Otakon 2022

Mariya Ise Panel

Voice actress Mariya Ise was greeted by a cavalcade of star-struck fans at her Otakon Q&A panel on Friday. The Hunter x Hunter seiyuu was given plenty of questions about her role as Killua Zoldyck, but not before discussing her own origin story.

“I first started voice acting when I was only sixteen years old,” Ise said. “But I had the opportunity to play Cure Lemonade in Precure. I had also gotten a role in Mushi-Shi, and Levy in Fairy Tail. I was playing characters that were around my age, so it was a nice little way to get into acting."

Ise also went into detail about what it was like for her to voice male characters. “Sometimes being a woman playing a male role is difficult,” she stated. “So to study up I'd read the manga and imagined what the character would sound like when he's speaking out loud. I'd lower my voice a bit. I'd also look at other kids and try to observe their mannerisms so I could replicate their styles to fit the characters I was trying to play.”

When the floor finally opened up to all things related to Hunter x Hunter, Ise admitted that Killua was her “first love” when she read the manga in high school. Ise also told the audience a story of how she was almost denied the role due to prior commitments on another series. Her manager intervened at the last second, and she later received a surprise call from Hunter x Hunter's sound manager Chiaki Yamada.

Ise relayed the call: “He said to me, 'I've got two people on the line right now, the girl who got the part, and you for Killua. I called you at the same time.'” She later found out that the other voice actress didn't even pick up her phone, meaning Yamada had basically called to confirm her role. “I'm so glad I picked up the phone that day,” Ise said with joy. “Otherwise I wouldn't be Killua.”

She then gleamed at the crowd. “And this is something that has never before been told in Japan. So this is gonna be just between us, right?” Laughter was heard throughout the room.

Staying within the topic of Hunter x Hunter, a recent Instagram photo featuring her and Gon's voice actress Megumi Han at Universal Studios was brought up. When asked how she maintained that friendship, Ise stated that she never got the opportunity to hang out with Han. Ironic since Gon and Killua are best friends. “But now that [the anime] is done, we just hit it off,” Ise said. “It's only recently that we got to hang out.”

Then the obvious elephant in the room was addressed: the upcoming season of Panty & Stocking. She stated that it was great fun to work on the show due to its notably “outlandish situations.” Disappointingly enough, Ise announced that even though she is hopeful to play the part again, it has not yet been confirmed.

But obviously not all was grim. When asked if there was any character she'd like to voice, Ise answered it like she was conjuring up a comical mystery in three acts: “So there's a character I wanted to voice,” she started. “And I had an audition for the role......and I got it.......and I can't tell you yet!”