Kazushige Sanda Waits for a Confession... Anime "SANDA" Episode 1 Synopsis & Preview Cuts Released

Episode 1 "Everything is Dazzling—Is This What It Feels Like to Grow Old?"[Synopsis]
December 25th with no Christmas. Junior high school student Kazushige Sanda finds himself targeted by his classmate Shiori Fuyumura. Sanda can’t think of any reason why Fuyumura would attack him, so he convinces himself that she likes him, and that her reckless action is an awkward expression of adolescent affection. After school, when Sanda is alone with Fuyumura, he waits for her to confess her feelings—but what actually comes out of her mouth is...

Official Interview: Ayumu Murase and Hiroki Tōchi

—Please tell us your impressions of the story after reading the original comic and the script for this production, as well as any points that you found appealing.

Tōchi: Right from Episode 1, the story kicks off with a surprising development, giving me the impression that this is a completely different kind of work from anything I’ve seen before. The unique art style and world-building are very appealing. As I read further in the original manga, more and more secrets are revealed about Sanda’s true identity and Santa Claus’s hidden abilities, and the way these revelations unfold is truly captivating. I came to think of it as an incredibly cool series.

Murase: I agree—the story from the very beginning had me thinking, "What’s going on?!" That sense of curiosity extends not just to Sanda and Santa Claus, but to the other characters as well. Every character seems to be hiding something, and the way they leave you wondering exactly what they’re concealing—or whether they’re friend or foe to Sanda—is crafted with deliberate misdirection, which I found really interesting.

—What impression do you have of the characters you play: Sanda and Santa Claus?

Tōchi: When people hear "Santa Claus," most imagine a jolly fat man with a gentle expression and a long white beard, don’t they? But the Santa Claus I play is burly and muscular, with a grim face—he’s not someone you can picture handing out presents to children (laughs). My first impression was honestly, "He’s a bit creepy." However, this Santa Claus is a character who genuinely wants to make children happy and feels a strong sense of duty to protect them. Furthermore, since he is in fact the same person as Sanda, he also possesses the heart of a 14-year-old. I distinctly remember being told during the audition, "You’re playing an old man, but do it as if you still have the heart of a 14-year-old," and when I got the call that I’d gotten the part, I thought, "This is going to be a challenging role."

Murase: I was also chosen through an audition, and I struggled with how to portray both Kazushige Sanda and Santa Claus’s hearts together. For example, in Episode 1, when dealing with Shiori Fuyumura, he’s thinking, "Maybe she likes me?"—a typical thought for someone his own age—but once he transforms into Santa Claus, he starts to see children as beings that must be protected. I had to express the gradual change in his mindset, while at the same time, Sanda himself is a little afraid of this transformation, so figuring out how to play that was quite difficult.

—You both ended up playing two sides of the same character. What do you think of each other's performances?

Tōchi: Ayumu said just now that he agonized over having to play both Sanda and Santa Claus’s hearts, but from our first time acting together, I thought, "Here’s an amazing actor who can freely change both age and gender!" He skillfully portrays a character who possesses both the heart of a 14-year-old and of an older man. He’s a one-of-a-kind voice actor, a type that didn’t exist before.

Murase: That’s making me so happy I feel dizzy (laughs). Hiroki Tōchi is a voice actor who can pack a great deal of information even into a single phrase. Even when it’s just an "Ah," there’s a torrent of information that flows out. This take on Santa Claus fights desperately to grant the wishes of children—he’s like a hero. But at the same time, he’s also a character suffused with a poignant sense of fate he can’t escape. I think Tōchi fills both extremes with remarkable depth in his performances. I really love his work!

—The action scenes where special abilities are unleashed are another highlight. Could you share any interesting points you noticed while acting them out?

Murase: The action scenes really showcase Science SARU’s passion. To me, it felt like a "challenge" to us, the cast. Like, "Can these performers live up to this level of animation?" (laughs). Of course, that’s just my own fanciful interpretation, but I genuinely thought that half-hearted acting would lose out to the visuals. Animation is a composite art; it’s something created through the hard work of the entire staff and cast, so it made me feel that I had to act in a way worthy of that outstanding quality.

Tōchi: Episode 1 is incredible right from the start. There’s a scene where Santa Claus is engulfed in flames, and the depiction is so amazing that I think it led us to give a performance full of presence, pulled along by the visuals.

Murase: Tōchi’s performance in that scene was phenomenal! I think everyone, myself included, felt the sense of being carried by the animation. There are plenty more action scenes coming up in Episode 2 and beyond, so I hope everyone is looking forward to it.

—Please share a message with viewers looking forward to the broadcast.

Tōchi: I’ve seen the finished footage, and you can really feel the passion of the creators. We, the voice actors, also poured our hearts into our performances, so I can confidently say, "This is an amazing show!" Please look forward to it.

Murase: The original manga is already a wonderful work—I watched it thinking, "I’ve never seen a manga like this before! It's so good!" And now our voices are added, the animation has color, and the scenes have movement. When I saw the footage, I could really feel my soul being moved. I can truly say that an incredible animation has been created. You definitely won’t regret it, so please watch the first episode. I’m sure you’ll be hooked on seeing what happens next.

(C)板垣巴留（秋田書店）／SANDA製作委員会

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