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Interview: Denji, Aki, Power, and Makima Dub Actors Discuss Smash-Hit Anime Chainsaw Man

by James Beckett,

Anime News Network's James Beckett was able to talk to Ryan Colt Levy (Denji), Reagan Murdock (Aki), Sarah Wiedenheft (Power), and Suzie Yeung (Makima) about starring in the smash-hit anime Chainsaw Man, what makes it special, and their experiences working on the show.

Below the videos, you'll also find a transcript of each interview.



Ryan Colt Levy and Reagan Murdock
Note: Some of the interviews have been edited for clarity/concision

ANN: It is so exciting to see how big Chainsaw Man has blown going up in the past few weeks!

Levy: Wild! It is wild!

Murdock: Yeah, it's incredibly cool.

ANN: I think my first question is, what is it about Chainsaw Man the manga, and Chainsaw Man the anime, that you think is resonating so much with people and making it such a hyped hit?

Murdock: I think it's due to the fact that there's so much crazy, off-the-wall stuff happening, and stuff that we've never seen in any medium, really, ever, and yet all the characters behave and are motivated by things that we can relate to, things that we see in ourselves. Seeing other people and just being able to interact with this totally off-the-wall world where anything could happen, and seeing responses that we see in other people, I think is a really wonderfully, comforting thing.

Levy: Yeah. I think it kind of breaks the traditional genre in the way a lot of people are used to; a lot of the tropes just kind of do their thing, and it shows up and just breaks every single one of them, and uses them to flip your expectations. It's such a master class in understanding how to take a story and twist it and manipulate it in really unique and beautiful ways. It is this incredible mix of, like, punk rock, high art, zany, sensitive, deep, tragic. It's got everything in it. It has so many ingredients that you wouldn't think would make a thing taste good.

You'd be like, “There's just too much of all these different things in there!”, and then, “This is the best sandwich I've ever had!” It's just got that. I think people are instantly getting smacked in the face with, “Well…this is different! I wasn't prepared for this!” It demands your attention from the first page. It doesn't just go, “Yeah, check it out, if you want.” You open it up, and you're like, “Okay, I'm in.”

Murdock: It's the anime version of the Ultimate Toast.

ANN: The best toast in existence, right?

Levy: Yes!

ANN: When it comes to things like Denji's obsession with sex, or with Aki's frustration with Denji's immaturity, do you feel like Chainsaw Man handles those more mature, adult subjects in a way that is different from the other anime that we see on TV?

Levy: Yeah, very much so. I think it's having a very different conversation about all of that stuff than what people normally surround that with. I think it's easy to also look at this as a surface-level thing and think, “Oh, that's funny, that that's the motivation.” It's a far deeper, more substantial concept than…like, the word is “Boobs”. That's not necessarily what he means, and it's not that he even knows what he fully means. We're seeing a human being come to understand how to intellectualize their emotions for the very first time at a late-developed age, at an age where you're also raging hormones and emotions and feelings. Even an intelligent 16-year-old is chaos. The best of us at 16 are a mess. That's just because that's where you are. You're still learning so much about the world, who you are, and how you're going to adapt to it and relate to it. It's like being blind for your entire life, and then someone giving you the ability to see, and you're like, “Well, I want to see everything! Then take me everywhere! Show me all the colors!” Of course, it makes sense. I think that he's processing this deep, longing desire to connect to people because he never had that. He's always been used.

ANN: What do you feel Aki brings to that dynamic? How do you feel like he balances the character out or plays off the character?

Murdock: Aki is such a foil to Denji, and Denji is so unapologetic about everything that he wants. Aki, I think, in a lot of ways, feels like he has to restrain everything he wants, and he has to keep himself under control and make sure he does his morning routine the exact same way every day. I think you can see that in the way that he interacts with Makima, in particular, as you mentioned earlier, the fact that he almost knocks on the door, but then, “Okay, I've got to go straighten my hair, I got to check my tie.” He says everything just as matter of fact as possible. He's just saying, “I am put together. You can rely on me. I am the perfect Devil Hunter for you.” That's kind of what Denji challenges in a lot of ways because Denji is so crass and crude, and yet he still is able to defeat Devils. He almost kills two of them all by himself; Aki has to respect that, despite the fact that he really doesn't want to. It's this wonderful way that the two characters challenge each other.

ANN: When it comes to those scenes where you've had to try to channel all those different layers of nuance, are there any that come to mind as being particular favorites to record, or to go through and really try to get all of what the characters going through out there with your performances?

Levy: Gosh, I've got to do so much in just these few episodes. It's incredible. It's been such a gift of opportunity to express already. I think there's a lot in the very first episode, because it's a Denji that we're not going to see anymore. That's a Denji that is, in so many ways, spiritually and figuratively buried, and in some ways physically. I think in that space, it was really important to find the broken, lost, with a tinge of optimism, but ultimately just this kind of crumpled-up piece of paper of a human being and play in that space. Because, knowing where it all goes, what he becomes, and the emotional places where he's going to navigate, I didn't want to rush to get there. We wanted to take that first episode to take time and show him in a state so that you can really feel him finding himself for the first time.

Murdock: Yeah. I love the moment at the end of the scene in episode four between Aki and Makima, at the end, where she's saying, “You seem a lot more flexible now. Could that be Genji's influence?” And he's like, “Nope, nothing has changed.” But you can still hear that, yeah, despite all these ideas that Aki has about him being totally put together and in control, Denji and Power both bring a lot of emotions out of him. A lot of times, very explosive ones. In many ways, they're showing him, "No, you're not in control, and everybody farts." It's this peek behind the curtain that there's more going on there. I'm so looking forward to getting to show the other side of Aki that we see in the manga.

ANN: For professional voice actors such as yourselves, what are some of the things that you guys have to do just to take care of yourselves, and take care of your voices so that you can continue to deliver those over-the-top, action-packed scenes every single week?

Levy: Well, I think first and foremost, it's an individual experience, I think, for everyone. If I'm speaking to other voice actors out there who are curious about it, you have to know your body in the same way that, oh, if I eat this food, I break out, or whatever. You have to understand your thresholds, and how to control yourself physically so that you don't hurt yourself because everyone has a point at which you're like, “You went past the thing, and now you're hurt.”

I want to be able to bring 1000% to those scenes, especially because they ask so much of you, and I want them to feel as cathartic as you need them to feel for those moments to resonate. Much of it is staying really well hydrated, having all the teas, and I have a lot of different lozenges and things like that I surround myself with good, nutritional health as well as vocal health. There's things like Nin Jiom that I will take, or I have little, like lemon and honey things. A lot of it is just trying to get good rest, being well hydrated, not pushing yourself when you're not working, and putting it outside of yourself.

Also, knowing when in a session you are at the threshold of diminishing returns and being like, "Okay, instead of pushing one or two or three more takes out of today, let's rest and come back tomorrow. A lot of it is just not being overzealous for the sake of being like, “But I could do it!”

ANN: Maybe don't channel Denji in that way.

Levy: Yeah, exactly. The enthusiasm is all there, but I want to keep playing Denji. I don't want to gas out my voice after four episodes.

Murdock: Yeah, you got to listen to your body, listen to your instrument, because it's not going to lie to you.

Levy: I go on vocal rest days for sure. I took the weekend; I didn't say a word over this past weekend. Part of it was that episode, and a few other jobs happen to be very screamy that week. By the end of the week, I was like, I'm just going to shut up and just play video games.

ANN: I do have one final question for you, and it's maybe the hardest-hitting question I've asked all night. If you had to choose any ingredients for your personal slice of super toast, what would they be?

Levy: Yeah, let's see. I want to go wild card with this one. Let's see. Okay, so there was this really good cheese that I had recently that was like cheddar with, like, smoked sweet onion. It was kind of wild. I would throw some of that and maybe, like, some prosciutto or something. Perfect. Yes.

Regan Savory toast. Yes.

Levy: Maybe a little bit of balsamic on top.

Murdock: Let's see. I'm big on my tart flavors, so I've got to go with some black currant, maybe some blueberries. Maybe we could contrast that a little sweet with some Nutella. Maybe a little spice in there. Cinnamon would be a good choice.

Levy: Paprika! (Laughs). No, no.

Murdock: Hey, you never know until you try!

Levy: It's true.


Sarah Wiedenheft and Suzie Yeung

ANN: My first question for you guys is, with Chainsaw Man, did you have any preconceived notions, any expectations, or any of that fan hype surrounding the material going into it? Were you familiar with the property at all?

Yeung: I wasn't sure, because I had seen pictures and cosplays and everything all over the Internet, so I knew it was popular, but I didn't know to what degree until everybody started talking about it, like, come audition time. That's when I really understood the hype. I was like, oh, this is a big thing!

Wiedenheft: I had a similar experience, although I had a little bit of…well, I spoke with Ryan several months prior. We were at a con together, and somebody asked, “What would be your dream role?” or something. Of course, he goes, “I would love to be able to just read, like, do an audition for Chainsaw Man!” I was like, “I don't know what that is, brother, but I want that for you.” I was like, "Oh, wait, it's that thing that he wanted to do! I hope that he gets to audition for it!"

ANN: Little did you know that you would also be a part of that whole endeavor!

Wiedenheft: Yeah.

ANN: There's been a lot of talk about Chainsaw Boys recently, which is great. We all love our Chainsaw Boys. I want to talk about your characters and the roles that they have in Chainsaw Man, because if anyone looks through the trending topics and just takes five seconds to Google any Chainsaw Man fan art Power and Makima, sometimes feel like they're even more popular. There's even more love for these characters, just because of how unique they are, and because of how entertaining they are. When it comes to these specific characters, Power and Makima, what do you think about them has made them resonate so much with the fandom to give them just as much of a spotlight as the title character?

Yeung: Well, I think both of them are very charming in their own right; they're extremely different characters. Beyond the physical aspect, I think people find them interesting, in that they stand out from the typical female portrayal in shonen anime, that they're really sure of themselves, and they show it in different ways. Yeah, I think there's different layers to them that you don't really see in a lot of other anime. I think that's what draws people to them. Because they're more than just one-dimensional characters. They have their own motivations, they're powerful. Particularly for Makima, I think there's an intrigue that people like, and it's, not a typical character. I think that's what draws people to Chainsaw Man in general, is that it's not your typical manga or anime. So, it's definitely something new.

Wiedenheft: I agree with that, it's their personalities. I think that's something that draws them to it. Also, their character designs are absolutely gorgeous. As an artist myself, I would also want to draw them! Also, women.

Yeung: Yes, women! . ANN: Well, one of the questions I have for you, Suzie, is that you mentioned earlier that the characters in Chainsaw Man, the women especially, are very different from the kinds of…I don't want to say cliché, but the archetypal characters that we see in a lot of, especially, shonen in anime.

Yeung: Yes.

ANN: What specific aspects of this character do you think you've really been able to play around with in the different scenarios that she's gotten so far, that stand out from other, more typical roles?

Yeung: Yeah, I think the thing with her is that she is incredibly subdued. Like, she's at a very even level the entire time. She is completely unflappable like nothing gets to her. At the same time, she's not entirely robotic. She will put in a little bit of emotion just to get someone to do something in her favor, essentially. So she really knows how to work things. She's very self-aware, and she's very aware of everything around her. I think that is what's really interesting and different about her from other characters, is her motivations and intentions, and how the minute changes in her tone can influence other people.

ANN: Yeah, there's a lot of subtlety there

Yeung: For sure

ANN: Especially with the animation of the show, there's other nuances, too.

Yeung: Oh, yeah. They do not hesitate to zoom in on her eye every second that they can do it!

ANN: The eye game for this show is so strong! Just the amount they're able to get. It's hypnotic.

Yeung: Hypnotic, yeah. Exactly.

ANN: Well, then, Sarah, let me shoot that over to you because I think Power has made such an impression ever since she kicks down the door into Denji's [apartment].

Wiedenheft: Maybe even forced her way in somehow.

ANN: For Power, what about her character and the scenes that you've gotten to play with her have really stood out to you as making her character feel unique?

Wiedenheft: So, I read up on her in the manga. Completely destroyed it, also. Such a wild ride on it, too. There's so many little things that I've learned about her that've helped me prepare myself for the anime, too. I like to also watch the anime that's already out, to prepare me for what else they're going to do, because I've been noticing we've also been adding in little extra details that the manga didn't have. This character, she is very self-centered. She's very selfish. She has to be, right? Because she, well, there's no other way. There's so many layers to her that are so funny. I think the best part is, like, how ridiculous she can be, as the wild card. Being able to play this kind of a character, it's just so fun.

ANN: Well, I don't know if Tatsuki Fujimoto is going to be watching this at all, but I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the many cinematic influences that have inspired Chainsaw Man because he's a huge movie buff; I think every single person involved with making the show is. When it comes to some of those favorite films, favorite characters, and favorite shows, are there any specific ones that come to mind when it comes to the things that you channel or that inspire you for your performances?

Wiedenheft: I can't say that I personally get inspiration from any specific thing for Power, because whenever I do a character, I just completely immerse myself into that world, and I don't see anything else. Nothing else exists. It was really nice to hear that she was inspired by Cartman. That makes me want to watch any South Park just to really hammer it home.

Yeung: I'm pretty similar to Sarah, in that anytime I go into a new project with a new character, that's all that exists. I actually do not even allow anything to influence me. It does come internally from me, and that way I just feel like it's a creation from myself. I do listen to references, but I don't let that bleed too much into what myself and Mike tried to envision with the character, of course. I'm very focused in that sense. It's like tunnel vision.

ANN: I do have one more question for you guys, and it's probably the hardest-hitting question I've had this whole night. Denji has a specific love for toast, super toast, specifically. I have to ask: If you could have the perfect piece of super toast, what would the ingredients be that you put on that toast?

Yeung: I'm going to be basic and say that I love smoked salmon and avocado and eggs and spices all on it, because I'm a savory person.

ANN: That sounds delicious!

Yeung: Yeah, like a souped-up version of the California avocado toast thing? I'm hungry! I'm so glad it's almost dinner!

Wiedenheft: I think my version of the super toast would be almond butter packed with every kind of berry known to mankind. And bananas.

ANN: That sounds good. That's very healthy!

Wiedenheft: And honeycomb and cinnamon. Yes.


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