Any ordinary girl would be "Head Over Heels"! An interview with Takeo Otsuka and Atsumi Tanezaki about their "Kill Blue" voice-over experiences

The TV anime "Kill Blue"—which follows the legendary hitman Juzo Ogami, who has been turned into a 13-year-old and ordered to infiltrate a middle school, navigating school life with the mind of a 39-year-old—began airing on April 11 (Sat) at 11:00 PM on the TV Tokyo network. The original work is a manga of the same name by Tadatoshi Fujimaki, well-known for "Kuroko's Basketball," and was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump."

As a middle schooler at Rikka Academy, Juzo interacts with classmates like Noren Mitsuoka, who is targeted by other hitmen, as well as Tenma Tendo, a "super middle schooler" from the elite "Genju-gumi" (Unicorn), and Chisato Shiraishi, the president of the Home Economics Club whom Juzo comes to look up to as "Big Sis."

In this article, we interviewed Takeo Otsuka (the voice of Tenma Tendo) and Atsumi Tanezaki (the voice of Chisato Shiraishi). We were able to get a glimpse into their impressions of their characters and their acting approaches during the ongoing recording process.

—Having read the original manga, what was your impression of Tenma, the super middle schooler aiming to master three sports: soccer, basketball, and baseball?

Otsuka: He appears as this unique, elite athlete belonging to the Genju-gumi, but at his core, he’s still a middle schooler with some immature sides. He approaches everything with total honesty, so my impression is that as the story progresses, you start to see more of who he really is.

—He really is a character with very honest and straightforward behavior.

Otsuka: For better or worse (lol). To some, it might come across as a very condescending attitude, but he’s really just saying exactly what’s on his mind.

—Ms. Tanezaki, what is your impression of Tenma?

Tanezaki: Reading the manga, my first impression was that he seems like a jerk at first, but because he's so incredibly direct, I think girls would find him irresistible (lol).

Everyone: (lol)

Tanezaki: Chisato-san is clueless about romance, so she just gets flustered, but if someone spoke that directly to you, I think any ordinary girl would be "head over heels!" (lol). So, while Juzo is cool, I think Tenma is the coolest character in this series. (To Otsuka) You're probably thinking, "Yeah, right," aren't you...?

Otsuka: Not at all (lol).

Tanezaki: We haven't recorded any dialogue together as Tenma and Chisato yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

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