The TV anime "Haibara-kun's Strong and Youthful New Game," based on the light novel by Kazuki Amemiya of HJ Bunko (Hobby Japan), will begin airing on TBS, BS11, and AT-X from April 2nd. In this "strong and new game school romantic comedy," Natsuki Haibara, who has spent a dull youth since her failed attempt at a high school debut, time-leaps back to just before entering high school and gets a second chance at high school life. The main character, Natsuki Haibara, is voiced by popular voice actor Yuto Uemura. Uemura said that he played Natsuki, who is striving to achieve his "Rainbow Youth Plan," "with the feeling of trying to start over as seriously, sincerely, and wholeheartedly as possible." We asked Uemura about the charm of the work and behind the scenes of the recording.
◇ "I want to relive my youth" - A second high school experience "with fresh words"
The story follows Natsuki, a fourth-year university student on the verge of starting her job, who time-leaps back to before she entered high school. Using her past experiences, she tries to relive her dream youth by joining the top group of attractive students in the class hierarchy and getting closer to the beautiful girl, Hoshimiya Hikari, whom she had a crush on during her first high school experience.
"This story starts with the idea of 'wanting to relive one's youth,' something I think everyone can relate to. I'm 32 now, so I'm far removed from my student days, but there are moments when I feel nostalgic. I think this is a work that evokes a sense of nostalgia and emotion, making you look back on your youth. It's refreshing to watch Natsuki, who has returned to her student days, decide, 'Well, I'll make the most of this youth!' and move forward with unwavering determination. All the outgoing people who interact with Natsuki are good kids, and I think this is a work that is full of great storytelling and charming characters."
Thanks to her experiences and efforts before her second chance, Natsuki excels in various fields, but she is unaware of this herself. As a result, she spends her second high school life feeling anxious and pressured to "do things properly." She doesn't exactly "dominate" everything in her new friendships.
"Natsuki calls herself an introvert, but to me, she's a very kind girl. Because of that, when she receives words, she takes them very seriously. She comes across as very serious and sincere. Because she wants to go back to high school and recapture and redo the sparkling youth she had, she gets overly emotional about every little thing. I think the reason she has that introverted aura is because she approaches each person with such sincerity."
While playing Natsuki, Uemura made a conscious effort to portray the character sincerely and wholeheartedly, without any pretense or calculated behavior.
"I think that's how I can stay as Natsuki. It's a story about Natsuki getting a second chance, but the actions of the other characters change as they are influenced by Natsuki, and the words they throw at him become Natsuki's driving force. Natsuki takes action, but I think what's important when acting is the reaction. By me seriously playing Natsuki, the other characters throw all sorts of curveballs at me, so I thought it was important to receive them and do my best. So, including his actions and words, I tried to act with the feeling of being serious, sincere, and working hard to get a second chance."
Natsuki said she deliberately tried not to be too conscious of the "Natsuki who is a fourth-year university student" inside her.
"When I played Natsuki, a fourth-year university student at the beginning of the first episode, he had a listless, somewhat cynical air about him, so I tried to portray him in a downbeat way. But once Natsuki actually started reliving his youth and going back to school, the people he interacted with were different, so I think his inner voice gradually became younger as well. I also think that even as an adult, one's mental age doesn't change that much, so I tried not to be too conscious of it, which made it easier for me to be in the role of Natsuki. Even though it was my second time, there were many things I was experiencing for the first time, so I was hoping to weave together fresh words."
◇A singing scene where my past and present connected, evoking a sense of nostalgia.
The series features many scenes where Natsuki sings, such as when she goes to karaoke with her friends, and Uemura said, "To be honest, the second half of the series becomes more like a band anime. There's a lot of singing," and that there was a song selection process during the audition.
"The assigned song was flumpool's 'Hoshi ni Negai wo' (Wish Upon a Star), and back in my student days, flumpool was my go-to karaoke song. So I thought, 'Can I really sing this?' and I also thought that if I failed, it would feel like my youth was being negated. So I decided to give it my all, and if it didn't work out, so be it. In the end, I was able to play Natsuki, and I was very happy. When I was recording the tape audition, I felt like I was in a karaoke box myself (laughs). I was really happy that I was able to connect my past with my present in that way."
Natsuki time-leaps to 2014, and many hit songs from that era appear in the film.
"From my perspective, that was the era of the band boom, with various bands like Aqua Timez, flumpool, and BUMP OF CHICKEN rising to prominence. When I performed the scene where he sings karaoke, I felt a sense of nostalgia, thinking, 'I know this scene so well. I saw something similar myself over ten years ago.'"
In the original story, Natsuki is portrayed as being "good at singing," which put some pressure on me during the singing scenes.
"The singing scenes were recorded separately from the main story recording. On my way to the recording studio, I happened to meet the original author, Kazuki Amemiya, who said, 'I hear you're recording some songs. Natsuki is a good singer. Please do your best' (laughs). I'm sure he meant it as encouragement, but it also put some pressure on me during the recording. Since I was singing as Natsuki, while she is portrayed as a good singer, I wanted to show her natural, youthful side as well as her artistic side, so we discussed and recorded it together. I was constantly thinking about how to record it while keeping in mind that it was just one part of the story."
◇A surprisingly profound "Rainbow Youth Project": What if you could relive your youth?
Uemura approached the role of Natsuki, including the singing scenes, saying, "I wanted to deliver the lines naturally, while recalling my own student days." Natsuki's "Rainbow Youth Plan" might sound frivolous at first glance, but she also feels that "it has more depth than you might think."
"The phrase 'Rainbow Youth Project' sounds like a sparkling phrase, but Natsuki himself gets depressed, struggles, and is helped along the way. He says he's going to rewrite his gray youth into a rainbow, but it rains before a rainbow forms, and it takes time for the sun to come out. I think it's a work that will allow viewers to feel a variety of colors. There are various problems, and they are solved not only by Natsuki, but by involving various people as well. It's not just a story of Natsuki having a success; everyone grows in their own way. I hope you enjoy that transformation."
Uemura herself says that if she could relive her youth, "I wish I had made more friends."
"I think I've lived a life without regrets, especially since I've met Natsuki like this. Back then, the class was divided into groups, so I drew a line for myself and thought, 'I can't go over there,' and I didn't go because I thought it would be difficult to talk to them, and I had some strange pride that prevented me from going. But through this work, I realized that even though we talk about popular kids and unpopular kids, there wasn't really that big of a difference. I want to tell my past self, 'Make more friends with a wider range of people.'"
"Haibara-kun's Strong and Youthful New Game" is a serious attempt to relive youth. Will Natsuki Haibara succeed in her "Rainbow Youth Project"? I want to watch it carefully while reminiscing about my own school days. (Shiroinu/MANTANWEB)
