Interview with Riyo Takahashi as Sumi Sakurazawa, who plays the role of Sumi Sakurazawa! Part 1

The second season of the TV anime "Kanojo, Oyasama" will start airing in July 2022. This time, we interviewed Ms. Riyo Takahashi, who plays the fourth heroine, Sumi Sakurazawa.

Kanojo, Oyakimasu" is a very popular romantic comedy serialized in "Weekly Shonen Magazine" (Kodansha) by Reiri Miyajima. The main character, Kazuya Kinoshita's ideal girlfriend, Chizuru Mizuhara, is actually a rental girlfriend ......?　The first season of the anime aired in July 2020 and gained popularity, and the long-awaited second season is scheduled to begin airing this summer.

The feature article is closed by Takahashi Riie, who plays the role of Sakurazawa Sumi, a junior renka-no, who is extremely shy, but a hard-working and stubborn person. Since she appeared in the second half of the first season, fans may have found her a bit lacking. However, in the second season, she shows a variety of expressions and activities. He spoke a great deal about the appeal of such sumi.

I think I put in more voices than in the first season.

Q: The second season of the TV anime "Kanojo, Oyasama" is about to start. What was your impression of Sumi Sakurazawa in the first season?

Takahashi: I appeared quite late in the first season, but the cast was announced earlier, so people asked me, "Have you appeared yet? I thought that many people had really read the original work. When I heard that the second season had been decided, I wondered if I had been able to help build up the excitement of the second half of the first season.

Q: How did you like Sakurazawa Sumi in the second season?

Takahashi: When I read the script, Sumi was more dynamic than in the first season. There was no anxiety about what would happen if I tried to do something like that. She was not anxious about what would happen if she tried to do something, but she wanted to do it! I could see Sumi full of motivation and full of plans of what she wants to do next, so I decided to take her enthusiasm and play the role with enthusiasm.

Q: Since the first season was in the second half of the show, I felt more excited.

Takahashi: Since the first season, I had read the original story of the part that corresponds to the second season, so I thought, "I want to do this part, but I don't know if I can make it in 12 episodes.　But with the second season, it would be possible! So, the scene that is depicted in this episode was the scene that I had always envisioned!

Q: Sumi is a character with few lines, so I think it must have been difficult for you to play her.

Takahashi: When I read the script, I read only sumi ink "..." and sumi ink "! I try not to believe too much when I read the script. For example, there are some lines in which you should say "Oh! or "Ugh! I try not to believe too much in what is written in the film. When I saw the video, I would check if I could say it a little more loudly here or there. I also read the script carefully and prepared to add my own personal feeling.

Sumi was very nervous during the first season because she had never met Kazuya before. So I had the impression that her muscles were tight even when she just took a breath. I had the impression that her muscles were tight even when she took a breath, so I was thinking that it would be good if I could pronounce with a little force and stiffen my body as if I was nervous when I was speaking.

In the second phase, rather than an increase in the number of words, I felt that my shoulders relaxed. I had the impression that she seemed more comfortable. Sumi is very motivated, so there were a lot of places where I wanted to include lines. So I feel that there are many more voices than in the first season, and I feel that I have more range to play with.

Q: What do you think is the charm of Sumi Sakurazawa?

Takahashi: All the characters in "Kanokari" are hard working, and when I say hard working, it applies to everyone, but what I find amazing is that she jumps into the profession of a rental girlfriend knowing that she is shy. I want to change myself! I think there are a lot of things that depress you when you do renkanos, but you are still willing to change. Even so, she is willing to change. I think her energy is what makes her so appealing.

Q: Do you sympathize with Sumi?

Takahashi: Sumi isn't really depicted in the anime, but she does a lot of monologues. You can see her thinking a lot in the spin-off "She's Shy of People", and when I read it, I could understand her! When I was reading it, I was sympathizing with her a lot (laughs).

She is very curious and wants to try all kinds of things (laughs). (laughs). She even goes out to eat ramen by herself.

Takahashi: That's right!　When I read "She's Shy of People," I thought, "Today's topic is ramen! And so on. If it's donuts, it's something sweet, and I had an image of it, but Sumi, you were doing that? (Laughs).

(Laughs.) When she goes out to eat ramen noodles, I wondered if the teacher had actually been in that kind of situation before. It was so realistic that I wondered if he had actually been in that kind of situation. So, surprisingly, Sumi-chan is just a shy girl, but I think she is a normal person just like us.

Q: In the anime, there are not many monologues. Actually, she is talkative in her brain, isn't she?

Takahashi: There are some actions that seem unexpectedly bold or bold (laughs). I am convinced that Sumi's behavior is based on the monologue, so I hope you will read "She's Shy!

To be continued in Part 2!

(Reporting, writing, and photography by Junichi Tsukagoshi)