'WIND BREAKER' Roppo Ichiza Arc PV and New Cast Announcement! Kazuyuki Okitsu Appears as Kanji Nakamura, Ryota Osaka's Performance Praised by Shoya Chiba

On ABEMA, a special program 'Roppo Ichiza Arc Premiere Special' for the TV anime 'WIND BREAKER Season 2' was exclusively broadcasted for free on Saturday, May 10th.

In this program, the new arc "Roppo Ichiza Arc PV" was unveiled for the first time along with new cast information. In addition to Yuma Uchida (Haruka Sakura role), Shoya Chiba (Akihiko Nirei role), and Ryota Osaka (Tasuku Tsubakino role), new cast member Kazuyuki Okitsu as Kanji Nakamura was introduced, discussing a recap of the previous arc "KEEL" and the highlights of "Roppo Ichiza Arc."

■What are the key points of Ryota Osaka's role preparation for Tsubakino? 

As the premiere of the "Roppo Ichiza Arc" approached, the PV was revealed at the beginning of the program along with new cast announcements. Kazuyuki Okitsu was announced to play Kanji Nakamura, the leader of the ultraviolent group "Roppo Ichiza," and Reina Ueda as Shizuka Narita, a girl rescued by Haruka and the others after being chased while she admired Kanji. The main cast expressed their anticipation with comments like "Two strong people, right?" "The strongest, don't you think?" Furthermore, special guest Okitsu appeared in the studio, kicking off the program with great excitement.

The program revisited the "KEEL Arc" and unveiled a digest focusing on key character Tasuku Tsubakino, where Ryota Osaka shared his role preparation details. Although Tsubakino has a distinctive appearance characterized by his love for cute things, skirts, high heels, and ribbons, the audition included a direction that stated, "The way of speaking is like a woman's, but he's still male, so please don't make him sound too feminine." Osaka explained, "If you speak with typical feminine tone, the pitch is higher, which detracts from the male image. So, to maintain his masculinity, I consciously ended phrases on a lower note. He's not trying to become a girl; he's a boy who just likes cute things," discussing key points of his performance.

Additionally, Tsubakino's first line was "I've finally met you" during his first encounter scene with Haruka. Osaka explained that he wrestled with making his voice "thick" rather than simply "deep" in response to Haruka's surprised reaction, "Your voice is thick!" He added, “Had it been just ‘voice is low!’ it might not have worked for someone else’s interpretation, but since it’s ‘voice is thick!’, I interpreted it as Haruka partly thinking Tsubakino was female, thus misleading slightly with a thicker voice than usual.” Shoya Chiba praised Osaka's straightforward execution by saying, “I couldn't imagine how Tsubakino's rich expressions and speech would sound, but Osaka nailed it perfectly—it was just right,” giving accolades to Osaka’s performance.