“Dandadan” Aira-yaku Sakura Ayane Reflects on “Aku Sara Episode” Post-recording: “If this episode didn’t get a reaction, it would be a lie” [Partial Interview Released]

An exclusive interview with seiyuu Sakura Ayane, known for roles such as Shiratori Aira in DANDADAN and Uraraka Ochako in Boku no Hero Academia, has been released on the J:COM STREAM anime catch-up special site. What is the source of Sakura-san’s acting ability that captivates so many fans? The interview delves into her thoughts on character creation and her approach to her work.

Sakura Ayane is a seiyuu who has skillfully portrayed main characters in numerous popular works, including Shiratori Aira in DANDADAN, Uraraka Ochako in Boku no Hero Academia, Rou Shaotan in SAKAMOTO DAYS, Nakano Yotsuba in Gotoubun no Hanayome (The Quintessential Quintuplets), and Fiona Frost in SPY x FAMILY. Her acting prowess, born from deep insight into human nature, and her expressive ability to convey a character’s feelings and emotions directly resonates not only with anime fans but everyone who hears her work.

Furthermore, in April 2025, she started a regular program on TBS Radio. She is further expanding her range of activities, showcasing her talent as a radio personality with rich vocabulary sprinkled with witty commentary.

This interview explores her thoughts on radio, her journey so far, and her perspective on acting, getting to the heart of who she is as a person.

On J:COM STREAM, you can enjoy unlimited viewing of works featuring Sakura-san, including DANDADAN, where she plays Shiratori Aira, a popular beautiful girl in school, and SAKAMOTO DAYS, where she plays Rou Shaotan, a practitioner of Tai Chi Chuan. New seasons of these anime are set to begin in July 2025.

＜Partial Interview Transcript Below＞

Sakura Ayane

――In DANDADAN, you play Shiratori Aira (hereafter referred to as Aira), a beautiful girl who attends the same high school as Momo and Okarun and awakens to the “Acrobatic Sarasa” ability. What did you keep in mind when playing this role?

When reading manga or novels, the characters’ voices often play in your head, right? But when I read the original DANDADAN, I couldn’t hear any voices for the characters at all; I was simply overwhelmed by Ryu Yukinobu-sensei’s drawing power. It felt like there was “no room for voices” to enter. The same applied to Aira; I had no idea what kind of voice she should have. If anything, I had the feeling that I “didn’t want her to speak.”

――The highly anticipated Season 2 starts in July 2025. Looking back on Season 1, we’d like to ask about the “Acrobatic Sarasa” episode, a scene you highlighted.

(Laughs). That episode already made me cry the first time I read the script. It was also a hot topic in the cast’s group LINE chat, with messages like, “Did you read the script? It’s tear-jerking,” and “I cried too,” flying around even before the recording session. When we actually started recording, watching the footage made me cry again… or rather, everyone at the studio was crying.

――So it was a memorable episode for the production staff and cast as well.

That’s right. I had seen the completed footage before the broadcast for interviews, but when I watched it at home, I honestly couldn’t grasp what was happening; it was so deeply impactful… The atmosphere was completely different from the previous episodes, and I thought, “The staff has started steering in an amazing direction.” I also thought, “If this episode doesn’t get a big reaction, it would be a lie,” and it was that shocking to me personally. When it was actually broadcast and received a proper reaction, getting the rightful praise, I felt greatly relieved.

――Do you have any memories from the recording session for that episode?

Although I was crying at the studio, I also had to play Aira after she had integrated Acrobatic Sarasa in the subsequent scenes. So, I needed to observe Inoue Kikuko-san’s performance as Acrobatic Sarasa. I was planning to strategize how to play Aira once that character was inside her by watching Kikuko-san’s acting, but then I looked at Kikuko-san and thought, “Huh?” There wasn’t much difference between the acting I had done during the tape audition and Kikuko-san’s performance. I was very surprised, thinking, “The Acrobatic Sarasa acting I had envisioned is being reproduced exactly as Kikuko-san’s Acrobatic Sarasa!”

――Something like that can happen…!

Actors often have slightly different perspectives, so there are many times when you see someone else’s performance and think, “I never thought of that!” Amidst all that, it made me very happy that by chance, the “direction we wanted to go” with Kikuko-san’s acting and my acting was the same. Thanks to that, I felt like I could approach playing Aira after integrating Acrobatic Sarasa without any hesitation.

――Indeed, watching it, we also felt that “Acrobatic Sarasa being inside Aira” was accepted smoothly, without any sense of discomfort. Can you tell us about the charm of DANDADAN from your perspective?

When I first read the original manga, I felt a bit anxious, thinking, “It’s going to be tough to turn this into an anime.” It’s a work that Ryu-sensei seems to be pouring his life into drawing; it has a dynamism unique to his art, and I felt myself being shaken by it as a reader. I believe that among all forms of entertainment, manga is the ultimate comprehensive art form. Usually, a work is created with various roles divided up, but in manga, one person takes on the roles of director, scriptwriter, artist, and actor. The fact that one person draws such a work is already something like an occult phenomenon (laughs).

――Certainly! Your expressive power is amazing, as expected (laughs).

I was curious about how they would divide the work and re-interpret/reconstruct that work when turning it into an anime… and indeed, Science SARU is truly a gathering of incredible people. Especially in DANDADAN, the power of expression in the visuals and other aspects is outstanding. I really felt it’s a work that many people should watch as a method of media mix.

――”The power of expression is outstanding” is a perfectly apt description (laughs).

It’s also good that the director’s thoughts are firmly incorporated. It’s not just a faithful video adaptation that simply “recreates the original.” Of course, faithfully recreating the original is often important, and it’s the mainstream and better approach now, but DANDADAN has some parts where the original is reconstructed quite boldly, so I feel it’s a challenge and an adventure. It’s an anime adaptation beyond ordinary limits (laughs).

The full interview is available on the J:COM STREAM anime catch-up special site, so be sure to check it out.

《Nakase Koutarou》

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