"I felt I really had to give it my all" — What points did Misaki Kuno, the voice of Gabu-chan in the anime Daemons of the Shadow Realm, focus on?

The TV anime Daemons of the Shadow Realm has been broadcasting since April 2026. Based on the manga of the same name by Hiromu Arakawa, currently serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan, the story follows pairs of entities known as "Daemons" (Tsugai) and the "Masters" who command them.

The series features battle action between Daemons, a legendary tale centered on the protagonist Yuru and his twin sister Asa, and a cast of unique characters, all brought to life with the overwhelming visual quality of Bones.

In the first and second episodes, which serve as the story's introduction, what likely left the strongest impact on viewers was the scene where Gabu-chan—a petite girl with charming braids—attacks the village where Yuru lives while commanding her Daemons.

In an interview featuring Kenshō Ono (Yuru), Yume Miyamoto (Asa), and Misaki Kuno (Gabu-chan), we asked Kuno about her mindset when playing the role. She replied, "Even though 'chan' is attached to her name, she is a character who possesses a brutal side. Since I haven't had many opportunities to play a character like that until now, I felt I really had to give it my all."

Furthermore, it was revealed that before recording began, Arakawa-sensei personally shared background details about Gabu-chan that haven't been depicted in the original manga yet. "I am performing based on the information I was given in advance," Kuno said, making us eager to see how Gabu-chan's past and background will be explored in later episodes.

Gabu-chan often acts alongside Asa, and it turns out that Misaki Kuno and Yume Miyamoto (Asa) have a history of working together in voice acting since their days as child actors.

Regarding this, Kuno mentioned during the interview, "Asa and Gabu-chan have a special relationship—you could say they've built a deep bond of trust. Since Yume-chan and I often worked together on dubbing projects when we were children, there’s a sense of security during our dialogue. Personally, I’m grateful for my connection with Yume-chan and am having a lot of fun."

Additionally, her command "Gabu!" (Snap!) when controlling her Daemons is quite striking. When this was mentioned, she revealed, "The staff made the movements clear even from the early animation stages of the recording, so I've been adding various expressions to 'Gabu!' to match Gabu-chan's hand movements." Miyamoto, who was also present, added, "It was originally a head-high accent (stress on the first syllable), and I was happy because it gave me a bit of a spine-chilling, scary feeling."

Kuno added, "When I checked with the staff, they asked for the 'Gabu' to have a head-high accent. I think it makes the 'biting' sensation come across more clearly."