Masaki, also known as “Masakichi,” is a member of the “Harikiri Sisters,” a trio of NewTubers active on the world’s most viewed video sharing site, NewTube, but is fired from her channel due to a certain incident. As Masaki tries to make a comeback, a vampire named Ribu appears before her, who for some reason feels that it is fate that she is with him.
With Ribu and her superhuman abilities, surely they can make the best videos…? This is the “rebirth” story of a group of high-spirited girls who are video contributors with their own problems, striving to reach 1 million subscribers on their channel.
Animate Times is currently running a series of interviews with staff and cast members. The eighth installment features Yuina Ito, who plays Ichigoko.
“Mayonaka Punch” is Ito’s first regular appearance in a drama. It is full of heartwarming stories, including her fateful meeting with Ichigoko, and memories from the recording studio. In addition, Ito also looked back on episode 5, the swimsuit episode she had been longing for!
–After the first 5 episodes, I think the viewers have come to understand the style of “Mayonaka Punch.” The characters are all really wonderful.
Yuina Ito (Ito), voice of Ichigoko: They all have strong personalities and are great characters!
–Speaking of strong personalities, Ichigoko, played by Ito, also played a major role from the first episode.
Ito: It’s true, Ichigoko in the first episode seems to have a particularly strong personality (laughs). As the story progresses, more characters appear, and their personalities combine to create something amazing!
–Episode 5 was filmed on a deserted island. Were there any scenes that left an impression on you?
Ito: Episode 5 is, after all, a swimsuit episode! Personally, when I think of anime with cute girls, I think of swimsuit episodes, so I’ve always dreamed of participating in such a production. Since Mayonaka Punch is my first regular production, I remember recording with high excitement.
In particular, my interaction with Tokage left a strong impression on me. There was a scene where Ichigo and Tokage were catching swordfish, and I was watching thinking, “What are they doing…?” (laughs). There was a lot of ad-lib in this scene, and I consulted with (Ueda) Hitomi about lines that weren’t in the script. Hitomi was really funny.
–By the way, was it the swimsuit episode that you had been longing for, Ms. Ito?
Ito: …No, it wasn’t (laughs). I think it was a comedy episode that was typical of “Mayonaka Punch”. She uses her vampire powers, which are usually restricted, and because no one listens to her, Liv ends up being manipulated… (laughs).
–You were kind of tossed around (laughs). On the other hand, a touching story unfolded in the second half.
Ito: That’s right. The exchange between Ribu and Masaki was touching, but it’s typical of Mayonaka Punch that it doesn’t end on a touching note (laughs). However, compared to other stories, it may have a cute ending. Because it doesn’t end on a trashy note (laughs).
–That’s true (laughs). And in that sense, I think Ichigoko is a character who has many different moments to shine in “Mayonaka Punch.”
Ito: Because it was an original anime, I received a lot of instructions from the director and other staff members during the recording, such as “Make Ichigoko not normal” and “Make her interesting.”
— “Make it interesting” is a really difficult order…!
Ito: “Please make Ichigoko funny in this scene too!” I was told every episode (laughs). I thought it was a vague direction (laughs), but I tried to think up a lot of ways to make Ichigoko funny as I recorded the scene.
–You said that you “thought a lot,” but how exactly did you expand on your ideas?
伊藤：収録の数日前にいただいた台本と映像を見て、考えて、色々想像して準備をしました。その時に何かを参考にしたわけではなかったのですが、苺子と私自身の親和性が高いように感じていたので、私のありのままのポジティブな面を精一杯に表現するようにしていましたね。
そのおかげで「苺子なら、こう動くのでは？」というアイデアがたくさん思いついたので、たくさん考えてはいたけれど、難しくはなかったです。その分、台本への書き込みは多くなりましたが……（笑）。
ーー特に第5話は書き込みの量が多そうです……！
伊藤：そうですね（笑）。特に先ほどお話した十景とのシーンはアドリブが多かったので、やりたいことがたくさんありました。アフレコまでに準備していたことに加えて、アフレコ中に生まれるアイデアもあったので、みんなで録ると化学反応が起きてすごく良いなと思いながら収録しましたね。
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