Interview with Yoko Hikasa (Hana) and Sumire Uesaka (Alumi) of "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS! What is the voice of the new main character that they arrived at after receiving a scolding from Megumi Hayashibara, their senior. ......? 2024 Winter Anime

SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" is the story of Hana Asakura, the only son of "SHAMAN KING" protagonist Ip Asakura. Yoko Hikasa, who played the role of Ip Asakura in the previous film, has developed a new charm by playing a young boy, a role she had never really been associated with before. Her son, Hana, is also played by Yoko Hikasa. In this issue, we will share with you an intense "Shaman King" talk with Sumire Uesaka, who plays Aluminum Niumburch, the first disciple of Anna, the first Itako (weasel), and Hana's daughter-in-law.

A strange experience of suddenly understanding the feelings behind the work

─ ─ When did you find out that you would also be playing the role of Hana Asakura in "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS"?

Hikasa: When I was told in the last episode of "SHAMAN KING" that I would also be playing Hana, I thought, "Oh no." It was 2021, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think I was told about three days before the recording. I knew that Hana was going to be in the last episode, so I assumed that they were holding auditions somewhere, and I was wondering who was going to play the role, when I was told that I was going to play the dual role, and I was surprised that it would be me! I remember being surprised.

─ Did you audition for the role of Aluminum Nium Birch, Mr. Uesaka?

Uesaka: I had recorded the audition tape in 2022. I originally bought and read "SHAMAN KING" comics in real time when I was in elementary school, but the audition led me to read "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" as well, and this is the kind of story it is! I was able to read "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" after the audition and learned that this is the kind of story! I had the opportunity to participate in a work called "Butch Gire! for which Hiroyuki Takei, the author of the original story, was the original character designer, but Aluminum was a completely different character. The audition script had a lot of lines that made me quite certain of his outward joviality and his knowledge of everything about flowers, so I wondered how I would play him. I thought there would be a sense of the floating world of the tribe, so I think that's what I was aiming for when I recorded it.

And within two or three weeks after that, I was told, "It's decided. They said, "We've decided, and we're going to start postrecording already" (laughs). (Laughs.) I was surprised that the decision could be made so quickly! I was surprised, but then I learned that Ms. Hikasa was going to continue playing Hana, and I thought, "Wow! I was surprised that it was decided so quickly! There were many other cast members who were also continuing their roles, so I felt nervous about joining them.

Yoko Hikasa

─ What was your impression of the story of "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS"?

Hikasa: It was suddenly decided that I would play Hana in the final episode, so I had to see what kind of girl she would grow up to be! So I rushed out to buy and read the original story. I got the impression that "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" was more technical in the way Mr. Takei drew the characters. I had a very different impression of the character of Hana from that of Ip, and there was a typical "SHAMAN KING" flow until the middle of the book, but in the latter half, when an important new character was introduced, I couldn't understand what was going on. It seemed very difficult to me. What Takei-sensei wanted to depict and what he was trying to convey was layered like mille-feuille, and even though I read it many times, I couldn't understand his intention for some reason. ......

But I went straight to the postrecording anyway, and even after reading the script for the final turn, I still couldn't figure it out. But when I became a flower and spoke at the recording studio, I suddenly understood!　I realized that this was what I wanted to convey! I thought, "This is what I wanted to convey!

─ Suddenly, everything connected.

Hikasa: What Takei-sensei wanted to convey is hidden in various places, and he does not directly depict his true intentions, so I think something strange happened when something connected with something else, like a sudden understanding. I think that was largely due to the director's power, of course, but I also think that the fact that I was trying to continue being a flower gave me a sense of sudden understanding.

───How about you, Uesaka?

Uesaka: I was 9 or 10 years old when I read "SHAMAN KING," and it was the first manga series I was reading in real time and the first manga I bought and collected with my allowance. But as an elementary school student, I still couldn't understand things like shaman fights... Patch people?　What? What are the Patches? When I was little, I thought it was cool that Takei-sensei put in little stories and parodies and didn't feel like he was drawing for children. But when I grew up and read the poem "Osorezan Le Voile" that he wrote, I think what a great poem it is. ...... SHAMAN KING" had the momentum that children read it even if they didn't understand it, so I thought I would read "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" with a proper understanding, and like Mr. Hikasa, I wondered what this was about. I was like Ms. Hikasa, "What is this? But I could tell that Mr. Takei really loves the flowers as if they were his son. I also got the sense that the flowers are loved by many people.

However, my overall impression of the book was that it was enjoyable!　The combination of Takei-sensei's humor and the unpredictable super-developments made it exciting in that you can't predict what's going to happen next, which is the same feeling I had when I first read "SHAMAN KING. I was also reading the book with Almi in mind. Almi is the strongest character in the book, and she is an amazing girl who went through tremendous training to become an apprentice of the first Anna and became the "third Anna the Itako". She is a transcendent character who does not use her power unnecessarily, so I wondered where this strength came from.

Sumire Uesaka

What was the turning point for you in playing Hana Asakura and Ip Asakura?

What was the turning point for you to play the roles of Hana and Ip?

Uesaka: It was still during the dispersed recording period, so I was recording with Hana, Asakura Roka (CV. Ami Komizu), Asakura Haha (CV. Shun Horie), and Alumi. I was nervous because Tamao (CV. Nana Mizuki) and Ryunosuke (CV. Masahiko Tanaka) sometimes joined us, but Tamao had become an adult, Ryu-san had become a gentle general, and the sense of the characters had changed. When I realized that we all started out together, I felt that I was not the only one who was nervous. I shared this nervousness with everyone and felt that this was a new "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" that we were all going to create together, so I felt motivated to do my best.

─ How was the postrecording, Mr. Hikasa?

Hikasa: I went into the first episode thinking that I had to change it from Ip Asakura. I myself had not played many boy roles, nor did I have a voice with seven different colors, nor was I very skilled, so I didn't want people to think I was the same as Ip, so I was very determined for the first round and brought my own flowers. Also, one of the things I don't want the sound director to say to me is, "I'm just doing it like that," and the moment the test was over, he walked into the booth and said, "I'm just doing it like that! and I was like, "Wow~ ！！！！" (laughs). (laughs).

(Laughs.) That was quite a shock, and I wondered what to do. (Laughs.) That was quite a shock, so what was I going to do? I thought, "Hikasa is trying to change flowers into leaves, but his feelings are too much in front of him. All he does is act like he's trying to change it. That's not a flower anymore. I really didn't want to be told this, but I didn't give up after that, and the sound director tested it again and again, and we worked on it for a very long time.

Uesaka So that's how it was!

Hikasa I see, so Sumipe wasn't there when the first episode was recorded!　Actually, she was. But as I worked on the character until the time spilled over like that, the part of her that was different from Ip came to light in my mind. Perhaps from the leaf's point of view, I was building up an image of "this is the kind of child I want Hana to be. I was creating the image of "a cheeky junior high school student. That was the character I was trying to create, but Hana never wanted the leaves to think of her as cute. So I decided to forget about Ip once and for all.

And I was so frustrated that I said to myself, "What the hell! I'm going to make you gasp, watch me next week!" I was so frustrated that I thought to myself, "What the hell! But on the other hand, there was also a wall that I ran into because I entered into Hana with great vigor. ......

─ ─ What kind of wall was it?

Hikasa: The leaves also appear in the main story (laughs). (laughs) I had to have a conversation with the flowers and leaves, and I was afraid to let go of the flower I had finally grasped, so I couldn't be a leaf at all. And because I was feeling like a flower, when the leaves came out, I thought, "My father came out!　That's the worst. I was shocked!　I was shocked that I felt that way about the leaves, which I had cherished for a year during the first period, so I was a complete emotional mess at the time. I was fighting the fear that if I became a leaf, the flower would go away, and I would run away from the leaf. That was very much a part of it. And I couldn't record the leaves at that time. The sound director told me that he was going to record Anna (CV. Megumi Hayashibara) next week, so we could record together then, and I was able to become a leaf just in time.

But Ms. Hayashibara gave me a loving scolding. Go practice a thousand times. Don't get drunk on your worries. Anna, you are already a mom, aren't you? I knew that there was a scene ahead where Ip and Hana would have a conversation, so here, meeting Mr. Hayashibara and meeting Anna was a turning point for Hana, Ip, and myself in performing the work "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS". But as you can imagine, I couldn't practice a thousand times, it was only about 100 times (laughs). (laughs) But from a feeling point of view, I went about it with that level of enthusiasm.

─ I think there was a lot of back-and-forth between Almi and Hana, how did you feel when you played the role?

Hikasa: Almi is the heir to Anna's lineage, so I wondered what kind of person would play the role. Then I found out that Sumipe was going to play the role, and I thought that Sumipe's voice would be able to convey Almi's aloofness, brightness, and core strength. Sumipe was also following the sound director's direction very well, and I was very impressed by the way she kept changing her voice. That's why her voice was getting lower and lower, wasn't it? (Laughs)

(laughs) Uesaka: He told me to start from the belly! (laughs).

Hikasa My preparedness! We were taught that determination comes from the stomach. That's why we all started to lower our voices from the first round (laughs).

Uesaka: So it was all of us (laughs). (Laughs.) From the beginning, I genuinely thought, "It's a flower! I genuinely thought, "It's Hana! I wasn't involved in the recording of the leaves, but I was completely in touch with them as flowers from the very beginning. Hana is like an energetic child who acts like a "yoky" girl, and I felt very disconnected from her. The leaves are like a child of the Heisei era. I want to be that spiky, violent girl!　I'm strong, but I'm not! I'm so strong! But she still doesn't realize that she is protected by everyone, and I was glad that she has the feeling of a little kid of today, and I thought it was great that Ms. Hikasa-san, the senior member of the group, expressed this perfectly.

Aluminum knows everything and Hana knows nothing. Aluminum puts Hana, who knows nothing, through trials, but there were many scenes where they didn't mesh well, but I thought they worked well together. Also, Hana is always giving her all, and Almi almost gets caught up in it, but the sound director often told me, "Almi doesn't work hard. Aluminum always had to hold Hana's reins, so I made a conscious effort not to get caught up with Hana.

───So, what would you like people to expect from the TV anime "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS"?

Uesaka: After hearing what Mr. Hikasa has said so far, how can we not watch it?　Ms. Hikasa is truly amazing, so I hope everyone will give the anime a try!

Hikasa That's not true, and you're still talking about the ED theme and stuff!

Uesaka That's, well, okay.

Hikasa But I did drop Sumipe a line, didn't I?　I said, "The ED theme is really cool! I said.

Uesaka That's right. ....... The lyrics of the ED theme "Dear Pantarei" are just like the world of "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS". The lyrics and music are passionate and convey the message that love, inheritance, the connection of souls, and the continuous connection of lives are precious, but they are normal. In terms of my activities, I tend to sing a lot of goofy songs, but for the first time, I was given the opportunity to sing a very serious song.

─ So this is your first time?

Uesaka This is my first time. I sang a song about what it means to live and love, so recording the song was the hardest part. The anime depicts a serious and fierce battle, minus the gag elements of the original work, so I was under pressure to create a suitable ending for the song, but it turned out to be quite a hot song, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the video will turn out.

The feelings from Almi to Hana are not shown in the story, but they are in the song, so please listen to the song without skipping over them.

Hikasa: It's a great song, hot and yet somehow sad!

Uesaka: After the second half of the recording, Hikasa-san asked me, "Do you have time for the rest of the recording? I thought I was going to get angry, and I was thinking of all the things I could apologize for, so he took me to a coffee shop.

Hikasa I was thinking that ...... (laughs).

Uesaka: So I asked him, "Are you having trouble?　Are there any parts that are difficult to work on? I thought he was really kind. I thought he was really kind. He said, "Aluminum is difficult to work with. He said, "Aluminum is difficult.

Hikasa: I didn't have time to tell him about the song, so I sent him a message later (laughs).

Uesaka: So I thought that Hikasa-san's good-natured personality created the atmosphere of the recording session.

Hikasa I really wanted to talk to Sumipe earlier, but I'm sorry, but I was really full. ...... That's why I only got on line with her after the important scene as Hana was over (laughs).

Uesaka So you were waiting for that (laughs).

Hikasa Sorry about that (laughs). (laughs) But I really wanted to tell you about it because it was a good song that was very powerful and close to the work.

Uesaka I also didn't want the song to be just a song that sounded like it, so I'm glad to hear you say that.

Hikasa The ED theme was also included in the rehearsal V during recording, so I looked forward to listening to this song every time after the check was over for the day.

─ ─ Today, I was going to ask you about it because I thought it was a further new frontier for Mr. Hikasa, who seems to be playing a boy's role, but I didn't realize how much trouble he was in playing the role! I was surprised. I feel like I've heard an extremely valuable story.

Hikasa: In the end, I've come to realize that it's not about the boy or anything, but about the difficulty of playing a human being, of playing a child in itself. But after playing the role of Ip, I was thankfully given more opportunities to audition as a boy. In my life as an actor, I think I had an image of an erotic older woman, for example, which is the opposite of the image I had of playing a boy. But I was allowed to do something that was not in my image, and the number of people involved who thought, "So you do boys, too," increased, which made me very happy and made me realize that they were watching me. So I can't wait for them to see me playing Hana, who is a different person from Ip.

Besides, "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" itself is a beginning story, not a complete one. It was a one-cour production in which we did not know how it was going to end, and we gave it our all, putting our lives on the line. I am sure that there are many people who would like to see what happens next, so please watch the whole season without missing a single millimeter!