Told Not to Make Nia a Psychopath: Voice Actor Honoka Inoue on Playing Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden

The TV anime Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden has been airing since October 6. The story begins when a warrior once known as the "Hero Who Slew Gods" is reincarnated as Nia Liston, a sickly noble young lady.

Having overcome her illness, Nia appears in her family business, "Magivision," while going to school with girls her own age, including Hildetaura Altoire and Reliared Silver. Behind this everyday life, however, the series portrays her throwing herself into battle in search of strong opponents.

Nia is voiced by Honoka Inoue. We asked about the challenges of playing Nia, who looks adorable but craves battle inside, and what Inoue kept in mind while performing.

—In typical reincarnation stories, there is often a gap between a character's appearance and the personality inside. In this series, it's revealed that the one reincarnated as Nia was a warrior, but the memories of that past life gradually fade, so the previous self isn't clearly defined, is it?

Inoue: The director seems to have left it unspecified, since there can be many interpretations. Because the previous self is a warrior, I think many people assume it was a man, though.

—Even the synopsis of the original work uses "she," so all we know for certain is that the person was a woman. The reincarnation scene is shown at the start of Episode 1. Did you also play the character before reincarnation?

Inoue: Yes. I recorded it after staying behind once we'd finished recording Parts A and B of Episode 1.

—Could you tell us how you approached playing Nia, who has the form of a little girl but is a warrior longing for deadly fights with the strong?

Inoue: At first, I was anxious about whether I could pull off a character who looks very cute but is a warrior inside. I wondered how to put the sheer pressure of strength I felt within myself into words, but from the audition onward, the direction I received was "Please don't make her a psychopath."

—If you know the original work, that direction makes perfect sense, but striking the right balance must be very difficult.

Inoue: We wanted to bring out a touch of madness and fearlessness, but avoiding psychopathy was incredibly hard... If a kid like Nia existed in real life, I'd think, "No, that's a psychopath!" and I couldn't shake that feeling. But when I emptied my mind completely and played her as simply having fun, I got the final OK at the audition.

Even when the lines themselves are scary, the feeling behind them is just enjoyment. I perform with only simple, childlike emotions like "fun," "dislike," and "like."

—So you consciously played it that way to bring out Nia's character?

Inoue: It felt like it just happened naturally as Nia spent her days with the characters she meets. The senior cast members gave me advice too, and rather than thinking "I have to do it this way!", I think my own mindset gradually shifted. One thing the sound director told me during recording was "Be conscious of where you are."

When Nia is with Hilde and Relia, she's properly childlike, but when she deals with someone clearly as a warrior, she can't be in a position to teach anyone without an absolute core inside herself. So I wanted to play those moments while holding something really strong.

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