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," is currently airing every Thursday at 12:26 a.m. on the MBS/TBS anime slot "Super Animeism TURBO."Koji Yusa Koji. Even among the many unique characters in "Jujutsu Kaisen," Naoya stands out for his arrogant personality and outspoken manner of speaking. We spoke to Yusa about what went on behind the scenes in the recording.
◇For some reason, only Naoya has a strong accent. The Kansai dialect
"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.
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. In the third season, a succession dispute breaks out within the Zen'in family following Naobito's death.
Naoya is a strong character with an impressive Kansai dialect. Yusa himself is from Kyoto, so how did you try to portray Naoya's Kansai dialect?
"When I play characters who speak in a Kansai dialect in other works, I generally stick to the original work. So even if the way I use words is a little different from the dialect I'm used to, I try to incorporate it. When technical terms come up, I have to consider the balance with the other actors and stick to standard Japanese, otherwise it will sound unnatural, so I try to balance the standard Japanese with the nuances of the lines in the original work, and the dialect. That's the difficult part. You need a balance, including how the character speaks."
Naoya's Kansai dialect sounds like a Kyoto accent, but he says, "I can't say for sure where it comes from. It's like Naoya is the only one in the Zen'in family who is somehow grown up (laughs). It may be that there are some hidden aspects, including where he comes from." When playing Naoya, he said he was conscious of the "Zen'in family" rather than a specific region like Kyoto.
"I wasn't born into a distinguished family, so I don't know what it's like to be raised in a historic home or what the family values in order to survive, but I think that long-standing families may place a high value on history and shut out outsiders. It's possible that this is how Naoya came to think."
◇Naoya was played with great courage. What was the most memorable line?
Naoya is a memorable character, with lines such as "Don't you have a human heart?". Yusa himself said that the line that made the biggest impression on him was "You!! You're not Toji !!" This is the line Naoya uttered when he confronted Zenin Maki Zenin , who, like Zenin (Fushiguro) Toji, "doesn't have any cursed energy."
"The line, 'I am the head of the Zen'in family,' is a memorable one because it shows how strongly he feels about the Zen'in family, but the line, 'You!! You're not Toji!!' is particularly strong. The Zen'in family is a family that doesn't treat people like people unless they have cursed energy, and Ougi (Maki's father) also calls his daughter a failure. In such a family, you would think that Naoya, who is trying to become the head of the family, would value cursed energy above all else, but he has a very strong admiration for Zen'in (Fushiguro) Toji. I think he has a tendency to seek power, not just cursed energy, so it was very memorable to hear him say that to Maki in a monologue."
Although there aren't many depictions of Naoya's past in the original work, he says, "The panel showing Toji for the first time when he was young, Zen'in (Fushiguro) Jinji, was large, so I think it must have had a big impact on him."
Yusa said, "Playing a new character is always a challenge," and the role of Zen'in Naoya was also a challenge for him.
"No two characters are the same, so I'm always thinking about how much of the role I imagined when I read it matches what's required of me. This time, I got the impression that there were many parts that matched my image. I think it was a challenge to be able to take bold steps in those areas. When I'm acting, I don't mind the characters that I hold back, but when I see them from the viewer's perspective, there are parts that can be stressful. With Naoya, I was able to go all out without any reservations."
"Jujutsu Kaisen of events for the Zen'in family. We can't take our eyes off it. (Shiroinu/MANTANWEB)
