The third season of the TV anime " Jujutsu Kaisen, " based on the popular manga by Gege Akutami that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), entitled " Culling Game Part 1," will be broadcast nationwide on the MBS/TBS anime slot "Super Animeism TURBO" every Thursday at 12:26 a.m. starting January 8th. Zen'in Naoya, a new character who appears in the third season, will be played by popular voice actor Koji Yusa. Even among the many unique characters in "Jujutsu Kaisen," Naoya stands out with his arrogant personality and outspoken manner of speaking. We spoke to Yusa about what went on behind the scenes in the recording.
◇ Pressure to play Zen'in Naoya
"Jujutsu Kaisen" is a manga that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) from March 2018 to September 2024. The story follows high school student Yuji Itadori, who is thrown into a world of battles over curses after a powerful "cursed object" is unsealed. The total number of copies of the series worldwide, including digital versions of the comics, is over 150 million.
After reading the original work, Yusa said, "The world view was harder than I expected."
"The main characters are not very positive about fighting, and each has their own burdens, so the battles are not exhilarating. I thought they were darker than I expected. The word 'magic' suggested that it wouldn't be a happy one, but it's not just a case of good triumphing over evil and defeating the enemy, and there were many endings that made me think about a lot of things."
Naoya, played by Yusa, is the son of Zen'in Naobito, the 26th head of the Zen'in family, who also appeared in the second season of the TV anime, "Shibuya Incident," and is the cousin of the Maki Zenin and Mai. He has been a popular character since the original manga was serialized, and fans were paying close attention to who would play him in the anime. Yusa recalls, "Information was lifted on November 7th, but until then I was worried that it would be revealed. So, to be honest, I was relieved when it was announced."
Even before the announcement, many fans were wondering, "Will Yusa be the one to play Naoya?" Yusa himself said, "I've been under a lot of pressure," but added, "I'm grateful for those comments."
"It may be misleading to say that it was easy to act, but it was a character that was easy to get into. However, with each character, in the first test, I acted how I envisioned it, but there were also various visions from the production team, the director, and others, so I was always anxious until the role was ready."
◇Not considering others or being kind
What kind of person did Yusa think Naoya was?
"I think he's someone who doesn't care about other people and says what he thinks. He's also known for being foul-mouthed, but that's the opinion of someone with a normal sense of ethics, and I don't think the Zen'in family cares about that. Everyone is like that to a greater or lesser extent. In the end, Naoya was just as I imagined him to be, and I felt like we shared a lot of thoughts. But there's nothing about him that I could relate to!"
While acting, he said, "I was careful not to be too considerate of others. I didn't want to be too kind." Zen'in Naoya is sometimes called a "scumbag" by his fans, but Yusa faced the role by saying, "If I were to include my own thoughts in it, it wouldn't be the character, so I had no choice but to get to the bottom of the character's thoughts."
"What to say to whom? At the beginning, there is a scene where Naoya talks about Maki-chan, but he doesn't seem to mind at all. Even during the recording, I was directed to say it nonchalantly. When acting, I decide what to say based on what feelings I have for each person. Naoya is a rare character who can say things that he thinks but can't say, so I said it without hesitation."
◇ A tense recording experience unique to "Jujutsu Kaisen"
Yusa, who has been participating in the recording of "Jujutsu Kaisen" since the third season, said, "The story takes place after the Shibuya Incident, so there was a sense of tension."
"Up until about the second episode of the third season (episode 49 in total), the action was so fast that I didn't have time to look at the other actors, and I had to just listen to what they were saying. The action was so fast that it was unbelievable. With Naoya, it wasn't fast enough to keep up with, but the frames moved at almost real speed, so if I didn't properly recognize my next line and speak, I'd miss the line when I was supposed to."
Outside of the action scenes, there were other things he felt were unique to "Jujutsu Kaisen."
"He doesn't shout when he uses his techniques. He doesn't often call out the names of the techniques. We understand because we read the script, but when you just watch the footage, you can only get the feeling that 'that was done now' from the atmosphere. That was surprising to me. In other works, there's an explanation, or the name of the technique is the trigger, but that's not the case here. There are many scenes where you can't see the characters' faces well due to the angle of the frame and only the lines are played, so I think the director and production team placed importance on atmosphere when creating this."
Perhaps the deliberate decision not to show or explain things is what creates the unique atmosphere of "Jujutsu Kaisen."
"Among them, I think Naoya is one of the characters who is appearing a lot. He's someone who hasn't been seen much in this series, so I hope you'll watch him and think he's unusual. He's an unusual presence in ' Jujutsu Kaisen'."
Zen'in Naoya is a unique character portrayed by Yusa. We look forward to seeing his achievements. (Shiroinu/MANTANWEB)
