Date Chizuko, who lives in a certain city in Niigata Prefecture, is an otaku girl who loves the magical girl (Berry Blossom) who protects her town. “I want to make the magical girl shine even more…!” This desire (?) leads the timid junior high school student down a path of evil where strange people are everywhere… This is a work that will warm your heart with the love for your favorite idol, but will also have you laughing at the interactions between the characters.
Just before the broadcast, we interviewed Miku Ito, who plays Date Chizuko, and Inori Minase, who plays Berry Blossom! They talked about the highlights of the show and the appeal of the characters they play.
-Please tell us your impressions when you read the original work and the script.
Ito: Rather than a romance story, it has more elements of action and comedy, which I found quite original among the works serialized in “Ribon,” and was surprising.
This work seemed different from your other works.
Ito: I don’t think there are many stories that put the spotlight on the evil side. I think it’s interesting to focus on the everyday life of evil, or how they think about fighting against justice.
- Have you been an avid reader of Ribon for a long time, Ms. Ito?
Ito: I’ve been reading Ribon since I was a child, so when it was decided that I would be appearing in an anime based on a Ribon series, I had special feelings.
–What did you think, Minase-san?
Minase: The main character is a life-sized girl, but the environment and characters surrounding her are all eccentric, which I found unique and fascinating.
Berry, a magical girl, and Chroma, the leader of evil, fight in the town, but the residents just think, “Oh, they’re doing it again.” Chizuko, a Berry fan, is also watching the fight from nearby (laughs). I think the closeness of everyday life and fantasy, mixed together, is an interesting thing that can’t be found anywhere else.
–Please tell us what you think are the charms of Date Chizuko and Berry Blossom from your perspective.
Minase: I think Chizuko is a girl who can convey her otaku traits without being unpleasant. In the anime, each of her reactions are overly contrived and overly dramatic. But Miku (Ito)’s acting brought her pure feelings of “I love berries!” to the forefront. I was comforted by her bravery and it stimulated my otaku heart.
In the main story, there is a scene where Berry thinks, “If they’re all cheering for me, I have to show them my good side,” and I felt the same way when I was acting. I acted with a sense of mission, thinking that I had to act in a way that would make Mikuni, who plays Chizuko, say, “Ah, Berry!”
–Minase-san was also able to sense the feelings that Chizuko-san, played by Ito-san, had for her favorite character.
Minase: Yes, I felt that way. It became my driving force in acting to show a brilliance and achievement that would not shame my idol. I wonder if this cycle is true in real life too…
–That may be true (laughs). Now, Ito-san, I would like to ask you to tell us about Berry Blossom, played by Minase-san.
伊藤：困ってる人がいたら放っておけないという、まさにヒーローの素質を持ったキャラクターだなと思いました。日常では見かけないレベルのいい子なんですよ。アニメでは、いのりちゃんがそこをブレずに突き抜けていたので、心から応援したいと思いながら私も演じていて。
――地図子と気持ちがシンクロしたんですね。
伊藤：ベリーを応援したくない人はいないんじゃないかなぁ。「私が守らなきゃ！」という一心で一生懸命戦ってる姿は本当にかっこよかったですし。あと、可愛いのに意外とアクションが激しいのも魅力的で！
水瀬：普通に殴ったりするもんね（笑）。
伊藤：物理も魔法もどっちも威力が高いんですよ。可愛いだけじゃなく、強いところも推しポイントかもしれません。
――本作の魅力として、おふたりが演じられているキャラクターとクロマ、マシロウを加えた4名でのコメディ展開があげられますが、印象に残っている掛け合いなどはありますか？
伊藤：ベリーとクロマは見ていてめちゃくちゃ面白いですね（笑）。
水瀬：確かに（笑）。
伊藤：物語の序盤では、地図子がふたりのやり取りを隠れて見ているんですけど、噛み合っているんだか食い違っているんだかわからない感じが可笑しくて……。
水瀬：お互いがボケなので、ツッコミ不在の事故を起こしてるんです（笑）。ボケ続けながら会話しているので、「これのゴールはどこ？」みたいなやりとりが結構多くて。だからやっぱりクロマには地図子が必要で、ベリーにはマシロウが必要だなと思います。
私としては、ベリーとマシロウの掛け合いが言葉では表せない感情の揺さぶられ方をしてくるので印象に残っているかなぁ。ベリーはマシロウに対して自分が世話を焼いてると思っているんですが、実はその逆なんですよ。マシロウが首にリボンを巻かれるシーンでは、口で「おい！」と拒絶しながらも、心の中で「まぁ、いいか」と合わせていて。そんなふたりの関係性にキュンキュンしてしまいます。
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