2nd Page Told Not to Make Nia a Psychopath: Voice Actor Honoka Inoue on Playing Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden | VOICE ACTOR

—That's true, the series has scenes of three young girls having tea as well as battle scenes with blood flying. How did you approach the fight scenes?

Inoue: Nia is strong, of course, but from where I stand, many of the cast members playing the characters she faces are senior to me. So when we went head to head in the acting, I often worried about whether I was beating them as Nia. The senior cast and the sound director picked up on that worry and taught me a lot, so it was an incredibly blessed environment.

Interpreting "ki" was also difficult, since it's something you can't see but only feel, and putting that into words was hard. The senior cast told me, "It might be easier if you think about which part of yourself, as the performer, Nia is using," and that made sense to me.

—That sounds like a true battle-series recording studio. How was it working with Rina Honnizumi, who plays Hilde, and Rina Hidaka, who plays Relia?

Inoue: They were truly kind, and between takes the three of us talked about snacks all the time. They praised me every episode, and it felt like a weight off my shoulders. During the fights I have to stay on edge as Nia, but the academy scenes were fun. The ending theme is also a song by the three of us, and it feels true to life, like a slice of Nia's everyday life at the academy. It was fun to sing, too.