"Just when people were wondering when Haru would show up..." TV Anime "You Can't Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends!" Takehiro Urao & Yuki Yamamoto Interview

The currently airing TV anime "You Can't Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends!" is a harem romcom featuring the protagonist Yonosuke Sakai (Eiyu) and four childhood friend heroines: Shio Minamo (Shio), Akari Hiodoshi (Akari), Runa Tsukimi (Runako), and Haru Hinata (Haru).

True to its title, the story has depicted episodes where a romcom development seems likely but never quite happens. It is characterized by the exquisite balance between the heroines' romantic feelings and their relationships as childhood friends. In Episode 8, which featured the story of Shio and Akari revolving around Eiyu at the summer festival, Haru also finally made her long-awaited appearance in the main story, plunging it into even further romcom developments.

In this article, we interviewed Takehiro Urao, who plays Eiyu, and Yuki Yamamoto, who plays Haru, to ask them about their experiences during dubbing.

——Haru made a brief appearance in Episode 1, but her proper introduction is in Episode 8. In the episodes leading up to that, Haru hasn't appeared in the story yet, but Yamamoto-san was credited for the bus announcement (Episode 2) and a cat (Episode 6).

Yamamoto: Ahaha, that's right (lol).

——I found myself wondering when Haru would show up, which became something I looked forward to every time (haha). You were playing some kind of role almost every episode, weren't you?

Urao: You were at the recording studio for every episode right from the start, weren't you?

Yamamoto: Almost every episode (lol). I had asked my manager to let me be at every recording session, even if just to observe, but they ended up giving me roles.

——So there was a behind-the-scenes story like that!

Yamamoto: It's uncredited, but in Episode 6 (when Eiyu and Akari are left behind on the mountain road), when Akari says, "The mountains at night are full of scary stories like 'Yamanoke' and 'Heeey!'", I was the one who did the voice for the "Heeey!" (lol).

——I'll have to listen to it again (haha). By the way, I heard that you got along well with Hiratsuka-san, who plays Runako, at the recording studio.

Yamamoto: Sae-chan was really friendly to me!

Urao: Yamamoto-san would bring up topics at the studio and get everyone involved in the conversation, so the atmosphere of the "You Can't Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends!" cast was really created by her. Originally, that's something I should have been doing!

——I heard before that the lead actor was always sitting off in the corner at the recording studio (lol).

Urao: I had her do everything for me (lmao).

Yamamoto: But there are a lot of horror fans in the "You Can't Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends!" cast. It was fun having so many comrades around!

——So you were talking about horror at a romcom recording session (lol).

Yamamoto: Pretty much (lol).

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