There was some background to the casting in that I was chosen after going through several auditions supervised by Kubo-sensei. Even though I prepared as much as I possibly could before recording, I was still incredibly nervous.
After all, BLEACH is a masterpiece of manga history whose serialization began when I was still a student myself. Later, while attending a voice acting school, I watched the anime and remember talking with my classmates about how we wanted to work hard so that someday we might be able to appear in a series like this.
And then there was the role itself: Toshiro Hitsugaya, played by Romi Park, an actress I deeply respect from the bottom of my heart and a senior who has also taken great care of me personally over the years.
The closer the recording date got, the more my stomach hurt every day. (laughs)
To be completely honest… somewhere deep down, I did think, “Wouldn’t this work perfectly well with Park-san’s voice?” But I had heard that this was an intentional change. And once I had been given this opportunity after going through the audition process, I felt there was nothing for me to do except resolve myself to give it everything I had and face the recording.
For the audition, we recorded two different versions: one with a lower voice that I initially imagined would suit the body of “completed Bankai Hitsugaya,” and another in which I tried to recreate Hitsugaya’s voice as performed by Park-san as closely as possible.
In the end, I was chosen in a direction that leaned more toward Park-san’s vocal tone. Some of the reasons were, “We don’t want to move too far away from the Hitsugaya people already know,” and, “At the same time, we don’t want him to sound too close to Byakuya.”
That said, what mattered most was his overall presence. If I were simply imitating Park-san’s voice, then there would have been no point in changing the actor from Park-san to me. So while keeping his tone and manner of speaking in mind, I focused above all on portraying Hitsugaya’s own atmosphere, his masculinity, and the human side of his character.
As preparation for the recording, I felt that I needed to carry as many memories as Hitsugaya himself. So I reread the entire original manga from beginning to end and repeatedly listened to Park-san’s performance as Hitsugaya while developing my own portrayal of the character.
On the day of recording, I was thankfully able to coordinate my schedule with Park-san’s, so we could record together. That gave me an incredible sense of reassurance.
…Of course, that also made the pressure even greater. (laughs)
When Park-san told me, “It doesn’t feel strange at all,” I was genuinely relieved.
Kubo-sensei was also present in the studio, and together with the director and the rest of the staff, they carefully checked my vocal tone and every tiny nuance of the performance.
It made me realize all over again just how much care and attention is being poured into this work, and that moved me deeply.
I know I’m repeating myself, but I’m truly honored and incredibly happy to have been able to take part in such a wonderful production.
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