In a recent interview with Anime Corner, Subaru Natsuki’s voice actor, Yusuke Kobayashi, shared insights on the unique approaches he takes to voice Subaru’s numerous death scenes in Re:Zero anime.
Kobayashi acknowledged the sheer number of deaths Subaru endures throughout the series, a narrative necessity due to his return by death ability.
In the interview he went into the details of how he managed to keep each death scene fresh and impactful.
According to Kobayashi, making each death scene distinct was of utmost importance to him. He noted that the method of Subaru’s death significantly influenced his performance.
To achieve this, Kobayashi emphasized the importance of matching Subaru’s reactions to the specific circumstances of each death. For instance, he detailed how Subaru would react differently if his arm were cut off compared to his leg being severed.
The voice actor explained that if Subaru’s arm is cut off and he dies from blood loss, he adjusts his breathing to reflect the severity of the injury. In contrast, if Subaru’s leg is severed, his reaction involves more shouting and screaming, reflecting the different impact on the body.
“For example if Subaru’s arm is cut off and he dies of maybe the blood loss, or maybe he was eaten by the many rabbits. And I think Subaru’s way of reacting to each death changes based on the way that he dies. So…for example—this is just theoretically—but let’s say if the left arm was cut off. That’s closer to your heart because your heart is on the left side. So realistically you try not to breathe so hard because if you breathe so hard that’s just going to increase the blood loss. However, if your leg was cut off, because your leg is so far away from your heart, maybe there’s some like shouting and screaming involved because you’re not—the blood loss is not so close to the heart.“
Kobayashi noted that while the sheer number of deaths could seem daunting, the variety in Subaru’s deaths actually makes his job easier in terms of maintaining realism and emotional authenticity.
“I try to match those situations so that it comes across as realistic. It’s very situational and it’s actually kind of easy for me to act out these deaths because each of the ways that Subaru dies is new and different. So it’s nice that I don’t have to worry about being consistent.”
Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World season 3 will start airing in October 2024.
The first episode of season 3 will be a special 90-minute broadcast, equivalent to four regular episodes.
Moreover, the 90-minute special episode will hit the theatres across Japan on Aug 30, 2024, ahead of its TV broadcast.
The season is animated by White Fox and directed by Masahiro Shinohara, with Haruka Sagawa serving as character designer.
Moreover, the first episode of Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World season 3 will be getting a world premiere at Anime Expo 2024 on July 5.
Re:Zero season 1 of the anime adaptation, produced by White Fox, aired from April to September 2016, starting with an hour-long special. The first of two OVA based on the series was released in October 2018, and the second OVA was released in November 2019.
A second season aired in a split-cour format, with the first half airing from July to September 2020, and the second half airing from January to March 2021.
Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World is a Japanese light novel series written by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shin’ichiro Otsuka. The series was initially serialized on the website Shosetsuka ni Naro from 2012 onwards.
The series’ first three arcs have been adapted into separate manga series. The first, by Daichi Matsue, was published between June 2014 and March 2015. The second, by Makoto Fugetsu, has been published by Square Enix since October 2014. Matsue launched the third adaptation, also published by Media Factory, in May 2015. Additionally, Media Factory has published two anthology manga with stories by different artists.
Source: Anime Corner