The film " Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc," a sequel to the TV anime "Chainsaw Man ," based on Tatsuki Fujimoto 's popular manga, was released on September 19th. "Reze Arc" tells the story of Reze and the main character, Denji, who also appeared at the end of the TV series that aired from October to December 2022, and became a hot topic. Reze is a popular character who has captivated many fans, including Denji. Reina Ueda, who plays Reze, said that she faced the character of Reze with great pressure. We spoke to Ueda about what went on behind the scenes with the recording.
◇Prepared to play Reze, but worried, "Can I do it?"
In the "Reze" episode, Denji is excited about a date with Makima, the girl he has a crush on, when he takes shelter from the rain and meets Reze, a girl who works at a cafe. After an audition, Ueda was chosen to play Reze, and said, "I read the original work with the determination to play Reze."
"When I read the original work, I felt strongly that it was a story that would make you feel really sad. I read the original work with the intention of playing Reze, so I couldn't help but empathize with Reze. The structure of the story as a whole is really beautiful. It was really moving because everything was brought together, like 'this from the first half leads to the second half', and it was a cohesive story. As Denji comes into contact with Reze, his heart changes, he begins to have doubts, and you can see his human side, which really touched me."
She also said that she felt a lot of pressure to play the role of Reze.
"I was nervous about joining the series midway through, when the characters everyone else was playing had already been decided. Also, there was the 'Reze' arc, and if Reze didn't look appealing, it wouldn't be convincing, so I had to really understand her character and act in a way that brought out her charm. I was really worried about whether I could do that."
Reze appears before Denji, who has a crush on Makima, and immediately attracts him.
"This was the only time I had to confuse Denji between Makima and Reze, so I had to be just as passionate as Makima, or maybe even more so, so that Denji and the viewers would think, 'Reze might be cute,' so the pressure was enormous."
◇A recipe that was different from the original plan "A new recipe that I had never thought of was born"
Regarding the filming of the "Reze" episode, Assistant Director Makoto Nakazono said, "Ueda-san had created a consistent Reze in his mind, so I think there were some difficult moments when he had to adjust his direction." How did Ueda-san approach Reze?
"Even before the recording, I had heard that there was something of a scheming plan in the first half, but that I wanted to appear pure and innocent without revealing it, so I tried to keep that in mind. I was also told that they wanted to make the audience's hearts race, so I tried to be conscious of the closeness that would make them feel excited, but in addition to that, I was given the direction at the beginning to say that I wanted a cheerful feel. Maybe there was a hint of darkness in it. I think that was the first thing that was very difficult to reconcile."
There was also a scene where Reze and Denji meet in a phone booth, and she said, "They were very close to each other. They told me, 'You can speak more energetically,' but if I spoke too loudly it would come across as 'noisy,' and instead of being thrilling, they might think, 'She's a bit strange. I don't like her,' so I struggled a lot to find the right balance, and adjusted it little by little."
Ueda initially saw the scene where Reze and Denji frolic in the school pool at night as the climax of "fun at its finest," but he felt that "it's okay to reach that level of excitement from the very beginning."
"I thought that there would be gradual changes within Reze, so I had planned for it to be a gradation, but from the very beginning she always seemed to be having a lot of fun, and she was always laughing, so I think the acting of Reze ended up being different from what I had originally planned. I felt like a new Reze was born that I hadn't thought of when I received the direction, so I think that by taking on the challenge despite the worries, something even better was born."
◇The inside story behind the recording of Reze's song "Jane Slept in the Church"
In the nighttime school scene, Reze confronts a mysterious man who has come to kill her, and is seen singing a song while strangling him. The song is in Russian and is titled "Jane Slept in the Church," and only the lyrics were included in Chapter 43 of the original manga. Ueda recalls recording the song, saying, "There wasn't much direction, but I remember having a meeting where we asked each other, 'How intense should we make it feel?'"
"I thought that Reze was using a lot of strength because she was squeezing me, so I asked her how conscious I was of the strain, and she said that she wanted me to sing without worrying too much about it, so I remember singing without straining while keeping my body relaxed. The lyrics had a heartwarming feeling, like going on a date and having tea, so I think I was feeling that. It was a really fun song to sing, and I felt like, 'This kind of date would be nice,' and it was both fun and resigned."
He also noticed something when he heard the song in the finished video: "In the film, you only hear the singing, but during recording I was listening to the melody, so when I saw the finished product it felt like I was keeping to the rhythm. That wasn't the intention during recording, but it sounded like they were counting, and I thought that was scary. I thought it was a scene that could be looked at in many different ways."
◇ From Reze to Bomb: "Don't let your heart be moved" What's "left"
Reze appears before Denji as an attractive girl, but later transforms into Bomb, who tries to steal Denji's heart. Ueda said that compared to the first half of the role, which he struggled with, he found it easier to act after transforming into Bomb.
"In the first half, I acted as the innocent Reze, wanting to 'make people's hearts flutter,' and was so cute it was a little unbelievable, like a girl from my class, but in the second half, I changed into a situation where I didn't need people to think 'Reze is cute.' From there, the only objective that remained was 'to fight and steal his heart,' and since I didn't need to set up a honey trap, I felt a bit more relaxed, like 'I just need to concentrate on this battle.' I think that because there was this difference inside, the cooler element to my voice naturally increased in the second half."
While being aware of these changes, he revealed, "I felt that the fun parts remained, especially in the scene where I was fighting Denji."
"The reason why Bomb hasn't become a completely different person, a cool, mature character, is because the conversations she had with Denji when she was Reze have become second nature. She feels like she has fun being with Denji, the tempo when she talks with him, and the sense of humor when they are messing around are all at this temperature. Because she found a good fit, even when she confronts him as Bomb, it feels like the same sense of playfulness she had with Reze. Maybe she unconsciously let it slip that she simply enjoys being with Denji. Also, I think that even after she made up her mind to become Bomb, there was still something wavering about the girl side of Reze."
The battle scene with Denji is described by Ueda as a "playful exchange." The line "Bang!" that Bomb lets out when he removes the pin from his neck has a mysterious charm that sticks in your mind. When asked about this, he gave the surprising answer, "I didn't think about the 'Bang' at all."
"There was a sense of looking down on him as if to say, 'I won't let you get away,' but, how can I put it... it was more like, 'Let's get to work!' (laughs). That's because, when I became Bomb, I remember cutting out a lot of the emotional parts, like feeling happy or joyful, or feeling a bit reluctant because I didn't really want to fight. If I had any emotion, I think it would have led to thoughts like wanting to run away with him, or that I didn't want to fight after all, so I think I couldn't show them. Maybe I really didn't want to fight, but I said, 'Let's get to work!' 'Let's do it!' The basic idea was to not let my heart be moved."
He also felt that "stripping away emotion was the easiest outcome for Reze."
"I think that if you move your heart, you end up doing a lot of hard things. I've gotten into the habit of suppressing my feelings throughout my life, so it's easier to just be myself this way. I felt like I was getting closer to the real Reze, by stripping away and stripping away everything."
Ueda-san faced the role head-on, and together with the staff, carefully and delicately created Reze, which is probably why she has captured the hearts of so many audiences. Finally, we asked her about any discoveries she made from playing Reze.
"I was really struggling while acting in the phone booth scene, but with my personality, I thought, 'If he came on so forcefully, I might be put off,' but it was a great discovery to me that there are people who are attracted to me even with such energy and brightness. Ono Kenichi, who plays the master of Nido, saw that I was struggling and said, 'When someone comes on so forcefully, it seems like they're not hiding anything, so it's easier to get excited,' and I thought, 'I see.' It expanded my repertoire, as I realized that 'there are other patterns too' when it comes to toying with and seducing people. The staff all told me, 'We want the audience to feel excited,' and I think I had felt that from the time of the dubbing. Reze taught me about 'excitement.'"
