“A Feeling That 'Rakugo Is Fun' Began to Sprout within Me” — An Interview with Anna Nagase, the Voice of Akane Ōsaki in the TV Anime "Akane-banashi"

—In the making-of video released on YouTube, it was impressive that you said you wanted to show your performance to Master Kikuhiko as early as possible, even ahead of the scheduled timeline.

Nagase: When the training first started, because I was the lead and playing a character who is good at rakugo, the anxiety of "I have to do my best!" was truly overwhelming. However, after training for a while, that anxiety faded away, or rather, more than that, a feeling of "Rakugo is fun" began to sprout within me, and I felt like I was gradually linking up with Akane's feelings.

I don't know how that translates on screen in the anime (for the viewers), but looking back over that long period, I feel really glad that I was able to do it.

—I heard that when recording the rakugo scenes, you could choose between sitting down like on an actual koza (rakugo stage) or standing up like in normal voice recording. You recorded while sitting down, correct, Ms. Nagase?

Nagase: Since I had become quite familiar with the gestures and movements of rakugo, I said, "Sitting might be easier for me," and did it sitting down. Mr. Fukuyama (who plays Shinta Arakawa) said he wanted to record standing up, and it seems Mr. Eguchi (who plays Karashi Nerimaya) also recorded standing up.

—In recording the rakugo scenes, was your approach to perform rakugo while acting as Akane? Or was it rakugo interpreted by you, Ms. Nagase yourself?

Nagase: My approach was to first try doing what I thought was right on my own, and then blend that together with the direction I received and Akane's personality.

On the other hand, the fact that Mr. Fukuyama recorded standing up meant that he valued his approach as a voice actor (recording in the same way as normal voice acting). The approach might be completely different depending on the person.

—Shinta's performance of "Shibahama" in the first episode serves as the opening act for the entire story of "Akane-banashi." It seems that as many actors as there are, there are just as many approaches to rakugo.

Nagase: Even for the exact same "Shibahama," they are entirely different.

—Indeed, since Hikaru also performs "Shibahama," viewers will likely enjoy the contrast both as an anime story and as rakugo. By the way, rakugo is taught orally from master to disciple, but through your training and practice, were there any discoveries you made?

Nagase: What I realized through training—which was also written in the original manga—is that, after all, something genuine can only come out from what you have truly accepted from the bottom of your heart, or what has thoroughly sunk in. I feel that if I think, "This is somewhat strange," or if I can't understand or accept it, then what comes out ends up feeling fake.

That's exactly why I wanted to understand rakugo, and through the training, I realized that I wanted to know Akane from the very depths of her humanity, fully accept her, and then output that into my acting.

How will Nagase, having discovered the joy of rakugo, portray Akane and grow alongside her? We hope you will see for yourself in the story that unfolds from here.

Interview, Photography, Text / kato
(C)末永裕樹・馬上鷹将／集英社・「あかね噺」製作委員会

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