What we want to depict is "not something dishonest, but something necessary for men and women in the future! Interview with Marie Uchida and Yoko Hikasa of the popular winter anime "Domestic Girlfriend!

The much-talked-about winter anime "Domestic Girlfriend" depicts a heart-pounding love triangle. Marei Uchida and Yoko Hikasa, who play the beautiful sisters who live with the main character Natsuo Fujii, appeared on Akiba Research Institute!

This anime is based on the popular manga by Kage Ryuishi, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha). It is a love story about a love triangle that begins when the main character, Natsuo Fujii, moves in with a teacher, Hina Tachibana, whom he secretly has feelings for after her parents remarry, and Rui Tachibana, with whom he had his first experience.

⇒2019 Winter Anime

Akiba Research Institute asked Marei Uchida, who plays Rui Tachibana, and Yoko Hikasa, who plays Hina Tachibana, about their impressions of this work and their impressions of the character actors. We hope you enjoy the interview as well as the beautiful photogravure!

The teacher said that it is not something devious, but something necessary for the future of men and women (Hikasa).

A "Domestic Girlfriend" is quite an exciting original story, isn't it? What did you think when you first read the original manga?

Uchida: I was surprised that it was serialized in a boys' magazine. I read a lot of manga, but I had the impression that it was very aggressive among them. However, the drawings are very beautiful, so I thought it was mildly affected by that. It's an easy-to-read, realistic romance, and you can really understand the emotions and the movements of the heart. （I thought Natsuo's emotional swings were very realistic.

Q: How did you get cast in the first place?

Uchida: When the original story was first written, we recorded a CD with just the two of us. Weren't you surprised when you were told that it would be made into an anime?

Hikasa I was surprised!

Uchida Eh?　Really? I thought, "Really?

(laughs). Hikasa Can you do it? I was like, "Can you do it?

Uchida: That was the first thing they said to me. "This is the kind of work I'm going to do, are you okay with it? I said, "This is the kind of work I'm going to do. I said, "I'll put my heart into it and do my best! I said.

Q: Mr. Hikasa, what did you think of the original work?

Hikasa: I also came into contact with the original work during the voice drama. But I knew about "Domestic Girlfriend" even before the voice drama came out, and it was a work that had been attracting a lot of attention since then. I hear that shoujo manga is amazing these days, but shounen magazines are also amazing (laughs). (Laughs.) I had an image of shōnen magazines as being more gag-oriented, like lucky sex, but I thought it was a pretty aggressive work. It was drawn by a female teacher, and I had a chance to talk with her before the anime adaptation. I had a chance to talk with her and found her to be very frank and cheerful.

Uchida: "That's right! He was like, "That's right!

(laughs). - He's pretty high-spirited, isn't he?

Hikasa She is a very clear person. But because she draws, she draws beautifully, and I don't feel any sense of sloppiness. The teacher said that this kind of thing is not something dishonest, but something necessary for the future of men and women. That's why I thought it was very important to depict this. Rui and Hina also have "such scenes," but they are done because they have feelings. As Marei mentioned, I think it is a realistic view of the world, or rather, something that is cultivated through conversations and emotional relationships between human beings.

Uchida It is inevitable, isn't it?

Q: Because it is drawn by a female teacher, we may be able to sympathize with the emotional movements of the female characters.

Uchida That's right.

Hikasa You can sympathize?

Uchida I can understand Hina's feelings pretty well, and I think I can understand Natsuo too.

Hikasa I can understand Natsuo too.

Uchida When I enter a role, I tend to feel like the character, but right now I'm hoping that things will somehow work out between Hina and Natsuo. Rui is also going through love in a way that I don't understand, but I feel like I want to support Hina and Natsuo.

Hikasa: But the men are either booing her or reacting to her as if they don't know which one it is on the spot. Like, "No, Sensei, that's not fair!" Like, "Oh no, you're cheating!

Uchida That was a compliment. It was too cute to be annoying, or it was like they were rolling around in the palm of your hand. Like when she was giving Natsuo ice cream (laughs).

Hikasa: That!　You mean she usually does that (laughs)?

You're a little devil, aren't you?

Hikasa: Also, the sound director is a woman on this set. So Taku Yashiro (who plays Natsuo) looks more uncomfortable (laughs).

Uchida There are a lot of women on the set.

Hikasa: I think they want to make it so that women can also accept it.

Maybe Rui is a character whose growth can be seen within a single school year (Uchida).

Do both of them have a gap between their inner feelings and their actions? Is there anything you keep in mind when playing each of them?

Hikasa: I'm not trying to play a good teacher, but I think they are the type who switch on and off easily in work mode! I think I'm the type of person who can easily switch on and off in work mode, so I think I use the on/off switch differently when I play the role. But I think Rui is a more difficult character to see and understand, so I think it will be difficult for me to play her. ......

Uchida: It is difficult!　She doesn't show waves of emotion, and even when she's angry, she shuts up and doesn't speak. But from the first episode, her heart gradually begins to open up and we can see more and more of her, but at first I thought she was a strange girl. She is so emotionally inept that she suddenly asks Natsuo to do something for her. It was like, "How can you ask Natsuo to do something for you when you can't see his feelings? It was also mysterious.

Hikasa: But Rui has a core, doesn't she? She's like, "I think like this, so this is what I want! She's like, "I think like this, so this is how I think!

Uchida She never wavers. Her friends around her think she's a very strange girl, but she doesn't change her attitude. But, little by little, various things happen to her, and each time she grows, even within a single school period, you can see it in her character. The postrecording will continue, but I think she may change even more by the time we reach the final episode.

Hikasa: In the anime, the character is depicted quite carefully.

Rui is cold in her words and actions, but she doesn't necessarily want to be friends with the people around her, which is also cute.

Uchida: I like that, too. But in the first scene, I wondered why she would go to a blind date even if she was going out with someone. I thought to myself, "But in the first scene, they go to a blind date even if it's a social gathering? I thought, "Isn't that something you don't like? (laughs).

Hikasa: You're very honest (laughs). But Hina and Rui are complete opposites in personality, aren't they?

Uchida That's why it's so hard for us to say "domestic girlfriend" in unison because we don't match (laughs).

Hikasa The tension is too different (laughs).

(laughs) So, what kind of girl is Natsuo from your point of view?

Uchida: Natsuo is a harem, but in the end she is single-minded. She wanders around in various places.

Hikasa: No, she is totally wandering around (laughs)!

You always seem to be on the edge, don't you?

Uchida That's right!　This may be due to Taku Yashiro's acting, but his attitude toward Momo (Kashiwabara) is completely emotionless. You can see that even from the back. He treats his friend as a friend, and that really makes him stand out as a character. So I thought that this person might be okay with my sister Hina (laughs).

Hikasa: This is the first time for me to work with Tak Yashiro in a serious work (laughs). In the first episode, I was directed to play the role in a more otaku-like, innocent way, and since Natsuo seemed to be used to playing girls, I was surprised that he was going in that direction. It's difficult. That is why I am in the world of voice acting (laugh), and in that sense, I think this role will be unexpectedly difficult because it requires me to be natural.

Q: But you can say that about everyone, can't you?　You are just a character that everyone seems to have.

Uchida That's right.

Hikasa: Like Yona, she's very easily influenced, so I think she's a very common girl.

Uchida She seems like a girl in her early twenties (laughs)!

Hikasa That's a given.

I want to watch it like a daytime drama or a melodrama, with everyone saying, "Don't go that way! I want to watch them while saying, "Don't go that way!

Hikasa But there are people who understand that kind of feeling, so I guess that's why it's so popular.

Uchida I think it's also because there are so many attractive characters.

Hikasa Like Yona, she tells Natsuo, "This is how adults are," but she knows she has a childish side, so it looks to me like she's saying it to herself as well.

ーーCertainly. And in terms of the many fascinating characters, are there any that you are interested in?　I feel like the Master, for example, is interesting.

Uchida The Master is interesting!　He's such a strong character that a spin-off could be created just by him.

Hikasa: He has a lot of drama, doesn't he? Also, Yona, Rui, and Akio. ......

Uchida It's Natsuo (laughs)!　The seasons have changed.

Hikasa Ha-ha-ha (laughs) Really!　The season has changed!　It's Natsuo, right?　When Natsuo, Hina, and Rui are together, there are many serious scenes. The scenes tend to become darker and darker, although the light is bright. But when the master or Fumiya (played by Takuya Eguchi) appears, the scene becomes brighter, which is a big help.

Uchida Really!　I feel like everyone around me is pulling me along. Fumiya gives me a sense of security. With that look.

Hikasa He has a chubby look.

Q: What do you think are the highlights of the animation?

Hikasa The animation is well done, and the postrecording takes a lot of time.

Uchida They are very careful, aren't they?

Hikasa Before the first episode, only the three of us were called in for voice rehearsals to create the characters. Before that, we had tape-recorded the voices, and we were really into it.

Uchida: Haruka Kamura, who plays Momo, also came to observe the post recording, so I was able to see what the atmosphere was like. We were also nervous and thrilled to see how the work would turn out, so I'm sure the audience is wondering how it will turn out, but I'm sure they will enjoy it!

Hikasa: The director and sound director are also working together to find the best fit for this style, so there is a strong sense of working together on the production. So I think it will be a lot of fun.

(Interview, text, and photos by Junichi Tsukagoshi)

A poster autographed by Marei Uchida (who plays Rui Tachibana) and Yoko Hikasa (who plays Hina Tachibana) is being given away!

To commemorate the release of this interview, we are giving away a poster autographed by Marei Uchida (who plays Rui Tachibana) and Yoko Hikasa (who plays Hina Tachibana) to one lucky winner. Please read the detailed application guidelines before applying.

<Prize
Poster autographed by Marei Uchida (Rui Tachibana) and Yoko Hikasa (Hina Tachibana)

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Entry period: January 25, 2019 (Fri.) - February 4, 2019 (Mon.) 23:59
Number of winners: 1 person
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