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.