume