AFA11 Interview Chiwa Saito
Source: Ani-Culture interview, December 10, 2011. Slightly edited.
On Day 2 of the Anime Festival Asia 2011, we caught up with seiyuu (voice actress) Chiwa Saito for a little interview together with SGCafe and Collateral Damage Studios.
And here are the contents of our interview:
SGCafe: Can you tell me more about yourself? What are your hobbies?
Chiwa Saito: I like traveling and watching movies.
SGCafe: Are there similarities between you and your character, Homura?
Chiwa Saito: I can't speak out about my worries and often keep them to myself - most of the time, it leads to me thinking negatively. This part I think is quite similar to Homura.
SGCafe: What would you say to Kyubey if you see it?
Chiwa Saito: Don’t come to me!
Ani-Culture: You have voiced so many characters in your career, ranging from the extremely cute Hazuki (Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase) to the serious Senjougahara. How do you prepare for such a wide range of vocal personalities?
Chiwa Saito: Regardless of whether the character might be scary, cute or strong, each of them is still a girl inside. I want to be natural and bring out the girl's feelings, instead of emphasizing just certain parts of the character. I don't shape my characters myself, but along with the story and the rest of the cast.
Ani-Culture: Which one out of all the characters you have voiced, is your favorite?
Chiwa Saito: Natsumi from Keroro Gunso. After all, I voiced her for 7 and a half year. Natsumi feels like a family to me.
Ani-Culture: If you had not gone into voice acting, what would you be doing now?
Chiwa Saito: This is a very difficult question. I have no idea, even though sometimes I do think about it. I still haven't came up with an answer. But it would be great if I could travel. In fact, I've studied overseas.
Ani-Culture: Oh? Where did you study?
Chiwa Saito: In New Zealand.
Ani-Culture: I see! No wonder you can understand English so well! What places here in Singapore have you already visited?
Chiwa Saito: The Sky Park, Marina Bay Sands and the Supermarket at Holland village. The trip to the supermarket was so fun!
Ani-Culture: You will perform on the stage soon, what do you expect from the fans?
Chiwa Saito: I am looking forward to seeing the audience, especially after being interviewed by so many media and feeling so warmly welcomed.
Ani-Culture: Are you nervous?
Chiwa Saito: I'm not really nervous, but I'm wondering how will the audience feel seeing me voice Homura.
Ani-Culture: What have been your impression of Singapore before your visit, and what it is now?
Chiwa Saito: I expected it to be more of a tropical country, since it's south of Japan. But after landing in Singapore, I found that everything is so nice and beautiful here! Like the Christmas illuminations and everything along the way of the taxi. I would like to come to Singapore as a tourist and not because of work one day. It’s so nice here; I don’t want to go back.
Ani-Culture: Last question - do you have some closing words for the fans?
Chiwa Saito: Even though I voice my characters in Japanese, I feel that I don't just give a voice to a character; my voice acting puts life into it, and it can go beyond the language, race and culture, and make everyone love the character!
And thanks for this support to everyone, I will work hard to create even better performances back in Japan!
Ani-Culture: With that, we came to the end of the interview session. Thank you for this interview.
Chiwa Saito Dubbing Session
Tribute art from WaHa
More from Anime Festival Asia 2011
See Also
- Short fanmade video clip on Chiwa Saito's dubbing session
- Other online interviews
- Translated magazines