In a recent interview with Animate Times, popular voice actress Kana Hanazawa who plays Tobaru sensei in the series Aharen-san wa Hakarenai stated that she is addicted to the show and can watch it all the time.

“When I first read the manga, I thought, “What the hell!” (Laughs). Aharen-san and Raido-kun have an odd relationship, and they have similar tensions. The surroundings are lively, but the atmosphere between the two is very calm, which makes me addicted, and never get tired, so I thought I could watch it all the time,” said Hanazawa.

She commented on her role as Tobaru-sensei to be someone who has to bring out something different out of Aharen and Raido’s relationship. Hanazawa debuted as Tobaru in episode 4 of “Aharen Is Indecipherable”.

“Tobaru sensei appears as a rather strange person in the show,” added Hanazawa. “I thought that the character was on standby, and I auditioned because I thought, ‘I have to put in something different in the tension between the two’.”

She said she wanted to portray the delusional yet scary character who had “a gap between the outside and the inside.”

“The actual performance wasn’t much different from the audition. The atmosphere during class is mysterious, and the impression from the students is that they don’t know what she is thinking and she is somewhat intimidating. However, in reality she is delusional inside, and it’s fierce, and she’s in a state of max tension. So I played while thinking, ‘I wish there was a gap between the outside and the inside’,” said the voice of Tobaru.

Actress Hanazawa also commented that even though the relationship between Aharen and Raido is unique, it is a relief to watch some straightforward action compared to other rom-com.

“Normally, every high school romantic comedies are sloppy or squishy, or something goes wrong, but seeing these two so straightforward, it is enough to be relieved to see that they really are thinking about each other.”

During the interview, the voice actress revealed that like her character, she is also interested in ancient writing. She also felt a moment of “mono no aware” like Tobaru-sensei’s character when she was done recording for the show and had to say goodbye without getting to talk closely to the other performers due to COVID-19 situations.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Asato Mizu. It began serialization in Shueisha’s Shōnen Jump+ service in January 2017, and has been compiled into thirteen tankōbon volumes.

An anime television series adaptation by Felix Film premiered in April 2022 on the Animeism programming block.

Source: Animate Times