I somehow decided to TL Ayaneru’s of her live door interview which can be found right here -> http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/13104758/ There are lots of nice pictures of Ayaneru in that article so do check them out. Also I’m a complete greenhorn so please go easy on me. Feel free to have any complaints to my twitter @srippiP

Ignoring reason and striving ahead, Sakura Ayane shares about Hero Academia’s recordings

“Voice acting is a behind the scenes job” declares Sakura Ayane, who looked hella cool saying that. But behind that cute exterior lies a true professional. “What kind of poses would be good?”, “Why are we going with that pose”, she asks during the photoshoot, confirming the photographer’s various instructions. Which scene from Hero Academia will leave a deep impression on the extremely logical Ayaneru?

Ochako’s jealousy reveals her feminine side

In the TV anime “Hero Academia” Season 2, you (Ayaneru) voice the character Uraraka Ochako who takes part in UA Academy’s Sports Festival. The first part features an obstacle course, followed by a cavalry battle and finally a combat based tournament. Any thoughts when you have recorded these scenes?

Actually, the production for Hero Academia was really fast and there was only a small gap between the recordings for the first and second season. On top of that, during that break, whenever I met the rest of the cast at other recordings we still talked about Hero Academia. So this helped me maintain my focus all the way to the second season. As there is no room for any mistakes, this actually helped to keep me on my toes.

Since voicing Ochako in the first season, have you seen any new sides of her?

During the cavalry battle, the part when Hatsume Mei (CV: Sakura Azu) appeared and Ochako got a bit jealous. (laughs)

That part when Deku (CV: Yamashita Daiki) was praising Mei’s inventions right. (laughs)

As I read the original manga, I was thinking “Ah… that scene is going to appear soon” and how it captured Ochako’s jealous side… seeing this jealous Ochako was so unexpected.

It’s definitely a side of her we have never seen before.

Exactly. Other than Bakugou (CV: Nobuhiko Okamoto), she doesn’t show this expression to anyone. But with Mei, we get to get a peek of this new side of Ochako which really makes you think “Aah, she’s actually pretty feminine”.

When voicing Ochako, is there any areas that you need to watch out or keep in mind?

Ochako is usually a girl who smiles a lot and have lots of positive expressions, but this time, there are a lot of battle scenes. In fact, when the mangaka was interviewed about his impression of the cast, he said he wanted to see how Ochako’s usually gentle way of speaking would change during the battle scenes. So I had to take that into account after reading that interview.

That adds quite a bit of pressure on you.

Yeah it did. I could feel a lot of pressure from it. (laughs)

For your roles, do you spend a lot of time thinking about how to voice the character?

Let me see, I prefer to think things out logically, so I usually spend a lot of time weighing out the various factors. But for the Hero Academia Recordings, there isn’t much time for that. In that moment when I stand in front of the microphone, I say to myself, “I already get the idea behind it, I just need to get it off my chest!” I already have everything I need with me, I just need to focus on what to bring out; is what I am going for.

I see

I knew that since season 1, the staff and sound director were actually against actors who did this… in a way this meant I was already mentally prepared. So in that moment I just jumped in and faced it (the recording) head on without hesitation. To just jump in without thinking is really unlike me though (laughs) In a way, it’s a really something new and refreshing.

The important “cuteness” in TV Anime.

In season 1, what kind of impressions did you have of Ochako?

When I read the manga, I had the impression that Ochako was this “boyish crude girl” but once the recording for season 1 started, I was told “We would like for you to make Ochako to sound even cuter!” The staff even caught my attempts trying to make Ochako sound a bit more coarse. (laughs) It made me realise that being cute was actually an important aspect of Ochako.

Are there any parts of Ochako that you can empathise with?

Hmm… The way that she really loves her family

In March for the Anime Japan 2017 Stage, you also wrote down “Family” as one of the key points of the second season too.

Cause ohana means family and family means (ry

Exactly. I really love that part from the manga where they featured the family of the various students; where all the contestants face their family before beginning the competition is what I really love.

In the 2nd season, there seems to be lots of scenes where the characters are featured along with their families.

That’s right. Not just for Ochako but for Iida (Iida Tenya CV:Ishikawa Kaito), Todoroki (Todoroki Shouto CV: Kaji Yuki) too. With all these characters getting the spotlight, it really gets you excited to see more. For Ochako, she’s on really good relations with her family, the reason she wanted to become a hero is deeply related to her family. To me, family is also really important and I guess I can empathize with Ochako regarding that.

With new characters appearing, how has that affected the atmosphere in the recording studio?

At the start, both the casts of Class A and Class B were thinking “Wow there’s people here I don’t know!” (laughs) But after a while, it felt like the recording studio became a classroom, and the boundaries between Class A and B ended there. Soon everyone was just chatting with each other… like how students in a class get along, the atmosphere in the recording studio became much livelier.

The Fight Scene with Bakugou that really blows your mind

When this interview is published, the episode of the battle against Bakugou will air.

I’ve talked to Mr. Horikoshi (the mangaka for Hero Acadamia), about the way Ochako would shout and I was pondering over it and by the time for recording… I can’t really explain it, but I just immersed myself into the story and did the recording. It was to the point where I even forgot parts about what happened during the recording.

The recording studio must have heated up during that scene right.

Okamoto (Bakugou’s seiyuu) also said the same thing…. “I can’t really remember it all”. We were so focused on recording, there were parts where we had to take note of but we were too caught up in the moment.

During the fight with Bakugou, how did Okamoto go about recording it?

Okamoto’s personality is actually really different to Bakugou’s, many even said that they were polar opposites. Okamoto is so gentle and kind, he makes you think “Does he even get angry?”. But when he stands in front of the microphone getting all riled up and angry… it really makes you go “Darn, it must be tough to be an actor.” That’s what I’ve been thinking since the first season. (laughs)

(laughs) You really can’t imagine Okamoto getting angry with someone.

Exactly! (laughs) But this time, the instruction given was that both of characters were really fired up and didn’t want to lose. They don’t want to lose or feel sorry for themselves, no matter who their opponent is…. For Ochako, this mean going against the intimidating Bakugou, and still wanting to win.

It’s definitely one of the highlights of Season 2 right!

Yes! The fight scenes are definitely amazing and I love the whole thing, so please watch how everything unfolds. Like in the beginning where they show Ochako’s nervousness, and how her nervousness transforms into resolve by the end of the fight… For this heart-racing battle scene, I put a lot of thought into it, so please look out for it!

Spending the whole day thinking and not setting a foot out of the house!?

You mentioned earlier, that you were the type to analyse and think. Do you spend a lot of your daily life doing that?

Of course, I spend the whole day doing that.

The whole day?!

I… dont step out of my house at all during off days. (laughs). I sleep as much as I want without an alarm clock and wake up when it’s almost afternoon. I enjoy cooking, so I do make my own lunch… but even then I take my time making it. After that I check the parts to take note for work and if I have free time after that, I play Tetries and Dr. Mario. (laughs) I keep thinking how nice it would be if I could keep on playing my games forever without any worries in the world.

That sounds cute… and really unlike you.

I ponder about random stuff like how being a seiyuu is a behind the scenes job, and does it really matter to make use of beauty or to show off your personality… Making sure you leave a good impression on people… But I’m really bad with people and don’t have a sense for that. (laughs) So I usually wonder about random things like these. There’s really an endless amount of thinks to wonder about, so no matter what I do, I’ll always have something to mull about.

You appear in all sorts of work, your schedule must be really hectic right?

It is quite worrying at times. In the future as my workload increases… I definitely will have less time to do what I like, and I have to prepare myself for that. “The only thing that I can afford to do is think!” is something I keep telling myself. (laughs). So at least I can keep thinking about things forever!

Other than thinking, you like to cook as well right?

I love it. Recently, a friend (Minase Inori) bought me a rice cooker! She asked me what did I want for my birthday and we decided to do a gift exchange. Our birthdays are actually quite close so every year we give each other presents around the same cost. So this year I got a rice cooker, while I gave her a luggage.

TL Note: Inorin also dirtied that luggage with food and had to send it to be cleaned

That’s a really old fashioned gift. (laughs)

I guess so. (laughs) My mother has been using a clay pot to cook our rice so we don’t have a rice cooker. But I’m really bad at using the clay pot to cook unlike her… She can do crazy stuff like mix mochi together with the rice to make the rice even softer and sticker.

That’s pretty hardcore.

I know right. But to me it’s too troublesome! Since I got a pretty good rice cooker… and it makes fantastic rice! So I’ll stick with using normal rice to cook with. (laughs)

(laughs) Finally, can you leave a message to those people watching My Hero Academy?

In the second season, there will be many new characters and you will get to understand the original characters even more, so look out for that. There will be new characters with amazing powers, the past of some characters will be revealed…And they’re all animated beautifully. So for both fans of the manga and those that have been watching the anime, I hope that you will enjoy it.