The second season of the TV anime "Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You", based on the manga by Mitsui Haruka currently serialized in the monthly girls' manga magazine Nakayoshi (Kodansha), will air on TBS from 1:28 AM on January 8th and on BS11 from 11:30 PM on January 11th. The school-based coming-of-age story depicts the heart-pounding romance and youth of four childhood friends - Hazawa Teruzuki, Kashiwagi Mikami, Izumi Ai, and Hoshikawa Shugo - who grew up like family in a seaside town, and the protagonist Nishino Miho. The first season aired from January to March 2025. Popular voice actor Urawa Nozomi plays Kazuki Ura, who expresses his honest feelings to Miho in the series. We spoke to him about his passion for the series, behind-the-scenes recording, and highlights of the second season.
◇Kizuki's forward-leaning "boyfriend candidate declaration": "He's so cool it's refreshing"
The first season begins in the summer of 2020, when second-year high school student Mizuho faces the worst possible 17th birthday yet: her chance to get closer to the senior she admires is gone, her parents forget her birthday, and an unknown infectious disease outbreak cancels club competitions and school trips. Then, her childhood friend Teruzuki suddenly declares himself a potential boyfriend, and Teruzuki's actions prompt Miku to confess his feelings to her. Ai and Shugo also begin to move toward their own love lives, and the relationships between the five begin to crumble...
Teruzuki, played by Ura, is a popular member of the swimming club and the youngest among his childhood friends, who is laid-back. In the first season, he is depicted as actively approaching Mizuho. Ura says, "Teruzuki is always leaning forward. He runs with such great momentum that it feels like he'll die if he stops."
The scene that left the biggest impression on her in the first season was the first episode, where Terutsuki declares to Mizuho that she is a potential boyfriend.
"There's a scene where, while taking a shower that he's taken off in the force of his kabedon attack, he says, 'I'm confident. Mizuho will definitely like me.' I thought it was quite hard to say, 'I'm confident.' It's like an unfounded confidence that comes from being a high school student with no experience. But I'm sure he has a reason for it, and he probably feels that he's become such a good man because of Mizuho, and he has mixed feelings, like how he loves Mizuho so much that Mizuho will like him too. As a man, I thought it was a refreshingly cool scene."
◇The contrast is subtle and not too strong, so that Terutsuki's feelings are not blurred.
Ura says that what is important to him when playing Terutsuki is that "his feelings do not waver."
"Kigetsu is really straightforward, and he expresses his feelings of love with all his might, and even when he expresses non-positive feelings such as jealousy due to love, I think he doesn't say it to hurt the other person, but to convey directly, 'This is how I feel.' I want to make sure that the subtle nuances of his feelings are conveyed as accurately as possible."
They also paid attention to changes to the scene where Terutsuki talks to Mizuho, his beloved.
"After all, people change their tone depending on who they're talking to, don't they? Terutsuki definitely wants Mizuho to like him and think well of him, so there are times when he puts on a bit of a show, and conversely, Mizuho brings out his pathetic side without that show. However, if there's a clear contrast between how he talks to other people, he could become a nasty guy who changes his attitude depending on who he's talking to, so I try to change the small details, like the way I say things or how I close the distance, while I'm acting."
Terutsuki is quite proactive in his approach to Mizuho, but he is not a character whose emotional changes are clearly visible.
"That's difficult. He's a character that's quite hard to grasp. In the first season, I was asked to ad-lib a scene where Terutsuki was talking to characters other than his four childhood friends, and I honestly had no idea what to say, so I was like, 'Maybe this kid doesn't talk to anyone other than them' (laughs). But when I thought about it, he also talked normally with Saito (Ryosuke)-senpai from the swimming club, so I realized that he must be communicating with people other than his childhood friends. Through those scenes, I got to know Terutsuki as a person."
◇The second season is turbulent: The dark side of the disappeared Terutsuki
"IAnyway, I'm Falling in Love with You" focuses on the characters' high school years, but also includes what happens after they become adults. At the end of the first season, Teruzuki, who has now grown up and disappeared from his childhood friend's sight, appears at the airport. Mizuho is shaken when Teruzuki appears before her for the first time in three years. After reading the script for the second season, Ura said, "I was deeply moved by the turbulent storyline."
"There were times when I couldn't stop turning the pages, and there were also moments when I thought, 'I don't want to turn any more pages.' The foundation that was built in the first season blossomed in the second season, was destroyed, but the roots remained and sprouted again. It was a really wonderful story."
When playing the grown-up Terutsuki, he was conscious of "creating a mysterious side that is different from before."
"When he grew up, Terutsuki had a negative story in which he disappeared from everyone's sight, so I don't want the audience to feel that all the way through, but rather the guilt he carries with him. The reason for his disappearance and his feelings haven't been clearly depicted yet, but I think it's something that Terutsuki hasn't resolved yet, so I wanted the audience to feel it vaguely without forcing it on them. A shadowy part, so to speak. I acted with that in mind, hoping that the audience would take that on board. I think there must have been a significant reason for him to disappear despite saying 'I love you' so much, so I played him close to Terutsuki."
Meanwhile, the high school part of the second season will see the distance between Terutsuki and Mizuho shrink considerably, and she said, "I didn't want to lose that sense of excitement, that shoujo manga-ness, so I took on the role hoping that I would feel excited while acting as well."
◇The relationship between childhood friends is a "miracle" and he is also inspired by his co-star's acting.
One of the charms of "IAnyway, I'm Falling in Love with You" is the relationship between the childhood friends, most of whom have romantic feelings for Mizuho, but still care for each other.
"I think it's a miracle. They love Mizuho, but ultimately, I think they love these five more than that. If they had feelings for Mizuho, it wouldn't have been strange if someone had taken a step ahead of them, but they managed to maintain a balance and get along well as five. Even though Terutsuki took a step ahead this time, the relationship between these five remains unshaken because it's not just romantic feelings, but also because they respect each other as people. They're high school students, but I think they have a certain mental maturity to them."
In order to portray this miraculous relationship, he is often inspired by the voice actors of his childhood friends, Sakura Shinfuku Shinpuku who plays Mizuho, Shoya Chiba who plays Fukami, Shoya Chiba who plays Ai, and Keiji Inomata who plays Shugo.
"What I find interesting is that we've all gathered here with different ways of acting. Of course, everyone is acting in a way that is in line with the work, but because each role is different, everyone's approach is different. Every time we record, I make new discoveries, like, 'This is how you read the lines because of this character' or 'This is how you can throw words at them,' and I'm really moved by each word they say. Ai has an exquisite sense of ennui, Shugo is playful but has a hidden sensitivity inside, Fuka is very cool but actually has a simple honesty and a passionate feel. Mizuho is strong but actually has a weak side, and everyone's acting makes me realize a lot of things, so we're all working hard to create this work."
After recording, the cast often go out to eat together and discuss the production together, and he says that this has strengthened their teamwork, saying, "That makes it easier to act. I think it's a great cast."
Looking ahead to the second season, he said, "The reason why Terutsuki disappeared will be revealed in the second season. For me, the story leading up to that is happy, heart-fluttering, and full of truly wonderful scenes, but it doesn't end there. For the childhood friends, many things happen, both good and bad, that make them think, 'That's really life.' I would be happy if you could watch along with them until the end as these teenagers desperately struggle to survive. I'm sure it will move you right to the heart."
Ura herself said that 2025 "was a year that made me realize how grateful I had forgotten to be for the things that I take for granted, and made me want to cherish every moment." She also shared her aspirations, saying, "In 2026, I want to meet a lot of different people and live a life without regrets. Fun things don't last forever, and the people I love won't be with me forever, so I want to live my life more appreciating the things that are close to me and that make me happy. I really want to be young in 2026 as well."
I want to enjoy the irreplaceable youth portrayed by Ura and the other cast members in "IAnyway, I'm Falling in Love with You" (Shiroinu/MANTANWEB)
