My dear It is an anime that holds a special place in the hearts of many people, including actors who depict two main clues. shōyaishige and Hina Sugutathe people who play Wakana Gojo and Marin Kitagawa respectively participated in the 2025 animation fair, sharing their experiences on the show with fans while wearing their love for the series. In fact, in a group at the conference, they both said that their time working on anime in the first season was the season that they would return every time they hit a wall. Suguta, especially, didn’t know the show would explode, she even took the time to visit the officials My dear Popular shop with mother in Japan.
There are plenty of fun time in this particular group, from live dubbing segments to audiences, teaching these two American terms about Slay, Cooked, and Roman Empire. All of this is fun, but the Anime News actually had the opportunity to sit down with the two actors and ask them about their experience on the show.
First, let’s Hina SugutaIn image or literality, Marin is portrayed very animated. Has it ever been difficult to match this energy? Especially when she talks about the moment she falls in love with Gojo, how did you hit these energy levels in the booth?
Hina sreligion: Yes, it really is hard for me to express Marin’s emotional height and match her energy when she’s passionate about something or about Gojo and how she feels about him. On the booth, I tried to use a lot of body movements while delivering the line. I get my body, voice and performance to match the playback on the screen. I try to recall everything I like, enjoy and care about. So I brought everything into it. After a long recording, I was very hungry!
©Shinichi Fukuda/Square Enix, Kisekoi Animation Committee
It’s understandable. This is a lot of energy! Marin obviously wore a lot of role-playing throughout the show. What is her favorite role-playing role? How do you adjust your performance when Marin dresses up as a character?
support: So, I think my favorite role play is Shizuku Kuroe role play. I think it blends our blood, sweat and tears, so it means a lot to me. This is very emotional. As you know, Marin also wears many different role-plays, such as Black Lobelia and many others. But when it comes to performance and how I portray the sound, I don’t think I’m doing much, because I want to make sure the core Marin is still doing it with different external changes. I think I’m very concerned about the appearance of role-playing and I owe a lot Three-leaf cloverwho is doing the visual effects, who actually makes the role play come to life on the screen. So I kind of had to hand it over to role-playing and make sure there were differences through different costumes.
It makes sense! Now I want to transfer to shōyaishige. Gojo’s passion is related to his doll. Who in your life thinks they have a similar passion for passion?
Shoya isShiger: So, this may be obvious, but the performance, generally speaking, is something I am very passionate about. Through characters like Gojo, I want to do my best to make sure I portray and respect the meaning of the character in the story and to the creator and audience. So I spent a lot of time and effort to make sure it penetrated the audience.
What do you think of Gojo’s evolution as a character when he starts coming out of the shell? When you might change or change your performance to reflect this change as he starts to learn more about role-playing and interacting with more people?
ishige: So at the beginning of the story, Gojo is very introverted and very nervous about all the different things he has to solve socially. But after meeting Chuanchuan, you will feel that he is open, you may feel that he has finally let go and no longer be afraid to express his emotions. Regarding my performance, I think I really try not to lose the introverted part and the core values or personality of GOJO. But, throughout the change in Season 2, I still want to convey a sense of growth and warmth, related existence.
©Shinichi Fukuda/Square Enix, Kisekoi Animation Committee
Gojo is very reserved and nervous, while Marin encounters more eccentric and confident. Do you both feel like you show similar traits to the role you play?
support: So maybe not as strong as Marin himself, but I also feel that my emotions are very simple, I feel strongly about what I like, and I feel very loud about it! Again, maybe not as good as Marin, but I think I definitely have my own elements.
ishige: Similar to Gojo, I think I’m a little short of the reserved side. I think if there is a spectrum, especially when it comes to self-expression, I will definitely be on the reserved side. But what I’m going to say is that similar to Gojo, and how he’s passion and hard work to make dolls and crafts, I feel like I’m putting the same energy and passion into my craft, which is performing and bringing the characters to life. So, in this sense, I can really connect with the characters.
When you record, are there any scenes that stand out for any of you? Maybe it’s a very exciting scene, maybe it’s something very interesting.
support: So for season 2, episode 13, this is the first time we have recorded it in three years. So it’s been a while. We have some gaps, and in this episode, there is anime inside the anime, and I think the characters like it all. I really like the anime where the characters watch with the bunny girl suit! So, I wish I could watch more. Although short, I wish there were more opportunities to watch the whole thing because it was so fun and I wonder what happened in the end.
©Shinichi Fukuda/Square Enix, Kisekoi Animation Committee
ishige: In the fourth episode of season 1, Gojo had to do Shizuku role-playing for a week, a short time. He had to overcome many physical and mental challenges to create such role-playing, including shedding many tears. So, in the end, to see Marin’s reaction to role-playing, they both cried in awe at how cosplay could achieve reality in such a short time, I think it’s a very special moment and it’s really fun to re-watch. It means a lot to me.
Thank you so much.
Ann’s report on the 2025 Animation Expo is sponsored by Yen Press and Ize Press!
