The third season of the popular TV anime " Mushoku Tensei, " based on the light novel that originated on the novel submission site "Shosetsuka ni Narou," titled "Mushoku Tensei III: Mushoku Tensei III," will begin airing on TOKYO MX on July 4th at 8 PM. The third season begins with the "Eris Training Arc," and the "mad dog" Eris, who did not appear in the second season, will return. We spoke with Ai Kakuma, who plays Eris, about her feelings regarding recording "Mushoku Tensei" again after a long break.
◇My emotions exploded and all I could do was cry.
"Mushoku Tensei" is a light novel by Rifujin na Magote, which began serialization on "Shosetsuka ni Naro" in 2012. The story follows a 34-year-old unemployed man who dies but is reborn in a fantasy world of swords and magic, where he uses his intelligence and regrets from his previous life to start a new life. It is a popular work considered a pioneer of "Narou-kei" light novels. The first season of the TV anime aired its first cour from January to March 2021, the second cour from October to December of the same year, the first cour of the second season aired from July to September 2023, and the second cour aired from April to June 2024. The third season premiered and streamed on TOKYO MX, ABEMA, and d Anime Store on July 4th, and will begin airing on BS11 and other channels from July 5th. From July 12th onwards, it will air every Sunday at midnight on TOKYO MX and other channels.
Ellis is a fierce young lady from the Boreas family, the lords of the Fittoa territory, and a beautiful red-haired girl who follows the path of the sword. In the first season, she is transported to the Demon Continent with Rudeus in a teleportation incident, and after an adventure, she returns to her vanished homeland and marries Rudeus. However, in order to gain the strength worthy of Rudeus, she leaves him and heads to the headquarters of the Sword God style, the holy land of the sword. Ellis did not appear in the second season, but Kakuma-san watched the second season.
"I had a huge internal struggle before watching the second season. I had spent so much time as Eris that I thought I couldn't bear to watch Rudeus suffering or flirting with other women... But then I was invited to appear at an event (in February 2024), and there was talk of the second season, so I felt it would be wrong not to watch it, and when I did, I found it incredibly fun (laughs). I couldn't stop watching! There were some painful parts, but in the end it was fun, and I was able to watch it calmly from a viewer's perspective."
This marks Kakuma's first time voicing Ellis in an anime since the spin-off episode "Ellis's Goblin Extermination," which was released in 2022 after the first season aired, making it her first appearance in about four years.
"I was nervous. Since I wasn't in the second season, I had to calm down for a while, and I felt a sense of tension knowing that I would be joining the cast members who had overcome such difficult episodes. I had heard about Yumi's approach to Rudeus , her struggles and worries, and I felt a lot of pressure to join a group that had overcome those things."
Yumi Uchiyama , who played the child Rudeus in the first season, reprised the role of the grown-up Rudeus in the second season. After auditions were held for the role of the adult Rudeus in the second season, the production team unanimously decided to have Uchiyama continue in the role. Kakuma revealed her thoughts, saying, "Who else could do it?! I felt like, 'Our lead actor is amazing!'"
"Yumi-chan was also there for the recording of the first episode of the third season, but she said, 'No, I'm just sleeping' (laughs). I didn't have that luxury, and it made me realize once again how amazing Yumi-chan is. After the recording of the first episode was over, I went out to eat with Yumi-chan and told her, 'Yumi-chan, you're really amazing,' and she started crying (laughs). I knew that she had gone through a lot of difficult recordings, overcome them, and constantly worried about how to make things better, but when I got close to that position, there was nothing I could do. All I could do was let my emotions explode and cry. There were some parts of that feeling that resonated with Ellis, but unlike Ellis, I felt even more pathetic for crying. I've seen Yumi-chan's feelings for Rudeus, so I want to be able to stand beside her as Ellis. I want to be there for Ellis's efforts, and I'm trying not to miss out on that strong feeling. I'm not going to get six-pack abs like Ellis, though (laughs)."
◇Ellis has been hungry for a long time
In the first season, Ellis and Rudeus encounter the dragon god Olsted and are shown the overwhelming difference in their power. Ellis realizes her own powerlessness and sets out on a journey of training.
"Eris leaves Rudeus, who is practically her life, and resolves to pursue the path of the sword. But she doesn't get any stronger. She's frustrated that she can't get stronger quickly, and while the old Eris would have said, 'I don't know!', she faces the path of the sword head-on. She has become stronger thanks to Ruijerd's teachings, but she's not satisfied with that and feels she's still not good enough. She's constantly on edge thinking about Olsted. When she has something she wants to accomplish, she becomes unable to even have a proper conversation with people. She can't see anything else. Up until now, she's mostly communicated with people through Rudeus, and she can't communicate well with people she meets for the first time in a new place. This lack of balance is what makes Eris who she is, but she's also an Eris with a lot of fangs. It's not the small teeth of when she was a mad dog, but rather an image of her with many thick teeth."
Ellis, once known as the "Mad Dog," grows and matures after meeting Rudeus. It seemed as though she had hidden her fangs, but in the third season, she reveals them again during her arduous training.
"It was painful to watch Ellis constantly practicing her swing, working hard to get stronger as quickly as possible, and I felt a restlessness in her that hadn't been seen before. In the first season, the recording was done in separate locations, but in the third season, the cast came together for recording, and there were many first-time cast members, so I felt like I had to lead somehow, and I didn't have much composure myself, and there were times when I got anxious like Ellis. I wish I could have been more composed. Ellis doesn't have much experience talking to girls her age, so that was also difficult, and when I tried to think about it with my head, I couldn't become Ellis, and I felt like I was being pulled along by Ellis's emotions. It was painful to feel like she was constantly hungry."
◇The thoughts behind "Rudeus is amazing!"
The second promotional video for the third season, released in March, depicts Eris struggling to become stronger. We can hear Eris's familiar line from the first season, "Rudeus is amazing!", but things are different from the first season.
"In the first season, it was about conveying how amazing someone important to me is, ' Rudeus is amazing!' But in the third season, I'm projecting the amazingness of Rudeus that I've kept bottled up inside onto myself. I'm motivating myself with the thought that I have to become someone who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Rudeus, and I feel that Rudeus's greatness is growing bigger and bigger inside me. It's still not enough! The more I try, the more I feel that I'm not good enough, and Rudeus's figure is getting bigger and bigger. I'm facing the wall in front of me with the feeling that I can't break it down unless I give it my all." Yes. The fact that her vocabulary doesn't necessarily grow is very characteristic of Ellis. "I understand" is one of Ellis's signature lines, and there were times when she said "I understand" without really understanding, but in the third season, she understands what's being said, but her feelings are somewhere else. She's a very easy-to-understand girl, but it becomes increasingly difficult to tell what she's thinking. She uses fewer words, and her actions are consistent, which is cool. In the end, even though she's hard to understand, her principles never waver, so there's something refreshing about that."
The main promotional video for the third season, released on June 4th, depicts Rudeus in a peaceful setting, spending time with his two wives, Sylphiette and Roxy, and his beloved family, including his mother, Zenith. This was in stark contrast to the tense atmosphere of the second promotional video.
"I was watching and thinking, 'Wow,' and 'I'm glad he seems happy' (laughs). But I also know about the struggles and hardships Rudeus went through to find happiness, so while I felt happy for him and wanted to say 'I'm glad for you,' I was also thinking, 'But is that enough?' and 'There's still more happiness to come.'"
Kakuma, who plays Ellis, a character who walks a thorny path and aims for the top, said, "The stronger she becomes, the stronger she looks if I don't add the 'Hmph!' ad-lib when she attacks, but in Ellis's case, I try to include it as much as possible. I think the battle scenes are very profound. What will happen when Ellis becomes stronger and starts to fight while thinking? I have to think about that too."
Kakuma poured her extraordinary passion into the role of Ellis, and approached the recording session for the first time in about four years. What kind of roar will Ellis, who bares her fangs as a "mad dog" once again, unleash in the play? Her overwhelming performance is not to be missed. (Manami Anima/MANTANWEB)
